The Island (2005)

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Joel

On a Saturday night (when we can’t go anywhere fun with the kids), I had some quality geeky alone time.  I watched my latest Netflix movie, The Island, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, among other well-known character actors.  It’s a sci-fi movie about the future, cloning, etc.  I remember when this Michael Bay movie came out in 2005, and bombed at the box office.  I didn’t stay away from it, so much as never got around to watching it.

I actually thought it was a good movie.  Good action, pretty decent sci-fi plot, and decent acting.  It’s no blockbuster, but I’m glad pleasantly surprised to learn that Michael Bay can actually make a decent movie. Who knew?

The only portion that raised my eyebrows was the rampant in-movie advertising / product placement.  Especially the MSN Search crap.  How much product placement? Did you know that Cisco Systems, MSN Search, Xbox, Puma, Reebok, Miller Light, NBC, NFL, Budweiser, Apple, Aquafina, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Mack, Coca-Cola, Speedo, TAG Heuer, Amtrak, Ben & Jerry’s, and Nokia are some of the sponsors of the film? That’s crazy, even by Michael Bay standards.

The Island (2005)

The Island (2005)

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ShamWow Guy In Slap, Chop Bust

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Joel

Vince Shlomi, the ShamWow guy got in to a fight in South Beach with his $1000 hooker. Shlomi and the hooker were both arrested for felony aggravated battery.

How is this guy affording a $750/night hotel room, and a $1000 hooker? How many ShamWows has he sold?

ShamWow Guy In Slap, Chop Bust – March 27, 2009.

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Made of Honor (2008)

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Joel

So we watched Made of Honor Friday night, borrowed from a friend. First of, I want people to know that we had low expectations. Turns out, it was even worse than I imagined.  Formulaic to say the least, but the characters were so one-dimensional, especially Michelle Monaghan.  Her mood swings and decisions were so often extreme, you knew it was contrived as a plot device.  I think the movie’s ending was the worst aspect, as it was extremely rushed, as if “Whoops! We have exactly 2 mins to end the movie, let’s wrap everything up fast.”  I’m not even kidding.  Two mins, and you get a fast wrap-up, and then closing credits. Instant chick-flick.

Made of Honor (2008)

Made of Honor (2008)

I don’t know who I felt worse for — Patrick Dempsey or Michelle Monaghan or Sydney Pollack. Not Patrick Dempsey, because he must have pocketed good money as he has top billing.  Michelle Monaghan’s character was one-note person — I’d be embarassed to have this movie on my resume.  Sydney Pollack is a great actor, and this was his last film, so I guess some actors/actresses just need the fast money.

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Picard steals the show on Family Guy’s Star Trek reunion

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Joel

Total awesomeness.  Check the link for a 2 min clip for the upcoming Family Guy episode.

http://io9.com/5187033/picard-steals-the-show-on-family-guys-star-trek-reunion?autoplay=true

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Len Berman’s Tour of Citi Field

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Joel

The new stadium is lookin’ good.  I can’t wait to see a game there, but did they say 15,000 fewer seats than Shea?  Larger version on the original site here.

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The Orange Box and LittleBigPlanet

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Joel
The Orange Box

The Orange Box

This month, we purchased our first two PS3 games.  We purchased The Orange Box with the PS3, and we recently added LittleBigPlanet to our collection.  Now we have a collection of…..two. 🙂

The Orange Box includes a few games – Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 follow-up episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.  I already started playing Half Life 2, but slowly.  It’s taking me a bit of time to adjust to using a game controller versus the years of using the keyboard-and-mouse combo.   I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been running into walls, struggling to walk through a door, and gotten killed by the evil Combine soldiers who raided the house.

Good news!  This past weekend, I started improving.  Maybe the fact that I’m a little out of practice with first-person shooter (FPS) games is playing into that as well.  I’ve struggled to find caches and where to go next, while I’ve got soldiers shooting me.  I’ve found some help during my adjustment period.  I started using visual walkthroughs posted online to help me find out where to go and what to do.  It’s a crutch, but useful. The more I get comfortable, the less I’ll be freaked about getting shot.  The less I’m freaked out, the more I can concentrate on finding my way, enjoying the game better, and less reliance on the walkthroughs.

LittleBigPlanet

LittleBigPlanet

Our second game, LittleBigPlanet, arrived today. It’s a platform puzzle game, similar to games like Super Mario Bros, Metroid, etc.  Except it’s nothing like it at all.  The graphics are awesome, the art design is ingenious, and the game is pretty neat.  Your ability to fully customize your character, the ability to move, push, pull, swing, etc, is just fun. There are a number of maps that come with the game, but you can also go online to play other user-created levels, or create your own.

What I’m most looking to is the co-op play.  You can have up to 3 other people playing with you.  I want to play these levels with my wife.  I mean, how fun would that be!?!

These should satiate me for a while, although I do have my covetous eye on Bioshock.  Most people finish their games straight through in a 10 hours or so.  I don’t play as often, and I take my time.  I’ll be ready for a new game in a few months.

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The day Joel bought a $10 chicken salad sandwich

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Joel

Today will be the day infamously known as when I bought a $10 chicken salad sandwich.

So I’m working in NYC, and a number of us have a 1pm meeting.  We decide to go downstairs to the cafeteria to grab a bite before our meeting.  One person makes a suggestion that we try this place called Wichcraft nearby, as they have “excellent” sandwiches. I say, whatever, okay, why should I be the one against checking out a place that has “excellent” sandwiches.

So we head over to Wichcraft, and look at the menu.  It’s your usual sandwich place.  I’m trying to eat healthy, and I see a decent chicken salad sandwich.  The first thoughts in my head are:

  1. The ingredients are “walnuts, roasted tomatoes, pickled red onions & frisée on multigrain bread.”  What heck is “frisée”?
  2. The sandwich costs $9.50.

I ask the woman at the counter what “frisée” is, and she tells me it’s lettuce.  I’m looking at her incredulously, and ask the obvious question, “Uh, why don’t you just say lettuce?”  She looks at me like I’m an uncultured dolt. Obviously, why would anyone refer to plain old lettuce as “lettuce” when you can class it up with name “frisée”. Later, I found out that frisee is supposed to be an endive with a finer cut to the leaves, but I bet you most places are just giving you lettuce.

Anyway, I’m the first to order.  I have doubts about a $10 sandwich, but I’m in NYC with NYC prices (I spent $11 yesterday on pasta and a bottle of soda somewhere else.)  Most importantly, my coworkers are around and I don’t want to appear cheap.  So I buy a regular size chicken salad sandwich with fancy lettuce for $10, no chips or drink.

Meanwhile, everyone else has changed their mind, and decided to eat in the company cafeteria with cheaper, er, more reasonable prices.  And I’m stuck holding an “excellent” sandwich.

BTW, it was not good at all, and certainly not worth $10. Tomorrow, I’m sticking to my caviar and champagne lunches.

What an overpriced $10 chicken salad sandwich looks like

What an overpriced $10 chicken salad sandwich looks like.

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Tropic Thunder (2008)

Posted on March 22, 2009 by Joel

After two long weeks, I finally had an opportunity to pop in the DVD from Netflix, and watch Tropic Thunder, starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, etc.  So many people have mentioned this as a hilarious, and the trailers have made the movie look very promising.  My friend Raj came over to visit, and had a nice guys night.  We had pizza & beers, played some Madden ’07, and then watched Tropic Thunder.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Tropic Thunder (2008)

I have to confess that I wasn’t all the impressed with the movie. It had its occasional moments, but I didn’t think it was all that funny.  Being that this movie was about so-so actors not initially realizing they were not in an actual movie reminded me of the old 80’s comedy classic Three Amigos!, but I thought Three Amigos! was more consistently funny.  Tropic Thunder was only okay in my book.

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Kill Bill in One Minute

Posted on March 22, 2009 by Joel

Nice.

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The Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Joel

Today, my wife was working, so she missed all the fun.  I took the kids to Philadelphia to spend a few hours at the Please Touch Museum. My wife first told me about it, and I think she had heard about it from her coworkers.  Ironically, the day we finally take the kids there, she’s gotta work.  Sucks.

Robbie & Joshua at the Please Touch Museum

In the morning, we got them ready, and off we went.  First I took the kids to Dunkin Donuts to get some donuts to go.  I didn’t want to unstrap the kids, so I opted for my first ever trip through the drive-thru.  Dunkin Donuts is currently running a promotion for 6 donuts for just $3.  Sounds nice, but you know what? I don’t want 6 donuts, I just want 3 donuts.  I’m sitting at the drive-thru, no menu of all the donuts to choose from, and the guy tries to convince me to get a half-dozen, as it’s the same price.  I figure what the hell, sure.  I start trying to rattle off a few types that I could remember, and they don’t have it.  What’s the point if they didn’t have any selection today?  I ended up getting the ONLY two glazed they had, one boston creme, and three chocoloate donuts.  We ate in the car, and Josh was covered in chocolate crumbs.

We met up with my sister and her husband at their place, and I drove the five of us to Philly.  The museum was very nice, and certainly a higher quality than the Garden State Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill we visited a while back. Lots of exhibits for the kids to see and interact with.  We had lunch around 2:30pm, and wrapped up around 5pm.  We’ll have to go back sometime.

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