Thoughts On... The 2013 VMAs

I have always known that I had a disconnect with current popular music, but every once awhile I get a reminder. My most recent reminder came last night as I watched the 2013 VMAs with my roommate. And now the next day, I have to thank Kevin Hart, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry. Without them, I would not have made it through the entirety of the broadcast without my roommate strangling me with her blanket.

Thoughts On... Ben Affleck As Batman

The problem with being a vocal fan of anything is when something big happens everyone reports it to you and then they sit back and wait to see if you explode (either positively or negatively). I am a vocal fan of Batman. While I'm smart enough to see past the haze and recognize the comic character's flaws, there is still an attractive quality about the story of the man who would be a superhero. Since Warner Bros. announced the news yesterday, a whole slew of my friends have taken it upon themselves to let me know that Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in Zack Snyder's "Batman Vs Superman" movie.

Top 5... Offensive Comedies

Everyone loves to laugh. We may all differ in what we find funny, but we all love to laugh. Me included. One of the things that is as universal to humans as humor is inappropriate or offensive humor. The stuff that we find funny that society says we shouldn't. For example, the eclairs scene in Van Wilder. Yes, it was disgusting and almost vomit worthy, but it was funny! Society says that we shouldn't laugh at things like that, but we all do anyway. We just don't admit it out loud. Except for me, obviously, since I'm posting this on the internet.

But it did get me thinking, out of all the offensive comedies I've seen (mostly thanks to certain friends of mine), which were my favorites? The ones that I'd be down to watch again, or recommend to people in need of a good laugh. And I came up with my top 5. I know you're dying to find out, my dear readers, so without further ado... Here they are!

Movies I'd Like To See: Saving Mr. Banks

We all love going to the movies. We all love seeing the screen come alive with great characters, epic story lines, and mind-blowing action. But another thing about going to movies that we love is seeing the trailers for the movies that are on the horizon. Now, in the Information Age, there are TONS of trailers out there, but every once in awhile you get a trailer that really lights you up and sets that fire in your brain. Showcasing the trailers that do that for me is the point of this new series of posts called "Movies I Want To See". Today's post is about the trailer for a new movie called "Saving Mr. Banks".

Today we get a Tom Hanks twofer! You know that I'm a fan of Tom Hanks, but what you may not know is that I'm also a fan of Disney's Mary Poppins! But before we get to that, check out the trailer:

Movies I Want To See: Captain Phillips

We all love going to the movies. We all love seeing the screen come alive with great characters, epic story lines, and mind-blowing action. But another thing about going to movies that we love is seeing the trailers for the movies that are on the horizon. Now, in the Information Age, there are TONS of trailers out there, but every once in awhile you get a trailer that really lights you up and sets that fire in your brain. Showcasing the trailers that do that for me is the point of this new series of posts called "Movies I Want To See". Today's post is about the trailer for a new movie called "Captain Phillips".

Tom Hanks is a great actor in my opinion. From the moment when I first saw him in Splash, he has done nothing but solid, exemplary work in every film I've ever seen him in. So when I hear about a new project with Tom Hanks, it immediately grabs my attention. And, it's based on a true story!! Here, check out the trailer for yourself:

My New Desktop PC - Full System

It's actually really surprising how quickly one can put together a desktop system once the choice of processor is made. I thought it was going to be a long and arduous process of pouring through an endless series of websites reading part specifications, combing through marketing and sales jargon to get the tiny nuggets of real information, and reading TONS of user reviews to see which pieces really stand the test of not only time but also usage. Well, as it turns out, I actually did all that stuff, but it went a LOT faster than I thought it would.

I must admit, I did have a little help from my friends, but at the end of the day, the part choices were mine. And so I have completed the part choices for my new desktop PC. As an added bonus, I've also listed the prices for all the parts and a cost summary at the end of this post. And now, without further ado, here are the specs for my new desktop PC:

Medical Update: Unexpected Good news...

This morning I got some unexpected good news from a medical standpoint. It turns out that I'm further along in one of my goals than I had originally thought. See, this past weekend, I had to run a great deal of errands. One of which was going up my old stomping grounds (a.k.a. Manchester, NH) to access my storage area. I was on the hunt for my scale. Now, you might wonder why I would go on a 30 min drive to Manchester to get something I could buy for $20 at my local Wal-Mart. Well, the issue here is, most scales that are regularly available for under $1K can only measure weights up to 300lbs. As you know, my dear readers, that I clock in the 400-500lb range, at the moment. So, regular scales don't really work for me. It took me a few months to find one that could measure up to 550lbs and be able to afford it. Hence the quest to Manchester to get this amazing artifact.

Movies I Want To See: The Counselor

We all love going to the movies. We all love seeing the screen come alive with great characters, epic story lines, and mind-blowing action. But another thing about going to movies that we love is seeing the trailers for the movies that are on the horizon. Now, in the Information Age, there are TONS of trailers out there, but every once in awhile you get a trailer that really lights you up and sets that fire in your brain. Showcasing the trailers that do that for me is the point of this new series of posts called "Movies I Want To See". Now, there are many things that will attract me to a movie: story, characters, actors, directors, producers, etc.  A movie where any ONE of these aspects catches my eye is worth a bit more attention. But every once in awhile you get a perfect storm that makes a movie simply irresistible. Recently, I went to see "Red 2" and I saw the trailer for the next movie one of my favorite directors has up his sleeve. Check out the talent connected to ONE FILM:

Favorite Books: Ender's Game

It's been a long while (over TWO YEARS) since I've written about a series of books that I love. Just recently, I was reminded of a book series that I still cherish to this day when I found out that the film based on the first book in the series had just released a trailer. The name of the series? The Ender Saga. I don't actually remember the first time I read "Ender's Game", but I do remember why it appealed to me. The story of the book is a simple one: In the far future, humanity has had two wars with an alien race known as "Buggers" and we barely survived. We know a third war is coming, and the Battle School was created to prepare a new class of soldiers and military leaders. The story follows Ender as he is drafted into Battle School and follows his career through both Battle School and the more advanced Command School. We see the emotional and physical consequences of Ender's going through the qualification process, the effect his drafting has on his family, and the role the adults surrounding Ender play in his development. And we get all this, almost the ENTIRE STORY,  through the mind of Ender himself.

My New Desktop PC - The Processor

I've been doing research on what I need to purchase to build my next desktop. For those you who don't know, you can actually get a higher quality machine for roughly the same price as a PC purchased at a retail store if you build your machine. Please understand, I only recommend this for ADVANCED users. If you can't reliably speak about things like BUS speeds, processor cores, or L1/L2 caches, then DO NOT try to build a machine on your own. GET EXPERIENCED HELP. I'm serious. I blew up $500 worth of electronic equipment when I built my first PC because I didn't know what I was doing and connected things incorrectly. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! That was two months of saved paychecks at the time. Talk to any Tech nerd, and they will ALL give you stories of badly built systems either frying out instantly or with a couple of months of being built.