Playstation 3

So I received a very generous gift from my sister over the weekend... a little something to thank me for some of the things I've done for her 2007. Said gift is a "Playstation 3".

Hella-stoked am I to have not only a great next gen system but I finally have something that has 1080p output for my HDTV.

Setup of the system was a snap. It was possibly the easiest of all the next gen systems - I have both an XBox360 and a Nintendo Wii for comparison.

The system needed to download a version-firmware update so a good portion of the evening was spent with the system being on and it downloading the v2.10 update.


Once the update was complete - I threw in Spiderman 3 into the player. I was really impressed by the color and clarity of the movie. I then threw in my copy of HOT FUZZ so that I could see what the DVD upsample was like.

Happy to report that the upsample worked really well. Which is great seeing how I plan to use the PS3 for my living room DVD/BlueRay player.

After doing some movie tests - I threw in my copy of Assassins Creed. I've only played it for 40 minutes so I don't want to weigh in on the game just yet. I'm very happy with it thus far tho'. more on that in the near future.

I'm now going to watch LSU route the Suckeyes from Ohio State.

Season 2 of Dexter

I've been meaning to do a proper write up on my Fall TV viewing habits... if time permits I hope to write up some thoughts on a handful of new shows I'm diggin'.

For the time being... I want to quickly plug the Season 2 premier of DEXTER on Showtime.

I'm DVR'n the show so that I can watch it a little later this week. Ran across this fabulous promotion over the weekend for the show and I had to share.

It's bloodtastic!

Weeds Season 3

Just occurred to me that the third season of Weeds kicks off Monday night... I've read a number of articles regarding actors whom are going to do some guest spots this season. I'm hoping that the show doesn't loose its way after broadcasting one of the greatest seasons I've ever seen.

Anyhoo... if you have Showtime - tune in.

.aCr.

Episode IV - the 30th Anniversary

30 years ago today, Star Wars debuted in theaters throughout the country.

I was born in December of 1977, so I won't be posting any stories about how I saw it in the theater as a little tike.

I don't recall the first time I saw Episode IV... It may have been after seeing Empire Strikes Back. I do however recall my father purchasing Episode IV on Videodisc for me while we were on vacation in Denver, CO.

I've seen the movie upwards of 200 times... I haven't seen it in a few years, but plan to catch it this evening on Cinemax as they intend to show all 6 Episodes in HD.

Movie Nite : Stick It

]After spending a good part of my Saturday in a small Honda Civic to Round Rock, Texas (Ikea), then to downtown Austin (Waterloo Records) - I opted to come home tonight and just chill out on the couch with my dog.

After downing a few Pyramid Apricot Ale's - I stumbled across a movie called "Stick It" on one of my many HD channels.

The immediate appeal was simple. Gymnast girls doing floor routines in HD = man chub.

I thought about flipping the channel as soon as the dialogue began, but I began to learn a lot of little things about gymnastics.

example. for years I wondered how girls kept their leotards from riding up their butts. the film shows gymnasts spraying their lower half's with Stick-Em glue.

the film also discussed point systems and how fickle judges are. did you know that a bra - showing during a floor routine is a deduction?

The film is horrible. Jeff Bridges, is in it... he plays a burned out coach. He totally phones in his performance and he even throws in a few "dude" moments in the event someone like myself hangs in for the conclusion of the film.

Live Bloggin' : 79th Annual OSCARS

It's Oscar nite!

I didn't get around to watching a lot of the nominated films this year, but I have some rooting interest in regards to the nominees.

The awards are being broadcast in High Definition.... I'll be live bloggin' the entire event.

7:30 PM: The show has just kicked off... I don't know if Errol Morris had any thing to do with the "Nominees". It looks a lot like his work. Also looks a lot like a "Apple Switch" campaign...

7:40ish PM: Ellen is just about done with her opening monologue... it was surprisingly short. Her choice of formal wear is an interesting one. I wonder if she'll be wearing it for the remainder of the evening.

7:48 PM: A big to-do has been made about the strong Mexican presence in this years Oscar ceremony. First award (Best Art Direction) has gone to Eugeno Caballero and Pilar Revuelta for "Pan’s Labyrinth". Big ups and brown power.

7:58 PM: I like Jack Black as much as the next guy... but he seriously needs to be put down.

8:03 PM: Exactly what statement are you trying to make when you bring your Mom as your date to the Oscars? Are you simply not bring sand to the "beach"?


Eddie Murphy: I don't know how well of a chance Eddie Murphy has this evening for an Oscar, but I wanted to quickly share some thoughts on him as an Actor & Comedian.

When I was very young, I grew up in a spanish speaking home. I learned a lot of my early English from watching movies with my father. Some of the movies we saw frequently were - "Uncommon Valor" and "Beverly Hills Cop".

That latter was one of my favorites. I spent hours at home memorizing dialogue and perfecting my Eddie Murphy laugh.

When I first got word that he was nominated for his performance in "Dream Girls", I thought to myself - "wow... how fucking crazy is that?"

... Alan Arkin has just won Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Little Miss Sunshine". A film that I thought was a little over rated... Alan did however make a wonderful (albeit brief) performance. Big ups to him and chasing the dragon.

I heard that there could be some Academy backlash for Eddie's Murphy's "NORBIT".

I don't know if there's any truth to that, but it makes one wonder...

For what its worth, I still love Eddie Murphy. I went out of my way to watch films like - Vampire in Brooklyn, Pluto Nash, Distinguished Gentlemen and METRO. All of which (with the exception of METRO) were pretty good. OK. "Pretty good" may be pushing it... but I think we're going to see a return of "Eddie".

Just the other day I read that he and Terrentino are possibly going to work on some upcoming projects.

Big ups on the nomination Eddie. I *heart* you.

8:43 PM: Cameron Diaz is by far the biggest Train Wreck to view in High Definition. If you don't have HD, I recommend getting it so you can see how bad she looks in it.

9:37 PM: What were the chances of seeing Jennifer Hudson win this evening? I wish I could come up with a shortlist of ladies that have never won an Oscar. Tonight, an American Idol reject - took home a gold statuate and that just has to make a number of the attendees upset.

Punk Rawk!

Apple iPhone: Much to my surprise, Apple introduced a new commercial for their upcoming iPhone. It wasn't a particularly good... but I found it interesting to see them plug a product that won't hit shelves until June of 2007.

9:48 PM: An Inconvenient Truth has just won an Oscar for best documentary. I recently saw this doc (blogged about it) and was incredibly moved. Can't plug it enough. www.climatecrisis.org

Closing: I watched the rest of the Oscars from my bedroom... The last 4 awards (best, Actor, Actress, Director and Picture) were what I anticipated... It was nice to see and hear Scorsese give his overdue acceptance speech. I recall there being a lot of buzz around the release of Gangs of New York. At the time people said he could win because he had never won before... people also said it was a shame that if he did win, he wouldn't be winning the honor for his best work.

I haven't seen the Departed yet. I plan to watch it this week with my father. I hear that it's really well done tho'. All in all, a pretty bad ass nite.

Honeymooners

I have a soft spot for really bad movies... a really soft spot. Sometimes I wonder if there are any depths to my insanity. It's sometimes very hard to have friends take my recommendations seriously when I tell them that Meatballs III is one of my all time favorite movies.

* Pornstar dies, needs to get into heaven and her only way in is to get a poor kid laid at summer camp

how cool is that?

Anyhoo, nothing was on TV tonight, so I channel surfed for a little bit and I saw that a remake of the Honeymooners was on Showtime HD.

While I can safely say that I've seen far worse movies... I'd be hard pressed to recommend anyone sit through this one.

If you have showtime... and you have HD and you have very little else going on and you're willing to balance your checkbook online with it on in the background, then its totally worth sitting down for.

NBA All*STAR nite

For the first time in maybe 8 or so years... I went out of my way to stay in and in catch the NBA All*Star 3-Point/Slamdunk competition.

I've never been a die-hard NBA fan. I watched a lot of basketball growing up, but it was hard not to watch the Celtics, the Lakers, the Bad Boy Pistons then Jordan in the 90's.... the NBA player strike / holdout / whatever - made me tune out and I never could get back into it.

But I digress...

Just finished watching a Miami Heat player (whose name I already forgot) win the three point contest with a final score of 24 points.

As impressive as that is... I recall tuning in the night Craig Hodges (Chicago Bull) dropped a record 25 points in the three point competition. I also recall watching him drop a record 19 straight three point shots.

Hoping to see lightning hit twice tonight, I'm saddened to report that neither record fell tonight.

I am however happy to see the shooting contest be broken down into 2 rounds of shooting. I don't recall how many there was before... but the new format is really nice.


UPDATE : Just occurred to me that this is the first Basketball action that I've seen in HD. It's quite possibly the best sport to watch in High Definition. I can't believe that I'm actually enjoying the Slam Dunk contest.

CBS / AFC Championship Sunday

Like many others this Sunday... I made sure to completely empty my schedule so that I can watch the Pats & Colts square off in the AFC Championship.

I left unusually early from San Benito so that I could catch the game in all its High Definition glory.

As luck would have it... CBS is broadcasting the game this afternoon and their HD feed here in San Antonio sucks. The picture is fine until play begins... then the feed begins to digitize and blot terribly on my Television screen.

WTF? You have one game to broadcast this week CBS. Get your shit straightened out. You're televising the Superbowl in 2 weeks and this shit is not going to fly.

UPDATE: I don't know what CBS just did... but the HD Signal has improved dramatically. One of the broadcast trucks must probably had their tire on a cable....

NFL HD

Thanks to having the DISH, I get to watch the NFL network trot out their "High Definition" Saturday Night Football game... While I'm not a fan of the Giants or the Redskins... I'm watching closely because I have 3 fantasy football players participating in tonight's game.

Anyhoo... had a quick complaint to lodge against NFL Network HD.

I don't know if its any different for viewers who watch the channel on Comcast or DirectTV, but the game and only the GAME, is in HD. I mean, even the Halftime show was in standard def! WTF? If you're going to broadcast a game in HD, get your shit together and broadcast the entire evening in HD.