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May 31st, 2006

Halo 3 trailer

By Jeff

Bungie.net : Games : Halo 3

Oh, man. Go check out the trailer. Seriously.

I want to play this thing, and I haven’t even played Halo 2 yet. It makes me think the movie might actually be good. That’s assuming it ever comes out. There’ve been a few delays. Latest release date is 2008.

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May 30th, 2006

Man steals gas; Man shoots cars tires

By Jeff

2theadvocate.com | Suburban | Deputies: Owner shot out man’s tires when he couldn’t pay for gas

People are so screwed up. Take a second and write down the guy’s license plate and driver’s license. Pulling a gun seems a bit over the top.

LIVINGSTON — Deputies arrested a store owner accused of shooting out two tires on a customer’s vehicle after the customer said he had no money to pay for the gasoline he had pumped, spokesman Jason Ard of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

A verbal confrontation occurred after the motorist went into the store on South Satsuma Road and told the owner that he had pumped $36.50 in gas, then discovered that he didn’t have money to pay for it, Ard said.

When the motorist tried to leave, the grocery store owner fired a shot that hit one of the customer’s tires, then fired a second shot into another tire after the driver pulled back into the parking lot. deputies said.

Deputies booked Nardeep S. Bhullar, 25, the owner of Singh’s Grocery, with aggravated assault, criminal damage to property and illegal discharge of a firearm, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Deputies also booked Chaz R. Watkins, 18, 27210 Charles Methvin Road in Holden with theft of gasoline, Ard said.

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May 30th, 2006

Review: Justice League

By Jeff

(Originally posted Jul 31, 2005 on my older blog)

I’ve been watching Justice League and Justice League Unlimited lately. This is good stuff.

Mike got me hooked. I’d caught it while flipping channels from time to time, but never really followed it well, and certainly never knew the episode order. Now I’ve seen all four seasons in order and … wow.

Justice League title slide

This Justice League is way beyond any previous incarnation. (Actually I suppose I should say “these Justice Leagues,” since the first two seasons are the seven member “Justice League” followed by the next two seasons of “Justice League Unlimited” featuring a whole host of heros led by the original seven.) While still mostly “kid-friendly,” these stories deal more seriously with their subject matter than most cartoons. I’d say it’s pretty close to animé in that respect.

One thing I really like is that actions in one episode have consequences in the remaining episodes. Relationships are affected, both on a personal and global (really, literally universal) scale. The consequences of gathering what amounts to an army of super-powered individuals is explored, and is actually the main theme of the fourth, and likely final, season.

I don’t know that there are plans for a fifth season, or even a related new series, but I really hope so. It’s nice to see some smart animation on the tube.

By the way, it’s worth pointing out that these series’ are the latest in a remarkably consistent and interrelated set of series, starting with Batman: The Animated Series, its two (I think) successors whose titles escape me (but undoubtedly start with “Batman”), Batman Beyond, and Superman: The Animated Series. It also seems to be tied in to Static Shock, which seems to be a much lighter show, but I haven’t really paid much attention to that one so far.

While I really love all that depth of story that’s been (and is being) developed, it’s really not fair—I have a lot of catching up to do. The only other of those series I’ve watched is the original Batman: TAS. Off to the DVDs!

[Update: They did go on to make a fifth season (3rd of JLU), and it was good, though not as good as previous seasons. The final episode though, was awesome. For me, it was worth going through the full 5th season to get to that one episode. Oh, and I've since watched all the Superman: TAS shows. Also very good.]

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May 30th, 2006

Review: Firefly

By Jeff

(Originally posted Aug 06, 2005 on my older blog)

Sci-fi western with an attitude, and a healthy dose of mystery and character building.

I am catching Firefly on DVD. I didn’t watch more than a few minutes of it when it aired a couple years ago. It didn’t grab me then, but I really didn’t give it a chance. Now that I’m paying attention… this show is pretty impressive.

At first the mixture of “wild west” and science-fiction seemed too reminiscent of other shows (Wild Wild West and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., to be specific), but I’ve been won over by superior writing and an excellent ensemble cast. Plus it has one thing that always sucks me in: an overarching plot.

In this case, that plot is primarily about two of the ships passengers. Simon, the genius doctor who gave up everything to break his sister out of a high security “medical” facility, and his even more genius sister, River, who was being subjected to horrific and torturous experiments (and probably conditioning) at said facility. She has been rendered into an unpredictable enigma, at times docile and scared, and at others violent and uncontrollable. As we learn more, it is becoming clear that the experiments were meant to shape her into something, though I haven’t finished watching the series yet, so I’m not sure what that something is.

The characters’ attitude on the show is mostly “noble theives flying by the seat of their pants” with a bit of Star Wars rebellion thrown in (mostly in the person of Captain Reynolds, who is reminiscent of Han Solo). It’s not only an engrossing story, but it’s fun to watch.

The intent here is not to present a synopsis of the show, though I am tempted, but to simply say this: this is a show worth watching that was canceled unfairly (much like Babylon 5: Crusade). I’m glad the story is getting its chance to be told in the new movie Serenity.

[Update: Hopefully I'll review Serenity at some point. Here's the short version: GREAT FLICK!!!) ]

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May 30th, 2006

Review: Ray (another perspective)

By Jeff

My wife’s opinion differed a bit from mine (as usual… ;) ). Like me, she wanted to know more about what he was like after beating the addiction. The text said he never used heroin again, but did he substitute another drug? How did his behavior change otherwise?

The lack of answers for those and similar questions, while disappointments for me, ruined the movie for her.

She also wanted to hear a song or two in its entirety. That is apparently part of the extended edition, but we watched the theatrical version (’cause that is one long movie…).

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May 29th, 2006

Review: Ray

By Jeff

The movie lived up to the hype. And that’s saying quite a bit.

Jamie Foxx did an unbelievably good Ray Charles. By the end there were literally a couple of scenes where I questioned whether it was Foxx or Charles himself on screen. Amazing work.

The music was, of course, excellent.

There were only two disappointments:

  1. The movie only covered up to the 70’s. It quickly glossed over the remainder of his career (and life) with one further scene and some on screen text. I understand that the drama was really in his rise and battling his drug addiction and inner demons, but sue me — I wanted more. I wanted to know how his life changed after he kicked the addiction. Did he stop cheating on his wife, for example?
  2. Blockbuster Online didn’t send me the bonus disc. After seeing the movie, I really wanted to check those out. Guess I’ll have to use a free in-store rental to get that.

I already knew the guy was a musical genius, but this movie really reinforced that and gave me a great perspective on his life (or at least part of it). The guy was no saint, that’s for sure. It was very interesting to see how events in his life informed his songs.

Overall, I’d say this movie deserved every bit of praise it garnered.

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May 28th, 2006

Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

By Jeff

Hmm…. how do I do this without giving away spoilers?

This was simultaneously the coolest and weakest of the three X-men movies. It earns coolest because it had some excellent battle scenes, and took more chances, story-wise, than the other two movies. It earns weakest because I was never as engaged with this movie as the others. It never seemed to flow quite right. Even the music seemed off to me.

I really like that Brett Ratner, the director, took the chance of making the movie a little darker and grittier than fans of the first two movies may have expected. At times, though, I think he went too far. A bit too much killing for my taste, and visually it was much darker than I think it needed to be, for example. I also didn’t like the way the battles were shot, overall. There wasn’t enough focus on the characters — or maybe it was that there were too many characters to focus on effectively. The comment I made to my wife on the way home was that it felt too much like shooting a standard fight sequence (though obviously with cool effects), and not so much like the stylized fight shooting I was expecting. Too many quick cuts from stationary (or nearly so) cameras, not enough cool angles and movement.

The story itself was pretty good. If they really were looking for a plot that could end the trilogy, this is pretty close (though I still wasn’t completely satisfied). It’s certainly good enough.

This may be considered a spoiler for some (though I doubt many), so skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know anything. Sticking around? Are you sure? Okay, here goes. Jean is back, and she is (mostly) Dark Phoenix. That’s REALLY cool, and I was really looking forward to how they’d pull that off. Plot-wise, I think they did a decent job with it, though I do have a couple problems, but my biggest issue is with the special effects. When she uses her powers at full bore, she really looks nasty evil. Veins showing up, face drawn … just nasty (for Jean). This has got to be Ratner’s choice, because at the end of X-2, we get a brief look at what Bryan Singer would have done, and I think Singer had it right. In X-2, she gets all glowy and fiery. You sense the power being unleashed, and that the fire could consume her (in a good way, odd as that sounds). In X-3, there is heat, but no flame - it’s like he’s intending to show her as burning coals or searing hot embers. I understand the reasoning if that is his intent, but it is so much less visually effective, in my opinion, than the flames and beauty.

There are a couple other things I’d like to talk about, but they would be considered major spoilers, so I think I’ll keep them to myself for now.

Oh, one thing that I have a problem with over all three movies: Cyclops is seriously underused. They just never grasped his character fully in any of the movies, and he really comes off as a tool in all three movies, rather than the leader he was meant to be. And in this movie, well, let’s just say I’m completely unsatisfied with anything involving Cyclops in the plot.

This review sounds pretty harsh, but I still think it was a pretty good movie. Plus, due to spoiler issues I can’t go into some of the things I liked. It’s still worth seeing in the theater. I’m certainly going to get the DVD.

Will there be an X-4? Rumors say yes, and I certainly hope they are right, but only if Bryan Singer is back at the helm. And if that doesn’t happen, this does serve as a passable end to the series.

[Update: I forgot to mention — make sure you sit through the credits. You won't be disappointed.]

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May 27th, 2006

Crusade: What would have happened

By Jeff

I just watched Disc Three of the Crusade series, written by J. Michael Straczynski (JMS). Luckily, I was apparently watching one of the early discs produced since it had his commentary on the episode Racing the Night. (All of his commentaries were removed from later discs at his request since Warner Bros. broke their contract with him by not including his full commentary, including criticisms of TNT.)

I just listened to the commentary and wanted to share the things that JMS said about the direction the show and its characters would take, had it run its course.

  • The cure for the plague would have been found in the middle of the second season. (I had heard that elsewhere, but it was in the commentary so here it is.)
  • In the process of finding the cure, the crew would have discovered that Earth was running its own secret program, continuing to use Shadow technology (which they weren’t supposed to have in the first place) for its gain.
  • Gideon and the crew would have been “blacklisted” from Earth as a result of this discovery. It sounds like they would have been in a similar position to that of Babylon 5 when they seceded from Earth in the mid-third season of Babylon 5.
  • The first season cliffhanger, which was one of two scripted but unproduced episodes, would have ended with Gideon being shot. He would have died. (But of course this is sci-fi; read on.)
  • Somehow, Gideon’s conciousness would have been transferred to the Apocolypse Box. The implication in the commentary is that Gideon would have been resurrected, in a sense, later - I assume early in Season Two.(Though I’m sure it would have been handled differently, that’s another obvious parallel to B5.)
  • At some point, Dureena would have disappeared for two episodes. When she returned, she would have carried a special sword of some kind, and begun a transformation into a technomage of sorts, though with a much darker bent than Galen appears to have. Her path would be led by a need for revenge. Galen and Dureena would have been set up to have some rather interesting conflicts. (Again, another parallel to B5: that sounds reminiscent of Londo and G’Kar.)
  • There is a reference to the Biblical book of Job in the episode. JMS said he thought that was probably the single best story in literature, and this early tip was a foreshadowing of the arc of the entire series. If you know that book, you know, in broad strokes, what Crusade was about.

So there you have it.

I was fortunate enough to read the two aforementioned unproduced scripts, and I can say that it was obvious that there would have been a quantum shift in the tone and direction of the show come the season finale. I remember reading it and then sitting in front of the final page saying, “Whoa.” Shocked. The more I learn, the more disappointed I am that the show was cancelled before it even aired! I am SO disappointed in TNT.

As I’m sitting here typing I think I might have figured out at least one level of the Job parallel (I’m sure it would have worked on multiple levels). My guess is that Galen, whom Gideon completely trusts to save him, would have been the God analog, while Dureena, after slowly progressing down her darker path, would have been the Satan analog. Gideon would have, in a sense, been caught between the two and forced to choose his allegience.

In all likelihood, Gideon would also have been put in a similar situation politically - with EarthGov as the Satan analog and … I don’t know … Earth rebels, Mars, or the Interstellar Alliance, maybe … as the God analog.

Anyway… that’s conjecture. Cool stuff though. I wish it could have been produced to the end.

There is some hope to find out the truth, however. I recently read a note from JMS that when the Crusade script books are published, he will probably report what the whole story arc would have been! Can’t wait to buy those!

Some B5/JMS/Crusade related links:

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May 16th, 2006

Interviewing mistakes

By Jeff

CLO: Survey: One-Third of Candidates Commit a Top Interview Don’t

This article is aimed at executive search interviews, but most of it really applies to any interview. Make sure you don’t make these mistakes:

  • Talking too much and listening too little. “Provide concise and specific answers to the [interviewer's] questions. If you go off on a five minute tangent, the [interviewer] may better remember how long you talked, and not what you said,” said Salveson.
  • Don’t oversell. “You need to provide a delicate balance between representing your background in the best possible light and overselling yourself. It’s important to make your case for why your experiences match the role – but if you ‘oversell,’ you may appear desperate,” said Stetson.
  • Lacking “executive presence.” “You may be the best qualified executive in your discipline, but if you can’t effectively communicate that to me in the interview, then I can’t move you forward in the process. Successful candidates present themselves as polished, personable, and confident executives,” said Stetson.
    [Admin Note: this applies to non-executive positions as well. You need to be able to effectively communicate your fit in whatever position you are applying for.]
  • Treating the [initial/phone] interview as a barrier that needs to be overcome so they can reach the “real” interview with the client company. “Treat your [initial] interview . . . as a chance to better understand the job and company, assess whether the position is of serious interest to you, and determine if the role truly is a good fit,” said Stetson.
  • Trying to stretch their experience to fit every single desired qualification. “If there are gaps between your experience and the requirements for the position, talk to the [interviewer] about it openly and honestly. Don’t try to convince the [interviewer] you fit every single qualification if you really don’t,” said Salveson.

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May 11th, 2006

Hydrogen Technology - New unlimited energy source?

By Jeff

Hydrogen Technology Applications

Whoa. You’d think if this was really viable they’d be talking about it all over the news. Well, I’m going in with skepticism, but holy cow, it sure sounds cool.

(Interesting site design, too.)

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