Plot! Characters! Story! PLEASE!

Cabin in the Woods was a fun movie. The story is nothing like I expected. I thought it would be cheesy and hack story line and whatnot. Instead, I got a B+ movie plot and a story that worked out better than what I was expecting. The movie started out strange and I was wondering what the hell was going on with the office guys and the super secret base. Then the pieces fell in after the second death and I was able to enjoy the movie.

However, it was still cheesy and the horror part was more of the grotesque than the tickle-my-brain-wrong horror. I want plot, I want characters, and I want a story. It doesn't even have to be a horror story. I want a story. End of discussion. Deliver NOW!

World War Z

I watched the trailer for World War Z.

First, my reservations for the movie.

1. The book is not closely followed. I read (and listened) to the World War Z book and, just from watching the trailer, they departed greatly from the material. Yes, the walking dead are zombies, but they run really fast AND they just up and appeared in New York City. This is a humongous departure from the original written book.

2. This is an action movie. The book is a series of anecdotal stories strung together chronologically and over the course of four years and told by many people who have lived through the plague years. This movie is only going to last for two hours and they will not cover the same scope of material and time.

3. The zombies run really fast. The book repeatedly describes the zombies as shambling undead. If a person kept his or her cool, then the zombies can be defeated in small groups. It's when they are in large numbers that a concerted effort must be made. Running zombies changes that fact and the whole war. The situation gets even more complicated if a head shot is required to kill a zombie; the slow attrition and sense of inevitable doom is removed. I know this is necessary for a two hour movie, but that doesn't mean I like it.

4. Brad Pitt. If they had cast a lesser known actor my enthusiasm might be greater, but then they are banking on Pitt's star power to bring in theater goers and I can respect that decision. Again, I don't like it but the logic is sound.


Now, my hope for the movie.

1. It's an action movie. If you're going to sit in a movie theater for two and more hours, then you better be damn well entertained. So long as the tension stays high and the story continually moves then the audience will continue to buy the premise and stay riveted to their seats.

2. It's a movie. It is a trailer, but from what they showed the film makers seem to have kept to the premise of the book. They made some modifications here and there to keep to making a movie while respecting the material. This is what most book adaptations need and, sadly, don't always receive.

3. They give a glimpse of the global nature of the threat. In most zombie apocalyptic movies the world view is left out of the story telling because the story is centered around a specific locale. Take as an example The Walking Dead. (Either the graphic books or the serialized television series will do.) The zombie threat is limited in the story to the southeastern United States. You might hear a word or two about other areas but the story centers around the group in their very specific locale. You never hear about Europe or Africa or Asia. The trailer shows the main character is a military operative and can get information from the global community, thus we see how bad things are EVERYWHERE. This adds to the tension and the high stakes game the movie is playing.


I'll go to watch a movie, not watch the book. However, I expect to be entertained. I'll walk out if I'm bored.

They Need to Slow the Hell Down

I went to www.bestbuy.com and there at the top of the page they were advertising for Windows 8.

Why are they already advertising for Windows 8? We just got Windows 7 a scant year ago. What did they change to require a whole new operating system?! What is Microsoft doing that we need to figure out right away?

Just pissed off.

Buyer Beware

I lost my mp3 player a week ago. It's tough riding around on a bike and not have something to keep me interested. Yes, it is dangerous riding with ear buds while you bike, but it's hot out here and the music keeps my mind off the sweat beading on my back and in my hair. (Again, ew.)

So, I bought another mp3 player to replace the one I lost. Since I've been using it, I've had frustrations after frustrations. I do not know what the manufacturer was thinking, but the design decisions they've chosen has made my plug 'n' play experience all the more ugly.

I won't go into it now because I'm angry at this point. A review is in the works as soon as I fully explore the player and see just what they thought were good ideas. I would also like to put in a letter of complaint to their department so that, maybe, their next product won't be such a headache.

--HardWearJunkie

Well, that was nice.

Blarg! Just, blarg! Will post something up here in a few days, but right now I'm just blarg! Nothing really important to say.

Oh, yeah. Out of the two candidates for U.S. President this year, I'm voting for Barack Obama. If Romney wins then the Republicans will focus on changing the laws that Obama has changed while adding more tax benefits for the rich and denying benefits for everyone else across the board. If Obama wins then he will continue working towards giving the middle class (regardless of race, gender, creed, and gender preference in personal relationships) while the Republicans will put up as many roadblocks as they can. Actually, that's how the Republicans act in any four-year Democratic president term. Yay status-quo! (Sarcasm. That's sarcasm there!)

I want to see Obama finish what he started. No president gets anywhere in four years, but they do get something done in eight.

--HardWearJunkie

Reception Areas, Waiting Rooms, and Cafeterias

Stanford Medical is far from where my parents and myself live. To get to Stanford we have to drive four freeways, cross two small "mountains", and navigate traffic where you are bobbing and weaving to move forward. All this in the middle of summer and California summers may be dry but they are HOT.

We do drive that route because Stanford Medical is the best hospital in the area. There are other hospitals and they all deserve the recognition they are getting, but my parents need a specific set of doctors and only Stanford is the closest. We did go to USF Med for a specific need, but mainly we go to Stanford.

Their hallways are busy. At any given time during "normal working hours" the hallways are jammed with people from doctors and nurses to interns and maintenance workers to patients and visitors. There is ALWAYS someone walking the halls to either get food, get a consult, or to go to their procedure. And the hallways are clean. They are so clean that I think we could eat off the floor. (I know they're not that clean, but I'm stressing a point.) I'm just saying that even with the construction going on around the grounds that Stanford Medical is the cleanest hospital I've been to.

I've had the luxury of eating here at their cafeteria and I am fairly impressed with their menu. Usually hospital food is not varied because the cost to make an international selection of dishes is daunting. With Stanford Medical the cafeteria has three stations that make a diverse array of meals from Mexican comfort food to on-the-go sandwiches; there is a make-your-own-sandwich station and a desert bar where you can grab an ice cream bar or cake. The food is delicious, contrary to my assumption that hospital cafeteria food is bland and cardboard.

Some of the waiting areas are adjacent to the main hallways; this makes the travel ways a sort of confluence of human activity states. Also the hospital is in transition with construction projects dotting the landscape. (There is the large one at Pasteur Drive that obscures your view of the hospital before reaching the building proper.) All this together makes the place seem more chaotic at first impressions.

The grounds, if they are not under construction, are tended well. Roses line a path from a parking structure to a main entrance. Trash bins dot the area but are not intrusive to the view. You can spot parking structures but they don't dominate the scenery. Buildings feel grown but you can make out where new additions start.

As I sit here in the waiting room for my mother to wake in Recovery, I think that she and my dad are lucky to be able to be treated here. Aside from the world renown medical facilities and staff here, my parents will enjoy their stays here.

Unless their procedure dictates cardboard food for dinner.

Why Can't I Just Remain Dry?

I know it is natural, but my scalp should not be sweating. It feels weird that beads of water are forming in my hair. That makes me imagine little bugs making houses and building condominium high rises in my hair.

Ew.

Realization #1

I'm walking the dog in a nearby park and, looking at all the grass, realize that most of the dirt used to create the soil came from the poop of worms and animals.

Ew.

On National Pride

I read web comics on a regular basis. They're entertaining. One strip used the US flag as a symbol of patriotism. I know the artist and writer (they are two different people) were just mocking the patriotic speeches given in movies, but I felt some shame because, lately I've felt shame about being an American.

My aunts, uncles, and parents say to be proud as Americans. To live in America is to have opportunities that no one else in the world have. And, mostly, they are correct. We have the ability to improve our lives, visit other regions, and voice our opinions without fear of unjust imprisonment, cruel and unusual punishment, or execution. No, I am fine with that. It's what we, as a nation, have done with the opportunities and what we have ignored that I am ashamed of.

First, the US is consuming petroleum way beyond what it needs. We use it in almost everything: transportation; powering homes and businesses; and creating containers for leftover food. We could reduce what we use by adjusting our lifestyle to consume less but live just as well. But no, we watch television and the commercials that we watch just push people to buy more, more, more. Gluttony as an art.

Second, our national pride has crushed our empathy for our fellow humans elsewhere. Take our border "problem". Currently there is a wave of sentiment that if we build a thick wall manned with heavily armed soldiers between Mexico and the US that illegal immigration will shrink to a trickle. There is a problem with that argument: WE HAVE MONEY. The reason people are trying to get into the US is because there is NO MONEY where they are coming from. Yes, some like to come because they want a new life. In order to get a new life, you need to get money. Guess who has the money. The US. When America goes bankrupt and devolves into anarchy (which some people are predicting without evidence) then the illegal immigration will change course.

These are the biggest reasons I feel shame at the moment. There are a few more, but I cannot quite pin it down.

Oh, yes. I can name one more that makes me feel shame: the current race for the Republican Presidential Candidate. That is one huge mess I would like to fly away from. Unfortunately it is now making its run through California, where I live. I am nauseous from all the sound bites and what not.

I hope we can recover our luster, because culturally, we're looking like sh*t.

--HardWearJunkie

A Blog I've Had Run-Ins With

I was looking through the new PvP Online website and found a link to one of Scott Kurtz's favorite reviews of one of his strips. (I can't seem to rewrite that last bit, regardless of how much I want to.) The link went to Websnark.

To be honest, Websnark can be a bit snarky, but that's part of the charm. The author (Erik something-or-other) comments on slice of life events as they relate to his interests. The majority of his interests, however, cover comic books (DC Comics, boo!) and web comics (at least three of the web comics that I peruse on a daily schedule he comments heavily on). I like his tone of writing, his insight into many things that irk people, and his dedication to blogging for the masses. Through PvP Online I was reintroduced but glad I reacquainted myself with the articles. Sometimes he dissects comic strips, sometimes he just reports on what certain comics tried to do and either failed or just missed the point.

Oh, and the address is new.websnark.com. Make sure you type that "new" in there to get the current articles. Without the "new" you will go to the old website.

--HardWearJunkie

P.S.: It seems Erik has not posted since last October. That's sad because I was looking forward to seeing more posts about stuff.

If you can stand it, I would go and read the backlog of articles just to see how entertaining Mr. Erik whatever-the-hell-his-last-name-is can be.

About Popularity

I was going through the settings tabs for this blog and looked at the stats tab. Initially I was surprised at the page views, but then realized that each view was by a bot, not by any living person looking at the words in my blog. Oh, well, at least I'm getting looked at by crawlers. They technically count, but I wish SOMEONE make a comment on this blog (and not this entry, but the others instead).

--HardWearJunkie

Zombies and Why We Really Don't Want Them

As entertaining as the movies, books, and video games are in this genre, I don't think a zombie apocalypse will be fun. It will be as far from fun as a nuclear holocaust.

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I demand Suzanne Collins be hung in effigy! How dare she writes with a nom de plume that includes one of my favorite names in, like, forever! And she has the gall to write a story that has a slow build-up followed by a sweeping speedy scene that culminates toward an orgy of blood, trepidation, and fear as her main character, Katniss Everdeen, fights for survival not only of herself but also of her questionable partner Peeta, the butcher's son.

The above paragraph is not my true feelings, but I do have a little beef with the writing, just because I have pet peeves and they need to be aired.

WARNING: SPOILERS!

The Bad: The beginning is slow going, but just because it is background development. Without this development Katniss, the main character (and a snazzy name to boot), would not have developed properly and the reader would not have the deep connection they will eventually achieve. I just wished that the beginning had a bit bigger bite.

Whoever edited the book (I got the paperback) must have used a grammar checker instead of proofing the paragraphs because I kept running into sentences that do not stand on their own. I could see from the context surrounding these "questionable" sentences that a semi-colon would have sufficed to make a connection to the previous sentence; there were at least three instances where I stopped to reread the ink on the page. It wasn't just that clarity was sacrificed but also my speed reading through the story. (I'm impatient when I want to know what happens next.) Whenever the grammar broke I lost my suspension of disbelief, and that is jarring.

The Good: This story is a roller coaster ride after Katniss volunteers. The climb in suspense builds with the train ride to the Capitol; the twists and turns as her adviser, Haymitch, trains her in the politics of the training days leading up to the Hunger Games; and the plunge into the arena as the actually killing began. I won't go into specifics, but the effect of first person in this story is perfect for what Suzanne Collins had in store.

Her connections with the other competing tributes are also interesting because there is so much emotion tied up with these "kids" when they actually kill each other. Katniss is one character you want to root for.

In a Nutshell: This is a book you want to pick up. There is nothing subtle about the action and the "romance" is not forced nor is it unwanted. I look forward to the next book in the trilogy: the ending of this book promises much more intrigue than I initially suspected.

Always, be healthy.

Don't get sick. The time lost is horrendous, and you feel guilty for not doing anything during that time.

Drink lots of water; soda does less for your body than juice and even less than what water does for you.

Eat enough to keep your strength. Without your strength you can't move and heal. No food means no energy; no energy means weak immune system; weak immune system means stay sick longer.

Sleep. Rest when you can. If you don't, your body spends energy for your activities instead of fighting that sickness you caught.

So get to bed already!

So, I'm building a map...

One of the "hobbies" I do is play pretend in my mind. I imagine things so much that I keep thinking I should turn my imaginings into something more concrete, more tactile, more THERE.

Well, unfortunately I'm building a map for Team Fortress 2 (there goes the concrete). I say "unfortunate" because building a map for a game is very difficult work: you have to think about where to put your spawns; how many lights are in the level; where do you put the ammunition and health packs; and what path does everyone take when they play. It's a labor, for sure.

The map I'm building is for a game type called Payload. The objective for the Blue Team (the Attackers) is to "Push" a bomb cart to the end of a track where it will explode and destroy the Red Team Base. The Red Team (the Defenders) must stop the Blue Team at all costs. Standing next to the bomb either moves the bomb forward (for Blue) or stops the cart (for Red). Blue wins when the bomb reaches the end of the track. Red wins when the timer runs out. Along the way there are checkpoints on the map that the bomb rolls over. If the bomb does roll over one of these checkpoints the Blue Team gets one team point and more time on the clock to push the bomb. When either victory condition is met, teams switch sides and do the bomb run all over again in a new round.

This is a very fun type of game and it has its roots partly in an old game type called Hunted. The bonus to this is that the Red Team can set up and defend almost anywhere in the map, but the Blue Team has to commit some of its team to pushing the bomb that travels on a predetermined path. This allows for lots of replay and some tactical thinking for both sides.

The thing is that every Payload map I've played the track is always running away from the Blue Team's base. Never has the track made a circle and come closer, in terms of travel distance, to the Blue Team's original base. I am trying to fill that gap with a track that circles around and allows the Blue Team to always play from one base. The Red Team will be in an underground base and will have to leave a safe feeling cave and emerge into the open air to stop Blue from advancing.

It does sound complicated, but hopefully I get a working Payload map done by the end of this week, if I can give it enough time.

Well, it's about TIME.

I feel rather naggy, but the sky here is finally overcast with clouds. Gray clouds. Angry clouds. Clouds that are bipolar and will cry you a river any second now. And it is finally cold; Winter decided it's returning from the five week absence it took since December.

Freakishly warm weather. We enjoyed it here, but it is scaring us.