moving to Hampden

Finally, after all the searching and going to just about every vacant place in Baltimore, we have found a place to live for at least the next year (or perhaps more). Hampden. It's an awesome house (three levels) and it has a deck, a fenced in backyard, a front porch, and an unfinished basement. No more small apartments. No more having to worry about neighbors above, next to, and below you. A house. Gonna be sweet. Come and visit.

A smack across the face... and then a punch to the gut...

Wow. What happened on Super Bowl Sunday is something that rarely happens in sports, but is something no one will ever forget. The New England Patriots (the 18-0 Patriots mind you) were one Super Bowl win away from not only winning their third Super Bowl in five years, but completing the very first 19-0 perfect season in NFL history. Already being deemed "the greatest team the NFL has ever seen", many failed to realize that when a football game is played, there are two teams on the field. The other team on this memorable Sunday were the resilient NY Giants. Led by Eli Manning, the Giants came out of nowhere, winning an NFL record 10 road games in a row, having to go into Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay to make it to the Super Bowl. But, the media (and sports "geniuses") were already crowing the Patriots as champions. They were, how do you say, wrong... dead wrong. Now, those who know me know how I feel about the Patriots. Actually, here is a little blurb in a blog I wrote wayyyyy back in Week 8 after the Patriots had destroyed the Skins 52-7:

"the crosshairs on the Pats helmets grows bigger and bigger as the weeks go on"

The whole time, I never once believed that the Patriots could complete the undefeated season. I was right. 18-0 quickly became 18-1. The undefeated season quickly became known as a failure. And I loved every minute of it.

I am a Dallas Cowboys fan, and my team went 13-3 and lost to the Giants in the second round of the playoffs. Looks like that loss wasn't as bad as I initially had thought. There was just something about this years Giants. They loved being counted out of every game. They loved being the underdog.

Against the Pats, the Giants defensive line played their hearts out. They got to Brady many times, and even when he threw to his checkdown receiver Wes Welker (who broke the record for most receptions in a Super Bowl), Brady tasted the grass. Soon, Brady was seeing things in his rearview mirror that were not there. He was shook. Majority of the game, the score was 7-3 Pats. But, the Giants were outplaying the Pats, and seemed like they wanted it much more. Then, wonderfully, the Giants finally took the lead 10-7. But, like the Pats had been doing all year long, they were down, but not for long. Brady took the Patriots down the field to take a 14-7 lead late into the fourth quarter. The problem? There was more than enough time left on the clock for Eli and the boys (2:40 something to be exact). And, just like the Giants had been doing all postseason, when the chips were down, they rose to the occasion. In what will go down as one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl history, Eli (on a third and five) rolled out of what seemed like the entire Pats defense, and threw the ball 32 yards to David Tyree, who made a spectacular circus catch to keep the drive (and the hope) alive. Two plays later, Eli threw the game-winnning TD to Paxico Burress to take a 17-14 lead. The Pats got the ball back, but never even made it to the Giants side of the field. The Giants were champions.

It was very easy to see (and hear) that most of the fans who made the trip out to Arizona for the Super Bowl were rooting for the Giants. I am convinced that most of the people who did root for the Pats resided in the New England/Boston area. They never expected this outcome though. Me? I knew it all along. How does that feel Brady?

The last episode of Six Feet Under

"Wow."  In one word, that is how I would describe the last episode of Six Feet Under.  Last night I finished the single greatest television show I have ever watched.  There were tears, smiles, and laughs.  This is how a series is supposed to end (I am looking your way Sopranos... even though I thought the way that ended was well done too, it just didn't wrap things up and give you the closure you, as a viewer, deserve).  We got closure on every aspect and every storyline.  We even, in a beautiful 10 minute montage set to the song "Breathe Me" by Sia, get to see the ultimate demise of each character.  Anyone who can watch this finale and is a fan of SFU and not have wet eyes needs to make sure their heart is still beating.  Alan Ball created a family that you felt like you were apart of.  Everytime I watched the show I felt as if I were sitting at the Fisher table eating breakfast, or attending a Fisher & Diaz funeral, or when a major character died, you felt as if one of your close friends had died.  That is how strong and real SFU is.  Now, me, I did not watch this show when it aired on HBO (with many people telling me I should have when it was airing).  I instead watched after the fact (two years after actually).  Luckily, the ending was never spoiled for me, and the only things that I had heard about it were things like "this is how a series is supposed to end."  Many people were very pissed off with the way "The Sopranos" ended last summer, and I heard things like "why couldn't they do it like SFU did?"  I now know what they mean, and do agree... to a point.  They were different shows (obviously), but having closure on a television show about a family, whether it be the Fishers or the Sopranos, is necessary.  If you have never seen Six Feet Under, I say check it out.  If you have, then you already know...

Cloverfield

I will start off by saying that I did not see Transformers last summer, and therefore was not one of many who saw the trailer for Cloverfield (well, 1-18-08, which was the only title you saw in the initial trailer signifiying when the movie would be out). I did catch the trailer online, and did end up saying to myself "WTF?" but I feel it would have been more effective to see the trailer in the theater (as it is definitely more effective to see this movie in the theater... more on that later). The trailer was like nothing I had ever seen, and I was stoked.

I did not read into the movie that much, didn't get caught up in the hype, and didn't even see the movie on opening night. I waited. And then the opening weekend numbers for the movie rolled in, and it made $42 million bucks (on a budget of $25 million). The hype had worked, and worked well. I didn't wait long to have a look myself.

Cloverfield starts off by letting the audience know they are about to see a firsthand account of the "Cloverfield" Case. The text goes away, and the movie begins. We (the viewer) are looking down at Central Park at dawn from a home movie of a guy named Rob (who is filming) and his girlfriend Beth. We are in Rob's dad's apartment in Manhattan (we know this because Rob, who is filming, tells us). The date on the bottom of the frame is April. Beth is in bed, and Rob comes into the bedroom to ask her what she wants to do today. They discuss that she has never been to Coney Island before, so that is the plan. Then, just as if your favorite television show has been recorded over on an old VHS tape, the scene cuts to Rob's brother and his girlfriend buying party supplies for Rob's going away party (Rob is going to Japan). The date has changed to May 22. We are then introduced to many of Rob's friends through the eyes of Rob's best friend Hud. He has been given the camera to get testimonials from people at the party (kind of like what you do on a wedding video). Some of the characters are developed, some drama is set up between Rob and Beth, and not much else. It seems as if you are watching an epoisode of Party of Five or something. Then, without warning, the shit hits the fan. While outside, Hud (who captures everything he can on the camera) and Rob's brother are trying to console Rob and an earthquake occurs. Loud otherworldly noises are heard from the city below them. Chaos ensues, and someone turns on the TV. No one knows what is going on. Was it an earthquake? Rob's brother asks Hud if he wants to get a better view from the roof, so majority of the party go up. While on the roof, with NYC in the background, there is an expllosion, and much confusion. Hud and the rest of the party make it out to the streets, and they witness the Statue of Liberty's head hit a building, and come rolling to a halt at their feet. Freaky stuff. What in the hell is going on? When the coast is clear (or at least clear enough), Hud, Rob, Rob's brother, Rob's brothers girlfriend, and Hud's love interest Marlena try to get out of the city, fast. Now, I will not go into too much detail as to not spoil the movie, but for the remainder of the movie, you will be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out just what the fuck is going on (the same way the characters are trying to do the same thing). I will say this, you will not be let down.

Because the movie is a home video account of the incident, the camera shakes a lot and zooms in, etc. Think The Blair Witch Project. The shakiness did not bother me, but it has bothered many people. It is kind of like being on a rollercoaster ride for a good hour and a half.

Even though 2008 is only about a month old, this movie was the best movie I have seen so far and will remain that way probably until I see the new Batman movie. Go see Cloverfield... NOW!

The Government wants to stimulate the econonmy by giving taxpayers money...

So yesterday a plan was released by the govenment to stimulate the economy.  The plan: give U.S. taxpayers a fat check.  If you make at least $3000, but didn't file your taxes, you get $300.  If you made more than that, but not exceeding $75,000, an individual could receive $600, and couples would receive $1200 (if they filed their taxes jointly).  Checks would be here by May or June.  Wordddd.  I am not one to argue with "free" money, and I have been wanting a new HDTV... so yeah, this rocks.  Guess we'll see what happens. 

Click here for the story

MacHeads the movie

A few years ago I decided to take the leap from PC to Mac, and purchased an iMac.  Now, those who know me know that I am into film and things like that, so it was kind of logical to make this jump because you just have to have a Mac if you are going to edit video or do graphics.  Plus, in my profession, 99 percent of the jobs require you to have Mac experience (I work on a G5 tower at my current job).  Some can say that I am now a Fan Boy, owning the aforementioned iMac, an iPod and even a MacBook.  No, I have not purchased an iPhone.  

Anyway, a new documentary is coming out called MacHeads, and it's all about the Apple Community (check it out above).  As you can see, I am not the only Fan Boy.  Mac has made some leaps and bounds over the past 10 years (I love the "I'm a Mac.  I'm a PC" commercials).  The iPod has revolutionized music as we know it, and have you seen the MacBook Air?  

There definitely is already a fan base in place for MacHeads (and a growing one at that) and I think it looks interesting.  What do you think? 

The homeless

As typical of many major city streets, the homeless make their home a bench, curb, ledge, etc.  This is the case near my office.  There are two guys who sit on a ledge on my walk from Federal Hill to three blocks North of the Harbor.  I see them everyday, and everyday it's the same thing.  One of them looks in my direction, mumbles something, and then kinda sits there.  The other one doesn't move, he just kind of sits there.  It's crazy to me that for the eight hours of my day, whenever I walk past that ledge, there they are... sitting.  They live there.  They eat there... they sleep there... they go to the bathroom there...  Crazy.  Makes you appreciate having a roof over your head much more.  

Sunshine

So I watched the movie "Sunshine" last night from director Danny Boyle ("28 Days Later").  It starred Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow from "Batman Begins"), Chris Evans (The Human Torch from "Fantastic Four") and other people.  The movie is about the sun itself, or a lack of.  You see, it's burning out, and the Earth is in a permanent winter (although you only know this because of a brief voiceover to open the movie).  So, a crew of about eight must take the "Payload", which is a huge bomb of sorts that will be shot into the dying sun to reignite it by creating a new star in the middle.  This "Payload" is attached to the Icarus II, a ship equipped with heavy duty shields that block the suns intense heat and allow it to get close enough to the sun.  We kind of take the science aspect of the film for granted because we are never really told much.  That's ok though, because that could have made for a boring lull in the movie.  

About a few years earlier, the same mission was attempted by Icarus I, but was unsucessful, and no one ever heard from that ship again.  So, now Earth's last hope lies in the hands of this crew.  This movie reminded me a lot of "Alien" because of its setting.  The whole movie takes place aboard the Icarus II, the same way "Alien" takes place on the Nostromo.  There are other similarites, but I won't get into those as to not give too much away.  

Danny Boyle is a very good director, and has to be the most meticulous person to work with.  His attention to detail is astounding in "Sunshine".  The special effects are top notch, and they sort of have to be to make the movie more believable.  There is a twist to the movies ending that when first revealed made me say outloud "holy fuck, that is awesome" but when it was all said and done I was a little let down on its execution.  

"Sunshine" is a very cool concept and a must for Science Fiction fans.  Apart from the execution of the ending, I recommend this film.