DVD: Battlestar Galactica - The Plan

I had been looking forward to this new 2 hour movie for quite some time. Syfy (cough, the SciFi Channel) had decided to not show it until next year, but now that it's available for purchase, and I've watched it, I'm content with the "full circle" which it brought us to. Number One, Cavil, is even more evil than I remember (a final act a the end of the movie, done with a passive, almost non-caring effort, was actually pretty chilling). Dean Stockwell's "One" character is the focal point of the entire movie, but all primary characters are represented. Many new relationships are revealed, and background stories that were created just for this movie.

The final dialogue between two copies of Number One was pretty interesting, just before they... well, go get the DVD for yourself. It's not "must see" material, but if your a BSG fan, you'll probably enjoy it. If you are NOT a BSG fan, you'll probably scratch your head through most of it.

iPod Touch. Thank You, Steve Jobs.

I am now an iPod user.

I spent the past several years berating the iPod based on many facts, and some personal quibbles I had with functionality, storage and the entire iTunes Application concept. I actually still have many of these issues, but the iPod Touch (3rd Generation, 64GB model) finally won me over, especially for the WiFi connectivity and "massive" solid state storage.

I was disappointed that it did not include actual GPS (instead a "maps" service based on your WiFi connection which I knew would be a joke - apparently I work in "Chicago, Illinois, Florida", for example). :-P But frankly, I'm very happy with my investment (because that's what an iPod is any more... an investment).

After dumping 26GB of music on it to see how it would handle it (I already knew it was going to defy my conventions of folders for music-types), I've been using it daily, and have made $3 in purchases on iTunes (one game and a scribble app for when I need to take a lot of quick notes - I don't know if I'll ever type "fast" on it since I am 6' 4" and have the hands to match). I did find I was easily able to use the virtual keyboard so far, which was a pleasant surprise. I wish it had (virtual) left and right arrow keys for simple text corrections, though.

I have since removed the music and redumped it all back in but am organizing my FOLDERS as "ALBUM" references so that I see my "folder" on the iPod. I really don't need to hear a Oration by Leonard Nimoy mixed in with Dance Dance Revolution tracks, Duran Duran, Avril and then some Holst followed by the Halo soundtrack, topped by Star Wars "Anakin vs Obiwan". Get it..? As for "playlists"... I'm not on board with that yet. I probably will use them eventually, but not for CATEGORIZING my music. Why they allow you to put Pictures (which includes Videos.. what?) into Folders and then SEE THOSE FOLDERS but not your MUSIC is beyond me. It's like it's either over-idiot-proofed or someone at Apple is sadistic (the latter, I'm sure).

I've already set it up for VOIP so I can make phone calls as long as I've got WiFi near by, using my Google phone number (626-81-SCIFI). Not a cell replacement, but nice to have just in case.

I will probably get the actual app for the website I use for remote server/desktop access (thanks to how things have gone at work, VPN is a joke and now circumvented by people like me). Testing VNC to my server from across the house yielded looks of awe from at least one of my kids. "You're doing that with your IPOD?!"

So if you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about it. I obtained a nice leather "Star Trek communicator" type flip case with belt clip for it, and I will probably stay with that (despite my desire to get something that protects it like a 3 day old child - you really don't want to get these things dirty, or scratched, or ANYTHING, I find).

So... there you have it. I've done my annual bid to the Tech Lords, after my last venture (the quad-core system I use, very helpful for my multimedia work). Getting it to work with Windows 7 was.. not fun (as it was not yet officially supported since W7 is still a few days away from release) but after that, it's been good. Now I have a bunch of family videos to convert to MP4 (thank the Lord for NERO).

Mars ETA: 39 Days

Wow. I first saw this in Slashdot today, and found it very exciting! The heck with paid trips to the space station. I want to visit Mars before my time's up, now! :-)

Star Wars Remake... By You And 471 Other Fans

Yes, it's true. There is a website (starwarsuncut.com) that is putting together a remake of the original Star Wars movie (episode 4). Check it out, because it's actually pretty damn cool.

MOVIE: Couples Retreat

This was pretty much what I expected... sort of funny, had it's "moments", but I was also finding myself a little to "reflective" on my failed marriage and several points in the movie where it was "overly serious". I wanted it to be funnier, more often. Oh well. Matinee showing so not a huge hit on the wallet, thankfully. I did not beat up on my daughter for telling me that the character played by Jason Bateman was me... (but I still have time)

MOVIE: Zombieland

I went into this movie knowing exactly what I was going to get: A fun time with people making jokes every 60 seconds while killin' zombies. That's exactly what I got. Thought it did, of course, require tons of vulgarity (sigh), it did NOT require any over the top sexual themes. That's such a rarity any more. I'd pay to see this again just because it was simply FUN to watch and enjoy. Don't expect to exercise your grey matter at all, but do expect to laugh out loud.

MOVIE: Surrogates

So take some old scifi ideas and mix them together, add Bruce Willis, shake, then.. well. Enjoy, I guess. It was not stellar by any means. I'd put it on par with Tom Cruise's movie about the people living fantasy lives (forgot the name now), though his had more special effects I'd say.

I wouldn't spend more than matinee price to see this movie (and I did). :-P You can tell I'm not that into a movie when I can't find much to say about it. I think it's because I've seen so many over my lifetime that I'm constantly, just like my father did, comparing them to those stories they are ripped from originally, as this one was. Oh, for want of more movies with at least semi-original themes...