Reviews from Intellectual Poison

With the time change I've been riding home in twilight and, if I happen to work later than usual, outright darkness. So I did a little shopping and ordered up the ViewPoint™ Flare Compact LED Light. While the shipping was a bit slower than I'd hoped, the light did get here yesterday.

First off, this flashlight is very small. Three AAA batteries (included!) fit in it but its still nice and compact.
Second, it appears to be very rugged which is good because I'm kind of rough on bike things.

It was simple to load up the batteries and give it a try. The three LED's are focused to give a good sized cone of light and they are damned bright with a little blue to them. One press of the power button gets steady light, another push gets a flashing seizure inducing strobe effect, a third push results in a slower flash and another push flashes morse code for SOS (a nice idea). One more push and the light is off again.

The mounting bracket is very nice, easily attach and remove the light and the bracket from the bike. And just as fast to put right back on. The package also had a few lower tech mounting solutions that I've not had to try yet but look like they're useful as well. The bike slides into the mount and locks in tightly, a simple button push and it slides right back off. The light didn't flop around on the bars either, the mount stayed put.

I rode home with it last night and like the fact that you can set it to flash at twilight for really excellent visibility for the cars on the road. It also helps save batteries. Speaking of which, it was a really nice touch to have batteries in the box so I could use the light almost immediately.

I don't know how well a single light would work for riding trails at night but I'm pretty sure that two would be a good set up, or possibly one of these and a good LED headlamp.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with it and, since its on sale for a measly $18 right now, I might just buy a couple more for my other bikes as well.

[Update: As I was riding into work this morning I was pissed when I noticed the light was skewed off to the side because I thought it was broken. Come to realize that it wasn't broken at all but has a limited range of motion to angle the light for better coverage. Pretty damned cool. Now I want another one for the cruiser so I can have headlights and then one for my Mojo too.]

Jay originally brought this game to my attention a few weeks before it was released and then I started to see the ads for the game where the family’s driving along and a biker lands on their hood. Good ads, good game clips in the ad, it worked to get my salivating over getting my hands on a copy.

The Blockbuster up the street had the emphasis on the “buster” part of its name everytime I went there to try and get a copy to rent. One time they even had the empty box on the shelf but didn’t have the actual disk to go inside it. I was beginning to think that I would never get a chance to play the damned game.

So I bought it instead, knowing that, if I hated it, I could turn around and sell it to someone else for a decent price and end up paying a long rental on it.

But there’s no way this game’s going to anyone else anytime soon. Its just too fun, too engaging to give up. The race play is excellent, the motion, the sense of big air, the dropoffs, the nasty, nasty blood curdling wipeouts, the fighting, the tricks. Its excellent. Playing the game is great fun even if all you want to do is descend, take a path and roll it out, see just how fast you can get going (I’ve topped out at close to 80 mph) and go. Or switch to another route down the mountain because this game has a very open style that lets you run the same course ten times and still not see every part of the mountain. Its cool because you can try different routes to find even bigger air for multiple tricks.

I’ve read other reviews of the game that say the music gets tiresome, that the tricks were tacked on at the last minute and other knocks against the game. I admit that some of the tricks are damned hard to pull off but that’s alright, it gives me something to learn, more fun to experiment with.

There’s a huge variety of bikes available, add-ons, upgrades, racing resumes, pro racers, sponsors and lots more. It’s a pretty big game and I’ve only just begun to tap into it.

There’s also a multi-tap option to get four racers playing at once but there is no network support (I’d put a decent sized bet on it being in the next game).

Overall, its excellent! There are a few things I might want to change but overall, I can play it and lose a couple of hours just like that. And its really perfect for a day when the rain is coming down sideways outside. If its a choice of buy or don't buy then give it a try, you'll likely not be sorry.

If memory serves then we went to one of Amy of Intellectual Properties' favorite dinner spots when she's in town.

Malabar is an unassuming place in Santa Cruz though they are almost always pumping the air outside full of spice and intrique so that I always wonder when I ride my bike past it on the way home from work. They're at 1116 Soquel Ave., phone is (831) 423-7906 and they don't have a website yet. There is usually a decent line to get in but as we're in the off season now, there was no wait and plenty of space for a nice dinner.

The decor is perpendicular to the cuisine if that makes any sense. The style of the place is sort of muted with lots of small tables placed close together under a vaulted ceiling and near a large hearth/fireplace area. Its not unappealling but it really doesn't reflect the style of the food all that well. And that was fine because we'd already planned on getting take out.

P had stopped by earlier and grabbed a menu so that we could make informed decisions when we called in the order. First off, plan on reading the menu. Read the offerings and then read what goes into them and you will find, very quickly, that you're starting to salivate at the thought of some of the taste combinations offered.

Things like Camembert Fritters with passionfruit marmalade, raspberry chipotle and fried parsley (though ours had a spicy sprout instead of the parsley) or Avocado Malabar with fresh avo halves stuffed with tofu, mixed vegies, served with a cherry rose sauce and citrus vinaigrette. Not bad, eh?

We poured over the menu for a good twenty minutes before forming a battle plan. A couple of appetizers, some soup, a salad, a pair of entrees and some special drinks wash it all down with.

The aforementioned Camembert Fritters and Pakoras started us off. Pakoras are vegies in a chickpea batter served with a mint coconut sauce and also with a fruit chutney.

We had the Malaysian Corn Soup that was delicious without being too sweet or too corny or anything. A very nice seque to the salad, a Warmed Spinach that was unusual in that the spinach was mildly blanched or steamed. It was excellent though we would have wished for some more evident gorgonzola cheese. But we were not complaining at all.

The main dishes, though we didn't need them at this point because we were both filling up rapidly from the large portions, were beckoning and we had to at least try them before becoming overstuffed. P's Ravioli Napoli, vegie raviolis with Portabello mushrooms and onions in a sherry-cream sauce with grated Black Truffles on top. It was excellent and I ended up eating a good portion of her dinner. My own entree was the least favorite of the bunch but was still very good (once we got rid of the chewy fried tofu that is), I had ordered the Mee Goreng, fresh noodles in a wok with tofu, garlic, vegies, eggs, potatoes, fried onions and more tofu served with a spicy peanut sauce. It was good but the tofu was just plain nasty, impossible to get through and added almost no flavor.

Our drinks were also special and cool too. I got a hibiscus cooler that was very sweet and really good, it would be excellent on a hot day and maybe cut with a little club soda or ginger ale. P got a passion fruit juice that was nice, tart and refreshing. She added a liberal shot of my cooler to it and ended up with a really tasty treat.

By the end of the meal we were both utterly stuff and utterly satisfied. It wasn't overly expensive at all and we're already planning on our next visit, maybe we'll even have dinner there this time.

Our only question is how to categorize the food. Its got pinches of a whole bunch of different cuisines in it, some Indian influence, some Asian, some Thai, some island and lots more. Good stuff and highly recommended to anyone looking for some of the most flavorful vegetarian cuisine you will ever come across.

Bowling for Columbine: An Intellectual Poison Movie Review

I'm sure there are plenty of reviews of Michael Moore's latest movie out on the internet and I've not taken the time to read a single one of them. Instead, I got the movie and watched it and will attempt to draw out some conclusions about the movie based on just that.

First off, my movie store kicks ass. I've been wanting to watch Bowling for Columbine for a while now but missed it in the theatres (like most movies, I rarely go out to see movies anymore). And when I pulled up to the rental place they had posters all over their windows for it, literally every single space was a Bowling for Columbine poster instead of the latest cinematic masterpeice starring Lisa Kudrow or Susan Sarandon. Nope, instead they had big, fat, slumpy Michael Moore plastered everywhere.

And it wasn't until I got to the DVD rack that I saw the sign saying East Cliff Video was allowing its patrons to take the movie home for a night for free because they felt strongly enough about it rent it for free. I'd link to their home page but they're quaint enough to not have a web site yet. Oh well.

Overall I have to give the movie a thumbs up for the way that Moore exposes the utter lunacy in the gun culture but also the atmosphere of fear perpetrated by the American media. The most telling and memorable statistic from the movie for me was this: the homicide rate in the US has gone down by 20% but the media coverage for homicides has gone up by more than 600%. Broken down that means that less people are being killed but the media is covering those deaths more than 6 times as much as before. Granted that the backup statistics would have been helpful in that there was no time frame for either number, no scope of what a homicide was (did it include vehicular homicide, stabbings or poisonings?) and what constitutes coverage? But still, it stuck with me and goes a long way to highlighting the sensationalistic nature of the media. The old adage, if it bleeds, it leads, seems to very much be alive and festering.

There were several points in the movie where I had to call bullshit. The biggest and most often used one was to show the large number of gun owners in Canada, something like 10 million guns for 30 million people. And then he makes this enormous leap of logic to Europe and asks why they don't have the gun deaths that we do here in the US. I'm sorry, Michael, but you can't use one country as a premise and then go to two totally different countries (he uses England and Germany which do have pretty severe restrictions on gun ownership in place and have for a long, long time) to prove a point. He makes a logical error in arguing this way and as such diminishes much of his righteous and sensationalistic mockumentary style.

The other scene that I found to be utterly self serving was the "interview" with Charleton Heston where it was obvious that he was merely playing nice until he got to the meaty questions, namely why would the NRA continue with a rally in the weeks following the Columbine massacre and then again in the short time period after a 6 year old boy shot and killed a 6 year old girl in school. Yes, it was a valid question that deserved an answer but Moore came off as pumping the dead little girl for shock value and to piss off Heston. Again, his argument loses alot of air when he bases portions of the argument on incredibly self serving and lame exploitations. Was Moore more shocked and bothered by the fact that the 6 year old shooting took place in his home town or that it was a 6 year old who died?

But overall, I did enjoy the movie. I found alot of his insights to be both valid and scary. The part in which he tries to get KMart to accept the return of the bullets that were still lodged in two of the Columbine victims was pure publicity and he seemed honestly astonished when KMart bowed and vowed to pull handgun ammunition from its shelves. I think he was a little disappointed that he couldn't roast the company in the spotlight as they ignored him. But no, they caved and pulled the ammo. A good thing but highly manipulative and I'm not sure if he cared about the potential side effects to the two guys he used, the two kids who'd been shot by the Dylan Harris and Eric Klebold.

An interesting and valuable set of insights was offered by celebrities being interviewed. Marilyn Manson on how he and his music was singled out for having been a major cause of the Columbine tragedy. He spoke well and while I think his music is pathetically terrible, I liked what he had to say. One of the creators of South Park was interviewed too because he was from Littleton, I can't remember if it was Parker or Stone but he made a truly excellent point.

High school doesn't matter. Sure, it feels like it is everything that exists in the universe while you're in it but once you're out of high school, the world doesn't give the slightest damn about whether you were a stud, loser, geek, freak, nerd, jock or whatever else in high school. And he also said that all the cool guys in high school were insurance salesmen now and the losers were opening their own companies and doing something valuable with their lives.

I'm not sure whether the movie was about the lunacy of being a nation that kills more than 11,000 of its own citizens with guns every year or whether we're being punked by the huge media companies that continue to feed fear of violent death to everyone at every turn. My belief is that the latter is a better message and one that is easily fixable. Don't watch the news that caters to sensationalising death, murder and mayhem. Oh yeah, and don't get pissed off and go on a damned killing spree. Be a man about it and deal with it, break your hand punching trees or whatever but killing other people just makes you a permanent asshole.

I'd recommend Bowling for Columbine to anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the chasm between the US and the rest of the world for gun deaths.

Oh yeah, that's another failing of the movie, or omission really, they only talk about gun deaths, never about other violent attacks or other means of killing off fellow humans. And it would have been nice to know, sure, Japan had 38 gun deaths that year but what if they had 570 sword slayings and another 800 knife murders? Kind of tosses a molotov cocktail on the violence aspect of gun deaths. And no, I don't think the numbers are anywhere near either of those but without Moore to disclose those stats, its left up to me to go and find out on my own.

Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Or wait, guns aren't the only way to kill people.

If you're in Santa Cruz then go and hit up East Cliff Video before the end the offer. And if they've already ended it then go and pay to rent Bowling for Columbine, its worth a look even if you have to look past Michael Moore's shambling hulk of hypocrisy and disconnected logic to make his point from time to time.

The Transporter

Went and saw The Transporter last night, well yesterday afternoon with a buddy of mine who also hadn't seen it (unusual for him because he goes to the movies a fair amount). Action scenes were excellent, as expected from John Woo (woops, got this one wrong, its not a Woo film, in fact its a Cory Yuen directed movie but definitely has the feel of a Woo film), who really, really, really likes bullet track scenery. Some became just a little outside my ability to believe but so what, movies are supposed to be bigger than life. The heroine, Suc Qi (or something along those lines) is a new face to me but I'd predict she'll be back for more. She's gorgeous, has the requisite superb figure and actually has a pretty good sense of comic timing. The Transporter guy, Jason Stratham (I think) is well suited to the role, he tries to bring a McQueen cool to his character. Nothing really sets him off until it REALLY sets him off.

Two thumbs up, well worth the price of entry even if the ending sort of comes up abruptly. The movie seems shorter than it is and I almost always take that for a good sign.

Movie Review: Harold and Maude, A GREAT Old Movie to Recommend

Paul, one of my housemates, was watchin Harold and Maude last night and I was reminded of just how superb a movie it really is. If any of you out there have yet to see this masterpeice then you owe it to yourself to go and rent or buy a copy as soon as possible. Its an excellent date movie too as it has some very poignant things to say about love transcending age and generation barriers. And it doesn't hurt that it was filmed in Northern California where I call home.

Also check out the Harold and Maude fan page for some other insight. Its on my short list of movies to buy.

The Count of Monte Cristo
This was better than I'd expected although it was somewhat predictable. The scenery is unreal and some of the action sequences are very, very well done. And I'm becoming an ever greater fan of Guy Pearce for this role but far more so for his Detective Exley in LA Confidential which is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Game Review: Grand Theft Auto's Vice City

This was and is everything I'd hoped it would be. Close enough to the other games in the series but different and cool enough to be its own entity. I know, from a marketing standpoint, that the demographic they're shooting for in this release is exactly my age group. Guys who grew up back in the 80's with Miami Vice (yes, I got busted by "Crockett and Tubbs" last night but they were in a Countach and not the Ferrari replica from the show), the sound track is superb.
This is a game that allows, nay encourages, law breaking for law breaking's sake. Bored with that lame station wagon you car jacked because it was the closest car to the cop shop? Eyeing that tasty sport bike in your rear view? Abandon your car, jump out, walk back to the other vehicle and jack it. And before you know it you're off and racing through a pretty close facsimile of Miami. Or say that you're tired of all those pedestrians clogging up the sidewalks, drive down the sidewalk and clean them all off.
Or find a floating rampage icon and go on a killing spree, usually gang members somewhere in a set period of time. But wait, there's a caveat built into the rampages. Its easy to attract the police's attention during a rampage and attain stars (the level reflects police interest in apprehending you, the scale goes to six but we've only gotten there once or twice) for carjacking or drive by shootings. Or mass murdering gang members. Funny how the cops frown on that. But the funny thing is that if you complete the mini-mission of the rampage then all of your wanted stars go away and you can walk away from the carnage without even a cocked eyebrow from the men in brown.]

But woe be unto thee if you invoke a five star wrath response from the police. They descend on you with helicopters (loaded up with a plinkity machine gun), armored personal carriers, FBI armored trucks, spike strips (ever see a Ferrari get four flats at once? and then spin out of control in a pack of little old ladies?). Vice City is a playground of excessive violence with an ever growing list of cheat codes available (some really cool codes up on here now and they add more every few hours!).

Overall, I've got to give Grand Theft Auto: Vice City two big sore thumbs up! The game play is phenomenally fun, the missions start out easy but get harder and harder quickly as the danger level and reward levels rise. And yes, the sound track is excellent! There's very little about the game I dislike and not a single thing comes to mind right now. The graphics are gorgeous, the speed of play is perfect, you can even drive a tank around the city for cripe's sake! The taxi, fire and police (vigilante) missions, keep the game fresh and fun and there's even a military base to bash around on for a little while before they really make you suffer.

Its addictive, its time consuming but its also incredibly grin inducing. Worthwhile for any gamer's treasure chest but certainly not for impressionable young minds just learning about what it takes to drive a car or behave in today's society. But for everybody else? Have at it!

And the best cheat code thus far? R1, R2, L1, R2, left, down, right, up, left, down, right, up. Baddabing, you've got weapons! Or R1, R2, L1, X, left, down, right, up, left, down, right, up, you've got armor. Or R1, R2, L1, circle, left, down, right, up, left, down, right, up, you've got health!

New Book I'm Reading Robert Wright's Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny

A book that has already, in the first dozen pages or so before I had to sack out last night, resonated with me strongly in the same vein as Daniel Quinn's The Story of B that I finished not that long ago (though I need to read the teachings again). Robert Wright is much more of a scientist and less of a story teller, his writing is not quite as accessible but I feel like I'm covering alot more new ground with him. With Quinn it was much more of a putting things I already knew into words. I will have to make sure to get myself a copy of his other two books, The Moral Animal (which I've already read but should read again as it was superb) and Three Scientists and Their Gods. Keep in mind that Wright's titles are way longer and more illuminative than what I'm tossing up here. If you're feeling the need for some challenging reading then I don't think you can go wrong with Robert Wright though strongly religious persons might wish to read something else.

Movie Review: The Laramie Project
Paula and I watched a movie I knew was going to be heavy before we even hit play on the DVD. It was called "The Laramie Project" and dealt with the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard (the foundation begun in his honor and the Matthew Shepard International resource guide) aggravated kidnapping, assault, torture and murder. It was a profound and moving movie, very well done, starring more hefe big name Hollywood types than most award shows (though I must say that Peter Fonda waaaaaaay over played his doctor's role). It detailed much more of the events leading up to and surrouding Matthew Shepard's death than I'd ever known. And then showed some of the bullet headed in-bred stupidity that people possess out there in the world. Yes, he was gay, and yes, he was killed because of it. By a couple of ardent homophobes who beat him BEYOND recognition. By the way, to all you homophobes out there, the reason you hate gay people so much is because, deep down inside where you're scared to look, you're scared you ARE gay and so you throw up these barriers like hatred as an attempt to deny the fact that you may be what you profess to hate. Think about that for a moment, you hate what you might be and by denying what and who you might be you generate hatred for those who ARE brave enough to step out of the shadow and announce who THEY are and its scares you little narrow minded homophobes to the core of your being.

I would recommend Laramie Project to anyone who needs to have the light of a reasoned and very, very well done examination of the repercusions of hatred in a small community. That and the two buggers who killed Matt Shepard, or rather, the two buggers who played those parts in the movie, were incredibly creepy and very, very good in their roles. Scary good.

A well done but disturbing movie. The kind that makes you lose faith in humanity or think that we're on the long spiral downward as our culture topples over upon itself. And today's quote is quite appropriate too: Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art. - Seneca

My sole knock on the movie shouldn't be a knock because it was a part of the world that he lived and died in. The religious knocking that came down from all sides, how God was watching over him, how God hates queers, how God thinks homosexuals are a sin against mankind, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was wrenching to see and hear how narrowly people think, the wife of the state trooper was the most shockingly fucked up interview of the whole bunch. She was questioning how the accidental death of a state trooper could only warrant a small blurb in the paper when this gay man's death was international news. It made me almost physically sick to think that there really are people who think like that in the world.