Finally came back.

Basically here’s the long and short of it of why I’ve taken a super-hiatus from my blog. First of all, I worked. Not much happened between last time I checked and wrote something (Although the Phillies won the NL East, I didn’t get around to talking about that, and I’m not going to do it in December). Then, my computer broke. Crap. 700 bucks later, new comp, and hopefully new dedication to at least being somewhat fun and interesting. I’ll give everyone my take on a personal favorite game of mine just added to the Wii Library, and the new Mario game as well. Pictures will be up for that computer disaster, it’s gonna give you a better idea of what the heck happened in there.

Jack is fighting on the planets side

From WashingtonPost.com

Eco Wise

Jack Bauer’s Next Mission: Fighting Global Warming

Sunday, August 5, 2007; Page M03

From “An Inconvenient Truth” to popularizing the Prius, Hollywood has helped lead the way on some environmental issues. One of the latest initiatives: Cool Change, Fox’s company-wide program to reduce the network’s impact on global warming. As part of that effort, the seventh season of “24″ will take steps to reduce and offset the carbon emissions from the show’s production, with the goal of having the season finale be entirely carbon-neutral.

It may sound like a publicity stunt, but Fox spokesman Chris Anderson says the network isn’t after bigger ratings. “We are publicizing ’24’s’ commitment to climate change for two reasons and two reasons only: to inspire the public to take global warming seriously and hopefully to motivate other studios to make changes to their production practices as well,” he says.

After all, shooting on soundstages requires energy-hungry lighting and gear, and going on location means using portable generators and driving trucks, vans and cars loaded with equipment, costumes and people. When production on Season 7 begins this month, the show’s 26 diesel vehicles and five generators will run on a more planet-friendly biodiesel blend, which will start at 5 percent biodiesel and gradually increase, barring any problems, according to executive producer Howard Gordon.

The show’s electricity bills will go toward renewable-energy credits that will bring a share of wind, solar and water power to Los Angeles’s grid. A diesel-powered soundstage will be converted to electricity, thus lessening the show’s contribution to the local air pollution problem, and the show’s five location scouts will be given Priuses to drive. Scripts, schedules and memos — which used to be hand-delivered by car — will be sent via e-mail.

The “24″ page at Fox.com now features energy conservation tips and a public service announcement about global warming featuring Kiefer Sutherland; more information will be posted when the show airs in January. Plus, climate change will be incorporated into the series’ plot (which just might scare some viewers into taking action).

The extent to which the plan will reduce the show’s imprint on Earth is difficult to calculate, but the measures certainly won’t hurt; more shows and films aiming to reduce their carbon footprints could have a considerable impact. Some productions before “24″ were green — films such as “Syriana” and “An Inconvenient Truth” were carbon-neutral, as was Comedy Central’s recent roast of Flavor Flav. But “24’s” weekly visibility might spark a domino effect — in Hollywood, Bollywood and beyond.

– Eviana Hartman

Wow, so maybe Jack’s next foe will be Looten Plunder, and he can fight alongside Captain Planet since he killed most of his other partners. Or Tony can be the villain because he bought a H2. Ah 24, I hope this isn’t going to be part of the plot.

I have to admit…..

I didn’t know what to think when I saw it

http://broadband.espn.go.com/ivp/splash2?id=2965587

Then I thought, you know, it’s still a great accomplishment, and we just don’t know what he did, or didn’t do. Sure he’s an ass, and probably did cheat by using performance enhancers, but when he hit it, I smiled. I smiled because I was glad to have stayed up till 12:00 EST, and it still is history for my generation. Reading on ESPN.com, I think both Jayson Stark and Steve Philips both said things that I truly believe to be true about the era of baseball in the late 90’s, and current today, and why people just can’t enjoy the historical aspect, and why when recounting this moment, most people will tell their sons or daughters that there should be an asterisk next to it.

Steve Phillips: “Sitting and clapping”

I’ve been asked frequently about what I would do if I were at the game when Barry Bonds broke Henry Aaron’s record: Would I stand and clap or sit on my hands? In fact what I would have done is sit and clap. Barry Bonds is an amazing player. He is one of the best players of all time regardless of what he might have taken. He is a superstar player and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I have tremendous respect for him as a player and talent. He has done it all in his career. He deserves to be recognized as one of the best ever. For a day or a week or maybe even a month I would like to just celebrate Bonds and his greatness. I want to stand and cheer and salute him for how truly amazing he is. I want to have the feelings for him that take me back to my youth when I got goose bumps when Henry Aaron circled the bases after hitting No. 715. But … I just can’t get there. I can’t help but feel that this remarkable accomplishment has been diminished by the overwhelming circumstantial evidence that Bonds cheated. I cannot boo the man because he is a remarkable, unbelievable player who I often wished had played for my team. But I cannot celebrate the way I really want to either. Instead, I am the one sitting and clapping.

***

Jayson Stark: “What we’ve lost”

The biggest tragedy of the steroids era is that it has robbed us of the magic — the magic of the greatest numbers in sports. People used to walk down Main Street — in your town, in any town — and hear those numbers rattling around their brains. They knew what 60 meant. And 61. And 714. And 755. They weren’t just baseball numbers. They were milestones from our entire culture. You didn’t have to be some geeky baseball fan to know them. Women and kids and grandmothers knew them. They were numbers so powerful, you could hear the home run calls in your head if you listened hard enough. No other sport had any numbers like them. And no one should ever underestimate the importance of that. It’s because of what those numbers used to mean that No. 756 and the man who hit it are still enough to make that home run a momentous news event. But it’s what we’ve lost that’s the bigger story, to me. We’ve lost the ability to witness these moments and hear our hearts thumping, or feel our emotions flowing. Too many people now are cynical about what just happened and why it happened for these numbers to feel the same again. And not just 756. All of them.

***

Simply put: If we never find out about Barry Bonds doing steroids, this is a great accomplishment, and he’s one of the greatest of all time, regardless of how he treats people, fans, media. If he’s found guilty, then he’s one of the biggest frauds, but even that’s hard to say just because, we don’t know, who is doing it, and how their doing it.

And we probably never will.

P.S.: Kudos to Mike Bacsik, the Nationals pitcher who gave up the home run. He could have walked him on a full count, but he tried to get him out, tried to help his team win, rather than give up history.

Movie- The Simpsons Movie

Well, we finally got the movie we’ve been waiting for Simpsons fans. And it was excellent. Basically the plot involves Lake Springfield is being polluted by the town, and Lisa along with new character Colin (who in no way, is related to Bono), get the town to clean up their act. Meanwhile, Homer disregards the enviromentalism and dumps a large silo of pig crap into the river, causing mutations of animals in Springfield. President Schwarzenegger has to contain Springfield somehow, and puts it in the hands of the villain of the movie, Russ Cargill, head of the EPA. The Simpsons then have to not only save the town, but their own selves and their family as well.

Ok, to give you an idea of how good this movie was, think Seasons 4-9 of the Simpsons, probably well known among Simpsons fans as their “Golden Age”. The show has really tapered off to almost the point of unwatchable lately, but the movie captured the moments and jokes that made the Simpsons one of the most well known and longest shows on television today. The jokes are mostly ones you would enjoy from the old episodes, and it goes back to character development and gives each Simpson a background of how they are feeling during the story, rather than the new Simpsons in which it’s just crazy and no story and “how many jokes about the current political situation can we make”. The movie makes great jokes about the fact that people now have to pay money to see the Simpsons ( If you ask me, everybody in this theater is a giant sucker),and a FOX ticker shows a reality show that they are promoting, only saying afterwards, that’s right, we even advertise our shows during movies now. The one problem is that by summer movie standards, it’s pretty short. A quick hour and a half or so will get you through this movie, which means characters don’t all get a good chunk of movie time. Mr. Burns, Skinner, and Smithers (who appears, but does not say a word) do not get much time at all, and it’s a shame, but the movie revolves around the Simpsons and they all do their part in making this a great movie. One of the best of the summer, it’s 5 out of 5 for me.

Apology

I apologize if most of the first month or so of this blog is movie reviews and such. I’ll probably post episode synopsis of TV shows when they all come on in the fall, or if something big happens, but for right now, it’s August, and there’s not much going on besides seeing some good movies, and watching some good baseball playoff chases.

Movie-Live Free or Die Hard

Well, this was somewhat of a ridiculous movie, but it was everything you’d expect from a Die-Hard movie.

Basically a group of cyber-terrorists led by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Oliphant) shut down the systems of the U.S. Government to cause nationwide panic in order to secretly steal all the nations financial information. Unfortunately, they get the information from a group of hackers who are all eliminated once their task is done except for one Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) who survives because he is visited by NYPD officer John McClane (Bruce Willis), who stops him from shutting down his computer, which would have blown up his apartment, and saves him from a group of assassins who would have taken him out. McClane and Farrell both make it to D.C. when the attacks first begin, and slowly piece together what is happening due to Farrell’s involvement in the hacking. McClane and Farrell both slowly begin to trust each other, and use Farrell’s computer skills combined with McClane’s fighting skills to slowly find who is doing this, and bring them down.

Ok, so while not a amazing movie, this is definetly the movie this summer that blows the most stuff up and is entertaining even if it’s not brilliant. Bruce Willis still has it with his McClane character, and he is the most entertaining person in the movie. The body count is high in this movie, as with any Die-Hard, and besides less blood and the obvious loss of the harsh language, you won’t really notice the difference between the PG-13 Die-Hard, and R ones. The villain is not anywhere near memorable as any of the other villians, and Justin Long’s character won’t be remembered that much with much better buddy characters in the first 3 like Samuel L. Jackson in Vengeance. The plot goes by the standard action movie template, so there isn’t anything that is going to surprise anyone for the most part. But it’s a good movie, and there is something about the movie that makes you satisfied after you see it. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars I’d say.

Movie- The Bourne Ultimatum

Ah the Bourne Ultimatum, the final movie of the very popular Bourne movies started with the Bourne Identity in 2002.

The movie actually starts before the end of the events of Supremacy, with Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) running from the police in Moscow. A little while later he finds a article in Paris  while reading the paper about him and Treadstone by Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), which was the group that trained Bourne, and a new reactivated Treadstone, known only as Blackbriar. Unfortunately, CIA’s Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) who is heading the new Blackbriar operation, also has tracked down Ross, and will stop at nothing to take him out in order to keep his secrets from being put out in the open.

 Basically, this is the most stylish one, and possibly the best one of the series. Matt Damon once again does a good job as a man who’s basically a super-assassin, but still trying to find (can’t believe i’m saying this) his identity. One of the more interesting points of the movie is the tension at the CIA between Vosen and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) who was a big part of the second movie in trying to get Bourne, and Vosen wants to eliminate Bourne to cover up anything he might know about his secret program, while Landy attempts to contact Bourne, realizing mid-way that Vosen has done wrong, and proceeds to help Bourne in the last half of the movie. The action sequences are once again the highlights of the film, and are among the most well done in the series. There’s even a bit of comedy in the movie, as Bourne is always one step ahead of the guys who are trying to get him, and it gets them into some sticky situations in which you just got to laugh and applaud for the ingeniousness of some of the scenes. Not trying to spoil the end of the movie, but it has one of the bigger twists this summer, and is up for interpretation whether or not a 4th movie could be in the works. One of the best movies i’ve seen this summer, it’s going to be up at the top of my favorite movies this year I think.