0.00001/5
Let start with the things I liked about this game. The cartridge was the correct shape and size and fit perfectly into my DS. Turning on the system did not result in an explosion. The game came in a nifty box, perfectly designed for hold the cartridge until the next time I play it, which will be exactly never.

Simply put, this game is horrible. It is catastrophe in every aspect: graphics, sound, aesthetics, and most importantly game play. I am really trying to think of ways to describe this game to you, but the words will not come. Just thinking about it makes me feel like breaking stuff.

This game’s performance was so bad that it made me question the integrity of my DS. Was it broken? Is there some sort of memory upgrade or graphics adapter I don’t know about?

Major League Baseball 2K7 is the video game equivalent to a burning bag of dog poop. Trust me when I say you do not want anything to do with it.

Saturday, someone came to my door who I didn’t know. She claimed to be a neighbour of mine, living about 1.5 blocks from me. This is a pretty lax definition of neighbour, really. Anyway, she proceeded to explain a complicated situation whose ending meant she needed about 40$.

The details don’t really matter, but the gist of the story was that she had locked herself out of her house and needed the money for a locksmith who seemed to be a bit of an ass.

I decided to gather more information and said we’d go get the money (who carries cash on them anymore?!). So, we go to walk to the ATM, and she leads the way out the back alley and walks around my car. I point out that the ATM is the other way, and she says she assumed we’d drive. At that point I was a bit weirded out at her assumption that that was my car.

We walk to the ATM and I try to get more information from her. She is obviously flustered and emotional about the whole thing, speaking in random sentences whose transition would make perfect sense to those who can read minds. At one moment, she’s talking about her cell phone plan - showing me the phone and explaining how it has a camera she doesn’t know how to use, and the next she’s talking about the locksmith at Chinook, followed by a quick dissertation about her job at Petro Canada and how she was somehow getting a discount because of her boss who was in Canmore at it’s Petro Canada at the time. Nothing shady there - there is a Petro Canada in Canmore.

She did have a Petro Canada shirt, which she showed me during her inital greeting. At one point she mentioned something about gift certificates, and when I asked what she meant, she said she was going to sign over a gift certificate to me so I could get a free meal at the Keg. And then she muttered more that involved me signing things, which I quickly passed on. I said that was nice of her, but I wouldn’t use it, so she could keep it. In my mind, this was just a lease of 40$ for a few hours, it didn’t really involve a payback.

One more note before the exciting conclusion: About 2 years ago, something similar to this happened. A guy knocked on my door and asked for 20$ for a cab ride home ’cause his g/f took his wallet when she left the bar. He said he’d drop the cash off the next day - I gave him the cash and never saw it again. I’m assuming he put the money in the wrong mailbox, or just forgot where I live.

Back to the neighbour thing for a second: If she lives 1.5 blocks away from me, that’s quite a few houses. How did she get to mine? I mean, did she try every other place all around my area? I am neither close to the Petro Canada, nor where she said she lived. In fact, I’m on the other side of 33rd.  So, that makes it really about 2-3 blocks.
So, here’s the interesting question - given all that, what do you do? Do you give her the money?

I would rather trust in people than not. At some point someone may ask me for help who needs it, and I want to actually help - not be so paranoid and cynical that I don’t. I weighed the loss of 40$ if she was lying vs the possibility of her actually needing help (and me getting my money back). I gave her the money, and she promised to have it dropped off in my mailbox in a few hours.

It’s still not there. Maybe she forgot where I live? Maybe she put it there and the mailman took it? Who knows. Would I do it again? I certainly hope so.

For many people, music is just a passive activity. A lot of peolpe I know are not very concerned with it. If it’s on, it on, if it’s not, it’s not. They are perfectly content with listening to just the radio, and when asked what music has them interested lately, they usually say something like “I just listen to whatever is on the radio” or “You know, that song…”, and they hum some unrecognisable tune. A tune they probably heard on the radio. Days later, while in some public place where the radio is played, that song will come on, and it turns out to be a runner-up from American Idol.

But for me (and also for a lot of people I know), music is not passive, it’s not even an activity. It’s bigger, much much bigger. On par with oxygen and water, music is essential to my very existance. I like a lot of different kinds of music. I have a collection of over 30,ooo songs. I have tried everything I will try anything.

And I love punk rock.

Punk is good music. This is a bold statement. But it’s just a bold as the opposite, which I hear all the time, “punk is crap”. So, I want to outline the reasons I love punk.

Here is a good question….what IS punk? Is it characterised by a sound? or a hairstyle? Do you have to dress a certain way? Do you have to be apathetic? Do you have to be young to like punk? Do I have to ride a skateboard? These are all valid questions, all with the same answer: NO. You don’t need to be a liberal. You don’t need to be an athiest. Stereotypes is not what punk is about, in fact, I would say it’s the only music that is openly against stereotypes.

Punk is being who you are and taking care of the bigger picture. It’s more of a way of thinking, and music is a way of expressing that thought. Punk is anything but apathetic. Apathy, to me, is embodied in music that doesn’t care about what’s happening.

Lots of pop music isn’t concerned with anything but being good to dance to. It’s concerned with a fleeting momment. Rap and hiphop, the stuff about cars, gold chains, and money is apathetic. It’s selfish. Why do I want to buy a CD and listen to someone tell me about how they are rich and I am not, and they are going to come with all of their friends and beat me up? OK, fine, you win. You are rich.

Punk is about taking care of people. It’s about having an opinion, being informed and saying/doing something about it. It’s a social movement. Anytime there has been a cause, there has been music to accompany it. The slaves in the south sang songs while they waited to be freed. The music that filled the 1960s was a direct result of the ultra-conservative 1950s. And punk is a response of similar social, political and economic troubles of our time. So, personally, I consider lots of music “punk”, even if it’s not considered so by the mainstream.

I have often heard punk critcized as having no musical integrity, that anyone can play guitar like that. I guess that’s true. Punk is not virtuoso music. No one studies for years and years in Europe to become and accomplished punk musician. Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion made that point that one of the reasons punk is apealing is because of it’s accesability. People hear punk and think “Yeah, I could do that!”. And so they do, and the movement grows. It breaks down barriers between bands and fans. No longer are musicians the new royality that they have become, they are the bards and the storytellers that they are meant to be.

So, I am not convincing you to like punk. You don’t have to. But I just wanted to explain why I laugh at people who complain about what they don’t know about. Punk bands know they are not amazing musicians, so you don’t need to point that out. But I like this music because it’s raw, it’s unapologetic, and it’s legitimate because it has something important to say.

Check out this well written essay for more on this very topic.

I didn’t realize this fact until Jim Carey pointed it out for me.

The Verdict:

The Proof:

This is cool.

Google Talkabout: Google Talk Gadget

I wouldn’t post this unless it was actually cool. I am sure we have all seen these ‘internet illusions’ before. But this one is for real:

http://www.neave.com/strobe/

Let me begin by saying that I don’t deny anyone their belief in anything. Everyone has the fundamental right to believe, and I respect that. I invite discussion on the topic. These are simply my views:

Last night, I watched a DVD that has come to change my life. It is called “The Secret”. You may have heard of it, it’s been on Oprah, I guess, and some other similar shows. This DVD claims to contain “the secret” to money, happiness, love, health, etc.: The secret to life itself.

I usually approach these sorts of things with some degree of skepticism, because I would rather question and find answers than believe the answers I am told. I could take the word of the DVD, but wouldn’t that make me a fool? Strong words, I know, but follow me for a minute. If I “believed” everything I was told, from any source, I would be denying my humanity.

To question is to be human. Nothing can be taught, no knowledge can be transfered without it being tested. Everything we are taught, before we can internalize it and make it “ours” has to be held up to the light. It has to be compared with other truths we hold.

If you were told there was a tower in the city where gravity did not apply, where you could jump off and simply float to the bottom, of course, you would question it. You know about gravity. You have experienced it every minute of every day of your life. You would probably want to see it for yourself. I doubt you would believe it without any evidence at all.

Well, the secret of “The Secret” is honestly no less fantastic than a magical anti-gravity tower. Here it is, in a nutshell:

As you think, so you shall receive.

The format of the DVD is that of an infomercial. They will show someone
talking about the claim, put their name on the screen and their
profession. These are not necessarily famous people, although a few very minor celebrities appear. (eg - The guy who wrote ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’) And while they talk, re-enactments of what is being described are shown. (Some of the acting is SO bad)

The movie starts by explaining the precision that exists in the universe, within each of it’s systems. There is one universal law, on which the whole premise of the movie hangs: The Law of Attraction. This law states that like attracts like. Positive is attracted to positive. Negative to negative.

It continues to say that there is power in our thoughts. Actual wavelengths of energy are contained in your thoughts. Measurable, empirical energy. And that positive thoughts have a certain frequency and negative thoughts another. By focusing on positive aspects, you can attract positive results into your life. They actually interviewed a quantum physicist to describe how this works. (see my earlier post with the quantum physics cartoon)

And so it goes. If you focus on the fact that you are in debt, you will only attract more debt into your life. If you focus on owning a Mercedes-Benz, the universe cannot deny you this, because according to the immutable law of attraction, the positive energy of your focus on the car will attract the car into your life. You don’t need to worry about how that car will find you. The law of attraction ensures that it will find you. The how is a matter left up to the universe to decide. The universe just needs to find the path of least resistance between you and that car.

At one point, an investment banker describes how he uses “the secret” to find great parking spots. He simply visualizes the spot, focuses on it, and the virtue of his thought manifests itself in a parking spot right next to the door. Incredible! He claims to have shown this to many of his friends and they have been amazed.

Another example given involves the mail. If you are getting bills in the mail, it is because you are dreading getting bills in the mail. That negative thought creates a negative energy and attracts MORE bills to you. But if you envision yourself receiving cheques in the mail, from whoever, for whatever amount, the positive energy created by thinking of that cheque will attract cheques to your mailbox, almost magically! It is simply the law of attraction, working in your favour! But wait there’s more! If you call in the next 12 minutes, we will throw in a set of steak knives, an $80 value, for free! (well, that’s what I expected to hear)

I know you are thinking I am exaggerating, that there is more to it than this. Perhaps all of this positive thinking will build our confidence, allowing us to formulate a plan, go to school, get education we need, work hard, earn money, pay debt, build our savings, and get that Mercedes. But no. That’s not what it says. The energy of your positive thinking will attract positive results, actions, and items into your life the same way a magnet will attract a nail. It’s just that simple.

There are a few laws of the universe that the movie fails to mention. I submit that my laws are every bit as valid as the Law of Attraction:

1. The Law of Taxes
Everything you earn can and will be taxed

2. The Law Deficit Spending
If you spend more than you earn, you create debt, no matter how good you feel about that debt.

3. The Law of the Free Lunch
This law simply states that this is no such thing. If cheques are being attracted to your mailbox, some one is going to notice.

4. The Law of Work
Work is the transfer of energy. When force is applied to an object, we can measure of the amount of work done by measure the distance the object is displaced. And thus W = F x d.

Where no force is applied, no work is done. Our object is not displaced.

And so life, where no effort is present, no work is done. And no Mercedes is displaced into your garage.

5. The Law of the Fool
This law states that “a fool and his money are soon parted”. It seems to me that anyone who bought this DVD has been actin’ a fool.

I recently finished George R.R. Martin’s last effort in his Song of Ice and Fire series, A Feast For Crows. It’s been a little while since his last book - A Storm of Swords.

I’ve put a lot of time into this series, and they’re actually pretty good. I started this book after reading Going Postal, which is a really tough act to follow, ’cause I just loved that book, and it’s style is so different from this book.

As I mentioned before, Martin started writing this book quite a long time ago, and had a number of plot lines that he wanted to get to. After writing for awhile, he noticed that he had well over a thousand pages, and he hadn’t come close to finishing, so he spawned this guy off. It really only follows a few of the characters through the time after the last book - most noteably Brienne and Jamie. It turns out that there’s also a decent amount about Sam, Sansa, and Arya - all of whom I don’t mind reading about.

When I started this and was only getting mildly into it. After 2 weeks, I was probably half way through the book. It was tough to see what he was getting to - the chapters were very different from each other, especially the ones about the Iron Born. By far, the chapters I enjoy the most are the ones involving Arya. But after the half way mark in the book? I really started to get into it, and had it finished about 2 or 3 days after that. Like his other books, the end of the book really picks up and throws all the characters together in a crazy unexpected mess.

The series is very definitely worth continuing, and this book does a better job than I was expecting. I’m looking forward to hearing about the other characters in his next book - A Dance with Dragons.