What About Stephen?

Lately when I’ve gone to see a movie, I really haven’t reviewed it, so much as just given a quick overview and said “Go see it!”  or “Wait until it comes out on video”.  Well, this one is going to be different… so please.. STOP READING RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON GOING TO SEE THIS MOVIE, BECAUSE I *AM* GOING TO RUIN A MAIN PART OF THIS MOVIE IF YOU KEEP READING!

Still reading?

You’ve been warned.

Actually, I’m hoping that someone who has already seen The Book of Eli will read this and chime in.. either tell me that I’m completely out to lunch, or agree with me.  It doesn’t matter which.

Paul and I went to watch The Book of Eli on Thursday night.  We’ve been meaning to go see it, and our schedules finally matched!  So off we went, shelled out the big bucks for the tickets, and even bigger bucks for the crappy popcorn, fountain pop, and a kit-katt bar.

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I had written a few pages and found that I was rambling, so I deleted everything up til that line…  I’ll get right to it…

I completely accept that Eli may have been guided by “The Hand of God”… even when it IS revealed that he’s somehow blind.  His mission is to protect that Bible, and if God gives him the ability to kick some serious ass, then great.  But what I CAN’T figure out is why we don’t see that he’s blind along the way.  Yeah, I realize that would ruin the surprise, but throughout the movie there are times when his sunglasses are off.. do his eyes ever look “grey” or “dead” like they do at the end?  Did he go blind along the way?  No, I don’t think so.  He’s able to read the brail bible, so he’s more than likely blind at the beginning of the journey.  Unless I’m missing something (and I might very well be… if so, please tell me!) it’s almost like he just suddenly becomes blind at the end. Yes, there are instances where he relies on his sense of smell… if he has lost the ability to see, then the other senses would become more aware.  I understand that.  But it’s the eyes that bother me.  They don’t LOOK to be blind during any part of the movie, except conveniently at the end.

And as for Mila Kunis’ character… what was the point of her?  Really.. c’mon now…  Eye candy?  Comic relief?  The story could have progressed quite nicely without her.  If she was necessary to advance the storyline while Eli was still in town, fine… he’s a holier man than most, and refused to take advantage of her…  but that’s it.  I just didn’t see the need for her at all.  And the final scene where she straps on weapons and prepares to walk home like some battle-hardened warrior princess…  Oh please…   It just didn’t fit.

Argh..  I normally don’t care about gaping holes in movie plots… I usually just accept things at face value because it’s entertainment.  I strap myself in for the ride, and I either like it, or I don’t.. based on whatever emotion I feel at the end.  I don’t try to analyze every little thing, and it actually bothers me that this movie didn’t just roll off of me as pure entertainment.

Still.. I liked it.  I just really could have used an explanation of Eli’s “sudden” blindness.  Mila?  Well… I could have gotten over that part…  but the blindness?

I think I’ll have to get this when it comes out on DVD and pay closer attention.

I was checking my voicemails on Friday, and there was one from a nice-sounding lady from CCS.  She said that her name was Josee, and that the comments on my exit interview from a few weeks ago had gotten some notice… and that wanted to offer me something.

Really?  Cool.  Maybe it was a prepaid credit card!   A new car!    The keys to the vault!  I had to find out, so I called her back…

She told me that CCS President and CEO John Eisner read the comments that I wrote on my exit interview form, and thought that they were great.  Apparently they select a Client of the Year, and ask that person to come in and tell their story…  They were so impressed with mine that they were offering me the honour of Client of the Year.

Well, it wasn’t a car, but it was still nice to be noticed.  I’ve been a big fan of CCS ever since I managed to get over my pride and realized that I wasn’t going to dig myself out of debt based solely on my good looks and charm.  There just wasn’t enough of that to go around!  I can’t stress enough how helpful they were, and how I wish that I had gone to them sooner.  I even wrote a university paper on my experiences (got an ‘A’), and was asked to present that paper to my class.  I hope that anyone in debt trouble considers going to them, because I know first-hand how much better my life (and credit rating) is because of their program.

So it all sounded great.  Go in, tell my story, and walk out with a feeling of accomplishment.

“Oh, and just so you know” Josee continued, “we videotape the interview, and show it at our annual gathering, so everyone in the organization can see an example of how their work benefits our clients”

Ummmm… videotape?

Even over the phone, I’m sure that my blood pressure spiked…   I carefully considered how I was going to phrase my response…

“Well.. I’m a little surprised by all of this.. and honoured to be given the opportunity, but I’m going to have to respectfully decline the offer…”

I don’t think that she was expecting that.  Things had been going along so well.  So I explained further…

“I’m great at writing, and I think going in and talking to you would be fine… but sitting in front of a video camera… well that scares the shit out of me.. excuse my bluntness…  I’d be so uncomfortable that I don’t think you’d have anything that you’d even want to show to people…”

She said that she understood, and respected my position… and that she’d still like to take me up on my offer of writing my story, if I would agree to that.  By all means.  Not a problem.  I can hide behind my keyboard, and not have to worry about my hair being a mess.

Still, it was nice to be recognized…

I’m not sure what it is about Fox News that drives me nuts.  Maybe it’s the fact that they generally appear to be insane.  Hiring Sarah Palin as a contributor was yet another example of that.  But Fox News does make good comedy material for Jon Stewart and other programs like The Daily Show.  (Incidentally, they’re also supposed to be the most watched News channel in the USA… figure that one out!)

So I enjoy when the two sides go head to head, as they did last night when Stewart appeared on Fox’s O’Reilly Factor.  Watching the exchange, I did wish that Stewart had made more of an effort to be serious, rather than going for the zinger against O’Reilly.  I’ve seen interviews of his in the past where he’s left his comedy at the door, and the man is extremely intelligent and compelling.  He’s also very funny, but in this instance, I wish that he had tried to curb it a bit.  It must be frustrating as hell to try to talk to someone like Bill O’Reilly, especially on his own program.  It’s sad when Stewart referred to O’Reilly as the voice of reason on Fox.  That’s a pretty small voice.  Granted, we’re comparing him to people like Glenn Beck.

The O’Reilly Factor interview was broken into 3 parts on YouTube.

Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3

Tablet PCs have been around for a few  years.  Know anyone who actually owns one?  Me neither.  How about someone who’s even seen one?  Nope, pas moi.  I’ve never really been sure what they were intended for.  Sure, there might be some specialized uses for them.  I think that they’d be great for hospitals, maybe even certain factory situations.  But for everyone else… what’s the point?  Without a keyboard, data entry would be painful, right?

Well that was before the rise in popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, with their fancy touch screens.  Yeah, they didn’t come up with the touch screen, but they seem to be the ones who get credit for making it cool. 

So will Apple breathe life into a product that essentially has limited mass-appeal?  Will slapping an Apple logo on something that no one seemed to want when it ran Windows suddenly make people want to own one?  I’m not overly excited about it.  I’m even less excited by the name.  iPad?  Umm…  really?  Is that the best you could do, Apple?  Am I the only one who thinks that name is a more than a little silly?  It brings to mind an image that is anything but hi-tech.

Only time will tell whether the iPad takes off.  Someday I’d love to hear from someone who’s actually held one of these things in their hands.

This one’s for you, Jan…

Sat down recently and watched 2 weeks worth of SYTYCD, UK (or “uck”, as I like to call it)…  I’m still having a hard time getting into this particular show, but I’ve committed this much time to it.. I might as well ride it out and see where it goes.  I’m still convinced that it’s more of a SYTYCD – Lite than anything else.  Something that they stuck in to fill a time slot, and just see what happens.  Hell, there’s only 1 hour between when the competition show ends, to when the results show starts!  How many people can possibly vote in that short of a time?  I’m leaning toward this being the one and only season of the UK edition.  But we’ll see…

As for this week, I nailed the two getting the boot… Drew and Yanet..   When I saw Drew’s solo, featuring a telephone and dancing to Blondie’s Call Me…  well, that sealed his fate!  You just can’t do that…   Yanet I was less certain about, but went with my instincts.  So You Think You Can Dance… still waiting for my phone call to be a guest judge!

And what was up with that song Mika performed?  I’m hoping that Leona Lewis is better next week, although kinda disappointed that she’s not performing I Got You.

And Jan, if you made it this far… I eagerly await your enlightened comment 

What an adorable little creature!  It’s a shame that the rodent couldn’t have provided a little better forecast for those of us weary of this miserable season.

So…   6 more months of winter?  Oh, I know that it’s only supposed to be 6 more weeks, but I think we’re in for the long haul this year. 

Damn you, Sam…  damn you…

Remember when there used to be ads on this blog?  Yeah.. they were annoying.  I didn’t care for looking at them myself, and I knew that no one else wanted to look at them.  So, for the time being, they’re gone… but they did produce one interesting thing… a cheque!

Yes, unbelievable as it seems, I received a cheque in my mailbox last week from AdBrite.  You know how you’ve seen those ads on other sites… “THIS IS A REAL CHEQUE FROM GOOGLE!!” and it shows a hand holding a cheque for $35,625.21 for 1 month’s ad revenue?  Well I have one of those cheques!  And if I had a scanner, I’d show you a picture of it.  Honest, I would. 

And you’d probably laugh.  I know you would. 

$5.40 US!  Sooo…  about $5.90 CDN…

I could go cash it.  I’d probably spend a couple of dollars driving to the bank, and then stand in line for an overly long amount of time, and then sheepishly hand my piddly little cheque to the bank teller…   Or I could just do what I’m going to do…  tack it up on my goals board, next to my Lexus, and a few other things…   and tell myself that some day, these cheques are going to start flowing in on a regular basis… and in increasingly larger amounts…

But for now this $5.40 US cheque is a reminder that anything is possible… with a lot of work… and a little luck…  anything is possible…

No, it’s not a clown fish… it’s the latest addition to my family of mp3 players.  I wish that I could find my original 256mb player.  I thought that thing was pretty amazing.  And looking back, I suppose that it was.

I’ve still been unable to locate my 8GB Nano.  I’ve cleaned out the car, and I’m still thinking that it’s in there… SOMEWHERE… but I haven’t been able to find it.  I just can’t imagine it being anywhere else.  Doesn’t matter… I couldn’t live without my music, so the same day that I went to Future Shop for a TV, I swung by the iPod section. 

Hello Mr 16GB silver Nano, complete with video camera, pedometer, FM radio, and whatever else I probably won’t use.  I actually tried out the video camera, and it’s pretty slick… but I don’t know how often I’m going to use something like that.  The pedometer… well, maybe when the ice age thaws a little (thank you Global Warming for getting my hopes up!)… I can see that being useful.. the first time…    As for the radio, I tried it.. it sounded like crap, so I went back to my regular music.

I have to say, it’s a nice looking iPod.  I didn’t care much for any of the colours, other than the silver.  I would have liked a red one, but you have to order those ones special, I believe.  The “reddish” ones that they sell in stores aren’t really what I was looking for. 

It seems lighter than my old Nano.  I think that I prefer the older square shape, but I’ll get used to this.  I like playing with it when I’m watching video, flipping it back and forth and watching the video screen adjust to however I’m holding it. 

I’m easily amused sometimes…