Snakehead Terror - The Movie

SciFi pictures presents
SCIFI.COM | Snakehead Terror
"When a horror from the deep hunts
on land, there is no place to hide."

Just got finished watching this. Definitely not a lot of Science in this SciFi movie. But, since I live in the area where the move supposedly took place (it was at some fictional lake in Maryland) and, for the last two years, there have been Snakeheads found in the local waterways (including the Potomac River) I wanted to watch it anyway.

First off I was quite surprised at the level of graphic gore displayed in the movie. Lot's of dismemberment of bodies and blood squirting all over the place. It looked fake but still the idea of showing a mans or leg head being ripped off is still more than I'd expect from the SciFi Channel.

Bruce Boxleitner and Carol Alt starred in this film. Now, I have always like Bruce (he is Captain John Sheridan, after all) and he did a decent job. Carol is, as usual, very nice to look at. I wish she'd have shown more skin (I know, I'm a sexist pig; can't help it... I like to see women in as little clothing as possible).

As for the fish, the special effects weren't so bad considering the budget of this film had to be quite small. They probably spent most of it on the stars to give it the name factor. The plot was stretched paper thin but held together enough to make it to the end of the movie. All in all, though, not a movie I'd pay money for. If it hadn't been on the SciFi Channel I wouldn't have seen it in the first place.

Writing about Linux

I am not a writer. My brother is a writer. Yet somehow I have been writing articles and reviews, primarily on Linux and the web, for a few years now. I haven't quite figured out how I got into this.

Recently I've been writing for Linux Weekly News. I'm not at all pleased with the over-all quality of my writing but it's been fun. I plan on doing some reviews of various Linux distributions for next month. My intent is to focus on some of the lesser known and specialized distros. I am a little worried, though, about whether I can write anything good enough for publication anymore. Some of my previous work is decent but lately it seems like I can't get my thoughts in order well enough to write a coherent article. Maybe it's the fact that I have to write now (I promised LWN some articles for the summer). Or maybe it's just that I lack the in depth knowledge to write about specific things. That's one reason I'm going to be doing reviews for a while. It's easier to write about something you're playing with than something that's more esoteric like programming. Either way I hope that I can get some better quality stuff done. Even though I'm not an actual writer I'd still prefer it if the stuff I do write is worth reading.

2004 United States Grand Prix comments

Ferrari takes 1-2 again.

Man, what a strange race. It started when Juan Pablo Montoya couldn't get his Williams-BMW to start on the grid for the warm up lap. He jumped out of the car and sprinted in to the pits to get the second car. He started the race from pit lane and ran 57 of the scheduled 73 laps before the stewards black flagged him for not having a proper sticker in the car. Now, this was something the officials knew the minute he got in the car and, as the TV commentators said, they should have stopped him from leaving the garage let alone run 57 laps.

Then there was an accident at the first turn that took out 4 or 5 cars. A few cars blew tires on the shrapnel that was left on the track from the accident. The worst wreck was when Ralf Schumacher lost a tire and spun into the wall at over 300kmh. He was sitting in his car for over 15 minutes before they got anyone out to him. And the real strange part is that they didn't red flag the race. Even with the safety car out they ran through nearly 10 laps under the caution. Thank $DEITY Ralf is alright. Seems he's got a bruised back but is planning on ruinning in the French GP that's in 9 days 6 hours 30 minutes away (as I write this).

With all the attrition there were only 9 cars running at the end of the race compared to the 20 that started. One of the big happenings was that Minardi-Cosworth got their first F1 points in decades and Zsolt Baumgartner became the first Hungarian to score F1 Championship points. Takuma Sato also had a big day. For the first time in three or four races he didn't blow the engine in his BAR-Honda. Not only did he finished the race running, but he also gained his first podium ever. I can see good future potential in this kid.

The Schumacher/Barrichello 1-2 finish was the 6th or 7th of the season for Ferrari (to tired and lazy to look it up). Ferrari also moved within one win of ting Ford for the engine manufacture with the most total F1 wins, ever.

Now it's on to the July Sumo Basho. Gotta start making my picks for the Cyber games.

Mocumentaries

I'm sure that everyone has already heard about Michael Moore's mocumentary "Fahrenheit 9/11". As one reviewer on the local news radio station said, if you're a liberal you will like it and if you are a conservative you won't. The movie is being seen as a great window on reality and a pile of dirt full of lies. I don't think there's anyone in any kind of middle ground on it. Moore is quite good at making these kind of movies, just look at his "Bowling for Columbine". Now, I haven't seen either of these films, nor have I seen anything done by Moore. I don't plan to, either. This has nothing to do with my political stance, though.

I can remember when Mr. Moore first came to the spotlight. He made "Roger & Me" documentaries for fun and profit. He knew they were not factual. We knew they were not factual. He even declared they were mocumentaries (think Spinal Tap). But somehow, between those first days and today, everyone seems to have forgotten that the movies Moore makes are all factious. He takes something that is happening in the world and makes entertaining (though, some may argue that point) fictional movies about them. I don't care what his political or social views are, I just don't like that people are taking his opinions as gospel truth.

I just finished a "discussion" with a co-worker, Light Green (aka LG), about Moore and his movies. LG is quite animated in his social and political views (but in a very rational way, something I admire him for) and he did regale me for making an opinion without ever seeing any of Moore's movies. He's right in that respect but my issue isn't with the movies themselves, It's with Moore's methods. LG commented that Moore's movies are put forth in such a way to balance the common media perception. Maybe this is true. But I don't like when anyone, whether it's on something I agree with or not, slants (or even blatantly misrepresents) the information they present.

Maybe I am being a bigoted, closed minded dumbass. I wouldn't doubt it. But I am getting to damn old to deal with so much BS that's in the world these days. I guess I'll just go see Spider-Man 2.

The Banzuke is out!

The Banzuke is the list of all the ranks for every rikishi active in Sumo. The current one was just recently released. This is a link to the top division known as Makuuchi. Sumo is a sport like no other. Most westerners think it's just two fat guys wearing a diaper trying to push the other out of a ring. It's so much more than that. Sumo has very deep cultural and religious roots. Sumo is probably the only thing in Japan which carries on the traditions and ways of the old samurai and the Shinto priests. The pre-Basho ceremony and the pre-fight rituals are stunning and marvelous to watch. You can see many of the matches on video at the above mentioned Banzuke site. You will be impressed, I promise you.

Sumo is a culture as well as a sport. It's over 2000 years old and embodies so many more things than just the physical aspects. There are some excellent books and references on the subject which you will likely find on eBay.

In a few weeks the 4th Basho, or tournament, of the 6 per year will be held. The most significant thing that has happened over the last few years is the absence of a Japanese Yokozuna, or Grand Champion. Right now there is only one Yokozuna, Asashoryu who is Mongolian and only 23yo. Just last year the only other Yokozuna, Musashimaru (from the US) retired. The last Japanese Yokozuna was the great Takanohana. The current crop of rikishi do not seem to be at the level of Asashoryu. The three Ozeki, or Champion rank, have been there for nearly a decade. Kaio is probably the best of the bunch. He's quite strong and has good technique but is a little inconsistent. Chiyotaikai is simply unable to beat Kaio or Asashoryu. The final Ozeki is Musoyama. His problem is that he just isn't good enough. He's got enough trouble trying to keep his Ozeki ranking.

Of the younger batch I think that Hokutoriki could have a chance. He's finally up with the big boys so we'll have to see how he does this Basho. It must be noted, though, that he beat all three Ozeki's and the Yokozuna last Basho. It looked like he fell apart on the last two days (a Basho lasts 15 days) probably from nerves and pressure. He ended the Basho in a tie with Asashoryu and lost to him in the playoff. If he can make a good showing this time I feel he has the potential. One other good, and very interesting, younger guy is Kokkai. He's the first wrestler from Georgia (the ex-USSR state, not the Peach state). He's still learning the way of Ozumo but he's doing pretty good so far and has a lot of fighting spirit. When the July tournament commences I will be rooting for Asa, Hoku and Kokkai.

I will also be playing many of the virtual Sumo games online. They are like Fantasy League Baseball or Football, but much more fun (at least for me). The ones I will be entering this coming Basho are -

o  GTB (Guess The Banzuke)^*
o  RotoSumo
o  Sekitori-Oracle
o  Sekitori-Toto
o  Totoro's Hoshitori
o  CyberSumo
o  ISP (Internet Sumo Pool)
o  The Chain Gang

The one I have played the most is Totoro's Hoshitori where I have achieved the rank of Maegashira 1 (see my Sumo page for my info). It's only a shame that there aren't these kinds of games available for my other sport, Formula 1. You'd never guess that though, right?.

And speaking of F1, I'll have to give a rundown and comments on the US GP run this last Sunday. It was one wild rude, that's for sure.

Selected driver quotes From the US GP Qualifying

As I post this there's 1 hour and 23 minutes till race start. It will be interesting to see if Rubens holds the lead or gives it up to Michael. And if Sato can keep from blowing his Honda engine things could be really fun.

Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari (1st, 1m 10.223s):
"It is great to take pole here at Indy where there were so many Brazilians cheering, I could even hear them in the cockpit. The car has been good all weekend, although I think Michael made a bit more progress than me today."

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari (2nd, 1m 10.400s):
"I cannot complain, because I am on the front row with my team-mate alongside me, so we have to be happy with that."

Takuma Sato, BAR (3rd, 1m 10.601s):
"I'm pleased with third on the grid for tomorrow. It was a shame that we couldn't reach the Ferraris as we were looking good in practice this morning. I'll settle for third and an all-BAR second row is great for the team."

Giancarlo Fisichella, Sauber (14th, 1m 12.470s):
"We suffered with lack of rear-end grip in qualifying, which we expected after yesterday. Although my lap today was not perfect, I know we have a good race strategy. In other races we have had good race pace and proved that we can do well, so I'll be pushing hard again tomorrow."

Jarno Trulli, Renault (20th, no time):
"Naturally, I'm extremely disappointed. I had trouble exiting the garage because first gear would not engage, and then the car would not change gear properly on my lap; at this time, we think the problem was caused by the steering wheel. Looking ahead, it will be tough race tomorrow but we can still look to score points."

What's In A Name?

Obviously I've changed the name of my blog.

An old online friend ran across my blog the other day and asked me why I didn't name it "My UnKNown Blog". This is a reference to the old BBS days when I ran a board named My UnKnown BBS. Ironically, my board became quite well known globally. I hadn't thought about those days in years. But the idea of naming this blog My UnKnown should have been my first choice. Guess I'm getting old in my old age.

You know, in many ways I miss the old BBS/Fido days. The boards were much more communal. Since dialing long distance wasn't so cost effective the users of a board were generally local. Having a virtual community that was also a physical community made things very cozy. Don't get me wrong, I love the web. But there is more than just simple nostalgia when I think back to the days of yore when you could actually meet in person the people you knew online.

Last week with my son

I've been divorced for two-and-a-half years after a one-and-a-half year separation. During this time the physical custody of our son went from me having him only every other weekend to us alternating weeks with the weekends to the current setup of me having him all week during the school year and her having him all week during the summer. We still alternate weekends and the major holidays. Tomorrow I take him over to spend the summer with her.

This is going to be a long three months.