WORDS. contronym

i learned a new word today! i like to think of my self as being fairly verbose in my use of the english vocabulary. i do find enjoyment from, time to time, using them 'five dollar' words. but today i came across one that really intrigued me: contronym. the strange thing is that it isnt even listed in the websters dictionary.

near as i can explain it is like this: you know what a synonym is, right? it means two words that mean the same thing (eg. broad and wide). and you know what an antonym is, right? it means two words with opposite meanings (eg. up and down). but check this out: a contronym is a word that is its own antonym! the same word means the exact opposite of itself! how crazy/cool is that?!?

some examples: apology. it means to to admit fault in what you think, but it also means a formal defense of what you think. weird, huh? another example: custom. it means something that is usually done, but it also means something that is done special. rad! if you are digging this idea as much as i do, check out this site, there are tons of them!

GAMES. starfox and wii play

in preporation for jeffry lees visit last weekend i went to gamestop and picked up a game for him. hes been mentioning for the past several months that he really wanted to play 'starfox assult', but he doesnt own a gamecube. we figured that this would be a good chance to pick it up and let him play for a while on my 'cube while he was visiting.

we ended up having some free time saturday afternoon, so he decided to pop it in and give it a try. i myself didnt play it at all, but jeffry lee thought it was pretty cool. i guess hes always had a soft spot for starfox since the first one on the super nintendo. aw, how cute.

but once he left i realized something: i had just bought this game for him to play, but i had no interest in playing it myself. so, i decided to do the reasonable thing and return it. but i also figured (or talked myself into) buying a different game would be the right way to deal with this problem. so, i picked up 'wii play'. i figured it was a good investment anyway: it comes with a free wii controller (usually $40), and a disc that has 9 games on it. all for only fifty bucks. my rationalizing mind figured its like buying a new controller and getting 9 more games for only ten bucks. i havent been able to try it yet, so i cant really say if it was worth it or not. i guess ive got my plans for this afternoon figured out!

TV. on the lot

there have been so many reality shows the past several years, and most of them are really stupid. the worst offenders have been ones about relationships and finding 'love'. but there has been a subcategory of reality shows that focus on doing something usefull. whether its a song contest that introduces us to new talent (or more often is the case: no talent), or a performance based contest that results in new interests. the new reality show on fox called 'on the lot' falls into that latter category. the set up is this: they get together a bunch of novice directors and put them through the drills of creating a short fill each week. they show the films and the audience decides whos was the best. the prize is a developement deal with dreamworks. now that sounds interesting. and so far, it has been. there have been a few episodes so far, and its really quite exciting to see some of these different people create 1-3 minute short films. some of them are very good, and others are disasters, but each one shows a unique perspective. i look forward to watching this one for the rest of the season and seeing what may become of the winning director.

hey, at the very least, theyve got to be better than brett ratner...

BOOKS. between the bridge and the river

recently i finished a rather unique book called 'between the bridge and the river'. now, in the interest of full discloser, i must tell you who the author is. its written by craig fergison, the host of the late late show on cbs, and one of the funniest people on tv in my opinion (which happens to be correct...). so, my analysis may be a bit bias, but i will try to give an honest assessment.
the basic story is about two scottish boys who are great friends through out school, but in high school one of them, fraser, gets fed up with it and drops out of school. this starts the drifting apart of the two former friends. the book picks back up about 30 years later. each of the men have made a life for themselves, fraser is a tv host with a show about God, and charlie has a family. each of them has a life shattering event happen to them, charlie has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and fraser has been found out for the playboy letch he is. they both react by fleeing, one to america, the other to france. they each have some very interesting adventures; one thing leads to another, and at one point they both die.
heres where things get interesting.
fergison brings up some very strange and unique ideas about the afterlife. he imagines that when we die we go on a journey which just so happens to be guided by virgil. yes, the same virgil who guided dante on his trip through the infamous inferno. only its not an inferno, its something else for each person. at one point the two of them meet in the world war 1 trenches and try to figure out whats going on. they make it out alive, and the story twists and turns from there. their story is riviting and increadibly fasinating.
the only problem is, there are two other main characters as well. there are two brothers who are on a soul searching road trip of sorts, and eventually find the perfect con. their story is interesting, but its quite obvious that their story, most of which is set in los angeles, is fergisons attempt at mocking the culture he has been surrounded with since entering show biz. there are somewhat lame attempts at poking fun at scientology and movie executives meddling in productions, but for the most part they seem dated and too easy of targets.
all things considered, it is a very good read. the best parts of the book are fergisons unique style of writing. he often shares short asides explaining the life of characters who are quite inconsiquental to the story. but the fun part is, if you are paying attention to those asides, they often show unusual connections between many of the minor characters. another great writing mechinism he uses very well is the idea of virgil as a storyteller. as the character is being led by him, he shares a few stories. these stories are self contained, but are some of the most memorable short stories ive read in years.
the book delves into alot of questions about religion, but with a very even-handed aproach. there are good and bad on both sides and the topic is never glossed over or simplified to an easy answer.
thought provoking and an amusing page turner. cant beat that!

TV. heroes

it has been quite interesting to watch as the show 'heroes' begins to resemble the story of the 'watchmen' comic book. watchmen, if you are unaware, is considered to be one of the greatest comic book stories ever written. and now heroes is ripping it off.
here is the basic story of watchmen: a bunch of heroes are not appreciated by the public. there is one hero who used to fight crime, but got disenfranchised by the whole thing because he felt like they werent making a difference. he wanted to get to the root cause of the crime and criminals: hatred. so he left the superhero business and entered into the business world. he amassed a fortune. the whole time though, he has been working on getting rid of the root problem. when his plan is revealed it turns out that he wants to destroy new york city, the reason being is that if there were a big enough catastrophe it would bring everyone together and force them to work through their hatred and instead show love for those around them. in the comic ozymandias is the mastermind behind the whole thing, and now we have found out that the mastermind behind the exact same plot on 'heroes' is the mysterious figure of linderman (played by malcom mcdowell).
i wonder what allen moore, the writer of watchmen, thinks of all this plagiarism...

GAMES. ssx blur

one of my favorite games on the gamecube is the ssx series. i first got into it on the second edition, ssx tricky. i really loved it and then ssx3 came out. still my favorite edition so far. when ssx: on tour came out i was a bit disappointed. the game play had taken a bit of a backslide since the 3rd one.
now, this series makes its triumphal entry onto the wii. i wasnt sure what to expect- i knew the controls were going to be all different due to the motion sensitive remote. i was worried that they might follow the lazy controls of tony hawks downhill jam, which just slightly used the motion capabilites. happily, they came through with a very different and inventive control system. all the turning and speed are handled by the nunchuck, and all the tricks and jumps are done with the remote. it is a totall blast to play. in order to achive bonus power and cooler jumps you have to form shapes, or follow patterns of movement with both parts of the controller. i am not good at physical dexterity, so when i try to perform these huge power jumps i look like a rave dancer having a seizure! after i landed my first jump i had to pause the game: i was laughing so hard because i knew how silly i looked doing these controls! i double checked to make sure my blinds were closed, and then i jumped back into it! through out the rest of the night i hit the slopes, giggling at my self all the way!

TV. fact, not opinion

funniest man on television. period.

DVD. the amazing screw-on head

ah, what a wonderful surprise! i had never heard of this particular creation before. i am a huge fan of mike mignola and all things hellboy, but i was unaware of his short story about an amazing screw-on head. i went to buy the animated hellboy dvd when it came out and this dvd happened to catch my eye.
now, be warned, its not really a movie. its actually an animated pilot designed to show to different networks to try and get some interest in producing a full season. so, in essence, its only a 22 minute episode. but, my oh my, what an episode it is!
heres the premise: a head that can screw onto different bodies is hired by the president to fight monsters and other mythical creatures to keep america safe. and as a cool twist: it takes place in the 1850s, so lincoln is the president! the bad guy is emperor zombie, there are vampires, werewolves, mythical demigods, and a machine gun carrying monkey with a crown. needless to say its a bit over the top. but thats what makes it so silly and fun. the voices are fantastic and and to the crazy feeling of the animation.
though its only 22 minutes long, there are a few extras on it that pump up its replay value- there is a 20 minute making of feature as well as a commentary with the guys responsible. if, by some strange event, you have the chance to see it- i promise you will not be disappointed. confussed, but not disappointed...

TV. dave on aots

for the past 10 years or so, ive had one movie guy that i read on the internet. i find that i usually agree with his movie reviews and have enjoyed reading all of this opinions and stuff. with out his i might not have discovered such gems as 'the rundown', 'solaris', and many others that i enjoy. he used to be on tnt 'rough cuts' when there used to be such a thing (maybe around 1998 or so...), then he struck out on his own and created 'the hot button'. soon after though, he started his own hollywood news hub called 'movie city news'. i read these often, as well has his more candid (and more interesting) 'hot blog'.

when i got directv at my house i began to look around the dial and check out some of the stranger, more niche channels they had to offer. one such channel was called 'tech tv'. i started to enjoy some of their shows, among them 'screen savers' which was all about computer stuff, and rad things you could do with photoshop and stuff. also they had 'x play' which is a video game reviewing show. soon after i discovered this channel they were bought out by 'g4 tv', and screen savers was eventually revamped as 'attack of the show'. today, this show is my favorite show on tv (aside from 'the office', because nothing can beat that). they have a feature called 'the loop' on the show everyday where kevin pereira (the host) talks with a couple specialists about a different topic each day.

imagine my surprise earlier this week when these two favorite things suddenly and unexpectedly collide! the guy i read online appeared on 'aots' to talk with kevin during 'the loop'!!! it was like some sort of alternate reality where everything i love comes together for just one amazing cosmic moment!!! i half expected joy electric to show up and play the theme song! it was just so strange to see kevin and david bantering back and forth. i had to rewind it and watch it a few more times...

GAMES. wii remote straps

there has been a whole lot of talk about he problems with the wii remote straps. i have never experience any problem at all. i think the real problem with all these people breaking stuff and hurting themselves has more to do with their stupidity than it does about a faulty product. i have played my wii a lot and have never had any sort of problem with anything getting broken (expect when aaron swung before looking and sent his drinking cup flying to the floor). i think it just boils down to people getting way too excited and going crazy with their motions. all the games ive played can actually be simplified into wrist actions, there really is no reason to flail ones body about (but it does kind of amp up the silliness and fun factor when in a group).
even with this fact, nintendo has decided to offer free replacement straps to anyone who would like them. being a sucker for anything that says nintendo on it, i decided to take them up on that offer. last week i filled out the form to get new straps for my wii remotes. pictured above is a photo of the original and the new straps side by side. the difference is not huge, but the new ones are quite a bit thicker and stronger (the photo doesnt quite capture the difference). also, the new straps are about a half inch longer as well.
ill use the new straps on the two wii remotes i have, but i think im going to use one of the other straps on my ds, cause i think thats cool!

TV. nightmares and dreamscapes

a while ago TNT had a mini series based on the short stories of steven king in 'nightmares and dreamscapes'. i had never read any of the short stories, but i saw the cast of people who signed up to do this thing and figured id tune in to see what it was all about. it turned out to be 8 short stories, each adapted into a one hour drama/mystery. some of them were really bad (the ones with claire forlani, tom berenger, jeremy sisto, and steven webber), some of them were kind of interesting (the ones with william h macy and william hurt), and then there was one called "the end of the whole mess" with ron livingston and henry thomas which was mind-blowing! i had to watch it a second and third time just to totally appreciate the story and its implications. in fact, among my friends, it actually was a turning point in our discussions and understanding of goals and the future. 'true north' is now a standard part of our vocabulary.

i believe the whole mini series is out on dvd now. if you get the chance, track down that one episode. it is truly amazing.

TV. sci fi channel

lately the sci fi channel has been doing some pretty good stuff. i keep hearing from all the critics that battlestar galactica is really good, but im still not going to watch it. dont know why, just dont want to. but some of the other stuff on the network has blown me away.

first off, for some reason that i cannot explain, i have recently begun to really enjoy 'stargate sg1'. im not entirely sure why i have been enjoying it- perhaps its the empty spot in my heart now that all the star trek shows are off the air, or maybe its a love for macgyver that just never went away. im not sure why, but ive been watching episodes every once in a while and just totally impressed and surprised by the creative plots and the great sense of humor the caracters share.
another awesome show that was on this summer is called 'eureka'. i didnt put much stock in it at first. the premise is this: a down on his luck shariff stumbles upon a town that is home to the smarted people in america. they are all working for the government creating crazy new inventions like invisibility. sounds kind of silly to me. but it is done really well. the guy who plays the shariff (colin ferguson) is hilarious and plays it just right. all the crazy people and all the people of the town are ernest about their work, but the show is perfectly ballanced in that it doesnt take them too seriously. i hear that it will be back for another season in the spring. i look forward to it!

the latest mini series that they showed was called "the lost room" and it was really good. the story is about a guy who finds a key that can open any door, and on the other side is a hotel room. after in the room he can go anywhere he wants. he begins to be drawn into a group of people who are collecting all the different 'items' that were once in that hotel room. sounds wierd, but it was really cool. the main actor is peter krause (whom i have loved ever since he was casey on sports night) and he does a great job as a detective who loses his daughter in the hotel room and now must do what ever he can to get her back. i was impressed with the way they were able to draw me in and give me significant answers that actually made me care more (something 'lost' should learn from...) some of the ideas and directions of the story were so thought-provolking, that two weeks later im still caught up in the story. the ending was smaller than i expected, but it hit just the right notes to say that this story is over, but the room isnt done yet. i hope this is something that can turn into an ongoing series, or at least another mini series or two.

GAMES. wii!!!

finally!!! the wait is over, i am the proud owner of brand new nintendo wii!!! i would have posted about it earlier, but ive been too busy playing it!!!
first of all, i must start by saying that i am a total nintendo fanboy. secondly, i must tell you the kind of gamer i am: i love to play video games, but on my own i usually play for about a half hour, and then im ready to move onto something else. im not into the games that take a ton of time to play and involve a huge 20 hour long storyline. i want pick it up, play for a bit, then be on my way. and with that, let me tell you about the wii:
wow!!! i totally love it. when i first hooked it up i was greeted with a screen of different 'channels' to choose from. i first selected (by the way, just the fact that you can point the screen with the controller and a little pointy hand shows up that you can move around a rotate, was one of the coolest things ever!) the 'mii' channel where i could go through and create a cartoony little version of me to play around with. jeffry lee and rex helped me pick the features offered that looked most like me. once we had my little guy made, we went back and selected 'wii sports'. this is the game that comes with the system. its five different sport games specifically created to show some of the functions of the motion sensitive controller.
i started out with boxing. yikes! i didnt suspect that i would be building up a sweat and getting a work out while i played video games! after a fight in boxing my shoulders were actually aching! next i tried golf. the controller is held like a golf club and you have to swing it to get a hit. i was really impressed with this one. i swung once, but it was too light, so i tried again but felt like it was too hard- and the swing chart on screen said that it was too hard! wow, who ever developed this did a great job of getting the swings right! as i was playing this i thought 'even my dad would love this game!' tennis, baseball, and bowling were also a blast. each of the five games are very simple, but it seems that this game is more designed to teach us the basics of what the wii can do.
the game i bought it is 'excite truck' and it is really cool too! this one isnt so motion sensitive, rather, its tilt sensitive. the buttons are for gas, brake, and turbo, but the stearing is totally based on tilting the controller the way you want to go. its kind of like the first time you ever picked up a video game controller and with out thinking you would lift up your controller when you wanted to make mario jump, except that you are supossed to in this game! the learning curve on all these games is so easy that it only takes about 30 seconds to get to the point where it feels perfectly natural.
it is a totally awesome system, and a totally awesome next step in gaming. i think i will be playing more than 30 minutes a day for the next few months...

TV. studio 60 on the sunset strip

i finally caught up with the show. i watched the first two episodes when they were first on, and really loved them. but since then ive been saving them up for just the right time. it seems that this week was that time!
this show is written by aaron sorkin, who also wrote 'west wing', and 'sports night' (which if you know anything about me, you know that i am totally obsessed with that show!) and he writes in a very unique style. his characters are fast talking and the pacing on the conversations does not stop! the characters love to walk and talk, usually through the sets quickly. also, they always seem to wait until the most stressful moments of the day to talk about their personal stuff. the writing is very witty and always takes three to four seemingly unrelated subplots and ties them with a strong theme that he wraps together at the end of the episode is a way that you probably never saw coming. very unique, and completely amazing!
with this show he does it again. its no sports night, but the seeds of greatness are there. sometimes the stories dont come together quite as strongly as they did on previous shows, but the characters are interesting, and the relationships are growing more and more fun to see unfold. and really, who doesnt love matthew perry?

GAMES. wii countdown

only one week left. seven more days. a whole week. dang, i am loosing my patience- i want it now! (im as bad as cartman...)
far too much of my thoughts lately have been taken up with the wii. i even made a special trip to target this week because i heard they had some wii related merch. they did, they had a bunch of wii magnets, so i bought them. (i am such a fanboy...) i am planning on standing in line saturday night to get it, but i didnt preorder it, so we will see how well that goes...
all this past week i have been plotting and planning what exactly im going to get with the system. it comes with wii sports, which has generic versions of tennis, golf, baseball, boxing, and golf. so, i know there will be tons of fun just playing with that, but i would like to get another game right away too. almost everyone will be anticipating the new zelda and picking it up, but i dont really care for those games. the last zelda game i really got into was the first one. almost twenty years ago. i am thinking instead of of getting exite truck. its a racing game, and those usually keep their replay value. and the idea of moving the controller like its a steering wheel sounds totally cool!
something that i just saw today in the newspaper ad for meijers showed that they are going to have a good deal on buying a second controller and getting the nunchuck attachment for free (worth 20 bucks), so i think if we can buy the system there, then i will get that second controller too.
how much time till it comes out now? shoot. still seven days. dang.