The way LCD computer displays are being marketed these days makes me crazy. If you believe the hype, any LCD ever produced is automatically better than every CRT every produced and even the bargain basement LCD display is something that you’d be lucky to have in your home – because it is flat and flat is where it’s at. (Sorry, didn’t mean to rhyme.) Hype!! So before you run right out and buy a flat panel to replace that “old, clunky, tube” do yourself a favor and think about the purchase. Here are some things to look for when shopping.
Geostationary Banana Over Texas
Actually, that headline isn’t misleading at all. That’s exactly what is being proposed at the site with the very accurate URL: geostationarybananaovertexas.com.
Shutterfly, Kodak/Ofoto, Winkflash, and ImageStation
Back in April 2006, I did a comparison on photo sites and developing services for digital pictures. I did it for my own benefit and then e-mailed the results around to friends and family. That was before the blog. Since the blog seems like the perfect place for stuff like this, I thought I’d post what I had e-mailed around back then. Some things may have changed since I wrote this, but I suspect the basics remain the same. I tried four different sites: Winkflash, KodakGallery (formerly Ofoto), Shutterfly, and ImageStation.
DVD: Miami Vice 2006
Long a fan of Michael Mann and his original TV series, I had to give this movie a shot. I’m glad I did. I don’t know why it didn’t have more success at the box office, although I do have my complaints.
The story is reasonably solid. And while the good guys do have a couple of neat techno gizmos, they end up defeating the bad guys primarily by hard work and smarts. The hostage situation is also grittily realistic – almost too real. Furthermore, I like the fact that the bad guys are pan-national and that Li Gong is upper management in the bad guy biz. Amazing locations for filming, too, including Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.
But the pan-national locales and top-level stakes is one of my complaints. This is, after all, Miami Vice. And yes, I’m sure that lots of the vice crimes in Miami have international origins and connections. But that opening scene in the club seems like a more applicable story for these cops.
And I guess that’s part of my complaint with movie franchises these days. They feel like they need to up the story intensity by having every superhero fight multiple bad guys in one movie or have regional cops taking on international jobs. The story from the first Bad Boys movie with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, for example, would have been a great Miami Vice movie story. Now, if the Miami Vice movie franchise had gone on to make 20 movies and the moviegoer was getting somewhat tired of them cleaning up prostitutes and drugs in Miami, okay, then get a little bigger. But for the first one out of the gate, the story was too much for the title.
Still, the story was good and would have made a good Bond film – better than Casino Royale. Maybe the Broccoli family will wise up and hire Michael Mann to make a Bond film.
The DVD has some good extras on it. The ones about locations was really good. And there was one about how Colin Farrell got duped into believing he was on a real undercover deal.
Rating: 7 (out of 10)
Local news Romney editorial
The local newspaper conglomerate has a really good editorial on Romney’s tenure. It is factual, unbiased, and remarkably succinct. Definitely worth a read.
Movie: Dreamgirls
I think it is safe to say that Tracy dragged me to see the new Dreamgirls movie. It turned out to be a really entertaining movie with some great music. Great acting all around. And it was great to see Eddie Murphy not making an ass of himself. (Except for Shrek where even though he played Donkey, he was not an ass!)
Rating: 7 (out of 10)
LaPierre’s Last Day
Gary LaPierre has been on the radio since 1964 and today was his last day. If you don’t know Gary, you might be thinking that after 43 years on the radio, he’d sound like Paul Harvey – old and crotchety. Not at all. Gary hasn’t changed in all the years I’ve been aware of him and he was there for all of my 38 years! And as everybody has been saying, he is the voice of newsradio in Boston. Or at least he was until today. I don’t begrudge him his retirement – he sure has earned it. In a time when good news is being shut down, Gary’s passion for the news, interviews, and Boston in general will be missed.
Inexperienced Traveler treats grandson like shoes
A new low in travel stupidity. I always seem to be delayed by people trying to get through the airport metal detectors with stuff in their pockets. But in an unusual reversal, one woman tried to put too much on the x-ray machine belt. An “inexperienced traveler” sent her grandson through the x-ray at LAX. The sad thing is that after loading the infant on the belt, the woman probably tried to walk through the metal detector with her purse while talking on her cell phone.
Timberlake shows sense of humor on SNL
Justin Timberlake’s recent Saturday Night Live appearance included a “short” that was, uh, shortened for TV. Here’s the original, unedited version. Pretty funny and good for Justin for being willing to spoof his own genre.
Note: This is the uncensored version and as such is probably NSFW. No bad video, just the audio, so headphones would make it safe.
Tis the Season for TSO
I had to post this video, even though it is a year old. It combines Trans-Siberian Orchestra and christmas lights – what’s not to like!? (There are better quality versions of the video floating around, but this one is the best I could find on YouTube.)