“Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to…get a new dog?”
That’s what reader Vanessa said when I linked her to the news story: MSNBC reports today that a dog was cloned. The son and daughter-in-law of NASCAR’s founder just couldn’t bear to be without their golden Labrador Lancelot, so they paid about $155k to get the dog redone as a new dog. Yeah. They now have a lab Lab. Hah. I just made a pun†!
Lancelot Encore, as he is being called, reminds me of the time, a couple years ago, when I saw this TV show called “This American Life.” Their first episode had a story about this guy who couldn’t be without his beloved bull so he had the bull cloned. Everything seemed fine and dandy until the bull kinda went crazy and attacked its owner. Twice.
Is it joke time??
Listen in on this little special non-podcast audio post while I make sure I put the site back together properly.
Retract: DTV Delayed Four Months!
Well, guess what I don’t have to do for now. I don’t have to get a new Digital-ready HDTV, or at least a digital converter box. As most people, including the LA Times, are reporting, gubbment is pushing the transition date back to June 12th. It was originally February 17, 2009; on that date many TV stations would stop broadcasting in analog, and transmit their station purely on the digital airwaves.
But now, four more months go by, and many stations get to send out two signals — one analog and one digital — and pay higher electricity bills and all that. But at least I can still use my good ole rabbit ears on the TV to watch ‘House’ and ‘90210′.
Oh, wait… I don’t have an antenna in the first place. Dammit, now I have to go buy one.
Looks like the House just voted against extending the deadline, which will keep about 6 million households from watching ‘House’ and ‘90210′, according to NYT. Well, doesn’t change anything; I still need an antenna and another DTV converter.
In memorium
Heath Ledger’s tragic death really shook things up, ya know? It was a year ago today. Headline News seemed to be reporting on the event all day, as if it were the new 9/11, as far as I can remember. Days and weeks went by, and you had to avoid the television — and, really, all major news outlets — if you wanted to avoid his face.
Weeks and months went by, and blah blah blah. The Dark Knight was released in theatres, and it we had a chance to see one of Ledger’s most amazing portrayals ever, as well as, hands down, the best Joker to come alive on the silver screen.
Last night, someone close to the personal lives of About 12 Minutes passed away. It’s always sad to hear about death. It’s worse when it hits close to home. I find myself thinking about other things. It’s my coping mechanism. And, yes, my coping mechanism is to think about other men. But it’s okay, because it’s more like, a man who tragically died before his time.
Another useful iPod app
From CNET: You can go to the iTunes store, get this new application for your iPod Touch, attach it to your gun, and it’ll help you shoot better.
Someone get me an iPod Touch and a Walther P99 and hope that it the blowback doesn’t mess up my iPod. Thanks.
New Transformers movie in jeopardy!
Oh, this is wonderful. According to News Day Shia LaBeouf’s license got suspended for a year. This was because, remember last year when he got into that lovely little drunk driving accident? Yeah, me neither. But apparently it happened. He got his left hand crushed and everything (FOXNews.com)!
And now he’s not allowed to drive. Poor him, because he stars in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a movie with robots that turn into CARS! How’s he supposed to star in a movie when he’s not even allowed to drive?
Oh wait. It’s a good thing Bumblebee, the busted-up Chevy Camero turned hot new Chevy Camaro, drives himself around. Whew. Disaster averted. Movie saved. We can get on with our lives now.
2×02: Back on Track with the Two of Us
Sorry about the mix-up, folks. Forgot to attach the show. Here’s a riposte.
Brady and Jay V discuss their New Years excitements, the movie Yes Man, and the proper pronunciation of “opossum.”
The Problem with Mortality
I’ve long been fascinated with immortality. Vampires, gods, the fountain of youth, Ra’s al Ghul, all have garnered my interest at one time or another. I’ve often been asked what my interest in the subject is. Obviously the easiest answer is that I fear death and while many put on a brave face and say they don’t fear death, many of those same people show their true colors once death is finally upon them. That’s not to say that there are not people that don’t fear death, just that many do and I happen to be one of them. But honestly that isn’t my biggest concern when dealing with the issue of mortality.
I’m not going to deny it, I am a selfish person. I’m estimating here but I would garner a guess that 95% of everything I do has some sort of selfish motivation behind it. I may come off as a genuinely nice guy but deep down I am an asshole. I’m OK with that, my friends are OK with that and most importantly my wife is OK with that. However there is that 5% sliver motivation that is not devoted to myself and that gets devoted primarily to my family and friends. I view myself to be quite the loyal friend and family (especially my kids) come before most of my selfish ambitions, which brings me to my biggest concern when dealing with mortality.
As I said before I am afraid of death, more so the suffering and the unknown that accompanies death but I am more concerned about what I leave behind. This past Monday afternoon my wife’s father died of a heart attack after having surgery a couple hours earlier. The pain and suffering, the emptiness and loneliness that has struck my wife, her sister and her mother is something I can’t even fathom. On the surface they seem to be holding it together but deep down I know a piece of them has broken and that is what I fear the most about mortality.
I never want to hurt my family (or friends) in the way that death does. I spend my whole life attempting to make sure they are taken care of to the best of my abilities, be it through laughter, physical strength, mental fortitude or whatever but by dying I feel I would hurt and I don’t ever want to hurt them. I know it isn’t something that anyone has control over but it is something that eats at me about the human plight.
I’ve had this conversation with many people over the years and the biggest argument they can come up with is that if I live forever and everyone else around me dies, each time a loved one of mine dies I will break a little bit. I don’t know if there is a counter argument to that point but in the end I would rather be hurt than have me hurt someone else.
I’m not sure where I planned on going with this but I’m tired right now (both physically and emotionally) and I just needed to vent that out.
Proof that PETA has lost their senses
PETA has a website where you can dress fish up in cute outfits, and then it says, “Save the Sea Kittens.”
Buh?
Oh … I get it. Though I thought PETA was against dressing up animals or something, they have no problem dressing up fish. Also, they want to rename fish “sea kittens.” First off, I’m not buying into the whole “Sea Kitten” propaganda. Second off, let me show you (after the cut) just how crazy PETA is.
Chris’s Personal Best of 2008: Games
A couple of days ago I wrote a post that was somewhat critical of the way GiantBomb selected their game of the year. I want to make it quite clear that I wasn’t criticizing game of the year awards (I love ordered lists) nor their selection in general (its their opinion), so please don’t take this post as me being a hypocrite because that certainly was not the intention. With that said I believe I should note that my gaming disappointment of 2008 goes to Grand Theft Auto IV. I just didn’t have anywhere near the amount of fun I had with previous games in the series and while I didn’t hate it like some people, I didn’t like it much either.
But this post isn’t called Chris’s Personal Disappointments of 2008 but rather Personal Best so let’s get to that.
(Oh and this is going to be long)
When Did Games Stop Just Needing To Be Games?
When did games need to become something other than games to be something special? When did they stop just needing to be fun?
While at work today I went through my usual routine. Sit down at my desk. Get out my iPod and search through to any un-listened to podcasts from the past week. I happened to see that GiantBomb’s Game of the Year Podcast hadn’t been listened too so I chose that to listen too even though I already knew what game they had picked for Game of the Year.
Now I have no problem with GiantBomb picking Grand Theft Auto IV as their game of the year. After all, it is their game of the year selection, not mine. What kind of got me a little cross though was that during their debate for Game of the Year, which eventually boiled down to Metal Gear Solid 4 and the eventual winner, was that all four of the GiantBomb guys kept saying how the two games were so much more than just mere games. They easily brushed aside talk of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, a game I feel Brad Shoemaker actually thought was game of the year, and Dead Space because while they were great games, they were just games. But somehow GTA IV and MGS4 transcended gamedom and were a completely different entity.
I don’t know about you but I play games because they are games and honestly I don’t see how these two particular games became something more than a game. I can see where someone would say that the story in MGS 4 is outstanding and possibly the best ever in a game but did it truly transcend gaming and become something else? Not in my eyes. I can see where someone might say that the decisions in GTA IV were realistic and gut-wrenching, I don’t agree with it but I can see someone’s argument about it, but did that realistic gameplay ever make the game become something else? I don’t think so.
I am all for games as an art form and if someone can make a connection with a game on an emotional level, that’s great and certainly special. But I feel that the primary goal of a game should be to entertain the player. Why aren’t game of the year awards picked on that criteria?
I meant to have my Best of 2008: Handheld Games piece up tonight but I decided to do a Best of Games list instead of breaking it down, so look for that tomorrow.
Chris’s Personal Best of 2008: Movies
As you know I saw a lot of films this year, about 42 of them were released in 2008 and I saw about ¾ of that in theaters. I did not see a good many films though, stuff like Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, The Spirit, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Gran Torino will have to wait until sometime this year. The following list is the best of what I did see this year. The most disappointing film I saw in 2008 was Vin Diesel’s Babylon A.D. But you’re not here to see what I though sucked but rather what I thought was excellent.
So here is the best: (more…)
Chris’s Personal Bests of 2008: Music
This year (or I guess it is last year now) I spent far less on music than I have in past years only picking up about 29 albums and about 200 or singles but I still have an opinion based on that so let’s get to it.
2008 seemed to be a renaissance for a great many older artists, some hit and some didn’t but the weakest one of the year goes to Def Leppard’s “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge”. I truly think Def Leppard may have died because this isn’t even a shadow of their former works.
And now onto the best.
(more…)
In The Queue: Unknown
I haven’t switched from Netflix to Blockbuster yet because I have over 100 movies in the queue, so I think I will deplete the stock before I make the switch.
Meanwhile, the latest movie I am scheduled to watch, courtesy of Netflix, is called Unknown, and it stars Greg Kinnear and Joe Pantoliano.
A seemingly disparate group of men awake together in a locked-down warehouse in the middle of the desert with no knowledge of who they are or how they ended up in their present situation. Despite their shared amnesia, the men must work together to figure out who’s who in order to avoid execution. Director Simon Brand weaves this tension-filled thriller that’s elevated by a seasoned cast of actors including Greg Kinnear and Joe Pantoliano.
Looks fascinating.
‘Yes Man’ is more like a maybe
I’m going to save the review for the latest Jim Carrey film Yes Man for the next episode of the podcast, but you should at least know that the film is mildly funny most of the way through, hilarious at a couple spots, and at others just plain uncomfortable to watch. See what users of Rotten Tomatoes have to say.
