Lessig on West Wing

Tonight's West Wing features an "appearance" by Lawrence Lessig. Well, not the real Prof. Lessig but rather Christopher Lloyd playing the role of Prof. Lessig. Grats to Prof. Lessig for the rare honor! (And it's neat how Lloyd so closely resembles Lessig. Click the links above to see.)

WoW Easter Eggs

WoW Easter Eggs courtesy of Zen of Design.

I've seen a lot of these in WoW but it's nice to see a list with explanations.

Link to Add

Broken Toys. "Broken Toys is the blog of Scott Jennings, formerly known as Lum the Mad. "The Rantings of Lum the Mad" was probably the first MMORPG "blog" ever, years before the word "blog" had even been invented." -- Tobold

Public Service Announcement

Julian McMahon (a.k.a. Nip/Tuck's Dr. Christian Troy) as Doctor Doom in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie? EXCELLENT!

That is all.

Oh, and for the record, he dropped out of law school after his first year. Just sayin'.

Elektra Not As Sharp As Her Sai

Elektra stars Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, and Will Yun Lee (yay!).

IMDB Plot Outline:

Jennifer Garner returns as ELEKTRA, a lethal synthesis of grace and power with the mystical power known as kimagure: a limited ability to see the future. She has purposefully severed all ties with the world and lives only for her next assignment. Elektra's latest job forces her to make a decision that can take her life in a whole new direction or destroy her.

This is an okay comic book movie. It's based on Elektra, a Marvel comics dark heroine with ties to Daredevil (as may be apparent from Garner's role in the Daredevil movie). Unlike Daredevil, Elektra has definite esoteric ties and themes. The attributes of herself and her enemies clearly evince this.

Good Things: Garner. (To quote Wolverine: 'Nough said.) ER's Dr. Kovac. Lee's villain. (Btw, nice to see him in a strong role. Another actor I'm glad to see getting more parts.) Decent story though relatively uncomplicated and straight forward.

Bad Things: Not all that engaging. Fight scenes concentrate on computer-generated aspects a bit much for my taste. (Similar complaint I had with The Hulk.) Story is relatively short, left me wanting more depth and more to it. Flat.

By no means a "bad" movie. Just not a very good one. I'm a fan of the comic book movies, especially Marvel's recent slate, but this one is only mediocre. Watch it if you like the genre, else it's only an okay action movie. (Though watching it for Garner is certainly and completely acceptable as well. Red leather anyone?)

ALAN'S MOVIE REVIEW: Rental-Worthy or Cable-Worthy.

The Wedding Date Is Cute But Not That Hot

(Not the previous post, the movie.)

The Wedding Date stars Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney. (There are others but I'm not going there.)

IMDB Plot Summary:

"Something Borrowed" centers around Kat Ellis (Messing), who returns to her parents' London home for her sister's wedding. Afraid of confronting her ex-fiancé, who dumped her two years before, she hires a top-drawer male escort (Mulroney) to pose as her new boyfriend.

I felt the movie was a good effort though it fell a bit shy of the mark. It left me wanting, feeling like it was good but not that good. It probably could have been a bit better and a bit more compelling.

This truly is a romantic comedy, with a nice balance between the two aspects. Very humorous at time with the unerlying romantic flavor. The lead actress and actor are wonderful, very good fits for their role. (Although Messing painted as the "beauty past her real prime" is a bit much, especially since it made me think of all the inadequacy jokes at her character's expense in Will & Grace.) The story is fairly compelling and engaging, especially with the little twists and turns thrown at the viewer.

Those are the pluses. The minuses? The movie dumps you into the story without enough introduction. You see Messing packing for her trip. Your left to gather all the salient details from little aspects. It would have been better had the movie started with her invitation or her planning for the wedding or... well, anything earlier than her packing for the plane ride. The story is pretty predictable, or at least the romantic part. You could probably guess it right now. (Not to say you shouldn't go see the movie, just that this element is easily anticipated.) I found the ultimate romance to be a little unbelievable. I'd like to spell it out more but will refrain from doing so to avoid spoiling anything (more than I may have already).

Overall, a good movie. Not the best it could be but a nice romantic comedy. If you like the genre, check this one out. Also, it's nice to see Debra Messing in a leading role. I like her as an actress.

ALAN'S MOVIE REVIEW: Rental-Worthy or Cable-Worthy.

A (Future) Wedding To Remember

Yesterday I ran into a friend, let's call her "Red," in the carpark at the law school. She and I rarely hang out or such but I see her from time to time. In the course of hello's and how-are-you's, she mentioned an idea she'd come up with for one of the weddings I will attend this upcoming Fall (as previously noted). Point in fact, it's Captain Kate's wedding. Well, Red had seen The Captain recently and Red had suggested that perhaps she & I could go to the wedding together (i.e. as each other's date), saving The Captain some amount of money and saving each of us from having to locate, wrangle into submission, hogtie and bring a date to the wedding. Red proposed the idea to me and I, of course, said sure.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. Guess I just wanted to put it out there because it was a little odd. Not to say strange per se but unusual and a bit unexpected. Red's pretty cool though so I can't say this is something I wouldn't expect from her (or, without the double negative, this is par for her). I suppose it'll help make The Captain's wedding even more fun and entertaining (I was planning on getting completely and utterly smashed at it anyways). So it is pretty cool and I'm kind of glad I don't have to think about getting a date for the wedding. (Previous incident here.) All in all, should be a fun time!

Things To Do To Me

I hereby retract the previous post's anger/annoyance. Turns out that instead of a 10-20 min. drive-&-park, the mission was a 5-block-walk. Considering it's in the mid-40's today (NEVERMIND THAT WE GOT 0.5-1" OF SNOW LAST NIGHT), the walk was quite pleasant and I rather enjoyed it. (But don't tell anyone at work!)

Things Not To Do (To Me)

Picture this: I'm in my office, standing, with my coat on (it's a nice, royal blue Land's End jacket with fleece inside, a Channukah present from my mom a few years ago), about to leave. One of the paralegals walks in.

Her: Are you leaving?
Me: Yes.
Her: For the day?
Me: Yes.
Her: No you're not.
Me: Okay...

Apparently, said paralegal has some documents or other to be dropped off at the court house today. Also apparently, merely phrasing such a request in the form of a question (at least initially) is not as much fun as making it a directive. Of course me being the bitch idiot I am, I didn't say no. Hence, I sit here and wait for her to finish whatever scanning activity precedes the documents' delivery.

Nevermind that I was purposefully leaving early possibly to catch a movie this afternoon but primarily because I got ~4 hours of sleep last night (thank you WoW) and my brain is fried, like an egg on.. umm... what do you call those things? Oh yeah, the sidewalk. Well, maybe not the current snow-and-slush-covered sidewalks but summer ones. Hot ones. Ones an egg would fry on. Like my brain. Throw into the mix the facts that I've been guzzling coffee and Diet Coke all morning in an attempt to remain conscious and I skipped lunch so I could leave 30 min. earlier. Hence, my digestive system is not at its best. In fact, it's not very happy right now. And I'm hungry. And annoyed. I'm not very happy right now either.

*Rage.. building... becoming hard.. to focus...*

Oh wait, ignore that. It's just gas. ::yawn:: I need to find a corner to pass out in. And food to eat. But probably not in that order. ::yawn::

A Game You Can Play

Yesterday, at the midway break in my Legal Regulation of Art and Public Culture class, another student and I were discussing how the professor likes to use the word "capacious." In fact, he uses the word very frequently. Another student suggested a drinking game based on the word, the idea promptly being modified to something more plausible. Such as coughing.

Thus it was born that whenever the professor said the word "capacious," the first student and I would not-so-subtly cough. The prof. managed to use the word 4 times in the latter half of class. He used the word twice within 30 sec. while answering this student's question, prompting me to cough twice while attempting to hide an unbidden smile. Next class we may either change the action or change the word. Partially to keep things interesting and partially because this prof. is actually observant and would likely catch on to what we are doing.

Somehow, though, I doubt this activity is going to make the cut for Law Students Gone Wild.

Groundhog's Day Report

CNN: Punxsutawney Phil predicts prolonged cold.

The world's most famous furry forecaster saw his shadow Wednesday on Gobbler's Knob, suggesting another six weeks of wintry weather.

The chubby critter delivered the prediction after he was pulled from his burrow in an oak stump at 7:31 a.m. by a top-hatted handler, and his prediction was greeted by boos from the thousands in attendance.

So I shouldn't be planning on swimming, parasailing or nude sunbathing in the next 6 weeks? Damn! My plans are shot. Anyone up for some beach volleyball?

Irony Hath Struck Again

Or perhaps this time it's merely truth.

Again courtesy of Boing Boing, we have a few notes on MSN Search Results. The results of a search for 'best web browser?' "Discounting the sponsored sites, the first two returned links were to Mozilla/Firefox. IE didn't appear until #8."

Oh sweet, sweet irony (and truth).

I Want This

Courtesy of Boing Boing, we have an "Xbox to 1979 toy Millennium Falcon mod" for sale on eBay. Only 800 pounds! (That's sterling, not bricks/feathers.) The bad news is that it's a UK Xbox and thus uses different voltage (nothing a converter couldn't fix, I'm sure).

My birthday is only 2.5 months away so ante up folks!

Start Your Day Right, With Buffy!

It can't be a bad day when it starts with the Buffy Musical Episode. Somewhere there's a law stating as much, I'm sure.

In Response to E.Spat's Epiphany

E.Spat put up this post last Thursday on an epiphany of hers.

Here's the thing. While I applaud her post for its honesty and her for sharing all of that with us, I do not share the surprise and like-feelings expressed by others in the comments to her post.

Sometimes I truly don't understand other people. Why is it an especially novel concept that you should believe in yourself? Why is it so difficult to believe that the physical perception of yourself by others is not paramount? That there are people of the opposite sex who will love you for being yourself and not looking like yourself? That there are others of the opposite sex who will love you period? And not treat you like shit? And you should try to find one of those people? I honestly don't get it. Why do people knowingly and willingly put themselves into bad personal situations with "bad" people?

Don't get me wrong, I sympathize with E.Spat and her tale. It is very compelling and not a little bit sad. But at the same time, I don't get why it took so long for her to come around, to realize that there's more to life than "a magic number."

Apologies here for the next generalization but I think it's fair. The subject of weight is always a tricky one with women. Any guy worth his salt should know better than to touch that one with a 10' pole. You can't win. All you can do is lose, dig yourself a deeper ditch or dig yourself a grave. There's no other option. So, as a guy, I may be missing a lot of perspective on this issue. Still, why is this topic such a big issue? At some point, can't we just say: "Figure out some way to be happy with yourself and damn those that disagree!"

I'm pretty sure I have a moderately unique, only partly cynical, hopeful outlook on things. I still have more hope and faith than cynicism. I believe in a lot of things, some antiquated, some made antiquated by today's society. I also don't believe in a lot of things, such as getting down on yourself for a poor reason. And that's how I view E.Spat's story. I've found that one big trick in life, at least for me, is to not care so much about how other people view me. Do what you need to do, be who you need to be, and befriend those you want to be friends with. Why would you hang out with people who make you feel bad about yourself? Why are you not deserving of something better, something more human? You deserve what you think you deserve.

Alright, maybe I'm just not insecure enough but I truly do believe in those things and others like them. I also believe we all have a choice. We can choose what direction we move in and where we go. Yes, sometimes we get trapped by our past decisions, but those are merely consequences of choices you've already made. So deal. And learn. And grow.

I also believe that I can spew bullshit like this nearly interminably. (It's not really bullshit but you know what I mean.) Anyways, enough. If you want more, give me a narrow question. Else, tell me what I'm missing. Or tell me what you think. Or tell me I'm an ass. I don't care. (Only on the last, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the former.)

Pet Peeves of the Eve

People who on small/normal roads, despite the accumulated snow on the sides of the roads, double park their vehicle thus preventing other vehicles from passing.

Students who incorrectly park in the middle of the drive in the parking lot, thus screwing up the flow of traffic.

Both categories deserve to have their internal organs roasted on a spit in front of them while they themselves freeze in the wintery weather.

Preliminary Thoughts on Constantine

The movie Constantine opens on Feb. 18. In watching the trailer for this movie and undertaking background reading in preparation for the movie, I have become a bit worried about the movie and its likely presentation.

IMDB Plot Summary:

Based on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer and written by Kevin Brodbin, Mark Bomback and Frank Capello, Constantine tells the story of irreverent supernatural detective John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), who has literally been to hell and back. When Constantine teams up with skeptical policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister (also played by Weisz), their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldy events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.

Being a fan of comic books and a mildly-avid reader of trade paperbacks, I remembered that I have 2 trades of Hellblazer, the comic book series that forms the basis for this movie. "Gee," I thought. "I should re-read the trades and reacquaint myself with the character and comics in preparation for the movie." After re-reading one of the trades, I picked up the next 4 after it since I was enjoying the stories so much. Now, a few more trades into the series, I'm concerned for the movie.

Hellblazer features the tales and exploits of a rather interesting and charasmatic Englishman, John Constantine. Constantine has strong ties to magic, from his background, heritage and experience. He deals with the occult in all manners, from voodoo to straight magic to demons to devils to angels. This in and of itself, while forming the meat of his adventures, is not the truly engaging part. The best part is Constantine himself. His character is that of a dark hero, one who follows, or more accurately makes, his own morality. He does what he does according to his personal code, fighting what evil he may, but not actually "clean" himself. Constantine rides a fine edge between good and evil, easily dipping from one to the other but always following his own code.

The character is a chain-smoking, beer-drinking, smart-aleck bastard. Very charasmatic and very likeable. This doesn't change the fact that he's a bastard. A complete bastard. He'll leave you in the lurch if it means saving his skin. He may or may not honor agreements. He's lost a lot of friends and has come to accept that he's going to lose more. Very dark, very magic-oriented, very dangerous.

If this is the comic book setup, I cannot rightly believe that Keanu Reeves has a snowball's chance in Hell of pulling this off. IMO, Keanu isn't a good actor. All of his characters are the same, with the same attitudes, same mannerisms, same expressions, same voices. They're the same!!! Constantine should not be played like that. The character deserves more. He deserves a good actor capable of playing a complex character with complex motives. I highly doubt Keanu can give this character one-tenth of the depth he should have.

Don't take this to mean I won't see this movie. Heck, chances are I'll be there opening night. From the trailer, the look and feel of the movie (dark, mysterious, foreboding, mystical, dangerous) is dead on. Plus Rachel Weisz is excellent. I like the look of the film and eagerly await its release. Even so, I'm worried for Constantine. He's better than Keanu and I sincerely wish the film's creators had considered this point.

Not-so-quick Quick WoW Post

WoW being World of Warcraft.

My Paladin is up to 53 now. Haven't worked on his Blacksmithing at all lately. Last night he did Maraudon and a few nights earlier he did the Temple of Al'Katar/the Sunken City. Also, using the Thrash Blade reward from Maraudon, he's now switched to 1h sword/shield (from 2h sword, Truesilver Champion) in anticipation of today's Seal of the Crusader fix. In fact, the realm is down now while they patch it. I haven't decided what to do with my remaining talent points. Will probably respec sometime, not out of Blessing of Kings but to arrange the other expenditures.

~//~

I sent the below text to Terranova as a possible post.

On 1/28/05 on the Argent Dawn Server, a protest was staged in support of making changes to the Warrior Class. Warrior players were encouraged to create gnome warrior and assemble in Ironforge. Needless to say, Argent Dawn being a packed server at the best of times, the protest succeeded in not only drawing the attention of GM's but also crashed the server or continent or zone a few times. In the end, Argent Dawn was taken offline for some period of time. (I don't know how long since I just logged and went to go do other things instead of wait.)

The regular citizens of Argent Dawn, and I speak as one of them, are used to a lag-laden Ironforge and a lag-laden server in general. However, the Warrior protest was seen as highly intrusive since it helped bring down the server we normally play on. In our opinion, Argent Dawn was chosen *because* of its populated nature and tenuous uptime. Their goal was to bring the server down and garner attention, which they did.

Below I have included links to a few posts on the official forums. Word has it Blizzard had 2 days constructive notice (by forum posts) of the protest and did or said nothing in response, at least until the actual protest.

~//~

Announcement of protest.

One thread on the official forums in response to the protest.

A GM (Kalgan) response to the Warrior's plight.

The start of the previous thread.

Here's a link to some screenshots.

I saw the message by GM Xanan and I was in Stormwind. However, as soon as I saw the message I was booted. I heard from another guildmate that he saw the message and was booted while in Southshore, far from Ironforge.

~//~

The protest was really annoying. Also a little redundant since Blizzard has saif they're working on Warriors and Warlocks at the moment. ::shrug:: We'll have to see what happens.