Random Thoughts: M&M's Porno

I just saw a commercial that was what I would call soft core M&M pornography. It was for the new triple chocolate premium M&Ms. I guess it was only a matter of time before cartoon candy started peddling sex.

Recreation: Olympics

I can't believe how much I have gotten sucked up into the Olympics. I didn't watch one single minute of Sydney or Athens, but for some reason, I can't get enough coverage. I even find myself wishing that I had cable or sattelite so I could watch more. The only problem I have been having is that I keep falling asleep around 10 or so. I end up missing 2 hours of primetime. I have actually woken up at 4 and watched the west coast replays. One thing I think would be better is if they scheduled the Olymplics for my convenience. I mean, seriously, how hard would it be to call me up and say, "Hey Bill, what do you want to watch and when?" Other than that, the only problem I have had is that I find water polo and synchronized diving extremely boring. I would rather see some the the other events that are taped instead of the boring events live. Oh well, I guess the coverage is US-centric even if it's not Bill-centric.

Recreation: Procrastination

Any time I have an opportunity to run but decide, "I'll go later today because...", I end up regretting the decision. I could have dragged my butt out of bed at 4:30 when I woke up. I didn't because I figured that I could just run with the stroller since my mom can't watch Laura today. OK, honestly, that isn't true. I didn't because I was tired and didn't feel like running, but I had the thought that I could just run with the stroller later in the day. Turns out, it is supposed to rain for most of the day and it is just starting now.

I know Laura won't melt in contact with water, but I just can't subject her to being rained on for 25 minutes or so just so I can go for a run. At this point, it looks like I will be running after Erin gets home. In theory, the rain is supposed to be much more scattered later today, so that's a plus.

Baby Gallery: Laura in mid-summer

After a brief hiatus, I posted a new gallery. Watch Laura have a fun early/mid summer.

http://www.therhodeislandreview.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=9790

Random Thoughts: Cut off your nose to spite your face

Would you do it? I know I wouldn't. I learned of someone today who almost litterally was doing that. Nothing like a little good old fasioned self-flagellation to get someone to do what you want.

Random Thoughts: Out of movies

I am mostly out of movies that I really want to watch. This happened entirely because of companies like Blockbuster and Netflix. We signed up for Blockbuster and, because of the writers strike, watched almost a movie every night for a couple months. In addition to that, we have been consuming a steady diet of three movies a week, plus a fourth or fifth some weeks. At this point, we are down to barely passable new releases, old movies, and "hidden gems." The hidden gems I refer to are the movies that no one has ever heard of and no one will ever watch, but for some reason I add them to the queue and they turn out to be not so bad. Granted, there have been some really, really bad movies in the mix, but generally, a lot of the out-of-nowhere movies are a welcome suprise of quality no-name acting talent and original stories.

With the rise of internet entertainment, I fully expect that there will be a lot more of this kind of art being produced. In reality, the online shows that I have seen so far have some pretty good acting. The one thing they are currently lacking severely is quality writing. Stories that start randomly and go nowhere slowly are not entertainment in my book. Some things I have seen would probably even be better with worse writing filled with cliche and illogical plot holes. I would love to see some crazy crap like that!

Movie Review: The King of Kong

It has been a long time since I did a review and this one will probably be on the short side. That said, I watched a movie that many (all) of you have never heard of. The full title is The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. It is a documentary that is like no other. Its appeal is limited in scope to me, the kid in Blockbuster who said it was great at the checkout line, and possibly Jeremy.

Given the small audience, I am suprised at how good this movie is. At the end, I was left wondering. If this movie is a fully true and real honest-to-goodness documentary, I am amazed at how "human" hard-core retro gamers are. If it was a spoof, I am fully impressed at the acting of the no-name characters. Given the fact that all the actors in the movie are portraying "himself", I have to believe this is real.

The movie tells the story of the fall of the high score record in Donkey Kong set in 1982 by some guy named Billy Mitchell. The movie portreys the subculture that still surrounds classic 80s era video games. It was amazing to see all those images of my past still in full swing in 2008. The haircuts, the t-shirts, and the 4-bit video was all spot-on.

If you want a trip down memory lane, watch this movie. If you are Jeremy's parents and/or wife and want to understand him and others like him, watch this movie. If you have a deep fascination with sociology or anthropology, watch this movie.