Windows 7

Well, I’ve finally done it. I’ve taken advantage of the free offer to upgrade to Windows 7 that came with my computer. The form is filled, mailing address submitted, and bill scanned. And then I looked at the fine print. It turns out that I could have done all of this as soon as I bought the laptop, and I would have probably received the installation disc this week or next. Instead, I will have to wait 8 to 10 weeks before I even receive the disk, not to mention how long it might actually take for the OS to install.

I guess that it’ll take so long because it’s coming from Samsung, but still. I bought the computer at Future Shop downtown, and that’s something like 40 minutes away by Metro. Would it really be difficult for them to just tell me that they have a copy at the store that I can pick up? It would save everyone a lot of time and trouble, and I wouldn’t be whining about my lack of foresight now. It doesn’t really matter, I suppose. I’m still getting $130 worth of software for free, and I can wait a few months for that. Besides, it’s not as if anybody will roll out software that I desperately want that would end up only running on Windows 7… right?
P.S.: About the whole controversy of Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize already: Couldn’t they have waited a little longer? The guy’s been in office for less than a year, and he’s already got enough on his plate. He doesn’t have to have these extra expectations hovering over him as well. Not to mention he hasn’t really done that much yet. I’m sure that he’ll have earned it by the end of his term, so why not wait until then?

The end of a long summer

It’s hard to believe, but in 3 days (well, almost 2 now) I’ll be back in school again. For me, summer vacation started back in mid-May, and it’s been so long since I’ve actually had to do homework and term papers that I barely remember how to do them, although this happens to a lesser degree each year anyways. I believe that I’ve managed to do more this summer than I have any other year, and not just because I had a lot more time on my hands. Here’s a quick list of what I’ve done this summer, which I’ll try to expand upon in later entries:

• Got a job and spent 2 months working full-time
• Actually managed to get someone interested enough in my CV to try and hire me, as well as job interviews (probably due to adding some work experience to it)
• Went to Florida for a week, then came back and stayed at home without my parents around for a few days (which has shown me how expensive groceries can be)
• Went to Washington DC for a week (I’m still disappointed that my camera battery died before I was done taking pictures in the Newseum)
• Finally replaced my old laptop with something much more pleasing (not a Macbook, despite the constant haranguing I received from certain family members)
• Actually started going out with friends to bars and having some beers (Well, one beer, anyways. I’m still too much of a lightweight with alcohol to try and drink that much without unpredictable consequences)
• Turned 18 (Yes, I know that isn’t something that I had to go out and actively pursue, but it’s still a milestone)
• Started a petition to have the math grades from my program reviewed, which, while not very successful, still got some signatures

Overall, it’s been a very productive and enjoyable summer for me. Now, as the beginning of the Dawson fall semester looms closer, the million dollar question seems to be “Will this school year be at least as busy?” Guess there’s only one way to find out…

Next week: An in-depth retread of my trip to DC!

Cold and wet, but hardly miserable

Last night, I went to the Jazz Festival to see the Nikki Yanofsky concert. First off, I have to admit that I mostly veer towards listening to rock and punk music, although I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for musicals (I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to admit out loud that I enjoy the music from Mamma Mia!, although it is entirely ABBA), and that I tend to dismiss jazz as “not being my style.” That said, I have to say that I enjoyed last night’s concert a lot, and even found myself singing along to the songs on more than one occasion. That last one could probably be attributed to the small quantity of beer that I was drinking clashing with my susceptibility to alcohol. Then again, I may have just been enjoying myself that much (to the likely displeasure of everyone standing near me, since I’m a terrible singer).

The only reason that I didn’t have an even better time was because of the rain. Not only did it feel like it was raining bullets, but it kept going on and off, like someone who feels indecisive about whether to turn the lights on or to just leave them off and ends up burning out the bulbs because he keeps flipping the switch every couple of seconds. In any case, everyone just pulled out their umbrellas or put on their rain coats and dealt with it until the end of the concert, which was impressive. A fun experience overall, but I personally could have gone without getting that drenched, and I sincerely hope that the next time will be considerable drier.

Whoops, almost forgot about this…

I just remembered a hilarious video that my brother made with his friends for an English project a few months ago, and I have decided to share it with everyone who reads this blog. I know that that translates to something like 3 people at the moment, but that’s not the point. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as3Hw9aZv1s

Movie Review: Public Enemies

I just saw the new Michael Mann movie Public Enemies today, and I have to admit that while it wasn’t the revolutionary true crime movie that I had been hoping for, it was still a pretty interesting movie that most people would enjoy nonetheless. Based on the book of the same title by Bryan Burroughs, the film follows the criminal career of the legendary bank robber John Dillinger (played by the always excellent Johnny Depp, who bears an eerie resemblance to the robber) between 1933 and 1934 and his conflict with FBI Special Agent Melvin Purvis (played here by Christian Bale). While the original book focuses on other famous criminals as well, including Bonnie and Clyde, the movie zeroes in on Dillinger’s exploits, although there are scenes with others, such as Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd and “Baby Face” Nelson, which prove to be of at least some importance to the plot, and manages to avoid using romantic portrayals of many historical figures. The movie is around 2 and a half hours long, and can feel a little slow at some points as a result. Mann makes up for this by making all of the action scenes very intense and using plenty of dry humor. It can also get a little difficult to follow what is happening onscreen due to the occasional use of a handheld camera, making some scenes very shaky (literally). Overall, though, I liked Public Enemies. It manages to adhere to the source material, and thus, by extension, actual history. Nobody is shown as being absolutely good or evil, but instead as being more on a sliding gray scale of morality. If you like crime movies, historical movies, or anything with Johnny Depp or Christian Bale in it, you should go see the movie as soon as you can, since you’ll be sure to enjoy it. Also, those of you who saw Watchmen earlier this year should keep their eyes open for an actor from that movie playing a small but important role in this one in a way that is 100% historically accurate.

An entire year already?!

I can’t believe that I haven’t posted anything here for almost an entire year. Whatever the reason, I plan to try and post at least a couple of sentences about whatever is on my mind every few days, although I’ll try to aim for every day if I can.

Wow…

I can’t believe it’s been so long since the last time I actually posted anything here. I guess I’ve just been too distracted by all the work I’ve had these past few months (Damn you, Shakespeare!). Thankfully, things will be far less hectic from here on out, although a good chunk of June will be dedicated to exams, so I certainly won’t be able to write stuff up very often around then.

Anyways, I’m glad school is starting to wind down, because it means I have more time for myself at last. What’s more, since I graduate from high school this year, it means that I can look forward to being in a different school for the first time in almost a decade! It’ll be nice to finally be somewhere new and unfamiliar.

Anyways, I’ll hopefully be able to write something more substantial next weekend, and with any luck, I’ll manage to see Iron Man tomorrow. God willing, the Canadians will win tonight, because I want them to get the Stanley Cup this year… Although when you think realistically, the Flyers will probably win tonight’s game…

Jeff Gerstmann and Gamespot’s Degeneration

A little over a week ago, I found out that Jeff Gerstmann, Gamespot’s editorial director, had been fired from his job. The reason for this was supposedly because he had given the game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men a score of 6 out of 10, and Eidos, the game’s developer, had threatened to pull their advertising from the site unless something was done, leading CNet, Gamespot’s parent company, to dismiss Jeff from his job. Earlier this week, they said that he had been fired because of an “internal review”, which, to me, sounds fairly unlikely. Jeff had been working at Gamespot for over 10 years, and it would be extremely unlikely for him to be fired at this point unless he had done something to make his corporate overseers angry. I can’t say that I always agreed with Jeff’s reviews; I often thought that he sometimes had given some good games lower scores than they deserved.

However, judging by all the reviews of Kane & Lynch that I’ve read, Jeff was right on the money this time. Eidos’ website certainly gives the impression that they were pissed off about this, because most of the scores on the official website for the game have been made up, and they took comments from game previews instead of reviews, which had been much more positive.

The question for me now is, what’s the point of focusing on reading Gamespot reviews in particular anymore? The two best people over there (Greg Kasavin left earlier in the year to work at EA) are now gone, and some of the new reviewers seem as though they don’t spend enough time playing the lower-profile games before writing their reviews. This incident will probably also lead to their giving higher-profile games high scores, even if they don’t deserve them, just so that they don’t risk going down the same path as Jeff. It’s just a shame that Gamespot succumbed to a threat that many other gaming media outlets have managed to weather over the years. I can only hope that the boycotts that people have started will convince the company to bring Jeff back so that things can get back to normal over there.

My first post!

Welcome to my blog! Here, I’ll be talking about a myriad of subjects, ranging from video games to literature, current events, and journalism. Feel free to give your opinions!