Observations of a life in chaos…

I’m talking, of course, about the entire Comic to Motion Picture movement that began oh so many years ago with X-Men.

I’m sorry, but there’s a reason its called a COMIC BOOK and not a PICTURE BOOK.

News out of Comic Con is that Ed Norton has written a new script for ‘The Incredible Hulk’ which is out next year.

Now I liked Hulk, right up to the idiotic ending. I liked Dare Devil. I liked plenty of the recent comic book character based films.

That said, the wave has crested and crashed on the beach, and Hollywood needs a jump-start… Where’s this generation’s Terminator? A new franchise, created from scratch by the mind of the writer. There are plenty of fresh ideas out there that do not involve comic books or endless remakes.

Superman Returns? IT STUNK. The acting could have been surpassed easily by a quadriplegic – wait, it was, in a series called Smallville. The last 2 Spiderman films? They had me wishing that Tobey McGuire had been hit by a train after the first was released to theaters. Terminator 3 (comic series created as a result of the movies) – if the entire movie was as good as the ending, it wouldn’t have STUNK so bad. I can go on and on in regard to the string of Hollywood stinkers, but the simple truth is that the remake is dead, and the comic movie is dead. Like any other franchise that reaps profit, they jumped on it, squeezed until it was dry, and then continued to dump out plot-less crap like the latest Fantastic Four movie (Galactus a cloud? Lets send in Kirby!).

Good actors are wasting their time trying to make half-assed CG plots marketable when it should be the WRITERS and DIRECTORS who provide a story good enough so that all the actors have to do… is act.

Frankly, I’d rather see another Live Earth concert than another comic book based feature film.

After seeing the last 2 Spiderman films, the last Terminator film (where a successful comic book line started as a result of the movies), Superman Returns, and most recently the last Fantastic 4 film where the mighty Galactus was turned into Kirby the cloud… I’m sorry folks, it’s done. Just stop… please… stop.

I’m not really satisfied with Debian. While it is very clean, it is too damned clean. Yea, it might not be the most ‘geek’ thing to do, but I want to set something up and have it work off the bat – with minimal involvement from the user (me). I’ll be giving Slackware another try, as well as the new Fedora Core 7. They’re both not as clinical as Debian but chances are I’ll have a better chance to hit the ground running with those instead of dealing with gobs of tiny details in Debian.

BTW – Blade 3 Trinity SUCKS. The only redeeming aspect is that brunette from the new Adam Sandler movie, beyond that, any movie that relies on Parker Posie to carry the plot and isn’t made for TV or straight to DVD is guaranteed to blow harder than fat man at a free buffet.

For the past several years, this website has run off of my own personal computer. Right now, I’m setting up a new (used) server for it which uses the Debian Linux operating system. I’m using a refurbed Gateway 2000 tower that I picked up from a side-job, Pentium 3 800mhz, 512mb of ram, and 80gb of hard disk space. The current problem with it is that the 70w power supply simply cannot offer enough power to support the current configuration, either through age or hardware defect. This evening I’m going to try and pop in a spare and see if that does the trick. Hopefully by next week, you’ll be reading this site off of a spiffy little Linux box.

Cheers

My personal favorite restaurant of all time – Harpoon Bay – is back open for business. Apparently they’ve been open for 3 weeks or so I just never got the email! Yesterday I had both lunch and dinner there, what a great experience. For about 6 months, the chef had relocated to another – bigger – restaurant down in Jersey. While it was bigger and could fit more people, it didn’t have the same comfortable and familiar feeling, nor did the menu translate enough of the chef’s ideas to the plate of the average guest.

I’m happy to say it is back, better than ever, and if you’ve never been, by all means – GO!

harpoonbay.com

For the past 6 years or so I’ve lived in the same apartment – and it’s time to look for something new.

Now I’ve considered finding a house, but my savings aren’t quite at a level where I can make a considerable down payment, so I’m still renting and saving up in the mean time. Two things I’ve learned over the past few days are – I’ve got a deal on the place I currently rent – and there is a HUGE difference between $800/mo and $1200/mo.

Yesterday I got to check out 5 different apartments with the help of a local realtor. The requirements were simple, at least 1000sq/ft of living space and pets had to be allowed as I have 2 cats. That cut down the number of available locations significantly (the pets part) but left enough to spend an afternoon hopping about Warwick.

Our first stop was Ryerson Rd, a converted barn with an 800sq/ft apartment and a wild view out the back. Unfortunately, the space was oddly configured and thh actual living space was more like 4-500 square feet. Not to mention the bedroom was actually a loft – not a good thing for 2 people who are afraid of heights. Tack on that the entire property just went on the market and that ruled it out. I wasn’t about to have to worry about someone showing my apartment for the next year while I pay off th elease.

Second stop, place in Warwick. 1800’s victorian, HUGE apartment, big rooms, plenty of space. The wallpaper and the wiring was circa 1930, but the rest of the interior was gorgeous. I may just go for this one if the wiring can handle A/C.

Third, dump in Warwick. I knew from the street name that it wasn’t going to be too good, I didn’t imagine how horrid the interior was. First of all, the place was a mess, but secondly the carpets were crap, the walls were crap, it was barely lit and totally run down. I wouldn’t have rented it for $800, let alone $400 in its current shape.

Fourth, dump in Warwick. Well, it wasn’t too bad, another 2nd floor apartment that reeked of mildew and old people. Not to mention it looked like they just dropped a fridge and a stove in the corner of a bedroom, the place wasn’t entirely legal either.

The last place we checked out was eccentric to say the least. It used to be a rehab center that was converted into apartments. Converted on the cheap in some spots, high quality in others – the bathroom was gorgeous, the living room had a pretty decent lean to it – enough that a wheeled office chair would be a BAD thing – odd that they’d install brand new hardwood floors on a room that wasn’t level. The doorways? About a foot shorter than I was. The roof was also crooked, after replacing a slate roof with shingles, they didn’t reinforce the roof with closer beams so it visually sagged. Also, to get to the place, you had to park in a big lot across the street then go around back, under a cluttered deck, up on to the deck and to the back door – through a field of wasps that’d scare anyone.

So we’re 1 for 5. There are 2 more we’re supposed to check out that may be accepting of pets if asked. Still, with an initial cost to just get in of 4 times the typical rent, it may just pay to buy something instead of giving someone a nice fat check only to rent.

Suddenly, a condo doesn’t look half bad.

Well I’d like to say I got a photo of the flatbed tractor/trailer from last night but apparently my camera finally gave up. We entered the 45mph zone doing 60, I slowed, he didn’t, and he just kept on going. This will be my last day of this project, I can’t imagine photographing people every day on my way to work – I may highlight the real morons if I get a good one – but otherwise I think I’ve proven my point – a fair enough number of drivers are ignoring the new speed limit and without law enforcement involvement they will continue to do so. I suppose it’s up to the residents of Pulaski Hwy, those 92 individuals who signed a petition and got new signs installed. The only question now should be – are they willing to push local authorities to the point that they finish the job?

Who knows. So far I’ve seen 1 local and 1 state trooper completely avoid the road, I plan on moving in the next few months so – it’s not my fight anymore. Hopefully something will change out here before the yuppies get involved.

Cheers