Loch Ness Monster Finally Captured On Film (Serious. No Joke.)

First the Fox News report just so you can see this is real and is on almost every major and minor newswire there is. The Fox report above is one of about 200 matches in the past 48 hours with more appearing by the hour. The story is spreading rapidly, and it just made the front page of Earthlink's breaking news page (my home news page). If you just want the video without the commentary, CNN has an article with a link to the raw original footage which is even more convincing than the BBC edit.

As of right now, there is no doubt by any credible source that the film is real. In viewing the tape, all accounts indicate that there is no doubt it's an animal, and, as you will see, there's no doubt it's really big. The only real question is: what is it? There just aren't many options in this cold lake. It's not a fish or a bird. It's definitely serpentine in nature. There's some speculation it could be an enormously large eel -- possibly a world record holder if it is. The kicker is that it looks suspiciously similar to the world famous 1934 photo of Nessie (link is to Wikipedia article) as well as many more of the subsequent photos. If you go to Google Images you will find many more photos of the Loch Ness Monster, some clearly fake, others pretty believable.

The media, especially the local media in Scotland, is normally very skeptical of these type of monster stories but the footage is of such good quality that even the normally reticent BBC Scotland aired the video on its main news program on Tuesday. Here's that footage on You Tube.

This is one of those moments that might change history or might turn out to be another great disappointment. But it's believable enough for me to actually blog about it. The myth lives on regardless, skeptics claim no skeletons have ever been found. Believers point out that there have been sightings dating back to the year 565 and they're all disturbingly similar. I am deeply intrigued.

When Bill Met Steve (A Computer Love Story)

Right, this isn't a love story. I've misled you. Sue me. But this is about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of Microsoft and Apple Computer respectively and the first time they shared the stage together in over two decades. It was a relatively pleasant meeting in which they both praised each other, joked around, and talked technology. The only uncomfortable moment was when Apple's famous "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" ads were shown. A full article is here at the BBC News site. Amazingly, despite predictions, Hell has not frozen over.

In other news, Aetna has tried to fuck me again. Yeah. Last week I went in to renew my prescription and they tried the same crap again. After spending nearly an hour at the pharmacy and being irritatingly persistent, I got it fixed but we just know it's going to happen again next time. I have filed yet another formal complaint with the State Insurance Commissioner as well as sending another copy to Aetna's CEO who will, undoubtedly, pawn this off on his "executive response team" which managed to do nothing the last time. To be fair, they replied and said "you got your prescription" implying that since it was fixed there wasn't a problem. I entirely disagree because their system is flawed and the fact it happened again proved it. They made some patently false claims in their reply (and my original doctor's prescription and matching pharmacy label proves they're false -- I even sent them copies so I have no idea how they're arguing). Further, I still believe their "pre-certification" process in which some clerk decides if your doctor is competent ought to be illegal: I do not believe anyone without a medical license should ever be able to override a decision made by a medical doctor, or in my case made by a medical doctor and confirmed by two additional medical doctors. It's bogus of course. Aetna still sucks. I still want an apology from them and they've done nothing close to apologizing, opting instead to making excuses and telling lies.

A London Peculiar, Smoke Magazine

I have decided to blog about a very unusual magazine to which I subscribe called smoke, a london peculiar. It's no secret I'm a big fan of London, what with my London webpage and all. There are many magazines around on a great variety of subject, but few quite as peculiar as this one. Why is this one special? Because, if you're a fan of London, you will feel how this catches the essence of London (and its environs) quite thoroughly through the pens, keyboards, eyes, and lenses of fellow fans of London.

I'd love to tell you they published the article I wrote for them two years ago, but they didn't which only proves they have some mighty high standards. I'll probably try again soon.

Smoke, a london peculiar is subtitled "words and images inspired by the city" and you can see some sample excerpts from current issues on their site. There are photos, poems, essays, stories, and more. I can't really tell you how well this brilliant little publication captures the feel of London. You simply must try it. I get no credit if you subscribe, but it would be nice if you mentioned me or this blog so they know we're supporting them.

After checking out their site, you should, of course, immediately subscribe. For the US it's £14.60 for a year but only £10 within the UK. They takes PayPal.

If you do not have a UK checking account, you can always pay me and I can provide a local UK check drawn in Pounds Sterling for you. I will do this for my immediate friends and family only as I am not a bank; I will do this at the Interbank rate plus 3.25% (my cost).

Pirates of the Caribbean III Review

Yes, I've seen it despite the abysmal reviews: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. And you know what? It's heaps better than Shrek 3 or Spiderman 3, and in fact it's better than the previous film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as well.

Nobody would call this film "art" or even good film making, but it was damned entertaining. It runs nearly 3 full hours and I didn't look at my watch, unlike during Dead Man which I did nothing but look at my watch and that was only 2-1/2 hours. Like its predecessors, there's a little surprise at the very end of the credits. Hang around. This film won't win any Oscars, but I believe Keith Richards ought to win one for playing himself so well, in a splendid cameo as Sparrow's dad.

This was scattered, rollicking fun. There wasn't a whole lot of point. The cross, double-cross, and triple-cross was confusing. But, ultimately, it just didn't matter: it was fun. This film is a fitting end, and I hope they leave it there because it's a good way to end: on an up note. I'm sure greedy heads will prevail, though.

Besides being an adventure film, this is full of comedy of the "bust a gut" variety and you'll laugh your way through it. There are any number of continuity issues if you try and think too hard, but don't bother, it's not the point.

There's allusion to many things including the original pirates ride with the beloved line "show them your starboard side, dearie" and such.

Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me.

And plenty of bad teeth. Don't forget the bad teeth.

My website is actually getting popular

It's thanks to the blog naturally. As of June 2005 there were 68 million web pages and that numbers has, quite obviously grown. A site called alexa.com ranks them all based on traffic analysis. If you're in the top 100,000 you get all sorts of coolness factors. I'm not there -- not even close. However, this site is now ranked about 2.38 millionth which sounds low, but that does put it in the top 5% based on traffic. Naturally this fluctuates over time. Does that make me cool? No. Does it make me excited? Sadly, a little because I am a geek.

I'd love this blog and ultimately my site to garner a lot more traffic. But to do that you have to pander to people either by going totally pop-culture (boring), porno (not really my thing), or being totally one-track. That's not what my blog or my pages stand for or are about.

If I find it interesting, I blog it. Hence I've got posts about any manner of topics -- none of them related. It's eclectic if nothing else. If I were famous like Guy Kawasaki or Wil Wheaton my blog would get traffic because of who I am. Wil's site isn't all that interesting any more. Guy gets traffic because of who he is, but he keeps it because of what he says. Guy's blog is always cool. Wil just posts random thoughts like me and sometimes he's good -- like when he talks about mundane domestic stuff or even his old Wesley Crusher days but sometimes he goes off about poker, and quite frankly it runs me off. I could have emulated either one of them and probably done quite well, but I decided to go on my own path and still I'm at 120,000 hits and counting. Honestly, two-thirds of those hits are garbage hits (follow a link, look, and leave within seconds) but the rest are real visitors. They stay, read, and sometimes even click on an ad (thanks!) -- I like the fact that my blog stats show that the entry page and exit page are generally not the same which means people come, read a post, and then read another post before leaving. Content does that.

People love the Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd thread -- it's still the majority of the traffic followed by that damned ColdPlay/Crazy Frog debate. Next most popular is Daniel Radcliffe's (Harry Potter) penis -- but that's most of the garbage traffic now -- because people are looking for pictures and not me making fun of it. No porn here, sorry. The net has plenty of porn, in fact in the words of Avenue Q's Trekkie Monster "The Internet is for Porn" and it shows.

So I will stay true to my roots and ramble on about whatever moves me on a given day. Sign up for the RSS feed if you'd like. And help me get clicks. I want to break the top million. Send people over if you think there's stuff here worth reading, and many of you obviously do. And when you're done, check out Guy's blog and even Wil's -- in fact check my tiny, personally selected, blog roll on the bottom right side. It's all stuff I read and look at: none of those paid placements. I don't do that.

Tintin Coming as Feature Film

Steven Spielberg is set to produce and Peter Jackson to direct the 2009 live-action motion picture film version of Hergé's beloved Tintin books for Dreamworks. Actually Spielberg and Jackson will each direct one with a third director to make the final film. So, it's a trilogy to be taken from the numerous comics Hergé wrote.

It's being called a "photo-realistic animated film" so, honestly, I'm not 100% sure what that is, but the Wikipedia article sheds a little light. Anyone remember Dick Tracy? Maybe something like that but in reverse?

I've been a fan of Tintin since I was a kid and just thrilled to death about this! I am not alone, either. A search of the net using Google shows a large number of sites talking about this.

Little fan's final joy sees Ottawa Senators off to Cup

Okay, I am rarely moved to tears. This one got me. What a fantastic piece, and it's a very sad story -- bittersweet and poignant. You've got a three-year old with a terminal illness and a bunch of hockey players. It proves some athletes can do good things for good people in unfortunate circumstances. A small excerpt follows, but read the whole article.

OTTAWA -- In the end, it was a hockey game Elgin-Alexander Fraser was not going to miss. The three-year-old spent his last hours at home, nestled between family and friends on a mattress on the living-room floor in front of the television watching the Ottawa Senators reach the Stanley Cup finals.

His right lung had collapsed and he breathed loudly, wheezing. When it became too hard to keep his heavy-lidded eyes open, because of the morphine, his family whispered the play-by-plays to him.

"Go if you want to go now bud," said his father, Hamish Fraser to his wee son, who weighed just over 30 pounds. "You don't have to hang on."

But that night, Elgin saw the Senators win. Two hours later, as his mother and father tightly held his hands and told him they loved him, he softly closed his eyes.

Heroes vs Lost

I read this blog post today and it prompted me to write my own. The aforementioned blog discusses the merits of Heroes vs Lost. We all have our opinions, and as such I feel obligated to deliver mine.

But first let's discuss the shows. Lost has and always will have a cooler concept. The whole idea of being Lost somewhere in another time/place/dimension is creepy especially now that there's a few seasons behind us, I think it's safe to say Lost has a lot more promise. Heroes is, and only aspires to be, a comic book. There's nothing wrong with that at all. And, in fact, Heroes delivers what it pomises where as Lost has lost its way. That's not quite true actually, Lost has not become lost, but it has become inconsistent.

I am going to use the same grading scale as The Jay did in his blog and provide my own commentary and answers. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jay's post enough to make my own commentary. I just think his answers aren't all correct. Let's see how it works out.

Better Central Concept (Advantage – Lost): As I said above, Heroes is a comic book and aspires to be nothing more or less. That's not bad, but Lost aspires to be many things on many levels. We're discussing the concept and not the execution of the concept. That's a key difference and Jay blew it there.

Least Annoyingly Self-righteous Male Lead with a Background in Medicine and Emotionally Unavailable Fathers (Advantage – Lost): Wow, an easy one. I have to say Jack is less annoying than Peter because Peter is whiney and annoying whereas Jack is just annoying. They share self-doubt at times, though expressed in different ways. But if you wanted to have one guy at your back, I think we'd all pick Jack.

Hotter Resident Slamming Hottie (Advantage: Heroes): This isn’t a tough one, claims Jay but he blew the answer. Evangeline Lilly versus Hayden Panettiere -- you have got to go with Hayden because all guys really want a cheerleader even if she isn't quite 18 yet. This isn't about execution -- it's about desire. We've all had that cheerleader fantasy. Don't deny it. It's a guy thing. I gotta' teach this Jay guy about surveys. We're answering the questions honestly.

Cooler Mysteriously Creepy Older White Guy (Advantage: Lost): Locke was a top notch bad ass. I agree, Jay because Locke is the opposite of Bennet (H.R.G.) -- both are creepy and in retrospect HRG is a better guy. And it comes down to who would you trust? Bennet, of course. Which is why Locke wins hands down because we just haven't figured him out yet.

Cooler Long-haired, Bearded Rebel (Advantage: Lost): This is a no-brainer. Sawyer is in a class all by himself.

Better Villain (Advantage: Lost): Sylar is a psychopath and Ben is a psychopath. Sylar, however, is a boring psychopath whereas Ben is fucking creepy yet interesting. There's a fine line between evil and cliché and evil and fascinating. Sylar's a comic book character and we can't forget it, but with Ben it's hard to remember he's not real. Besides, Sylar looks like Peter Petrelli and Ben looks like Hannibal Lechter which is a double bonus.

Least Offensive Asian Stereotype (Advantage: Lost): I love Hiro Nakamura to death and he's so freaking cool but I keep thinking of some old stereotypical Asian cartoon character going "Meesta Magloo, Meesta Magloo." Whereas both Korean characters on Lost are just normal people who speak Korean. I have to give this to Lost even though I like Hiro better.

Most Interesting Set of Numbers (Advantage: Lost): Lost has “4 8 15 16 23 42”, and everyone wants to know what they mean. Heroes doesn't have numbers.

Least Offensive Middle Eastern Stereotype (Advantage: Heroes): Mohinder is boring and Sayid is really interesting. Yeah, we all get that. They are both stereotypes of a sort. But Mohinder is probably supposed to be Indian and he's not selling Slurpees and driving a cab, so that's a plus. Sayid is into that whole torture thing, something he excels at too. So, this is close but Mohinder is least likely to offend.

Cooler Silent African Dude (Advantage: Tie): I have no comment and agree with Jay. I'd give a slight edge to Eko only because he talked and as such we could learn about him.

Better Young Black Kid With Special Powers and Bad Dad’s (Advantage: Heroes): Hell yeah. This one's easy. Michael (Walt's dad) was irritating and I'm glad we've possibly seen the last of him. Micah's dad is not so interesting but he doesn't irritate me -- or maybe it's didn't now? But if you had to have a cool little kid brother, who would you pick? Micah or Walt? Right. Nobody picked Walt. Nobody.

Better Audience Desirability a.k.a. Which show would you rather be a character on? (Advantage: Heroes): Easy. If you're on Lost, you're a red-shirt and will die.

Better Blonde Femme Fatale / Least Useless Eye Candy (Advantage: Heroes): This category is also no-contest. Although one of my least favourite characters, Niki and Jessica are interesting and Lost's best effort was Shannon and now Juliette. Only Juliette doesn't interest me as eye candy, though her character is kinda' cool. I'm going with the Freud-experiment twins.

More Quotable One-Word Catchphrase (Advantage: Tie): Neither of these shows has anything worthwhile. However Heroes has a better tagline this year "Save the cheerleader, save the world." I'd give this to Heroes but it doesn't satisfy the question.

Most Annoying, Most Annoying Character (Advantage: Heroes): Jay blew this one. Charlie's a good actor, a complex character, and everybody's favourite little hobbit. Oh, shit, there aren't hobbits on the island? Damn. Well that mucks it up quite a bit. My problem with Heroes is there are so many characters I don't like: the cop, the twin-psycho bitch, and so on. Based on sheer quantity of irritating characters, this goes to Heroes.

Which show gives the better goods? (Advantage: Tie): Wow. A toughie. So many questions and so few answers. Heroes delivers more answers and replaces them with new questions while Lost just makes new questions and doesn't really answer many. This is a hard call because this is very personal and it's what makes a show work (or not) for a person.

So after reading all this you'd think, wow Eric prefers Lost over Heroes. That's what the numbers say. But, that shows you how valuable any survey really is. If I could watch one and only one of the two shows next season, I'd pick Heroes without a doubt. No hesitation. Numbers lie.

Free Blow Job From A Really Hot Chick

No, this blog hasn't been hijacked by pornographers though the title might certainly give you that impression.

Tania Derveaux, the rather buxom and attractive NEE party senate candidate in Belgium, is offering to give away blow jobs: 40,000 of them, to be exact, or 80 per day for 500 days -- an impossible task even for a nymphomaniac. Ms. Derveaux started this as a joke in response to an opposing party's claims of offering "new job opportunities in ridiculous amounts." Tania posed naked in a parody campaign, promising Belgian voters 40,000 jobs, all of which can be seen at the aforementioned link. The NEE is a legitimate party and she is a legitimate candidate and you can read all about the NEE at their website, however it's written in Flemish. The election takes place June 2007.

I'm pretty sure the offer's not serious -- though Wikipedia and many other outlets seem to think it is -- because at 80 per day Ms. Derveaux would end up with a horrendous case of lock-jaw, thus impairing her fellatio skills. She also offers virtual blow-jobs in Second Life (it's an on-line game if you don't know). I wish our political battles here involved this much humour.

It's interesting that this is attracting such interest around the world when George Bush has been fucking the entire country for years and it hasn't got this sort of press. If your ass is sore, it's probably Bush's fault.

For the record, I have not signed up for Ms. Derveaux's generous offer.

Shrek The Third, Diggs, Jerry Falwell

I am rather pleased with the title of my blog entry for today.

1. First, I have removed the "Digg This" button from my individual blog posts as not one single person ever used it. The master button remains. StumbleUpon buttons also remain as sometimes a kind soul takes a liking to what I've said and decided to share it. Digg has become a wasteland and it's time I wash my hands of it.

2. The infamous Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is picketing Jerry Falwell's funeral according to a Fox News article. Apparently Mr. Phelps (the "God Hates ...." guy) thinks Falwell was far too liberal. No, I am not making this up. As stated in dozens of online news reports: The Westboro Baptist Church says it intends to state a protest at the funeral of Rev. Jerry Falwell.The funeral will be Tuesday at the Thomas Road Baptist Church, the church Falwell founded, in Lynchburg, Virginia. On its Web site, Westboro says it will "preach" outside the funeral "of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like 'God loves everyone.'" I have previously blogged the joyful passing of Mr. Falwell, but let the record show, I'd rather have Falwell than Phelps. Phelps make Falwell and Robertson look like raging liberals. They are all hateful bastards and I'm sure I shall have the opportunity to spit in their face when I meet them in Hell. Ain't none of us going to heaven.

3. Today I saw Shrek The Third with Adrian, Pablo, and Timmy. My sister did a no show. I would love to tell you how the third movie was better than either the first or the second. The only thing I can say was it was a fast paced movie, and was (happily) over in around 90 minutes. This film will not win any awards, unless there's a category for unnecessary sequels. Sure, it had its moments, but generally speaking it just didn't do a whole lot for me. The animation was utterly fantastic -- the humans were realistic, which is considered the holy grail of animation. You could believe the characters were real. Unfortunately, they spent all their time on the animation and the clever jokes, forgetting any bit of reasonable plot. And they skimped on the music, a hallmark of the previous Shrek films. I just can't recommend this movie at current prices to anyone. Wait for it to hit the dollar theatre.

Jerry Falwell Dies at 73

Never take joy in the death of another, but in this case it's a little hard not to. The world, today, is a better place than yesterday. Now that Mr. Falwell, found of the obscenely named "Moral Majority", has popped off, perhaps some of his compatriots in religious intolerance will follow along. I hope it wasn't painful, because I don't wish that on almost anyone. But the honest answer is Good Riddance. I am confident that if Heaven and Hell exist, he's burning eternally in purgatory for his sins against humanity.

From the AP Wire: The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73. Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

One ought not preach intolerance and hatred, and when you preach against exclusion for any reasons (gays, for just one example) for something that cannot be controlled, you are preaching hatred. When you stand for saying someone will go to hell for not sharing your beliefs, you are becoming a fascist. Falwell was not a nice man, he was not a good man, he was an evil man. And if you really believe in God, evil men will go to Hell. I'll find out because I'm pretty sure I'll go there too -- I hope there's an opening in IT (of course, being Hell, it's probably a Windows shop.)

Once again, Miami tops 'road rage' list

Once again, Miami has the worst road-rage of any city in the USA. As a driver here, I can tell you ... wait? how dare you cut me off? I'll kill you, you son-of-a bitch ... where was I? Oh, yeah, we have the most insane, impossible drivers. Anyone who lives here and has to drive knows how bad it is.

Much of the trouble comes from the fact that many things drivers in other cities take as gospel (traffic lights, traffic signs, road markings such as stripes, and laws) drivers here consider as mere suggestions that only apply to other drivers. Further, we have a multi-cultural, diverse city where everybody who drives follows the rules of their homeland and not our rules. We have vehicles that are not suitable to be on the road, and many other hazards that are just too amazing to list. All of this is done while the driver is on the phone and reading the newspaper while driving 90MPH in the right lane or 30MPH in the left lane. And God forbid someone should try and merge.

From CNN: For the second consecutive year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city the title of worst road rage in a survey released today. Miami motorists said they saw other drivers slam on their brakes, run red lights and talk on cell phones, according to AutoVantage. Other cities near the top of the rude drivers list were New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

More "I want to Own a Casino"

In a previous post I wrote about why I wanted to own a casino -- mainly because only an absolute idiot can lose money while owning one (that idiot being Donald Trump). Most of my point can be found in my previous post, but I have more numbers to drop.

I got my MGM/Mirage annual report today. Net Revenues were $7.1 billion dollars with net assets of $22.1 billion dollars ($21,146,238,000) and debts including leases of around $13 billion dollars. That's a lot of leftover money and if they want to throw some my way, that would be cool.

Revenues are as follows: Table Games ($1.2 billion), Slots ($1.8 billion), Other Gaming ($108 million), Rooms ($2 billion), Food ($1.5 billion), and Entertainment ($1.1 Billion). They gave away $620 million dollars in comps. Yes, you will go to Las Vegas and win. If you believe that, you are Donald Trump. Think of a business where you give away a half-billion dollars and still turn a multi-billion dollar profit. That intrigues and excites me, but we all know the barriers to entry are impossible.

Casino revenue of $3.1 billion was offset by casino operating costs of $1.6 billion. That means they kept around half of the money wagered. That's your money, bud. That means at their properties and average of $8.2 million dollars per day goes through the casino or $343,000 per hour, or $6,000 per minute. Of which they keep half, so they are making $96 per second 365/24/7. Do you make $96 a seconds NET? Hell, most people probably don't make that much in a day.

Friend Test Analysis

In yesterday's post I posted the "friend test" which is both amusing and revealing at the same time. A number of my friends have taken it as well as some people I don't know quite as well. I assumed the better the friend, the better the score, but clearly this isn't the case.

Since I was able to control the questions and answers, nobody who knows the least bit about me should score below 50% because if you've ever read my website you can get 50%. If you've visited my website and visited my blog regularly, you should get around 70%. To get past that mark you'd actually have to know something about me.

Let me say, I'm pleased at Jose's score because not only did he get the highest score so far, he e-mailed me to correct one of his answers which would have put him at 90% -- out of a possible 95% since one question I don't expect anyone could answer right except by sheer luck (the people group question). I expected he'd do well and he did.

I've learned something from this: for the most part, the people I expected to know me really well, don't -- and the people I didn't necessarily expect to know me so well have done better than I expected. A score of 70% is where I expected my friends to start in, but that hasn't happened. I'm not sure if I should be upset, sad, distressed, disappointed, or what. I don't want to call out names because I don't want to embarrass anyone.

If you don't want to use your real e-mail to register, you can use Guerilla Mail's disposable e-mail addresses -- they're great for that.

Also, if anyone is a member of: Orkut, MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, NHLConnect, or StumbleUpon, feel free to add me to your contacts. Expand your network.

Friend Test

I've created this test for my MySpace page, but it supposedly works in a blog, so I'll try it here and see if anyone tries to take this test or not.



I will pass no further commentary at this time.

Mac v PC: South Park Style

Okay, I'm not fond of posting YouTube links, and this one's priceless -- if you prefer to zip over to YouTube directly, here's a direct link. Or just click "Play" below.


The volume's a bit low, so you may want to crank it up. This is an unbiased video too so it matters not if you're pro-PC or pro-Mac, this is guaranteed to piss you off just a little. It really will make you laugh, and if you're a South Park fan, so much the better!

Spiderman 3 -- The Review

I want to like this movie so badly, I can't begin to tell you. I went in hoping it was going to blow my socks off. In a way I got my wish. It definitely blew. Okay, not that bad but there are issues with this film.

It starts off great then it gets lost and drags in the middle -- it was clear a lot of the audience felt the same way by the fidgeting and such. It finds its way again after about an hour or so and barrels through a fantastic ending with violence and redemption. And then with the sunset (looked like a sunrise) it fades to black and it should have ended there. The additional ending, tacked on, was utterly horrid and did not belong.

James Franco as the (New) Goblin / Harry did a fantastic job with depth of character, but his teeth freak me out. Thomas Haden Church as the Sandman was utterly cardboard until the end when we realized he really did have some depth. Kirsten Dunst is still hot and you will not find me writing bad things about her. Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen was horrible: an actress she ain't. Topher Grace stole the show and I was suitably impressed as his turn as both Brock and Venom: he was great in every scene. Tobey Maguire who I should have liked just made me squirm.

That being said this film will blow the top off the box-office. The theatre was showing this film every 30 minutes from 9am to midnight and it was packed. The parking lot was full before noon on a Saturday -- I've not seen it this crowded. When we walked out, it was worse!

Ultimately, though I was entertained I feel cheated somehow. I think, though, I am in the minority and if you want to see it, go right ahead. It doesn't suck -- it just doesn't live up to its potential.

The Most Exciting Numbers Since Lost

The last numbers that generated this much excitement were "4 8 15 16 23 42" from the hit TV show Lost. What is it about the code "O9_F9_ll_o2_9D_74_E3" when coupled with "5B_D8_41_56_C5_63_56_88_CO" that has everyone so riled up? A fascinating question for the uninitiated. That code (at least through 1 May 2007) would unlock any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movie ever produced. It's the master key for the supposedly unbreakable encryption these disks are wrapped in. Isn't that illegal one might logically ask? Well thanks to the DMCA it very well may be illegal.

However, don't believe for a minute that there aren't some perfectly legitimate uses. For example, someone with a Linux box owns a film in these HD formats and wishes to view it. Because there is no DRM in Linux, you can't view it. The only way is to hack your legally purchased item. Has anyone lost a dime? No. Is it illegal? Possibly so, and that's clearly wrong. Another example, my older Sony Plasma TV has a DVI input. However supposedly only HDMI carries the special security codes needed to play true HD -- and many newer players will not play true HD content without that signal, so does the AACS-LA and MPAA plan on buying me a new TV? Of course not.

The DMCA is one of the worst laws passed in recent memory -- it's right up there with the Patriot Act as laws that do nothing to help anyone on the planet but lawyers and people who want to take away your rights. I firmly believe in intellectual property rights, however there are sane ways to do it and stupid ways. This was a really stupid way. It also proves the most uncrackable systems are easily broken -- this crack was done by some kid on an unmodified Xbox 360 almost by accident. Yeah, it was that easy and it was done using a video game? How stupid is the AACS-LA?

How big is this story? Well it's made every major news service around the world. Read one example on the New York Times. There is no reason these numbers wont expire and be replaced by newer keys, but let this be a lesson to you: never have a master back-door key, because some kid is smarter than you are. Especially if your organization is obscenely arrogant. What goes around, does indeed, come around.

I already own a number of Blu-Ray movies -- the format I hope wins the war -- and I play them using my PS/3 and a newer Sony TV so I have no motivation to try and hack them. First of all, I'd have to use Windows to do that and everyone knows I'd rather chew my arm off. And I don't encourage anyone to do this without a damn good reason, but I resent being told that I can't do that.

If I can rip my CD collection and store it on my hard drive so I can listen to it in iTunes, who the fuck are the AACS and the MPAA to tell me I can't do the same with my movies if I wanted to. A great quote from Josh who runs the Blu-Ray website -- the AACS-LA, he says, "has proven to be as effective as a screen door on a submarine."

Will I get a cease-and-desist letter for posting this? I suppose it's possible but I have altered the code slightly so it doesn't work. It's really crap this whole DRM thing -- as a consumer you're being shafted. You buy something and you should be able to do whatever you want with it (within reason). What's next? A movie that will only play on your DVD player and not on your friend's? Movies will end up like software -- you'll have to jump through hoops to use them. Maybe the MPAA is taking lessons from the RIAA? At least it would explain their stupidity.

Medical Update: The Final Word

After yet another 1+ hour wait, I have my results. I am not going to die prematurely, at least not from this. Yay. When you're all done dancing, I'll continue typing. (Insert Pause Here)

I'm going to be brief because my detailed medical history is boring and probably not for publication on the web, though if anyone wants more than I've posted here, I'll share. The final diagnosis is Gastrointestinal Neuropathy -- which is most commonly associated with diabetes, but I do not have diabetes.

What does this mean: Nexium twice a day for the next 3 months, then once a day for one month. If the problem doesn't get worse, once a day forever. On top of that Flora-Q which is a probiotic. Other than that I can resume much of my normal activity with some exceptions. Doctor V. Alin Botoman believes that over the next year or so the damage will slowly repair and I will get back to normal or at least as normal as I ever was. BTW, I didn't know it until today but Dr. Botoman is chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology at Cleveland Clinic locally and also at the University of Miami where he is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine -- and he's got impressive credentials.

No tomato-based products, nothing carbonated, and no citrus products. I can have very limited amounts of coffee (a few cups a week) if I want and even the occasional orange juice or lemonade (US kind not UK kind) if I so desire. I need to keep my stress down a bit -- which means I probably should never drive in Miami again :)

There's more and it's not quite as easy as I made it sound, but it's certainly not as bad as I expected. I can now go to Publix and get a proper grocery order.

(Please note I am not a doctor and am not guaranteeing I am explaining my condition fully or properly so you shouldn't base something you have based on something I've written here.)