Watchmen Cast Confirmed!

via Watchmen Cast Confirmed! – ComingSoon.net.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

We went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix tonight. Overall, we all liked it a great deal. In ways, I liked it better than the book. Unlike Goblet of Fire, OotP lends itself to compression much more easily. I found that I didn’t miss much of what was cut out and, in ways, found it more enjoyable than the book.

Since we saw it on the IMAX, the last 20 minutes were in 3D. 3D doesn’t generally do anything for me. It was ok, but don’t feel like you missed anything unless you really really like 3D films.

Austin City Limits

I’m catching up on back episodes of Austin City Limits from the past few months. It reminded me of when I first heard of the show, which has absolutely nothing to do with when I started watching. When I was in 10th grade, I had a literature class with Mickey McCoy, a noted environmental activist – along with his wife, Nina, who was my Biology teacher – in Kentucky. Mr. McCoy watched at least semi-religiously while I was in the class, so he talked about some of the more interesting performances from time to time. When I saw ACL in the grid on my Tivo, I had to check it out.

One of the things I like most about ACL is that there is a tremendous variety of music on the show. It hits and misses for me, but It’s nice to hear music I most likely wouldn’t have or to figure out that I do actually like Death Cab for Cutie. The nicest thing is that most of the acts are in relatively small environments, so it is a more intimate performance. That lends itself to a little story telling, so it can be pretty fun to watch.

It also helps that Ben Folds was on a few months ago, so I got to see the fabled live performance of Not The Same
in quality better than the bootlegs on YouTube.

Jessica the pet hippo

Google Reader error with Apps for Domains

I have a couple of annoyances that I’ve run into with Google Apps for Domains and other Google services. First, the accounts aren’t integrated. I had to set up a “Google Account” manually using the same user name and password that I used for my Google Apps for Domains account. Authentication doesn’t cross between systems.

The Google Reader widget doesn’t seem to work with the Apps for Domains start page. All I ever get is this message: “Oops…an error occurred. Please try again in a few seconds.” It’s a pretty big problem when Google’s own apps don’t really work with it.

I’m getting the feeling that Apps for Domains is a hacked up solution that just doesn’t work with the rest of the Google family. The help documentation is lacking when it comes to solving a problem like this. It’s pretty frustrating when something should just work and it doesn’t.

Technorati Tags: Google

Google Page Creator doesn’t support Safari

But at least it has a great error message.

via Google Page Creator.

Transformers

We just got back from watching Transformers. I was a huge fan of the cartoon when I was a kid, so I was a little apprehensive about watching the new movie. Remakes have become a bit chancy, since they tend to lose key principals in the story or characters. However, I wasn’t disappointed this time.

Two things really stood out to me. The first is just how good the robots looked. They looked absolutely amazing, but so did the rest of the film. Michael Bay usually does a great job in the visuals department, but I really felt that he went to another level with this one. Second is that the script made us care for the robots more than I expected. The animation made them very human-like in their movements, so that helped, but the script was the key thing.

The movie wasn’t without it’s flaws. Some of the lines were cheesy, but they did manage to work in all of the classic Transformers lines without making it too over the top. The whole deal about wiring the computer to the short-wave radio to transmit Morse code was just ridiculous. The amount of product placement was insane, but I have to admit the Mountain Dew machine going Rambo with a pop can shooter was hilarious.

All told, Transformers was everything that it set out to be. It’s a high-octane summer movie that barely stops for a breath. There are lots of explosions and memorable scenes. It also managed to do all of that without losing the essence of the source material, at least as I remember it. At least Optimus Prime finally survived a movie.

Cleveland City Councilman’s letter to drug dealer

A fairly long rant. Pretty much exactly what you might want to say to a drug dealer, but would never put in writing.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

We just stopped by our local Kroger and picked up a copy. It’s much easier than than standing in a huge line.

Wii Table Tennis

I’m actually looking forward to this.

Rockstar Games is proud to announce that Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis will be making its way to the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo this Fall.

Developed by Rockstar Leeds in collaboration with Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis is the perfect Wii gaming experience. Feel the unmatched speed and intensity of the real-life sport with an authentic physics engine and intuitive gameplay that mimics the exhilarating experience found in international competition.

via NintendoWorldReport – News Article: Rockstar’s Table Tennis Announced for Wii.

White Stripes’ One Note Concert

It takes some real… umm… something to go on stage, play one note, and leave.

Setting up Google Apps for Domains

I spent the last hour or so setting up Google Apps for Domains. So far, I’ve got all of my DNS CNAMES created, my mail is importing from my other GMail account, and I’ve spent some time customizing the home page.

My next step is to figure out how to import all of Jennifer’s mail from Apple Mail.

Big thanks for Scott Hanselman for the inspiration and a wonderful guide.

‘House’ Casts Some New Docs

Olivia Wilde, Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson, Anne Dudek and Edi Gathegi will appear on “House” this fall, though it remains to be seen how long each of the actors will stick around.

via ‘House’ Casts Some New Docs
– Olivia Wilde and Kal Penn lead new additions – Zap2it.

Sorkin on Studio 60

Aaron Sorkin talked about the end of Studio 60 in an interview. I’m still sad to see it end.

Vick indicted for dog fighting

The Associated Press is reporting that Michael Vick has been indicted for his participation in the dog fighting operation that was run out of his house in Surry County, VA. Some of the details are horrific and, if true, he deserves the maximum penalty.

I have no idea how this will affect the Falcons, since they lost their primary backup, Matt Shaub, to the Houston Texans during the offseason. I hope Joey Harrington is ready to start, because he probably will be.