Avatar

Has anyone out there seen Avatar? I saw it last week at the local theater. We did not have a choice of not 3D. Only 3D or 3D IMAX.

Starting out the tickets were 13 bucks a piece, 3 dollars extra for 3D which I didn't want. We may have started off on the wrong foot. I think movie theaters are in a dangerous place with making tickets so expensive. At 26 dollars for 2 tickets I can pass on the theater experience and just buy the Blu Ray when it comes out. I am leaning more towards that feeling every day.

After 50 bucks in tickets and concessions we were in. A big positive was we were there on a Monday and there was only about 25-35 people in the theater. This greatly reduces the chance that some jackass is going to talk on his cell phone during the movie. One did go off but the guy apologized and did not answer it.

The movie itself was ok, by far nothing ground breaking. I agree it is a retelling of the basic Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves stories. It took around an hour for my eyes to adjust to the 3D. I wear glasses so I think 2 layers of glasses was a problem. I felt like I was watching a dream sequence for the whole length of the movie.

I know there have been many reviews saying this movie is incredible. I like substance over flash. The story and the acting were largely unremarkable.

I guess I hold up hopes for Sherlock Holmes.

Courage?

I don't get it. I just don't get it. Michael Vick for the Ed Block Courage Award? What has he done? He killed many innocent animals and payed his price. Now he gets a courage award? There has to be Philly players more deserving of this award. I understand he is saying all the right things that's what he pays his publicist for. His persona today is completely manufactured. I really lose respect for the Philly players voting for him. What he did was disgraceful. Giving him a "Courage" award is disgraceful, he went to jail for a reason, a very bad one.

I now read PETA is protesting giving the award to Vick. This is the one time I agree with those wacko's.

Still bitter....

Big Screen TV

Man I am not happy. I have a 62 Toshiba projection screen tv that has been great for the last 3 years. It went up the other day. I rushed a replacement lamp for it and it is still not working. I am not sure what to do next. I am guessing the after market lamps I bought are not any good. I guess I send them back next and get a Toshiba manufactured bulb. It is hard to believe both of the bulbs I bought do not work.

In the end it was the tv blowing up the bulbs. So after 300 in bulbs and another 500 to get it fixed I have a tv again. It is still acting strange but it is working.

Bitter

Jobs Private Sector

I just saw a post on my favorite financial blog The Big Picture that for the last 10 years we have had a net loss of 203K private sector jobs. When is the government going to understand that supporting the unions and taxing businesses to death is not the way to grow commercially. If the private sector is making money that means more taxes not less. Lower taxes now and in the long run it will be better for all of us.

There was 2.1 million new government jobs created in that time-span. How are we going to pay for them if there are not private sector jobs. This is one of those things that seems so clear but Congress seems to ignore this fact. It is all so scary, at some point the government is going to have to pay it's debts.

Gran Tourino and the Oscars

I finally got around to seeing this film last night. I thought it was excellent. The sacrifice the main character makes for those kids was heartfelt. I can't understand why it did not get any Oscar nominations. You are telling me The Wrestler was a better movie or Benjamin Button? I thought Button was little more then a lesser Forrest Gump.

The Oscars have become so Politically Correct it is hard to pay attention anymore. If the movie deals with social issues it is winning. The thing that bugs me the most is they keep snubbing people because they don't want them to win all the time. Clint Eastwood should have been nominated again. Why penalize him because he does good work and does it his own way. For example, Tom Hanks should have won for Saving Private Ryan, and Cast Away but it would have been his 3rd Oscar. I think Carey Grant is the only person to have 3 best actor awards. They want to keep it that way.

I love movies and this crap makes me angry. There is no way to change it though. Like the Senate there are no term limits for Oscar voters.

Warcraft losing its edge

I have been playing Warcraft\Warcrack since it launched four years ago. I sunk way too many hours into it, and would have to say I am an addict. My complaint is it has slowly over the last year been losing its edge. What does that mean? I will tell you. Blizzard the company that developed the money maker has been listening to users, I would say too much.

The game has gotten ridiculously easy. Anyone can level thier character to 80 without any challenge. You just have to know where to go. The game is not hard at all. It is the addiction of leveling and lure of more equipment. This has also been made ridiculously easy.

On the other side my account got hacked after playing for three years. I know it was my fault. I know I got a key logger on my machine somehow. Having been someone that played for three years you would think they would be more help but they weren't. They half assedly restored a few of my characters and some money. It sucked.

These two things really sucked the life out of it for me. Three years of gameplay down the drain. I think I am done now the game is not fun anymore but it is just a grind.

Later

Bitter

Being Taken

Do you ever get that sinking feeling that you are being taken? Feel like you are being instructed to grab your ankles. I took my car to a local Dealer to get a window fixed that got frozen shut and broke. It ended up costing over 400 dollars to replace a small part in the door. The window itself was not broke just the piece that connects the motor to the window.

I know there is a mark up when going to these places, and I was fine with the labor charge cause that is a black hole. You have no idea what is standard for that. My problem is the part online was 67 dollars. They charged me 243 dollars for it. I don't think 300% is a realistic mark up.

I will not be taking my car back there again. They kept telling me how good a deal it was, that usually means they are screwing you. I always like when they talk to me like I am an idiot too.

The other thing is, they broke some trim on my car when they were replacing the part. They said they would replace it, at this point it has been a month and they have yet to do so. I don't think it is my job to chase them down for something they did. They should call. I don't really miss the part, it is mainly the point of it.

It sucks when you get screwed like this, I guess the only thing you can do is not go back to them. It just so happens it is an American car, only one of the three vehicles I have. You wonder why the American car companies are having so many problems.