"Overlord, this is Delta 2-1 Actual, we are Oscar Mike"
"Copy that Delta 2-1 Actual."
"We are Oscar Mike."
"Ramirez! DO EVERYTHING!
"Stay Frosty Marines"
"We killed everyone. Hoohah."
"The Cove" is what I would call the most important film of the year. It is one of the best documentaries I have seen, and one of the best films of the year.
I think I would first have to give you a little background on myself for you to fully understand my point of view on this film. I've have always had a huge interest in the sea. Marine life and the Ocean, ever since I was a young boy, have been something I have admired and loved. Up until my freshman year of college I had planned to get my degree in marine safety and environmental protection, but due to some more personal reasons I decided to go a different route. I don't know if I would call myself an environmentalist but I do have a very strong view against many things and one of my strongest is my total hatred towards the killing of whales and dolphins. This has been with me for years. So of course this film really hit me hard.
The film documents Ric O'Barry's life guest to show the world and hopefully stop the mass slaughter of dolphins in Japan, specifically in a small hidden lagoon in Taiji, Japan. Here they are herded and blocked in to sit and wait to be either selected for sale for show or killed. One interesting thing about Barry is that he used to be the trainer of the dolphins used for the show 'Flipper' and he had a strong part in kick starting a globe attraction to capturing and showing off dolphins, something that has become very profitable. After a traumatic moment he almost instantly became an activist against such capture and for the past 30 plus years has set out to free dolphins, protect them from capture and slaughter which has resulted in a rise of hate towards him. When Louie Psihoyos learned of Barry, and met with him and was told about and shown where the slaughter took place Psihoyos decided to recruit a group of men and women to help in trying to enter this guarded, gated and restricted lagoon to capture what exactly was going on. It was very clear to them all that the Japanese in the area did not want this secret to get out and had a constant surveillance on them including multiple unmarked cars which would track their every move. After some careful planning and surveying of the area the crew set out to place cameras and sound equipment around the lagoon at night. Various methods were used including hiding cameras in rocks. This was very tricky to do without being caught and they had to go out in the total darkness using night vision and thermal cameras. After some close encounters and constantly being shadowed they finally got the footage they wanted, and the video was horrifying.
One thing that really stood out about this documentary was the way it was done. It does, as most do, include interviews with various people and organizations. It also has a lot of back story on Ric O'Barry and the whole dolphin killing/capture industry; however where it really gets interesting and stands out is the footage of this crew, the trouble they encounter and the way they go about getting the footage. It is like watching a spy thriller unravel right before your eyes and it actually had me on the edge of my seat. These people risked imprisonment and even possible death doing what they did but it is clear that their determination was too strong to let this frighten or stop them.
I think it also did a great job at providing the facts, at least those that we needed and some of it is really scary. For example the mercury levels in dolphins and the fact that their meat is sold to schools around Japan. Or the steps the Japanese government seems willing to do in order to gain support by smaller and impoverished nations in the IWC (International Whaling Commission) to vote in their favor. It really does open your eyes to a lot of things some of which made me very angry.
With all this said, I think the thing that the film does best is teaching us about dolphins, giving us a glimpse of them that some of us may not have ever seen. You really come to understand why exactly dolphin killing is so wrong. These are incredibly intelligent, and many believe to be self aware creatures. They speak to us and try to communicate although sadly we do not fully understand them. There have been numerous cases of them coming to the aid of humans who were drowning, stuck out at sea or being attacked by a shark. People, including the Japanese, have tried to defend what they do by comparing it to Americas own slaughter of cows and chickens, and although you never can truly defend this it doesn't even compare especially when one of these species runs the risk at extinction and isn't a valuable food source.
Now of course not everyone will agree with the film or me. They will question the somewhat bias documentary and blow it off. I on the other hand think it is an extremely important film, one that needs to be seen by all. It made the very interesting point that if we can not gather support to stop the slaughter of dolphins in one tiny lagoon in Japan, then how do we ever hope to achieve things on a larger scale and I couldn't agree more. This isn't some global disaster. It doesn't take billions of dollars and a total transformation of our lives to stop this yet it goes on. What really can be done? Well this documentary is a great start because education and spreading the message are the first steps that should be and need to be taken. I remember when the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" was released teachers were allowed to request a free copy to show their students and I can only hope they do the same for this film. I also really hope it wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary to help introduce the film to the world. It is good to know that it has already had some effect and the aftermath of its release has shown and I hope it grows.
I think by now you can see that this is less of a review and more of a rant but you must understand that "The Cove" really hit me hard. It was such an emotional experience for me and I will say that my eyes watered a few times. This really is one of if not the best documentary I have ever seen and in my opinion one of the most important films of the year. 10/10
Cod mw2 vid brandon B7-scar.. Was good graphics
Yep, I got a router and Modern Warfare 2 which should last me a while....so excuse me if i never come on gamespot gain lol 
So far I'm on the 4th SP level and I plan to beet the game before trying the multiplayer out...
eventually i'll make my way to spec ops...but thats much later. As I type this I wait in anticipation of my parents to wake up so I can go play...as the ps3 and TV is in there Bed Room... 
the like to sleep in when i have a new game...purposely...
Woot, first ever platinum trophy a few days ago thanks to Batman: Arkham Asylum.
With the final exams coming up in the next two months it's nlikely that I'll be getting any games until November 17 at least.
Pray for me...
Developers = Publishers and Developers
The used game market is a very controversial market. Developers hate it, Gamestop and EB Games loves it. No matter where you actually stand on the used game war, we can all agree that it's a swift kick in the balls when you trade in a game they worked their ass on for just a couple of bucks.
I'm a person that strongly supports the used games/trade-in market. As I do agree that Gamestop/EB games should give more money for the games, you can't hate me for taking the deal. Me being a 14 year old, I have no job, I get 15 bucks a weeks, which almost all of that goes to "social" events such as movies, school football games, etc. I don't have enough money to get the latest blockbuster game each week. So if I want said game, I'll happily sacrifice two games for it.
Now personally, I don't blame my love of trading things in solely on lack of money, developers need to give me a game that in 6 months, I still want to have in my grasps, examples being LittleBigPlanet, bought it launch day and just now recently traded it in. Gears of War 2, had it since launch. Call of Duty Modern Warfare, had it since day 1, still have it. Games in the future are doing the same, Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, etc. But look at single player games, I bet you anything that the trade in numbers for them are higher than, say, Sacred 2.
The used game market is totally different, there is really nothing you can do to change that. It will happen, it will suck for developers, and it will continue until digital media takes over hard copies which will be a while. But when you think about it, it's kind of the developers/publishers being greedy. You've been paid for the copy that you sent out to Gamestop, their just taking advantage of bad games and low re-play value. It all comes back to trading in games, the only person that can really hurt Gamestop in that industry is you and I.
Fact of the matter is, trading in games/buying used games is both our fault, we could change it but John Lennon coming back to life and slapping Yoko Ono is more likely to happy than that. Now if you will all excuse me, I need to go power trade some games toward Beatles Rock Band.
Signing Off for a Good While...-417alum
I just bought a new boat and decided to take 'er for the maiden voyage this past weekend.
This is my first boat and I wasn't quite sure of the exact Standard Operating Procedures for launching it off a ramp, but I figured it couldn't be too hard.
I consulted my local boat dealer for advice, but they just said "don't let the trailer get too deep when you are trying to launch the boat".
Well, I don't know what they meant by that as I could barely get the trailer in the water at all!
The stupid truck would die and start floating before the trailer even got close to deep enough!
What am I doing wrong? Should I load the truck down with some lead or maybe rocks so it doesn't float?
Anyhow, here's a picture. See for yourself. What am I doing wrong?
Multiplayer.....ever heard of it? There's no doubt in my mind you have, and I'll venture a guess that you have gone as far as to play have played a multiplayer game before. Of course I'm just being sarcastic here! Multiplayer is HUGE, it's practically a pop-culture phenomenon. It has even changed the way our video games are structured. They're good fun and all, increasing the longevity of our beloved titles so they don't just go back onto our dust collecting shelves, but what ever happened to the single player experience? Is it me or has it become a mere afterthought?
I remember multiplayer was something only PC users experienced and the idea was still taking off. That left console players with single player games only, and oh what good campaigns they were! Long. Engaging. Literally amazing stories that sucked me in and would not let go till I hit the power button, and when I did, I was sad! I'm sorry if I'm sounding a bit dramatic, but flashes of Sonic 2 and FF8 are coming to mind when I think about the Single player exp. Mario 3 and Vagrant Story! The slew of new games that have come out in the past year or so now have great single player experiences but they're not THAT great if anybody knows what I mean. Part of this, I feel, is due to laziness on the developers part. Knowing that they can just make a few maps and balanced characters and guns they can just release a half baked product and know that multiplayer would be there saving grace.
I would like to take the time to talk about a few of these culprits. First up is COD4. Yea you read that right! "But I'm a roustabout, that single player exp was SICK!" ANd i'd say you're right! BUT how long was it? I mean really? Yea multiplayer was grat, and revolutionized how multiplayer is played but a six hour campaign? Really? Six hours? I mean what the heck? My question I present to you is, if multiplayer had still not been invented yet, or implemented on consoles, would this game had gotten the reviews it did? MOst likely not. Multiplayer was it's saving grace, unless you're the kind that likes to chuck out $60 for a six hours game, maybe 24 if you like to get the acheivements. So keeping that in mind I just want developers to start thinking about the quality of their single player campaign and ask themselves "without multiplayer is this still a quality game worth releasing?"
Another game that comes to mind would be Halo 2. I know for a fact people were disapointed in that game, but it's saving grace was it's multiplayer. They expanded upon the original design so it was a fantastic multiplayer exp, but everybody complained about the lack of a quality single player campaign. I would think it's safe to say that what got people into halo in the first place was it's fantastic single player experience and the bonus was you could increase the longevity of that game by playing Lan parties with friends. Eventually the LAN parties dwarfed the people just sitting by themselves playing the single player portion, but the initial love for everything Halo I believe came from the single player campaign.
It's not that multiplayer is bad. I personally don't like it, and never found the fun in it. I chalk it up to the maturity level of most the people I come across. The pre-pubescent teenagers really irk me sometimes and completly withdrawls me from the whole experience and reminds me that I'm playing a video game, rather than providing a cathartic escape, saving me from my hum-drum droll that is my existence 
Games these days have become too short boasting on the back of the box that it has an A-MAZING multiplayer exp and I for one have seen through their cheap BS and tire of it. Bring back my amazing stories! Bring back the lengthy, cinematic cutscenes that made me fall in love with the heroes. And stop chucking out sequel after sequel every year making my precious single player exp an afterthought making it ride on the coat tails of it's multiplayer component!
I know this is old from the update before the last one that just came out.
I am so glad there is this option where you can set you PS3 controller to turn off by itself whenever you are not using it for 10 minutes. I used to play more with the cord plugged in becasue I would foreget to turn my controller off everytime i leave my game on which would make the battery die.
Now with that update my controller can go for like 2 weeks or mare without even charging it. Im glad they thought about that.
I have finally returned from Germany!
It was a GREAT school trip.
We got to see some amazing sights in Germany.
What was really fun though was that my friends and I could go out into the town (Without teachers) and we would go down to the town carnival every night.
Well, it was a great trip and I would definitely go there again!
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BTW: The reason I'm re-posting this is because my last blog was moderated for my language.....oops!
FIFA Soccer 09 is one of the games im waitin to get.....Ive been playin FIFA since 99....This year seems to be a good one....One of the new features in the game is a superstar like mode where u make ur own character and start a career....something like Madden as they have there Hall of Fame Mode...where u make ur own football player and start the career....whats kool about the mode is that it is a 3rd person view....it makes u feel like ur there.....(IF U PLAYED FIFA 08, U WOULD KNOE WHAT I MEAN)...as always im a huge arsenal fan so there my team....in online play i also use the mexican national team.....seein ochoa in the front cover is great...but for some reason im tried of seein ronaldinho...he has been sittin out most of the season....and he wasnt even in the two games in the ufea champions league when barca faced man u......it should be messi in the cover..one thing i would like to see in the game in more cups from the north american side......when u played manager mode...and u pick a team in europe...there's a ecc cup (European Champions Cup) and a efa cup(Cup for teams that didnt make ecc)......its kool and all but they should have cups like that in the north american teams........somthing like a Superliga...or a cup for the best teams in that region...cuzz i play alot of the MLS and The Mexican Division...so havin a cup from counties from USA, Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, etc......thats something that they should consider for fans from the north american side.....other then that...this game is goin to be great....so rent it, buy it....whatever...try this game...=)
Even though it has only been on release for one week in Australia and the US, the Batman sequel has taken the number one slot from 'The Godfather', which previously held the position since the late Nineties.
Positioning on the chart is decided by average ratings from public votes. 'The Dark Knight' has a rating of 9.4 out of 10, with around 115,000 votes registered. It beats 'The Godfather's rating of 9.1.
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The next highest-placed movie on the list from this century is 'The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King', which is at number 14 in the chart.
Is capital punishment really wrong? In today's society, yes it is. Human beings are there own worst enemy in this subject, by building and maintaining a destructive environment. Take this example, roughly quoted from a great author.
"Have you ever raised a puppy"
"Yes sir."
"Did you housebreak him."
"Yes sir. Eventually."
"When your puppy made mistakes were you angry"
"He didn't know any better he was just a puppy"
"What did you do?"
"I scolded him, rubbed his nose in it and hit him."
"Surely he could not understand your words"
"No, but he could tell I was mad at him."
"But you just said you were not angry."
"No, but I had to make him think I was. He had to learn."
"Conceded. But, having made it clear to him that you disapproved how could you be so cruel as to spank him as well? You said that the puppy didn't know he was doing wrong. Yet you inflicted pain. Justify yourself!"
"Mr. Dubois, you have to! You scold him so that he knows he's in trouble, you rub his nose in it so that he will know what trouble you mean, you hit him so that he wont do it again, and you have to do it right away! You cant punish him later it will just confuse him. He wont learn from just one lesson , so you watch and catch him again and hit him harder."
"Lets get back to those juvenile criminals. The most vicious averaged somewhat younger than you here in this class..... And they often started there lawless careers much younger. Lets not forget that puppy. These children were often caught; police arrested batches each day. Were they scolded? Yes. Were there noses rubbed in it? Rarely. News and officials usually keep there name secret. Were they spanked? Defiantly not! There is a wide spread belief that spanking, or any punishment involving pain, caused a child psychological damage."
"I do not understand objections to 'cruel and unusual' punishment. While a judge should be benevolent in purpose, his awards should cause the criminal to suffer, else there is no punishment. And pain is the basic mechanism built into us by millions of years of evolution which safeguards us by warning when something threatens our survival. Why should society refuse to use such a highly perfected survival mechanism?"
"As for unusual, punishment must be unusual or it serves no purpose." He pointed at another boy. "What would happen if the puppy was spanked every hour?"
"Probably drive him crazy."
"Probably, it certainly will not teach him anything."
"Back to these young criminals-----they probably were not spanked as a child. And they certainly were not flogged for there crimes. The usual sequence is: for first offense, a warning, a scolding, often without trial. After several offenses, a sentence of confinement but with sentence suspended and the youngster places on probation. A boy might be arrested many times and convicted several times before he was punished and then it would be merely confinement with others like him with whom he learned still other criminal habits."
This incredible sequence could go on for years while his crimes increased in frequency and viciousness, with no punishment what so ever except for dull-but-comfortable confinement. Then a juvenile will turn eighteen and wind up back in prison awaiting a death sentence."
"Suppose you merely scolded your puppy, never punished him, let him go on making messes in the house....and occasionally locked him up in the shed, but soon let him back into the house with a warning not to do it again. Then one day you notice that he is a grown dog and he is still not house broken.----whereupon you take out a gun drag him out back and shoot him dead. Comment please."
"That's the craziest way to raise a dog I ever heard."
"I agree. Or a child. Whose fault would it be, yours or the dogs that he did not learn."
"Uh.....why, mine, I guess."
"But why? Why didn't they spank little kids when they needed it and use a good dose of the strap on any of the older ones that deserved it, the sort of lesson they wouldn't forget!
"I don't know"
Robert Heinlein
This has been on my mind for a while. I'm 15 years of age and my brother is 20. He was born in the 80's whiles I was born in the 90's now he claims that his decade was a lot better than mine in terms of games and shows. But I beg to differ. I believe that my decade had some amazing games and shows. Even though he had the orginal transformers, he-man, thundercats and Dragonball my era had great shows such as Beasties (I now its technically transformers but it's 3-D and a lot different), Pokemon (it's lame now but when it first began it was tight), Reboot and Dragonball Z. Now this goes a lot deeper because a lot of history has been made and a lot of things might not have been the way they are now without those, but the New Era can have some things that are better than the classics. Take for example 3-D gaming. Yes Mario was a classic and so was Gauntlet and other games in the 80's and such but with the 90's we had PS1 and N64 where Mario 64 came out and revolutionized what mario was and what has been done. Im not trying to say the classics were crap, but in some circumstances the New era is better.
Another example is Dragonball-Dragonball Z. Dragonball was a nice little kid show whiles DBZ took that Kid show and it evolved into a completely different show with better fights and more action. Theres also Beasties that took the 2-D transformers and became 3-D with great action and better fights and story lines. We also had a lot of new shows such as Reboot and Pokemon both being amazing shows in their time. Reboot brought 3-D animation and a new style of shows and Pokemon brought a huge movement with monsters battling each other. Now a days a lot of shows have taken from that and made their own types of shows. The Classics are amazing but so is the New Era. I think they can both co-exist with their own greatness rather than ranking the originals number 1 over the news. I think that the NEw Era in some situations can definately compare with the classics so do not rank a classic over a new just because the classic was there first.
Thanks for reading just had to get this off my chest
