High Tension

I finally watched High Tension this past weekend. The gore was great, but I have to agree with the large number of people who have pointed out that it seems to have been "borrowed" quite a bit from Dean Koontz's book Intensity. Koontz should get a writing credit for this movie.

So, the movie is well-acted, well-directed, and the gore is terrific. There is one slight problem (beyond the seemingly apparent plagiarism): A shocking twist. Actually, the twist isn't that shocking. But it is a huge, huge disappointment. I wish I could understand why so many of today's filmmakers think that their thriller/drama MUST have some type of reveal.

Oh well. The same director has a remake of The Hills Have Eyes coming out next month, and it should be terrific. Unless, of course, there's another LAME Twist. If there is one, this is what I'm expecting:

- The mutant family is related to the family that is travelling through the "hills".

- There is no mutant family. The travelling family is killing themselves.

- The hills are in Iraq. It's just sectarian violence.

How Low Can He Go?

So, Prutzledunt Bush's ratings are now at 34%. Only 30% think that he's doing a good job in Iraq. Those seem like bad numbers for the Commander in Chief.

Basically, this means that over 15% of the people who voted for Bush in 2004 now have Buyer's Remorse. Ummm. So what the hell is wrong with these people? It's not like he did anything last year. He hasn't done shit this year. He was a stupid, inept, ideological dunderhead in November 2004 and nothing has changed since. I actually have more respect for the idiots that elected him and still stand by him now than I do for these "flip-floppers" that are now saying, "Oh, wait a minute. Bush is a bad president." "Oh, have you noticed that he doesn't care about the Constitution?" "I don't think Bush is strong on security, do you?" "I'm starting to think that maybe Bush actually did lie about the war in Iraq."

Screw that. If you helped elect Bush in November 2004, then you need to stay the course. He's not any dumber today than he was then. His policies aren't any worse than they were then.


Whatever. At least it's been an entertaining ride...

Project Runway

I'm a big fan of Project Runway, and now it's down to the Final Three: Santino Rice, Chloe Dao , and Daniel Vosovic.

Santino is the Wendy Pepper of the season, except that he actually has talent. I've been defending Santino to several people lately, even though he probably should have been sent home after the jumpsuit or the lingerie line. However, I do think that he's one of the few designers from the season that deserves the chance to show a collection at Fashion Week.

Why?

Well, because I feel that this season's designers don't seem to have much of a perspective.

Andrea: He has a loud, flambouyant, playful personality. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. However, I'm a bit clueless as to his actual design aesthetic.

Daniel Bliss: I would've liked to have seen him make it to the Final Three. He has good taste, and his design philosophy is apparent. HOWEVER, I'm not sure he deserved a second chance on the show. There are no do-overs on The Price Is Right. The same rule applies here.

Diana Eng: I'd replace Santino with her if I had a chance. Her career is still gestating, and I'm not sure she had the experience necessary to turn her ideas into fashion.

Emmet: Boring. Beyond boring. And his personality was even more boring. *yawn*

Guadalupe: I wish I knew the number of her drug dealer. She obviously gets some good shit. She didn't show anything that convinced me she should've been in the Final Three, Four, or Ten.

Nick: I really liked Nick during the first half of the season. And then the Banana Republic challenge came along, and Nick had to play second-fiddle to Santino's flight of fancy. And it seemed as if he was more than willing to be cut than to fight for his position. And from that point on, he lost his voice and didn't seem interested in regaining it. What the hell was his problem during the Inspiration Challenge? How the hell can a creative person walk the streets of New York and not find inspiration? He may be a good teacher, but he doesn't have the raw drive of an artist. Good-Bye.

So, there's not much to say about the rest of the bunch. I don't care for Santino's design aesthetics, but I recognize his passion, the madness that drives him to fight to the top of the pile. He deserves to be in the Final Three.

NYMag has the Fashion Week collections from all four Designers:
Chloe
Daniel
Kara
Santino

I find Kara's collection a bit more interesting than the others, it's a pleasant surprise. None of the Final Three leap out to me as a definitive winner. I think they are all in the running this year. Santino's collection is surprisingly subtle (for him). Daniel and Chloe both feature strong designs. I think the finale should be a nail-biter until the very end...

Coverage-ino

So, I was watching the Olumpics last night. I started watching at 7PM. At 7:18PM, NBC had only shown three of the female short program ice skating routines. Even worse, I received a phone call that prompted me to rewind and watch one of the performers again. After watching the short program again and fast-forwarding to Live TV, NBC still hadn't shown another routine. Lame. No wonder Olympic ratings are down this year.

Reincarnation

He says he's had his past lives read and found out that most recently he was a Jewish girl from Poland during World War II.
Washington Post

This is a quote from Johnny Weir, US Olympic Failure. There really isn't anything else to add here...

Boring-O

So, the 2006 Winter Olympics are half(?) complete. That's good news, because I'm can't wait until NBC can return to its Prime Time programming comprised of Law & Order and Dateline spin-offs...

I love the "borderless Internationalism" of the Olympics, but why are they so damn lame to watch? I had the choice this afternoon of watching curling or hockey. I chose to rearrange my closet.

So, what the hell is wrong with the Winter Olympics? I can't put my finger on it. I love watching snowboarding during the Winter X Games, but I couldn't find any interest in the Torino snowboard contests. I think the sport is a bit young to be featured at the Olympic level. In addition, I think that it is too... "American". And it seems like a blatant appeal to Generations X, Y, and Z.

Another thing that bugs me about the Olympics is the early hype about American athletes that give good sound bites, but only offer mediocre performances. I'm thinking specifically of Weir and Miller: two strong athletes that didn't seem interested in competing when the time came.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have the Shani Davis spectacle. He won the gold in speed skating.... Oh yeah, the law requires that I mention that he is black. He's beyond black. Shani Davis is literally an event horizon on skates, he is a darkness that doesn't repel light, he destroys light. Yeah, my language might seem a little extreme, but I'm trying to make a point. People are complaining that Davis' interviews are cold and terse. But I don't blame him. I think that he's probably a little tired of everybody saying, "Oh My God! You Won The Gold... And You're BLACK! How Does It Feel To Be A Winner? A Black Winner?" If I were him, I wouldn't be very interested in doing any interviews, either.

Sometime in the future, we'll be able to select which events we want to view each day without having to flip between three or four different channels to watch fifteen minutes of enjoyable coverage without slagging through two hours of Crap.

What a Shitty Blog

I thought I updated this blog recently, but it's been nearly three weeks. Hella Suck...

I've been setting up my new HD, and it hasn't been an easy task. I installed an SATA Drive to replace my old ATA-100 Drive. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I would need an SATA driver when I installed Win XP again. My Floppy Drive broke down a year ago, and I never replaced it. So, I had to spend twenty bucks on a floppy drive that I'll use once every two years.

The new drive is great, and I can see a considerable performance increase via the faster drive with a 200% larger cache. Hopefully this means the blogging machine will work on a more regular schedule...

Murtha'd

If you get a chance, read Jack Murtha's reply to Bush's State of the Union. Good, strong stuff.

Dear Mr. President,

This March will mark the beginning of the 4th year of the war in Iraq. In contrast, U.S. involvement in WWI came to an end after 19 months. Victory in Europe was declared in WWII after 3 years 5 months. In the Korean War, a cease-fire was signed after 3 years and 1 month. But after more than three and a half years into the war in Iraq, your administration finally produced what is called a "Plan for Victory" in Iraq.

Iraq is not the center for the global war on terrorism. I believe Iraq has diverted our attention away from the fight against global terrorism and has depleted the required resources needed to wage an effective war. It is estimated that there are only about 750 to 1,000 al-Qaeda in Iraq. I believe the Iraqis will force them out or kill them after U.S. troops are gone. In fact, there is now evidence that Iraqi insurgent groups are increasingly turning against al-Qaeda and other foreign terrorists.

Our country needs a vigorous and comprehensive strategy for victory against global terrorism. The architect of 9/11 is still out there but now has an international microphone. We must get back to the real issue at hand - we have to root out and destroy al-Qaeda's worldwide network.

There are 4 key elements that I recommend to reinvigorate our global anti-terrorism effort: Redeploy, Replace, Reallocate, and Reconstitute.

Project Closer

Project Runway is perhaps one of my favorite shows of all time. While some may say this season hasn't met expectations, I have enjoyed it immensely. People may have a love/hate relationship with Santino, he redeems himself with this Bonus Video from Episode Eight. It's a short clip of Santino imitating Tim Gunn singing Closer by NIN.

Designers, this dress brings me closer to God.