Terminate Marketing

I just got back from the 12:01am showing of the new movie Terminator Salvation, and I have to say the movie was well done... That is not to say that there weren't moments of utter ridiculousness, which usually caught crowd laughter.

I won't full on review the movie since most of you haven't seen it, but I'll give some pointers on how not to be spoiled.

First off, let me say this. Do not see the trailers. None of them. They give away almost every good part of the movie, and watching it after a trailer is like seeing what you already have seen, but with the filler that connects the action.

Second, don't look any female character in the face. Sure, it's 2018, the machines own the planet and the surviving humans are left struggling for survival, but there's still somehow a surplus of bad make-up to go around.

Batman. Yes, there are ample Christian Bale "Batman" moments. Laugh about it and then move on.

Love interests. What would a Terminator movie be without it? "The Terminator" had John's friend coming back in time to pork Mom Conner. T2 had the love of a mother and child, and the black guy's family. Rise of the Machines had Junkie Conner and the young Kate finally hooking up in an underground bunker. T4 is no exception, and if anything it's more out of place. Deal with it.

Cheesy lines. Although there is no Schwarzenegger in the credits, there are a few cheesy lines. They're fan service, but somehow out of place. To this author's dismay, there was no yelling of "Get to the chopper," even though they had more than enough opportunities.

If I have one last thing to say about this movie, it won't be about the movie. It's about the marketing department. T4 should have been run something like this:

Machines firing weapons, human skulls getting crushed in tread, humans fleeing, T-600 exoskeleton standing on a hill. Zoom to the robotic skull, fade to black, run title, run "Christian Bale" name. That's it! Tease the crap out of the movie and build up the hype. The current trailers and exposure ended up ruining a lot of the movie for my friends and me as we knew how almost every action scene was going to turn out, save the last one.

I've got a message to the creators, "fire marketing"

Overall I'd say 7.8/10, solid C+ in my book, and worth seeing, just skip the trailers and you'll be set.

Recipe Maker

I was fooling around on the Food Network site when I had a sudden inspiration to write down one of my age old recipes.

Now the idea is nothing new, but I think I put a pretty good spin on it. Also, I think I made it easier to make, since before there might have been some confusion.

Click the picture below to check it out:

SNL Digital Insult

On the most recent Saturday Night Live, Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg collaborate once again and provide a follow up to the infamous "Dick in a Box."

Their follow up act? Well, it seems that the guys are out of time and need a mother's day gift. They devise the plan that the best gift to give their mom, is their best friend... I.E. Swapping moms. Gross and wrong, I know, but hilariously funny.

I won't say anymore because I don't want to ruin the experience. If you haven't had the chance, check out their new SNL digital short, Mother Lover.

Mother Lover

What is your reaction to the Digital Short?

Lost Cause

I just finished watching the latest episode of Lost and it refreshed my opinion of what I think the worst element of the show is. It's not the fact that each episode answers a handful of questions and then poses 50 more. It's not the incredible amounts of stalling where nothing happens in episodes. No, the thing that I hate the most about the show is the character, Kate.

Kate irks me to no end. No matter what the situation is, Kate will always go against it. Jack and Sawyer will go off into the jungle on a good hunch that what they're doing is important, but they know it is going to be dangerous. Jack will refresh this belief by saying something to the effect of "Kate, no, I need you to stay here. It's too dangerous." Of course, Kate immediately retorts in an almost whiny fashion but then somehow agrees to stay put. Only she never does stay put. She always follows the group, gets captured or causes the group to get captured, and always manages to foul things up. This situation happens so often that Jack's catch phrase has become "Kate, no, it's too dangerous."

If that was all that was happening, I'd shine it on and get on to the next scene, but there are so many other things that Kate does or is responsible for that just ends up being awry. In the recent episode Jack takes up Faraday's quest to detonate the bomb and prevent the plane from crashing and saving the lives of all the passengers of the plane. Good idea right? Wrong, Kate thinks it's a bad idea... Why? Probably because she is selfish and wants to stay with Jack, only she pushed him away when he was going through a rough time with the drugs and all... but wait... then she decides to get herself captured again and winds up messing up Sawyer's tea party with Juliet on the sub.

In past episodes, she's been hit with darts and had to be carried by Jack.
She's also been captured in almost all of her back story episodes. Once she gets captured by her bank robber friend who is following her plan. Just prior to that, she betrayed him and her own plan to yet again go against anything that would remotely resemble a well thought out idea.
Then there is the time when she is captured by agent who inevitably gets her on the plane to begin with just prior to the show's opening episode.
And don't forget that time she gets captured in a net with Jack... I'm pretty sure that was her fault as well.
Oh yeah, and that time in court when Jack had to be a character witness to save her yet again from her own stupidity. The list goes on and on...
Does Kate ever stop being a complete idiot? After a while, you think that she'd get the drift that almost every idea she's had is a complete waste. Kate is the worst character in the show.

Who is your least favorite character on Lost?

Mercenaries Are We

I was day dreaming at work today and assembling a list of old computer games that had a memorable impact on me. I was working my way down past the obvious choices: Starcraft, Diablo 1 and 2, Rage of Mages, etc. I couldn't come to a consensus of enough to make a best list, but I thought of one game in particular which made me jump in the joy of remembrance, MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries.

Mercenaries was released in the fall of 1996, and was supposedly stamped out as a cash cow sequel to Activision's then famous MechWarrior series of games. Mercenaries was not that at all.

In the plot line of MW2:M, you take the place of an inner sphere mercenary mech pilot and perform various missions from helping clan rebellions to utterly destroying them. There would also be various protect, destroy, recon, and other various mission types. A player could choose which mission best reflected their play-style, and the game plot will alter based on the player's choices. At the time, this was a relatively new concept.

The amount of individual choice and ease of customization is something not found in many games, even today. As a mech pilot you could choose between many various mech chassis and alter the weaponry, ammo, heat sinks, generators, sensors, etc. The variations are limitless, if do enough high cash missions and you handle your finances appropriately. As a mercenary, if you gained enough money from missions, you could hire other mercenaries to pilot alternate mechs that you design and customize for each engagement. As a mech group you could set up various tactics when running together, or you could send the other mercs to various nav points. Almost every action in the game was customizable and alterable to create a fun an unique experience every time.

The game play, once on a mission, is pretty similar in nature. You would either protect or destroy the targets and move to the drop ship for extraction. However, this does not detract from the fun of the game what-so-ever. How you engage each mission is up to you. While piloting the mech, you could switch from various sight modes including infrared and position a sensor map with real time telemetry. The various weapon types created a new ground for strategizing each mission. On a destroy mission, I'd stack up my heavy artillery. While on a defensive mission I'd stock up on my full auto projectile weapons and keep a gauss weapon at bay in case I ran up against any heavy resistance.

Remembering the game brought back nostalgia for a better time when games were primarily made for the gamers and not for the money. I wish Activision would hit the re-set button and publish more games with this level of customization and the game play to match.

What game(s) of yore do you fondly remember?

Home Gym Essentials

I've had this plan for a while to create my own home gym. It started about a year or two ago when I impulse bought a yoga mat and fitness ball for stretching and ab work. Since then I've bought and acquired a couple accessories including ankle weights, an Olympic bar and weights, and some adjustable dumbbells.

I was looking for my next upgrade when this weekend I spotted the Iron Gym at my local Sports Authority for around $30. A friend of mine has it already, or something like it, and I enjoyed using it, so I thought I'd give it a go.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Iron Gym, it's a pull-up bar that fits in your door frame. It can also be used to keep your feet in place while doing sit-ups and it can be placed upside downs on the ground and used for either push-ups or bar dips.

When I first opened the box there were about five parts, four screws and bolts, a tool to tighten down the bolts, and an easy to follow instruction booklet. I actually messed it up and used the large screws on the small screw bit, but the mistake was easily rectified and I assembled it correctly the second time.

I performed an entire workout with it on Saturday and I am still sore. I guess my lats were a little weak and the mass repetitions of bar dips and push-ups created a burn in my triceps, but so far no soreness there. I'm beginning to think that the Iron gym was the perfect addition to my home gym, but I still wanted more.

For most of my seated dumbbell work, I've been using a flat chair which is effective but it isn't always in the position or angle that I want it to be in. The same could be said for my lying down work which I predominantly do on my aforementioned fitness ball. The ball is great for bringing up the stabilizer muscles when doing main exercises like bench and ab work, but sometimes I need a flat surface do to more heavy lifting or specialized work. What I really needed was a good workout bench.

After my workout with the Iron Gym, I went back to Sports Authority and checked out what else they had to offer. Turns out they didn't have much, but one bench in particular caught my eye. The 7-position Folding Bench is adjustable from a slight (about 10-20 degree) decline up to about an 85 degree angle, and many angles in-between. When I purchased the adjustable bench, it was fully assembled. It did, however, come with instructions to assemble, oddly enough. The price tag was around $120 or so, but I had already signed up for the "save $25 on your next purchase over $100 promotion" (see Sports Authority website). After tax and the $25 discount, I paid somewhere around $100.

After spending a total around $130 in the last couple days, my home gym is one gigantic step closer to becoming complete. The local Bay area gyms cost anywhere from $20-100 a month and anywhere from $60-$120 in "start-up" fees. The way I see it, I just saved myself from a lot of gym fees, gas money, and wasted time while waiting for the local gym rats to finish their baby curls. Money well spent.

What are the best purchases you've made for your personal home gym?

Plans and Schemes

I'm using this weekend as downtime to update a few features on the page.

So far I've got some plans for the future of this blog as it is still evolving, every day in fact. What started out as a little side project to an already hectic life, I've decided to branch out and spin the random generation machine... Ok, so I just wrote some things down on a piece of paper, closed my eyes, and picked the idea my finger landed on.

I wrote a "What is Shared Universe?" section on the right side of the blog and I'm currently designing a background and layout to bling out the homepage. I've talked to a few friends who have their own blogs and are doing quite well and I've asked them to contribute when they can.

Check out their blogs here:

• Jesse and Wes
  
• Lindsey and Sarah
  

Future plans include a post card scheme, global domination, and plans to incorporate some music from a few local bands and artists. Once we start gaining a fair number of readers and comments, we'll have a P.O. Box available for you to send some post cards to. The goal is to get some cool and unique post cards with a funny/quirky little message to us. Each week we'll pick the best cards, scan them (front and back), and post them on the site (last names and addresses omitted). We'll keep your first name and city/state/country visible and you'll get the bragging rights.

We're still hammering down the nail here and there and it looks like this site will soon be fully operational. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the site, comments on the posts, and dogs on a leash. They can get away from you if you're not careful.

Hell's Victor

Hell's Kitchen (U.S) Season Five is coming to a close next week when the final two chefs (of the original 16) face off in what will be an exciting and stressful match. If you're not familiar with the season thus far, the two remaining chefs are Danny and Paula.

1. Danny Veltri, 23, is an Executive Chef from Edgewater, Florida. So far he has been a front runner in the show since its beginning.
   
2. Paula Dasilva, 28, is an Executive Sous Chef from Pompano, Florida. Paula has been a frequent challenge winner and has remained strong throughout the competition.

The winner of Hell's Kitchen is awarded executive employment in the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City with a salary of $250,000. Both contenders have more than what it takes to make it.

As much as I would like to see both of them make it, there can be only one winner and I have to say that I'm rooting for Danny. He's been passed up on many challenges that should have gone his way. His constant strength through each service has been a testament of the leadership he will bring to the Borgata. Danny is one of the most talented and professional chefs that have competed in the Hell's Kitchen arena. Plus his 'afterthoughts' always make me laugh, and you can't beat that.

Go Danny!

Penny for your Thoughts

It's now officially the first day of May and I'm kicking off this month with a poll. This Month's theme will be, "What is your favorite holiday?" and you'll be able to respond with a few options:

• New Year's Eve/Day
• Valentine's Day
• Cinco De Mayo
• 4th of July
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Winter (Christmas, etc)
• Judgment Day

Please place your vote in the poll to the right, and feel free to comment on what you chose and why. I'll be compiling the data and reposting the results in a blog on or near the 1st of June.

Thanks for voting and responding!