Game Review: Call Of Duty

This game is incredible. If you've seen Saving Private Ryan, Enemey at the Gates, or Band of Brothers then you have a good idea what's going to happen in this game. This first person shooter focuses on the closing years of WWII. Centered around the 101st Airborn's drop on DDAY, the game also has threads of British paratroopers and the poor lowly infantry being "shoved" to the frontlines at Stalingrad. The cinematic aspect and realism of this game is incredible. The weaponry and environments are simply the best recreation I've seen. The serious limitations in this game are 1) non destructable environments and 2) limited playing areas. The game doesn't let a tank do what a tank CAN do and the use of minefields to keep gameplay focused on specific target and tactics can be very frustrating at times. I mean if I can hike around someones flank and hit 'em they I should be allowed to! Same thing goes with tanks! This game is a must have for any WWII buff or first person shooter fan. Rating: paid full retail after the game was out for over a year!

House Of Mouse 2005

It seems that soon enough Thomas and I will be standing in line to meet a particular rodent in Florida. Despite the departure of Michael Eisner from Disney I decided to continue with our plans to visit the Magic Kindom. I know it won't be the same without Michael ;) Thomas has asked when Pixar is going to open a theme park though...

As it will be just the two of us going I will be "over" documenting the trip with my video camera. Actually WE are planning on making a traditional "our Spring Break Video" in a addition to a small documentary on the eTicket rides (Pirates of the Carribean/Haunted Manion. Think DVD Extras...director's commentart..
We'll let you know how the latter turns out. Please don't ask for It's a Small World to be included. I don't do that ride anymore. The nightmares have stopped finally. ;)

Hello Kentucky!

Well, I wanted to take a moment and say hello to all my kin and relations in the Bluegrass state! It seems my mom is distributing my email and website address to my extended family! I hope everyone can stop by every now and then and see how this misplaced Kentuckian is doing so far north! For all those living south of the ohio river I wanted to let you know that I am organizing the "Kentucky Club" at Whirlpool where I work. It seems that there are several more of us from Kentucky that many would have guessed. So far we've planned a Derby party and some UK B-Ball get togethers. Now if someone could send up some Bluemoon BBQ, I'd be set! Take care and keep in touch!

Movie Review: Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

I have to remind everyone that I love zombie movies. I put all the blame for this affection/aflliction? on my older brother Kevin. It was he who while babysitting, let me stay up late and watch them on late night televion. Alwasys protective of his little brother, he made me laugh instead of cringe and the really scary parts. Truth is, I can't watch a zombie movie with out getting a little teary eyed at missing my big brother Kev! This ones for you Kev! This remake ROCKS! FAST Zombies. That's right FAST, as in sprinting, as in holy cow that crazy rotting corpse is after me and he's wearing Nike's FAST! It was there, the gore, the back story (just enough) and the MALL!!
I don't have a bad thing to say about this film. First, it's a zombie film which means it what it is. And as IT goes this one is great. Highly recommend it for those who can stomach such things and warn you NOT to see this flick if you even think you might have a problem. Instead, let me recommend another little work title "Shaun Of The Dead". One of my favorite films of all times with half the gore and three times the laughs! Oh.. I almost forgot a plot summary! Beginning: Zombies everywhere! Middle: Zombies eating people End: People trying to get away from zombies that are everywhere trying to eat them! :)

New Blog to Watch

Ever want to see the latest in home theater furniture and equiment? Take a look at
ElectronicDecor. The site does a great job of collecting some of the most incredible products out there. I don't think I'll be buying anything that shows up here soon as my budget is still less than that of a small country but.. one has to dream if not in style.

Review: Band Of Brothers

As some of you know, I have started watching DVD of complete television series. As I don't watch regular television per se, this has been a soft of couch potato godsend. This all started a while ago with FireFly and Farscape. I don't have the time right now to tell you but I love both of these series, Farscape in particular. What I have been moved to right about today is Band of Brothers. This Spielberg/Hanks production is based on Ambrose Pierce's novel about the Easy Company of the 101 Airborne. The story follows the group of core soldiers from D-Day throughout the Eurpoean Theater. The story is incredible. The acting is incredible. The attention to detail in this just makes all those WWII movies I watched as a kid seem like backyard productions.

The whole series follows the format of the other Speilberg/Hank miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (one of my all time favorites as well). A prologue to each episode is given in the form of actual interviews with the surviving membors of Easy Company, then each episode tends to focus on a single important event or one particular aspect of war, bordom, losing friends, etc.

This is really an outstanding piece of work and I'm not surprised it is being used in some schools for teaching about what happned in '44 and '45. One interesting not is the cameos and central casting for this. There's one scene where Jimmy Fallon of SNL shows up and I thought after the scene was over.."hey was that Jimmy Fallon? Man he was good!" Some actors show up and then are gone but offer great, solid performances. This enterprise taps into the emotions for me on several layers: first are the stories themselves, and second is the realization that these, although "dramatized" by being recreated are nothing but pale imitations of what really happened. It's this second part that's gotten to me the most. On a side note my grand father was a tanker in Patton's Third Army. History records that it was Patton's men that rescued the 101st although the full 101st deny that they needed any resuing during the Battle of the Bulge. It's gotten me thinking about my grandpa and what his world must have been like. I wish he was still around to ask.