This post has multiple parts to it, so fair warning I’m guessing this one is going to be long.   Lately I’ve been more and more annoyed at traditional hard copy media.  It’s a pain in the butt to deal with and takes up way too much physical space (for those that know me you find that sentence greatly amusing).

Pictures

This started happening over the last year with photo albums.   Photo albums are terrible.   It means normally that one person has a copy of the image and you can’t share them.  It is essentially technology of the last generation.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a believer in having prints, but the pictures themselves.

I’ve made it my mission to start getting the family photos and scanning them in.   I’ve managed to get most of my father’s photos from the era he was with my mother.   The ones I’m missing are any he has of the kids hanging on the walls in his house.   My next run is going to be the pictures from his current family (so a good 15-16 years worth of pictures to go).

My grandmother on the other hand has been very tightfisted with her photos.  I can understand her being protective, but so far I’ve managed to get 59 photos out of her to scan (out of literally over a 1000-2000).   I have managed to scan my photo album, and more recently used the digital SLR and took pictures of my scrap book from high school.   So both of these can be tucked away in boxes that I don’t need to look at and take up physical space in my house.

All the photos I have are now uploaded to Flickr.   You can also read about my photo sharing issue with my mother over here.

Continued tomorrow in part 2

Image from here

A few weeks ago I wrote about the NYPD want the ability to turn disable cellphone coverage in the case of a terrorist attack. Now it seems that states and local governments are fighting for their own ability to do that.   In my previous story I pointed how fruitless and ineffective it would truly be during a terrorist attack, I think it’s insane.   The question I have now has anyone thought about how this is a terrorist attack against our own people?

The idea of a terrorist is that they use fear as an attack weapon.   If there is an emergency going on and people can not get through to there loved ones that this wouldn’t inspire fear.   Heck it may scare some people if they can’t send a message about the emergency to Twitter or Facebook.  We’ve all seen enough movies that we are ingrained as a people if hte enemy is going to attack they will cut off our communications so we can not coordinate a counter offensive properly.   This is an of it’s self stupid since something will always get through, example Independence Day and the Morse Code maneuver.  Yet this would scare and dare I say terrorize people since not only would you be scared since you can’t call, no one around you can call and is freaking out also.

This is a sad side effect of living in the era of constant communication, we take it for granted.   When it would be ripped away form us, and we wouldn’t know what is going on, what ideas is that going to put in your mind.  People in the middle america may think a cell tower is down, what if they drive an hour – even the most idiotic person isn’t going to think all the towers are down.   Some people may think since I’m saying that the government has an inadvertant take on an idea that could become a terrorist weapon that I’m a nut job.   I however think this is a fairly obvious look at human psychology.

When I was four years old I really wanted to see Flash Gordon, even at that young age I was a sci-fi junkie.  Neither of my parents however were too keen on seeing this, I think the answer was always no.  I’m not sure why – I think Queen was still popular at the time.   I know that it was based on pop ideals and all in all it wasn’t that great of the movie – but geeze when your four year old is obsessed with something this small and it isn’t going to hurt him in anyway, indulge him.

My grandmother in Greenville seemed to agree with my modern view point on it.    We were down visiting and she agreed to take me.   We only managed to get down to see my grandparents in Greenville a couple times a year, so my grandmother spoiled me when she got the chance.  We went to the movies and I loved it, to this day I still immensely enjoy this movie, more now because of the memories then the movie itself.   After the movie my grandmother took me to McDonald’s and I had a hamburger and french fries with lots of ketchup.

What I have outside of memories is the rest of the story that I had forgotten over the years in direct memory, my parents in later years filled in the blanks.  My grandmother originally was going to get me some food during the movie’s intermission.   It had been so many years since my grandmother had been to the movies, that she thought there still was intermissions.   By the time the movie was over she felt bad that I hadn’t eaten and taken me to McDonald’s.

This grandmother died when I was young,  so I only have a few vague memories and stories about her.  I’m sure the rest I have will make it to the blog eventually.   The interesting side note is my wife once criticized Flash Gordon, I relayed this story to her, and never since has she bad mouthed the movie.

Every once in a while I actually do one of the stupid chain letter things – this one seemed right up my alley – so let’s look at the results.  Further discussion at the end.

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease – own it
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean – own it
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest – own it
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club – own it
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story – own it
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 10

(x) The Princess Bride – own it
(x) Anchorman
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) The Dark Crystal -  own it
(x ) Saw
(x) Saw II
(x) White Noise
(x) Vanilla Sky – own it
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates -  own it
(x) Fletch
(x) Fletch Lives
Total so far: 22

(x) Scream -  own it
(x) Scream 2 – own it
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2  - own it
(x) Scary Movie 3
(x) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
(x) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 33

(x) Harry Potter 1 -  own it
(x) Harry Potter 2 -  own it
(x) Harry Potter 3 -  own it
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Top Gun -  own it
(x) Can’t Hardly Wait
(x) The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
(x) Happy Gilmore -  own it
(x) Mr. Magorum’s Emporium
Total so far: 42

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland -  own it
(x) The Dark Knight
(x) The Grinch -  own it
(x) Monster Squad
(X) The Gate -  own it
(x) White Men Can’t Jump
(x) The Butterfly Effect
(X) Bubba HoTep -  own it
(X) I am Legend
(x) Money Train
Total so far: 53

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) National Lampoons Vacation
(x) National Lampoons European Vacation
(x) National Lampoons Christmas Vacation -  own it
(x) Caddyshack
(x) Caddyshack 2
(x) The Hudsucker Proxy
(x) Fast Times at Ridegmont High
(x) Clueless -  own it
() 9 Months
(x) Death to Smoochy
(x) The Sting
Total so far: 64

(x) SpaceBalls
(x) The Terminal
(x) Robin Hood: Men in Tights -  own it
(x) Forget Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) Pulp Fiction -  own it
(x) Dirty Dancing -  own it
(x) Eurotrip
(x) Roadtrip
Total so far: 78

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Harold & Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay
(x) That Thing You Do
(x) The Jerk
(x) From Hell – own it
(x) Hellboy
() 2 Girls and a Guy
(x) Rear Window
(x) The Whole Nine Yards -  own it
(x) The Whole Ten Yards -  own it
Total so far: 87

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Liar Liar
(x) War Games -  own it
(x) Ferris Bueller’s Day Off -  own it
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Iron Man
(x) Gothika
(x) Howard The Duck-  own it
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Just One of The Guys
(x) Breakin’
() Breakin’ 2: Electric Bugaloo
(x) Ski Party
(x) The Mask -  own it
(x) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 101

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
(x) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
(x) Bourne Ultimatum
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I – own it
(x) Predator II
() Kicking and Screaming
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x) Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory -  own it
Total so far: 116

(x) Independence Day -  own it
(x) Casino
(x) Resevior Dogs
(x) Back to School
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
(x) Summer Rental
(x) Batteries not included – own it
(x) Catch and Release
(x) Rush Hour -  own it
(x) Rush Hour 2 -  own it
Total so far: 128

(x) The Crow -  own it
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She’s All That
() Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Smokey and The Bandit -  own it
(x) Smokey and The Bandit 2 -  own it
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump – own it
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator – own it
(x) The Terminator 2-  own it
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 141

(x) X-Men – own it
(x) X-2 -  own it
(x) X-Men: The Last Stand
(x) Spider-Man -  own it
(x) Spider-Man 2 – own it
(x) Tango and Cash
(x) Jeepers Creepers
(x) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) American Psycho -  own it
(x) Jumper
(x) Cruel Intentions
(x) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 159

(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
() The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
() Little Big League
() A Walk to Remember
(x) Tropic Thunder
(x) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 166

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring -  own it
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers -  own it
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King -  own it
(x) Raiders of the Lost Ark -  own it
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -  own it
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -  own it
Total so far: 172

(x) Baseketball
(x) Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
(x) House of 1000 Corpses
(x) The Devil’s Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) The Big Lebowski
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
() Threesome
Total so Far: 180

() The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) It -  own it
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic -  own it
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail -  own it
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
(x) Hot Fuzz
Total so far: 188

() High Tension
(x) Club Dread
(x) Nick Fury : Agent of Shield
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook -  own it
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 Days Later
(x) Orgazmo
(x) Super Troopers
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 197

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
(x) Suburban Commando
() Mr Nanny
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness -  own it
Total so far: 202

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace -  own it
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones -  own it
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith -  own it
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope -  own it
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back -  own it
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi -  own it
( x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage -  own it
(x ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor -  own it
Total so far: 210

(x) Point Break -  own it
(x) Dogma
(x) Animatrix – -  own it
(x) Evil Dead -  own it
(x) Evil Dead 2 -  own it
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Mallrats -  own it
(x) Silence of the Lambs -  own it
(x) Hannibal

Total 219

You see I already knew I had no life, so now you can see my movie choices – I think a bit of it is unfair since I’ve seen the original and remakes of a few movies on that list.  In that scenario should I count them twice.   I guess 219 out of 239 isn’t too bad, it’s also only the tip of the ice berg of what I’ve seen.   Heck tonight in the hotel room I’m in three movies have played so far while I’ve been catching up on blog articles.

]]> http://creeva.com/2009/01/13/stupid-facebook-chain-letter-ive-seen-a-bunch-of-movies-but-i-swear-i-have-a-life/feed/ 6 http://creeva.com/2009/01/02/today-is-my-10th-wedding-anniversary/ http://creeva.com/2009/01/02/today-is-my-10th-wedding-anniversary/#comments Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:25:33 +0000 Creeva http://creeva.com/?p=3865

I think I knew from our first date that my wife was going to be the one I was going to marry.   Granted I literally broke up with my ex the day before I asked her out, but it all worked out.   Though I was twenty -one and she was eighteen it was the first real date either of us had been on.   We had started “going out” with people before, but it was always meeting and doing things in social situations then you labeled as a couple and doing things was just being together and not really a date.  I did ask one girl out on a date previously, but it turned into a double date, so this was my first real date.

It was in September of 1997 and I managed to get off work early and get a hair cut, then I went out to one of our customers and bought her a bouquet of roses.   We went to Chi-Chi’s in Lorain, Ohio driving there in my 1986 Ford Escort.  I ordered a mexican pizza which they burned and she had me send back, and I believe she ordered the chimichanga’s .   We talked about going to the movies afterward and decided on Conspiracy Theory.   Walking to the car I asked her if I was the type of guy she could fall in love with (me=geek, not the best social skills).  She said maybe.   I asked her if I was the type of guy she could see herself marrying, she said she didn’t know.   We then drove over to the movie and had a wonderful time.

A few days later she was having problems with her parents, she was at a cross roads and all upset.  She was sitting on the front stoop of her friends house and that was the first time I ever told her I loved her.  She cried in my arms (not from me saying that, but because of the other stress) and said it back to me.   Three months later we were engaged. Thirteen months later on Jan 2, 1999 we got married.  From that first date until about 2004 when she went back to Ohio to visit family while I was stuck working in Oregon, we never spent more then 24 hours away from one another, over 2600 days of seeing each other at least once every day.

I’m not going to saying everything has always been fantastic, we’ve had our ups and downs.  We have managed to stay together and stay in love.   I love her more each day, and now she is going to be the mother of my child (last year we did say we would do something special for our 10th).  We are opposites, but we are also twins, we are stronger together then we are apart.  We are both critical thinkers, yet I’m the only one that thinks she is the better of the two of us – so sometimes she is wrong.

She is the core of my being and the center of my universe, even though I don’t always show it.   Her thoughts and dreams revolve around mine, like mine do around her.   She is my wife, and I love her.

Maximum PC recently ran an article titled 50 Skills Every Real Geek Should Have, I wanted to go through and see how I ranked in their skill list.   Let’s find out.

1. Name the Connectors – yes I was able to :)

2. Run your essential apps on a USB stick – no I don’t do this, I could – I just prefer to run everything in the cloud or on my N810 – which is with me most of the time.

3. Straighten Pins on a CPU – I have done this too many times

4. Know the 13 basic HTML Tags – well I kinda know most of them – I use freaking wordpress I hardly need to use HTML and when I do I look it up and hav ethe answer in seconds.   Though I do know quite a few by heart that aren’t listed in the basic 13.

5.  Get through to executive customer service – hey I read the consumerist.

6.  Beat quake in 60 minutes – maybe at one point in time, but I’m not big on FPS games.

7.  Build a Hackintosh – I know how, I just don’t the components that seem to work, and I’m a cheap bastard that won’t buy parts just to run OSX - I’ll stick with ubuntu as my alternative OS.

8.  Watch TV Online legally – um that’s how I watch 100% of my TV these days.

9.  Get around a content filter from a public computer – yes I know how, I’ve helped friends at other companies, it’s not worth it to do it at my own job though.

10. Recite Pi to 23 decimal places – nope – I have no inclination to ever learn either.

11. Replace the controller board on a hard drive – hey I did that once, it’s not a skill that comes up at parties though.

12.  Benchmark your computer – really?  Is this even on this list? Yes, I was doing this before I fully understood what the benchmarks meant on my 386 DX40.

13. Decorate your room with only printer paper – am I physically in the skill set to be able to do this?  Yes I am – would I?  No.  I’m more likely to decorate with NES cartridges.

14. Securely erase your data so it can’t be recovered – yes I am capable – it would be easier if you encrypted it first though.

15.  Get into a windows computer if you don’t have a password – yes I’ve done this quite a few times.

16.  Hide data from anyone – yes encryption, hidden volumes, stegnography (which I got bored with in 2001) – I am capable of doing all that – I’m more likely ot share my data then hide it though.

17. Explain what e=mc2 means – yes I would like the e=MC2 with a side of fries please – yes I am capable, but refuse to put in the details here since I want to make it through this list.

18.  Abstain from buying extended warranties – I may have bought one, once – it was on something i thoguht it fall apart though – so it’s all good.

19.  Use photoshop or gimp – yes I am capable.

20. Use a DSLR in full manual mode – I can – I’m just lazy and prefer it to do the work.

21. Mooch your neighbors wi-fi – my neighbor doesn’t have wi-fi but I’m ready to mooch when they do.

22. Protext your wi-fi – Wep2 currently – For a while I had mac filtering, I hated to keep getting mac addresses from visitors though.

23. Create an animated spray in Valve games – um – I don’t think I’ve played a single one for more then 5 minutes….so this one is a no.

24.  Setup RAID – yes I’ve done this a few times over the years for my home network.  Now implement Iscsi raid across multiple computers – that’s a challenge.

25. Calculate a Pitchers ERA – no I don’t know how – but I know google will give me the answer quicker then I can calculate it.

26. Run two Operating Systems – um I dual boot currently……

27. Install a hard drive in laptop – done before and some day I’ll do it again.

28. Pull off an elaborate prank – I think have the skill set and knowledge – I just never have – unless stealing street signs as a teenager counts.

29.  Rocket jump with a macro – um – I said I don’t really do FPS games – so no I can’t do this.

30.  Wire your home with ethernet – um every place I’ve lived with my wife we have had wired ethernet – we even used RG58 at one point.

31.  Know the 6 most important linux commands – yes I get command not found when I’m not thinking and run them in windows.

31. Rip your CDs to Flac – we did this for awhile then went back to MP3

32.  Stream Music, Movies, Pictures to any TV in the house – I’ve done this before – now we just carry our laptops around – shrug.

33.  Install and configure a VM – yes I’ve done this for literally years (maybe even a decade by now)

34.  Run multiple monitors – yes I use to dual monitor and run SWG on two different ones at the same time – I’m sad I know.

35. Run hacked firmware on a router – yes liek the rest of hte world I have a hacked linksys router /yawn.

36.  Pick a lock – I’m not good at it, but I’ve done it a couple times.

37.  Tell the difference between Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb – it’s been awhile but I think I could.

38.  Avoid DRM on everything – well streaming video legally that they talked about above seems to contradict this one doesn’t it.   However all my local video, music, picutres, and ebooks are DRM free.

39. Download a flash video and reformat it – yes I’ve done this – youtube videos locally stored on the N810 ftw.

40.  Get around in DOS – I grew up and DOS and resisted windows for a long time – so let’s just say yes.

41. Rip a DVD to h.264 – yes been there done that.

42.  Overclock your PC – yes I’ve done this my pride and joy was overclocking my AMD 133 mhz 486 to 160 MHZ – and it benchmarked and ran like a pentium 133 for half the cost.

43.  Use remote desktop – it’s part of my job – so yes.

44. Debate the merits of a star destroyer vs. the enterprise – yes, and the star destroyer would win.

45. Buld your own computer – built too many to actually count – I’m serious to – I worked at a small PC store and we sold hundreds – thousands of machines – so I cna build my own.

In irony they don’t seem to actually have 50 things on their list – so I think most geeks should know how to count also.

Stargate Atlantis Season 3- more Stargate goodness.

Amazon Synopsis:

With Stargate SG-1 now permanently off the data screen (except for a TV movie or two) after ten productive seasons, it appears that the fate of the universe is now the responsibility of the Stargate Atlantis crew. Based on the latter’s third season, whose 20 episodes (plus a wealth of bonus features) are made available here on five discs, we’re in good hands.
Three years into it, Atlantis has retained numerous familiar elements while continuing to evolve steadily. The core cast is intact, with the cocky wiseacre-hero Lt. Col. John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and the egotistical, neurotic genius Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) still the most entertaining of the bunch; as the series explores the characters’ personal lives and backstories, we even meet (in “McKay and Mrs. Miller”) the latter’s sister, who’s every bit the wiz that he is. On the other hand, the roles of team leader Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson) and members Teyla (Rachel Luttrell) and Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa) are neither especially well-written nor well-played. The return of Richard Dean Anderson (and his sense of humor) as General Jack O’Neill, the SG-1 mainstay during most of its run, for a few cameos is most welcome, as is the presence of the Wraith, the series’ principal villains (SG-1 fans will also recognize the “sentient machines” known as the Replicators from that series). With their flowing white locks, cat-like eyes, pale, almost translucent skin, ultra-fine black leather dusters, and, in one case, shades that would make a Hollywood hipster envious, the Wraith remain the coolest bad guys on the sci-fi scene. We already knew that they feed on humans, but this season brings some startling new revelations, particularly in “Common Ground,” an excellent episode that finds Sheppard and a Wraith (Christopher Heyerdahl) forming an unlikely alliance against a mutual enemy; we also witness the return of the Wraith known as Michael (Connor Trinneer), who was the subject of the Atlantis team’s ongoing “retro-virus” experiment (designed to make Wraiths human) in Season Two and plays a significant recurring role in Season Three. Other developments are apparent as well, but most dramatic of all is the death of one of the team’s key members.
Stargate Atlantis isn’t the most original TV show ever created; in fact, elements of The Running Man, Alien, The Abyss, Enemy Mine, and other sci-fi works are sometimes so obvious that the characters themselves mention them in dialogue. But as always, the action sequences, special effects, models, and other technical elements are first-rate, as are the bonus features, which include episode commentaries, featurettes, and photo galleries.

Stargate Atlantis Season 2 – more Stargate goodness.

Amazon Synopsis:

If Stargate Atlantis isn’t the coolest sci-fi series on television, this five-disc, 20-episode box set from the second season (2005-06) offers ample evidence that it’s right up there. The writing is good; the stories are intriguing, and the science part of the equation is credible enough to justify our suspension of disbelief. The characters are for the most part well-defined, and the acting, while perhaps not Emmy-caliber, is just fine. The action is exciting, the effects work impressive, the costumes and sets first-rate. But what Atlantis really has going for it is the presence of some of the baddest bad guys in the cosmos: the Wraith.

With their flowing white locks, cat-like eyes, pale, almost translucent skin, and teeth so bad they’d make the British blush, the Wraith rock. They also have a constant need to feed–on humans, of course–and are a serious threat not only to Atlantis but to the entire known universe, including good ol’ Earth. And although there are occasional diversions, the producers and writers have wisely kept the focus on these implacable antagonists; in fact, the newest member of the team, one Ronon Dex (played by the dreadlocked and hunky Jason Momoa), is a “runner” who escaped the Wraith’s clutches, was a fugitive for years before being found by our heroes, and specializes in dispatching the villains with cold precision. In the course of the season, via single episodes and several multi-parters, the Stargate team, commanded by Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson in the show’s least interesting role) and led by insouciant Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), with genius-neurotic Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) handling the scientific intricacies and yet another doc, Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion, affecting a Scottish brogue), overseeing medical matters, deals with the enemy on many fronts. Lt. Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) defects after assuming Wraith-like characteristics. The team experiments with a “retrovirus” designed to turn Wraiths into humans (the results are decidedly mixed). They encounter a human who raised a Wraith female from childhood and insists she’s just like us (she’s not). They’re captured and imprisoned on a Wraith “hive” ship. And in the final episode, the humans and the Wraiths even form an alliance of supposedly mutual convenience (the episode is a cliffhanger that awaits resolution until Season Three, but anyone who thought this “partnership” was a good idea for our side clearly hasn’t been paying attention). As was the case with the Season One set, bonus materials are generous, including audio commentary (by actors, directors, and others) on every episode, various featurettes, photos, and more. Now if only there were a few Wraith interviews…

I wasn’t too excited about Stargate Atlantis when it was first announced.  Season 1 however gripped me by the shorts and I have since fallen in love and have given it the fan-boy love it deserved.

Amazon Synopsis

When a secret base, abandoned by the original builders of the Stargates, is found buried in the ice of Antartica, the newly formed Stargate Atlantis team is born. The team’s discovery leads to a daring expeditiion to the distant Pegasus galaxy, where they encounter a primitive human civilization and a sinister new enemy that threatens human life everywhere. The Stargate Atlantis mission is headed by Dr. Elizabeth Weir, a specialist in diplomatic relations. Her political savvy is balanced by the bravado of her military counterpart, Major John Sheppard, a courageous pilot. Rounding out the crew are Lt. Aiden Ford, Sheppard’s second-in-command, Dr. Rodney McKay, a clever and quick-witted astrophysicist and Teyla, a beautiful young leader among the primitive alien civilization that the Atlantis team encounters.:

Stargate SG-1 Season 10, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.  Though I cried a bit inside when it was canceled.

Amazon’s Synopsis:

The final Season comes to DVD! In season 10, Vala, a former Goa’uld host turned freedom-fighter, joins SG-1 in their battle to defend the galaxy from the holy war of the Ori. Meanwhile, relations between the Jaffa and Earth continue to be strained. It all comes to a sizzling end on the finale.

Stargate SG-1 Season 9, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

The Stargate is an intergalactic gateway, developed by an ancient civilization, that links other planets from other solar systems to ours. The U.S. Air Force assembles a Stargate team for interstellar peace-keeping missions. Boasting incredible special effects sequences, rapid-fire pacing and awesome scenes of alien warfare, STARGATE SG-1™ is your gateway to pulse-pounding, sci-fi action!

Stargate SG-1 Season 8, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

STARGATE SG-1 DVD:8TH SSN V1: Episode #8.1: New Order Part 1 – When Carter and Teal’c fly to the Asgard world of Hala in hopes of finding a way to revive O’Neill, they are attacked by Replicators, who take Carter prisoner. Meanwhile, Dr. Weir and Daniel Jackson attempt to negotiate a treaty with Goa’uld System Lords who wish to unite against a common enemy. Episode #8.2: New Order Part 2 – The Goa’uld send a mothership to Earth, demanding that it prove its superior defenses. As Dr. Weir applies her most expert diplomatic tactics, Daniel and the still unconscious body of Colonel O’Neill are unexpectedly beamed aboard Thor’s ship, where Thor tries to access the knowledge of the Ancients. Episode #8.3: Lock Down – When Jackson contracts a mysterious illness from a Russian colonel, O’Neill is convinced that a contagion has infected the base and orders a lockdown. But when Jackson reveals that he was actually possessed by Anubis, who is now loose on the base, O’Neill must discover the identity of the new host! Episode #8.4: Zero Hour – O’Neill finds his plate full with a visit from the president and negotiations between two warring tribes from the planet Amra. But when SG-1 is captured by a Goa’uld System Lord and he’s forced to choose between the safety of the team and the fate of an entire planet, O’Neill begins to question his competency!

Stargate SG-1 Season 7, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

The futuristic action continues in the seventh season of STARGATE SG-1 the popular sci-fi series. Richard Dean Anderson is back as the leader of the crew who can instantly be transported to anywhere in this or any other universe. The crew hops from planet to planet in this collection containing every episode from the show’s seventh season

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

The biggest change for Stargate SG-1‘s sixth season was its move to the Sci-Fi Channel. Financial rescue or genre haven from cancellation? Whatever the behind-the-scenes politics, the departure of Daniel Jackson (actor Michael Shanks) the previous year most certainly contributed to the need to run a tighter ship somewhere. With the addition of his replacement, Jonas Quinn, the new show dynamic (hinted at by the new title theme) meant far more convolutedly involved story arcs and less individual focus. One of very few solo spotlights came from Christopher Judge writing his own show, when “The Changeling” saw Teal’c act out a life as a fireman. One reason for its being a fan favorite was the cameo from still-alive-after-all Daniel Jackson. There’d be several more through the year, culminating in a finale that relied on how much attention you’d been paying to that all-important back-story. Other kooky cameos included Dean Stockwell in one of the many spotlights on the energy resource n’quadria, Ian Buchanan as one of the devilish Replicators (and hopefully the end of that plotline), and regular spots from John DeLancie, Ronny Cox, and Tom McBeath as the Earth-bound series bad guys. More pertinently, we also saw The X-Files‘ Byers (Bruce Harwood) as a scientist involved with the Antarctic Gate. Lest we forget, there are other portals on Earth. Is that an already planned spin-off on the horizon?

Stargate SG-1 Season 5, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

It now seems clear that season 5 of Stargate SG-1 will be remembered as the one in which something went awry with Daniel Jackson. Lots of behind-the-scenes rumors fueled the idea of cast tension, but whatever the problem, his sudden departure from the show was obviously through a quickly contrived scenario. In retrospect, there must have been a problem for some while before the weird penultimate episode (“Meridian”). Michael Shanks looks frequently bored in his rare moments of individual screen time as he infiltrates a Goa’uld meeting and even when making friends with a creature everyone else wants dead. In fact, there’s only one point when everyone really seems to be having fun, and that’s in the spoof 100th episode “Wormhole X-treme!”

Stargate SG-1 Season 4, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

Based on the film starring Kurt Russell this spin-off became a wildly successful cult hit among science fiction fans. This collection contains the entire fourth season of the adventures of the space station intended to be a sort of interplanetary United Nations.

Stargate SG-1 Season 3, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

The third season of the popular science fiction series is included in its entirety in this collection. Colonel Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) leads his interplanetary crew into numerous adventures throughout the many galaxies.

Stargate SG-1 Season 2, SG-1 greatness continues – nuff said.

Amazon’s synopsis:

Exploring various pockets of the universe Richard Dean Anderson leads his crew on intergalactic voyages. This second season of one of the most popular science fiction series in syndicated television history enhances both the action and the intrigue of this fascinating space opera.

Stargate Season 1, I’ll be going over all of my box sets so with the Stargate franchise there is going to be alot of redundancy.   When I first heard they were going to a series on Stargate I thought it was a stupid idea.  Macgyver has the team lead, HA – I love Macgyver and all but I didn’t think Richard Dean Anderson could have pulled it off.  I was wrong.

Stargate is one of my favorite TV franchises of all time now.

Now since I have 10 of these to write – I’ll give you Amazon’s review:

Hollywood’s film archives overflow with the carcasses of dismal movies based on lame ’60s and ’70s television shows, a syndrome that shows no sign of abating. But here’s evidence that the reverse effect, turning a movie into a TV series, can have surprisingly positive results. Indeed, based on the 21 episodes produced for the first season of Stargate SG-1, it could be argued that this show is significantly better than the 1994 feature it’s derived from.

The central conceit of the original Stargate–the existence of an artificially created “wormhole” through which one can travel to different worlds light years away from Earth–was an intriguing one. In seizing on the obvious possibilities for expanding on that premise, series executive producers-writers Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright have smartly retained some of the film’s basic elements (its amalgam of myth and theoretical hokum, or the ongoing clash of wills between scientists and soldiers), while adding a variety of fresh ideas (including new characters, new locations, and a welcome dose of humor, much of it supplied by Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver himself, who replaces Kurt Russell in the central role of Colonel Jack O’Neill). The result is a show with multidimensional heroes and villains and consistently compelling story lines (many of them introduced in the pilot and carried forward through subsequent episodes) balancing excellent special effects and production values. All this and full frontal nudity, too (at least in the aforementioned pilot). Who can resist?

The first season is spread out over five DVDs; the 100-minute pilot shares the first volume with two other episodes, while discs 2 to 5 contain anywhere from three to five shows each. Sound and visuals (in widescreen format) alike will take full advantage of any home system’s capabilities. But aside from language and subtitle options, bonus features are limited to brief featurettes that play like commercials and provide little in the way of background information or insight (there are no features at all on the first disc). Then again, if you really want to know what that symbol on Teal’c's forehead means, or why the nasty, parasitic Goa’ulds look a lot like the fledgling stomach monsters in the Alien series, there is no doubt a Web site out there just for you.

I saw Zack and Miri Make a Porno Friday night, it wasn’t that good.  I won’t say that it’s bad, it’s just wasn’t what I was expecting.  I expect a normal Kevin Smith movie to have heart and an echo of reality through out it.  I liked Jersey Girl, and my favorite is Chasing Amy – both of these showed me a glimpse of who Kevin Smith is. Zack and Miri didn’t show me that.

Let’s look at the opposite side, I also love Seth Rogen movies for the same reason.  But the glimpse of truth that is shown his movies is different then the one that Smith provides.  I can identify with Freaks and Geeks as much as I can with Clerks.   Just it’s a different way that binds them both to me.

So what’s the problem?

This is one of those times that two worlds shouldn’t collide.  I think Smith haves actors he normally works with that follow a certain speech cadence and dialogue flow, Rogen can’t perform that.   I’m sorry Seth, it just isn’t your style.   Though in the final product it felt more like a Seth Rogen movie then a Kevin Smith movie.   The only thing that felt remotely Smithesque was the fight between Zack and Miri in the back right before Zack disappears.   This was the only time it felt like a Smith film.

He seemed to be chasing the dream of Chasing Amy in the film, but for that goal it fell flat on it’s face.  Part of my problem maybe  was looking forwrad to this movie too much and my personal didn’t live up to expectations.   Either way I’ll look eagerly towards his next movie.

I would have gotten this write up done sooner since I saw the movie on Friday night (premiere night), expect Saturday my writing wsa wrapped up in NANOWRIMO.