Not really another customer service problem, but i think it might be related...
I'm begining to notice the amount of subtle deviousness in today's business.
Last night I got home and my cable was acting strange. The images on some of the channels were "ghosted" on the major networks. I called customer service. After some explaining, she said a tech would have to come out, and when was a good time. About 4-6 months ago, my cable company MADE us get a converter box for an extra $4 a month if you had HBO. When I asked why, she said, "So incase there is a problem with your cable, we can take care of it from here, and not have to send a tech person out."
Great. So, I would call that devious. A way of getting more money from me a month, and lets just make up some excuse to justify it.
Today, I called to upgrade a piece of software for the PC. It was a $19 upgrade price. After giving the customer service person my name, address, email, she then asked for my phone #. I said it was unlisted. She said, Oh, we just use it for an ID verification here, and we don't sell it to other people... After a pause of thinking about giving it to her, I said, "Well, you do have my name, isn't that a personal ID verification"? So she sort of realized how much of a lame excuse she gave me and moved on to taking my order. Next, after completing the upgrade order, She said "And would you like to order the 400 page manual, with advanced features for only $24.99?" I asked if that was in addition to the $19.99, and she said Yes! Wow, so for $20, I get the program, but, if I want to know how to run the program, I need to buy an additional $25 manual. You know, That's just wrong.
ok, I'm off to call them back and see if I can complain to someone at the company. I know it will do no good, but someone needs to speak up to these people.

Cyen out

Today's rant is about customer service. It just amazes me that in today's techological world, where we can have little devices that you can talk to almost anywhere ouside, and then have another person hear you in their little device from somewhere else in the word, that we still have problems with customer service. (By the way, I'm refering to cell phones above). I've had to deal with two customer service problems in the last week or two. One was with UPS, and another was with the Bank company in regards to my new truck. The UPS problem took me several hours on the phone, and I got a run-a-round like you wouldn't believe. I talked to tech. support, customer service, billing, and the help desk. Then after 2 days, they finally found the right person to call me back and explain the problem correctly and tell us how to fix it. The problem with my bank, I received a letter stating I didn't have proper insurance, or that they needed proof of insurance. The Insurance ID card was not acceptable to them (Why? It's acceptable to the police if I'm pulled over?). Ok, I need to fax them various sheets from my policy. I call back a day later to confirm, that everything was received and all is well. Yep. We're good. THEN about a week later, I get aonther letter in the mail, that says they need more information. So today I fax them more papers, and called to confirm. Yep, all's well they say. But now, I asked them for something in writting or to fax it to me, and guess what... "Oh, we don't do that". After a few more examples of why I don't want to take "Gina's" word for it, She puts me on hold. Then come's back and say's they will mail me something. Hmmmm Should I hold My breath for this letter to arrive? Such is my luck when dealing with customer service. At least everyone I dealt with was moderately polite. Which is rare now-a-days too.
Cyen out

Well, the website is done! Or at least done except for a few minor details, and pages i'd like to add. www.film-critiques.com.
Maybe now I'll have more time to blog on a regular basis.
Things of note today:
Happy Halloween!
Make's me miss my day's as a Ghost investigator. about 2 weeks ago I went to a magazine promotion for "weird NJ" and saw two friends I used to go with to the ghost investigations. It was good to see them again. But I still don't miss not being a part of all the "drama and politics" that went on within that group.
Speaking of ghosts, I might have had an encounter yesterday... I was standing in the middle of the room at work, and as I was waiting for the boss to get off the phone, I felt a strong breeze go past my head/shoulders/hair. I immediately looked around to see what might of caused the breeze... nothing. The heater vents were far away, and on the floor, and would not have produced a gust like that. and no-one came in the back door either. It was very strange.
Cyen out
In my CD: Classical Requiem music
Reading: Umberto Eco's "In the Name of the Rose"

been kind busy trying to teach myself the webstuff. I'm trying to debate right now if what I'm doing warants going out and buying the web software. It's a whopping $350!! So I'll put that off til very last. If I can figure this stuff out using the software I currently have, then that'l be good.
You know you have too many laws in this country when...
Last night on "hannity and Colmes" (spelling?) It's a "news/talk/" tv show of the Fox news network. Two guys, who have fairly opposite view points when it comes to politics. They usually find several topics during the day to discuss on their show, and get people (me) rilled up.
Last night there was a "debate" with a group of peopl who are trying to pass a law to make it illegal to place an image of a human likeness up at any shooting range for guns. Apparently what sparked this was that some gun club was using pictures of Osama Bin. I just can't believe this. The woman who they had on as a guest to defend the postion claimed that by putting these images up, it might promote "vigilantism".... Jeesh! So then if they take these images down, and just shoot at say "tin cans" will that then cause a person to walk into a supermarket and then start shooting at the canned corn? I mean just a little common sense with these people is all i ask. But this is apparently going to the high courts (I can't recall if they said supreme) for a ruling. Like they don't have more important issues on hand.
Cyen out
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Well, Things are moving along...
Pretty soon I won't be posting my movie reviews on this blog but on my own movie review website! Yep, I've taken the leap and am starting the task of creating my own website. Not some little "freebie" site, but a paid in full, no ads (unless I put em there), along with my own custom email etc...
I'm still in the brain storming mode, and have brought in a friend who will be helping out. At this point it seems like there's so much to do, everything from deciding what content to include, to teaching myself how to do a "rollover" (when your mouse moves over an object on a webpage and then changes), to creating small web based image animations! (Just tought myself that one today!). I've set a target date of Sept 1. Of course that's just a date I picked at random. If it's done sooner great, I hope it won't take much more than that.
So if you want to check it out now, and then "bookmark" it for later go to:

www.film-critiques.com

movie review for this week...
We saw "triple X" or XxX
It's the new action adventure with "vin diesel" which is like a modern day 2002 americanized james bond.
It was excellent for an action movie in that there's very little down time. There's explosions galore, gun fights, car chases, gadgets, etc... Some of the stunt scenes were VERY well done. I was most impressed with the scenes where Vin was dropped off at a columbian drug facility, and then a government army came in with helicopters and all, and proceeded to blow the place up... But... The down side to this was the storyline. predictable (I'm using that word alot aren't I?) All the typical James bond spy stuff, mixed in with the one line "zingers". Although the stunt scenes were incredible, they were also very unbelievable. Like the old days with the Dukes of Hazard on TV, when they'd ram a stationary car in the street, and yet somehow this turned into a launch ramp to launch the car high in the air to do a fantastic jump. But again, that's not really the point in seeing these types of movies. You have enter a certain mode where you can ignore everyday "physics". So If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, then check this movie out for a high adrenaline, loud metal rock-n-roll, and explosions, and you'll like this movie.
PS> On a downer note... I just saw on TV last night, that a stuntman was killed during the shooting of this movie. Apparently it was an "easy" standard stunt, that just went wrong. My condolances.

Cyen out
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Sorry I've not updated in a week or so...
Movie>
Signs....

Spoiler warning!!! I'f you've not seen the movie yet, DONT READ THIS!!!

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The new one from M. Night Shamalan (sp?). This is a hard one to review... At first I really liked the movie. I was into it, and after leaving the theatre thought "This is what every movie should be" - It seemed ot incorporate all the things that I thought should be in every movie like; Action, Drama, humor, sci-fi, storyline/plot, sub-plot, etc... Now granted I did think the ending was predictable, but I'm starting to realize 99.9% of movie endings are predictable, so is that really a bad thing? Upon asking my friend what he thought of the movie, he said he wasn't sure. Which threw me. I didn't understand why there would be any hesitation. BUT... I came in monday morn, and proceeded to look stuff up about the movie. I read some other online reviews, and it seemed to be a mixed bag. You either loved it, or hated it... I'm starting to see some of the bad things of the movie that I wasn't aware of during the movie. The biggest, is that someone suggested the entire movie was a dream of mel gibson!? I didn't pick up on this, but they did bring up some good points that it "could" have all been just a dream. Also the Aliens seemed to make no sense... they're an advanced race trying to take over a planet with "invisibile" ships during the day, but lights at night. Their only means of attack are small amounts of poison, and they try to take over a planet where the surface has 3/4 covering of the thing that is most deadly to them... Water. So in looking back on the story line, I'm begining to see the problems. But I'll be honest, that while watching the movie I was caught up in it, and these things either didn't occur to me, or I overlooked them. One final note: I think another big thing was you have to see this movie with an open mind. If you were expecting certain things (surprise M. Night ending, or a sci fi thriller, or a movie about crop circles, then you will be let down. It seemed to be a movie about alot of different things.

ok, one more thing...
Look for my new website! www.film-critiques.com! I hope to do this on a regular bases and who knows either get a free movie pass, or a promotional item like a keychain or T-shirt! or Maybe even turn it into an income generating website?! Basically I'm just doing it for fun because I enjoy movies, and I enjoy posting small reviews about them.

Cyen out

Oh... the ebay thing is resolved. I sent the tape back to him, and never heard from him again.
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Ebay update>
Well, I thought it was all resolved, but now I'm still awaiting his confirmation of his last name. I don't want it to not get there due to a mail problem. But... I've emailed him twice asking him to confirm the spelling, and he's yet to reply. So at this point I'm considering the thing done. If he responds great, if not... oh well.

Austin Powers>
Well we went to see it. I had one requirement to see it, which was to have at least 2 beers in me. (I actually had a shot of tequilla too, and I'm not much of a drinker anymore, so it went right to my head). As it turns out, the movie was funny up until the effects of the alcohol wore off. I mean you know it's a stupid movie to begin with, so there isn't much to complain about, and I did laugh a few times at "mini-me", but wow, what crude low-brow humor. But like i said there were some funny parts I'll admit to laughing at. All in all, wait for video unless you've see Austin 1 and 2... then it's a mandate to see 3 in the theatre.

Signs>
I can't wait! this movie starts this weekend, and I've been looking forward to it for months now. I hope the director does the subject well (I'm sure he will), I've been wanting to do some internet research on crop circles (which is what this movies about), but have only done some preliminary searching. I don't want to find anything out that will ruin the movie. But I suspect once I see the movie, I'll have a lot more questions and start looking into it more. Yes, I DO believe that most of the crop circles reported are fakes.... But there is some very compelling evidence that the few "originals" are really mysteries... I'll post some links here later.

Have a good weekend
cyen out
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Well it's been a busy week, regarding a problem with an item i "bought" on Ebay.
I've been doing an on-going experiment where i try to remember the earliest possible thoughts. If you can't remember the first three-five years of your life, how are they the most important in developing who you are? (at least that's what the professionals claim).
Anyway, it's an interesting thought experiement, and i encourage everyone to give it a try. There's two parts to it really, one is of course recalling the memory, but the second more important, is to put it in a time frame. In otherwords, you may remember going to a candy store when you a small child, but how little? 3? 5? 7? etc...
Well, I've hit upon a memory that's stuck with me over all these years, and I've been able to nail it down precisely when it happened. (I wish blogger had a spell checker). I can recall seeing a movie when i was a small child. I was sick, and my parents let me stay up late past my bedtime to see this movie. At the time All I knew for sure was a song that was in the movie. "Me and my arrow". I tried going to a few animation websites, but didn't know the title of the movie. I asked a friend how he would go about finding the title of this movie (he's another movie fanatic), and he said he'd start with the name of the song first!. So that's what I did, and thanks to him it led me on the right path... The movie was called "The point"... Based on a story by Harry Nilsson, who was one of the Beatles inspirations.
The original movie was narrated by "dustin hoffman" and i think, from what i can gather from the internet, was re-dubbed with "ringo star" doing the fathers voice/naration. the main character "oblio" was played by "bobby brady!".
ok, so I'm dying to see this movie again, and see why it was something that really stuck in my mind after all these years.
I found it on ebay. prices ranging from $20 up to over $100! (i think because it's a beatles collectible). Well, I tried bidding on the lower priced auctions, but very quickly the prices were boosted up. Then I found one auction that had a feature that lets you "buy" it for a set price. in otherwords, eliminating the bidding process. I went for it. I felt it was a high, but fair price, and didn't have the patience to wait for the bidding wars. So I bought it. I paid for it through an online service called 'paypal" which basically lets you use your credit card to transfer funds over the internet (without having to give out your credit card number to the final user). So, that all went smoothly, and i got the video on monday! Very fast shipping. BUT!!!! it was an obvious bogus copy! It had a color copy paper sleeve that was inserted into a plastic video box. the lables on the tape itself were also printed on a inkjet printer, and a few "fake" stickers thrown on to make it look like it came from a video rental store! A lot of work really to make it look real. Well... I was not about to pay $33 for bogus copy! so I emailed the seller up, and complained. He first told me to send it back and he'd refund my money. I said "That was unacceptable" I went on to explain that i didn't know if i could trust him... I didn't accuse him of making the copy, but i also had no way of knowing if he did make the copy. So I said, if i didn't recieve a refund in 2 day's I'd report him to anyone and everyone (ebay, paypal, and even the federal authorities if i had to). In order to get my money back.
Well, he complained a bit, and accused me of making "hollow threats" which trust me, they were not hollow! But he finally did refund my money.
So at this point, I thought what revenge to scam a scammer... I could now keep the tape, and he'd be out the $33. But, I kept my word. I'm sending it back to him as he's claiming it's is distributor who made the copy, and he was unaware of it.
So as soon as I get his address i'll be shipping it back.
now one more thing before i sign off :) sorry this is such a long post....
I've had fun in playing "detective" I've tried finding out as much as possible about this guy in the event that i'd have to go to the authorities. I've don'e a pretty good job in my opinion :) - I know his name, (that's all i had to go on, but i didnt know if it was a bogus name). I know his age, his town, his middle name, his sisters name. I know the company that sent it is a fake name, located out of a different state. I know what companies do exist with the address given (a subway deli, and a hair salon, and a cigarette store). I suspect the cigarette store is a front for this movie company.
So, It's been a lot of work tracing this down but fun to see how much i can find out about him.

ok.again sorry this was so long :)

cyen out
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ok time for a Government rant...
I first saw it on Tech TV "the screen savers" last night. They talked briefly about a new "system" administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, and several other federal agencies, called "Tips" . Terrorist Information and Prevention System. Basically, this plan will creat a nation of "spies" the whole idea is that they will get everyday working americans to spie on other everyday working american. They plan to target mail carriers, ship captains, train conductors, truckers, utility employees, etc... and then these workers will "report" any suspicious activity they might see during their work day. At first glance this makes common sense, and appears to be a good idea, but... the openings for abuse are there. What if a disgruntled employee, happens to "target" a fellow co-worker, or even a customer who gave them a hard time? They'd report them, and now this american citizen would be under investigation. It goes back to the days of the "macarthy-ism" where hollywood was just about destoyed due to rumours, and acusations. People's lives were ruined. I don't like this idea one bit.
Next...
I saw on Cspan last night two things... one was the hearing to "expel" Senator James Traficant from congress. Apparently he was found guilty back on april 11th, of 8 felonies, such as:bribes, kickbacks, false tax returns, etc... I never heard of this guy before (not sure why) he's quite the "character". He was very in-your-face at this hearing, bragging about wearing a denim suit, and carrying in a large styrofoam glass of "something to drink" (He seemed a little "tipsy" to me). I have no information on if this guy is guilty or not, but it was a circus. He brought up some good points about how he was falsely accused, and most all of the "witnesses" who testified against him were also "criminals" that had their crimes "plea bargined" down for saying what the prosecutors wanted them to say. He also brought up another good point, that with the FBI's technology today, and the abilitt to plant microphones, and cameras they did not present one piece of "hard evidence" against him. This guy will probably go to jail soon, but will also probably serve a short sentence and then make millions off a book deal.

I'll leave with two of his quotes of this "character".... "I love America, But I hate the government" and.... "When the federal judges decided to take the word "God" out of the pledge of alligance, they opened to door to satan"

cyen out
ps> sorry for the mis-spellings.
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ok movie review time!


Men in Black 2>
Although the "critics" didn't really like this movie, I did. I thought it was just a fun movie, with some good jokes, and neat monsters/aliens to look at. I also went in to this show knowing the critics didn't like it, so maybe I had low expectations, and therefore was pleaseantly suprised. It's just a movie where you can leave your brain on the seat next to you, and look at the pictures.

13 conversations about one thing>
I liked this movie overall, but at points felt it was somewhat depressing. I have a hard time liking movies that depress me. One one hand I appreciate them for a good movie, and one that can alter my mood, on the other hand I don't like being depressed. So that said, this was a "good" movie. It had John Turturro in it who played a physics professor, and Alan Arkin who was some sort of Insurance salesman. These two characters were who carried the show. Matthew McConaughey was good, but I was more interested in Alan Arkin's storyline. This is a movie where you need your brain, and will question your definition of "happiness" in life.


The Dangerous lives of alter boys>
I was really let down by this movie. I think this could have been much better, but it really lacked something, and I'm gonna say "a good story"... The acting by the younger teens was well done, and the incorporation of the animation in with the live action was a great idea, but it was poorly done. It was done by "Todd McFarlane" who is know for creating one of the best selling comic books of this time, and it was just poor. Lacking in detail that McFarlane is known for. The storyline was just slow too, too many dis-jointed sub-plots going at the same time, and the "fantasy" lives of the boy's were not presented well. In addition two well know actors "Jodie foster" and "vincent Donofrio" were good but not in the movie enough to make you like or dislike their characters. Some of the scenes were tough to take too, in regards to the boy's fantasy life of the "Evil nuns" very blasphmous. If it was presented a little better, I think they could have gotten away with it more, but it just left a sour taste.

And Finally...

The Road to Perdition>
I thought this was a good movie, but something was lacking...
Tom Hanks was excellent as usual. Jude Law (who I'm not a big fan of), was very good too. I wish the story focused more on his part too. and the Boy was good too. Paul Newman was not in it too much, but when he was, he was good as well.
I think the two things that influenced me was the predictability of the story line. and the "russian" women behind me who were talking and whispering through-out the entire movie (up until I turned around and asked them to stop talking!). These people REALLY annoy me, and tend to ruin my experience at the movies.As much as I try to ignore them I find myself thinking about them constantly telling myself to ignore them. Until finally I figure it's worth any sort of repercussions to turn around and confront them. Which unfortunately is usually towards the end of the movie.
so OTHER than those idiots, it was an overall good movie, just predictable. The cinematography was really well shot too. the feel for the 1930's and the surrounding countryside was well done.

ok, that should catch the "blog" up-to-date.

Cyen out
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I've a few more movie reviews, but first a spot on what I saw on C-Span last night... Yes, some people actually watch those "boring" senate hearings on C-span. :)
I watched the other night the "hearing" on the Enron fiasco. I admit, I'm not up on all the latest news regarding Enron. All I know is they were a large company, they lied, and the business went under, leaving ALOT of employees without any benefits. I've heard some of the horror stories on the employees, and it really is ashame. The head guy from Enron was on the hot seat last night, along with another big wig. It was almost comical, as it was like a bad TV movie. The congress people would ask them a question and they'd read off a little slip of paper, "under advice of council, I will plead the 5th admendment" or something to that effect. It was amazing. I don't know which was worse, that they would read this each time, or that the senators continued to ask them questions knowing they'd get the same response. I did like the one question though.... "How do you sleep at night" Which he plead the 5th on ;)
The other two people were a high ranking investor advisor, and one of the accountants. They were answering questions, but it was very interestig to see how they dance around the questions. Senator Maxine Waters (walters?) was tough! she grilled em pretty good with her questions. It was a sad thing to watch in a sense to see how our business system could have such a failing, and that this guy along with others, are gonna walk away with MILLIONS of dollars in their pockets, while other employees are in sad shape with no retirement benefits at all now.

I'll get to the movie reviews later.... Men in Black 2, 13 conversations about one things, and The Dangerous lives of alter boys.

Reading: the bourne Identity
CD player: Dan Tyminski
cyen out
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ok, I'm finally getting back to this blog. I had stopped blogging as I thought no-one was reading it, but it appears I have one fan (you know who you are ;)
Saturday after workin all day, (thankfully the computer crash had been resolved). We went to the new movie called "Mr. Deeds" With Adam Sandler. A "Supposed" Comedy. WOW! It was incredible how BAD this movie was! We walked out after about an hour or so. There were maybe 2-3 funny parts with one of my favorite actors "John Turturro" But certainly not enough to save the movie. It just amazes me how bad it was, and that these big name "comedians" will sign on and do a movie like this. The commercials or product placement was absolutely blatant, and in your face. For example, on a helicopter ride back to NYC, they decide to stop at a "wendy's" to have cheeseburgers, and a frosty!
So we walked out. this is only the second movie that we both mutually agreed to walk out on. So that tell's you how bad it was.
Well, Besides putting up with the heat, that's about it. getting ready to enjoy a day off to celebrate the 4th of july.

in my CD: Depeche mode.
book: Redwall

Cyen out
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Went to the movies this past saturday night. Saw Insomnia. Al pacino, Hilary Swank, and Robin williams. It was good. I was mainly interested to see how Robin williams did in playing the role of a killer. Yes... Robin "Mork" williams playing the role of a killer. But I give him credit, he did a good job. It was an interesting story, with some good twists. I came from one of the writers/director of Memento so it's bound to have some good twists. I wasn't too impressed with Hilary Swank. I know she won some prestigious awards in her last few movies, but this one was nothing special on her part. Perhaps because she wasn't in the entire movie that much.
Another plus to the movie was the cinematography from the footage shot in Alaska! It looks like an incredible place.
Over all a full bag of popcorn rating.

currently reading: "Aint it Cool?" a biography about Harry knowles a self-created movie reviewer who has created a massive following, and has become a "name" in hollywood. His website: Aint It Cool
Also just picked up a book on the "National Security Agency" called "Body of Secrets".
In my CD player is:
Tweaker- and attraction to all things uncertain. and rotating in is also "Allison Krause"

Cyen Out
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Sat Night we went to the movie "The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer (sp?). It was a pretty good movie. It drug at certain points, but right about the time when you realized that it was dragging, something then happened, that brought you back. So it wasn't so bad. It was also one of those types of movies that tried to show the underbelly "drug culture". I usually don't like the drug sequences because the director tries various camera tricks to try and simulate what the drug is doing, for example blurry, or fast forward action, etc... That always sort of annoys me but I understand it. So those few minor points aside, it was a good story and good acting. You have to stick with the movie to appreciate it.
But! the movie had just started when 3 guys came in late and sat down in the row in front of me. About half way through the movie, I realized the guy in front of me was constantly leaning over to his buddy and whispering, then would chuckle. I give him credit for at least having the decency of whispering. But after about an hour of the constant whispering, giggles, and head bobbing back and forth I was loosing my temper. But at this point the movie was almost over, and not worth saying anything to him. So after the movie I had to say something... I asked him "why did you talk throughout the entire movie?" - I thought here's my chance, to get a first hand response from someone who talks, as to what goes through their mind while talking... and guess what his answer was........ "I don't know". I couldn't believe it! I was hoping to be enlightened with wisdom of the idiots, and that's what it came down to... "I don't know". I guess it just fit's in with the idiot theory, He was stupid to the point of not even knowing why he was talking when he wasn't supposed to.
So it ended up with an awkward moment, because how do I answer that? I asked if he watched the movie (yes), I asked if he liked the movie (yes, did you?) I don't think he even grasped that I was annoyed with him, and thought maybe I was making small talk after the movie. So I ended it on a threat... I said, "If you ever sit in front of me again..." and shook my head and turned away. (thinking in my mind "I'll move to another seat", or "I'll get the manager" :) I felt like the Ritz is the last theatre around to present a pleasureable movie experience. And I will not let these idiots ruin it for me.
I still wish I knew why.

angry cyen out
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Well, I was one of the first to see Star Wars 2 - Attack of the clones. I went last "night" for the 12:01 showing. It was a bit of a screw-up on the theatre's part though. I could not believe it... Here is one of the all time greatest movies in our lifetime, and the theatre was totally unprepared for it. First off, it was supposed to start at 12:01. But they didn't start seating until 11:50! 10 minutes before the scheduled showtime!? AND... as we walked into the theatre, the credits from the previous movie were still rolling!? I mean, didn't they know they were showing starwars? So needless to say, we had to wait almost a half an hour for them to start the show. (which included 10+ minutes of commercials, and about 10 previews!) So the movie didn't start until around 12:40!
I won't go into details on the review yet, other to say the acting stunk, along with the script. The visuals were incredible though.
I'm still glad I saw it though all in all, and now look forward to the final episode.

Cyen out
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Monday blahs...
Saw Spiderman this weekend. (atually it was the second time I saw it, because I saw it with a friend on thursday night on an IMAX Big Screen!). It was a fairly good movie considering the topic... a comic book. Sure there were cheesy moments, the acting was so-so (the sad moments were almost funny). The effects were "ok" there was an obvious disreagrd of "physics" but while watching the show I didn't mind that as much. I was caught up in the fun of it. One of the lamest effects was where spidey climbs up a verticle wall. It was almost the same as watching Batman and Robin do the same thing from the 1960's TV show. I would have thought with the millions of dollars dumped into the technology of effects, they still use a camera tilted sideways. During the second viewing i was able to catch the cameo appearnce of "Stan Lee" the original creator of Spidey.
I also was looking forward to the second to last episode of the X-files. the writing of that show has really gone down hill. I still believe the actors are talented, and if given the right material could save the X-files, but I guess that's not gonna happen. The eason finale is on this coming Sunday, and is supposed to be a 2 hour special with the return of david ducuvney (fox mulder). I hope! they can make their last show good.
Also this past sunday night, was the season finale of "Alias". I've caught up to the tapes to the 20th episode so I only have 21, and 22, to watch. It's one of those bitter sweet things... It will be a long wait until next season.

And finally... I'm thinking of starting an anti-popcorn/soda campaine. I was kicking myself at being so stupid for buying a small (20 oz maybe) soda, and a medium popcorn for $7:50!!! I will be either smuggling drinks in, or boycotting altogether. AND!!! to make it even worse, they theatre is showing about 10-15 minutes of commercials Before the Previews! I mean, they are getting extra income from that now too, and yet they are still gouging the snack prices, and still provide a dirty theatre. Come on!

ok, my rants over
Cyen out
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It's harder to keep a daily blog than I thought.

no movies this past weekend. Instead I watch the tapes of the TV show "Alias" and am almost caught up to the season finale this weekend. I'm already looking forward to next season. It's a good show.

I'll leave with a funny customer service story

cyen out

Note this was yesterday's blog, but there were problems posting. So I'm trying to re-post today.
____________

A Swiss man, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where
two Americans are waiting.

"Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?" he asks. The two
Americans just stare at him.

"Excusez-moi, parlez vous Francais?" he tries. The two continue to
stare.

"Parlare Italiano?" No response.

"Hablan ustedes Espanol?" Still nothing.

The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted. The first American
turns to the second and says, "Y'know, maybe we should learn a
foreign language."

"Why?" says the other. "That guy knew four languages, and it
didn't do him any good."

Cyen out

music in my CD player: Bob Marley
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Well, the weekend was a good one. My friend and I got to go Kayaking for the first time this year. We hit the "mullica river". We did things a little differently which actually worked out well. We Drove my truck off-road back in the pine barrens dirt roads, exploring the roads, and trying to figure out where they tie-into the river, so we could shorten the time it takes to do the entire river. Well, it sort of worked in that we found a spot about a 1/4 way in, which would cut about 2 hours of paddleing, but unfortunately I don't think he could get his car back on those sandy roads. There were spots where my truck was starting to bog down a little. But all in all it was a good time. Perfect weather, got to see a HUGE turtle, about 1 foot shell, got to see some birds, canadian geese, a couple swallows, and the highlight for me was seeing an "osprey". Looks very much like an eagle, but with a black band across the eyes, and a "bent wing" that almost makes them look like a sea gull. I got to see him hoover in the air, and dive down to catch a fish, though, he never hit the water. I also brought along the GPS gizmo, so I've started to collect some detailed coordinates, and am attempting to put together a decent map for other kayakers/canoers.

We say a lame movie called "American Chai". horrible acting, and plot was SO predictable. The best part of the movie though was when they kinda spoofed on the other Indian movies, and it had a dream sequence with the dancing couples, and all. pretty funny, if you've seen any other Indian movies (which I have), because I noticed only myself and the 15 other Indians in the audience were laughing :)

Cyen out
___________________________

Not much to report. TGIF!!!!
I hope to go kayaking tomorrow. The weather should be nice, although they're calling for partly cloudy. I hope it's more sunny than cloudy, cause it might be a bit chilly. My other concern is that since we are in an emergency state of a drought, is if the water levels will be high enough to do the stream we want to go to.
Have a great weekend to anyone who might read this post.

cyen out
__________________________

Well, yesterday while surfing the web, I got hit by my first virus on the PC. It was unusual, for one reason, that I didn't think you could get a virus just by going to a website. But "McAfee" virus software alerted me as soon as the page loaded. Now, here's the tricky part... although it alerted me, i could do nothing about it. The Virus software was supposed to attempt to "clean" the virus which it failed, and then when all else fails it's supposed to delete the file , which failed also! So, I manually went in and deleted the folder. but apparently it copied itself to another folder! It seems to be harmless, in that it sets your homepage of your browser to the website in question. So I reset my homepage, and everything appears to be fine. I ran the virus scan 2-3 more times and it says all is clear, but I can't figure out why it's not seing it in the second folder (which i didn't write down the name so I can't delete it now). So, I'm running everythng with the hopes that it's clean. But I'll always have to keep that in the back of my mind now, that it may be compromised. The website was a "designers" website that was listed in yahoo. it was one of the first one's listed like "1nonly" or something like that... DONT open this webpage!
The virus was called "JS/seeker.t" and is listed in the McAfee descriptions at: Virus Description

Becareful surfing the web... everyone should have a virus software program and if you're on a Cable or DSL line a firewall program.

Cyen out
_______________________

I forgot to add this to my blog yesterday, so I'll count this as tuesday's blog. With the X-files down to it's final 5 episodes, they're trying to tie up some loose ends. Unfortunately they were pretty harsh to three of my favorite characters... the lonegunmen. They even poked fun at themselves for being "broke" and not publishing they're newspaper in a year, due to the fact that their show was canceled. I was glad to see "Jimmy" make a return too. But... as the show came to it's end... they killed em all!!! Langly, Byers, and Frohike! I'm curious now as to how they're gonna end the final shows. Will they kill off the whole cast? well, and moment of silence for the three crazy comic relief to the "X-files".
their official site: http://www.thelonegunmen.com/
You will be missed.

Monday blahs...
Well, we decided to see "murder by numbers" (Trailer) on Saturday. We saw it at the ritz, which usually has the best experience and non-talking crowds, but not this time. I had to turn around to the couple behind us, to ask them to stop talking. They felt to need to analyze the movie to each other and talk the entire time. Granted they started off whispering, but then it turn to low talking where we could here them. I think in the future, when someone sits down behind us before the movie starts, I will ask if they plan on talking through-out the movie. perhaps if they are aware of it ahead of time, they will refrain? (doubtful).
anyway, as for the movie... I wasn't too impressed. it was very predictable, and it was just a matter of seeing how they were going to tie things up in the end to make it all fit together. I'm not a big fan of Sandra Bullock, and this was yet another movie of hers that helped support that feeling.
Not much else, other than I finished the 7th (or 8th, i've lost track) book in the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry goodkind. I almost regretted finishing it, because now I'll have to wait until he's done writting the next one :(
The good thing is that I can pick up some reading now that can expand from that. the SOT novels were HUGE 700-800 page books and after this 7th of 8th book was a big commitment. So I picked up a new book on saturday... John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas" it's actually a short story of 175 pages (wide margins too), I started it last night and I'm on page 55 already. It probably could be read in a day easily. And here's the kicker... it cost $20 for this small hardback book! I painfully paid for it, but only because I was really interested in reading it.
I'll "blog" how it was as soon as i finish it which should be soon.

Cyen out
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Well, not much to "blog" in the last few days. I just found out this morning they are canceling one of my favorite TV shows... Alley McBeal. This is just after FOX canceled my other favorite "The X-Files". I'm not sure what FOX is doing over there, especially with their new line-ups of "Greg the Bunny" - a sort of howard stern with puppets show. and show's like "Temptation island"... I really think they could have brought Alley back from the poor ratings. The X-files... I can understand that show's leaving. In fact the last few episodes were horrible.
I do like FOX's new show "The Bernie Mac Show", that's well written.
Other than that, TGIF!!!
Looking forward to seeing "Frailty" this weekend, unless something else opened, that i'm unaware of.

Link test 2>
This is a link to The Screen savers
>>>>>>>>

Cyen out
__________________________

Oh, I forgot to add in what happened yesterday...
I witnessed a minor crime, and although I did make an attempt to stop the thieves, It wasn't enough and they got away. I keep re-playing the event in my head to see if I should have done something different.
I was at the local book store, and was almost ready to head to the counter to pay for my magazine, when I decided to loop around to the art section, and just take a quick browse. While looking, I noticed one of the workers stocking shelves near me. I think she was the manager. I then went into the next aisle, and saw a man standing there, close to the shelf, with his hand holding something on the shelf. very suspicious looking. I continued to browse like I didn't see him. Then when the woman came aroudn the corner, he quickly changed his body position to block her view from whatever he was holding... So she left, and I continued to "browse" while keeping an eye on this guy trying to figure out what he was up to. I changed aisles, and he was with a buddy, and had a big handful of CD's. The two of them were unwrapping the celephane, and taking the little metal things out (I'm assuming this part because I didn't see them doing this, but heard the crinkling of celophane. I then realized they were stealing CD's. (took me a while). So I left, and went to find the manager. I told her about them, and felt I had done enough to stop the crime. I then was standing in line, and saw that the two guys were leaving With large square bulges in their jacket pockets (how these guys didn't get caught is amazing)... I turned to find what the manager was doing, and her and another co-worker were looking in the wrong direction. So I quickly went to them and said they were just leaving. The one guy said "well, what can you do" - not exactly the attitude i'd expected to hear. So, the manager went outside, but didn't see anybody. I didn't think to watch them as they were leaving to see if they got in a car, or went around the building. So, they escaped, and judgiing from the amount of CD's I'd say they got away with about $200+ worth. Oh well, I did try, and will keep my eyes open for them whenever I go back to the bookstore.

Cyen out
_________________________

Well, this weekend's movie was "Changing lanes" with Samuel Jackson, and Ben Afflek. Overall it was a good movie. Good acting (even Ben was ok). My only complaint was the predictability of it. I noticed some nice touches that the "director" put into the shots... For example, There was a background images of cops, Jesus, a 1950's style homemaker/kitchen" all these things were I think put in to suggest what was the standard norm for "morals". Pretty clever, and I will probably rent the movie when it comes out to see if I missed any.

Went to AC Saturday night and made my donation to Donald Trump. It was kinda my way of trying to spend some money after doing taxes, that "might" let me win my taxes back, with one lucky pull of the slot machine. Well, no such luck. But it was still fun. they had two new slot machines... The Three Stooges, and Creature from the Black lagoon. Both were entertaining. I still like the "little green martian" machines the best.

As I mentioned before, I just paid my taxes today. Yuck! I feel Like I just drank a mouthful of orange juice that had sat in the fridge too long.

cyen out
________________________

Found some new websites that I'd like to check out from the "barnes and Noble" magazine called "BOOK".

www.bookthing.org

and

www.bookcrossing.com

two interesting ideas as they relate to books.

Also, I'm hooked on a new TV show called "Alias" Chanel 6, on sunday nights. Kinda of a female style James bond/X-files show. And Since the X-files is ending in 6 more episodes, I'll need something to replace my sunday nights at 9 viewing. A friend is taping all the episodes and let me borrow the tapes.

Cyen out
______________________________________

this is just a test:

______________________________________

Quote for today:

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to
serve as a bad example.

Ok, after a bit of figuring out, I've finally got the first "blog" posted.
And now that I have to post a thought, I've drawn a blank, so I'll fall back on a quote...

In the imortal words of Socrates...

I drank what?

- Real Genius
http://us.imdb.com/Details?0089886

As this is my first visit to blogger.com, I've not much to say other than...

testing...
123