Why So Serious?

I of course had a ticket to the midnight screening of The Dark Knight. We showed up at the Barrie Cineplex two hours before the doors opened to the theater, we figured that would be plenty of time. When we showed up the line was almost down the stairs. By midnight all 1050 people were crammed in the lobby (3 theaters, with 350 seat completely sold out). Upon sitting down and waiting for the commercials and previews started, the atmosphere in the theater was almost electric. When the lights went out and they started playing the short milk commercials everyone started cheering, just because we were that much closer to seeing the movie.I must say, the hype and build up and standing in a hot sweaty geek ridden line for two hours was definitely worthy of this movie. It was AMAZING. Of course the cast was excellent (even Maggie Gyllenhaal who I am not a big fan of was good) but the most stand out performance was of course the late Heath Ledger. I remember watching Tim Burton's Batman religiously with my father when I was living in Germany almost ever night for the longest time. Jack Nicholson as the Joker was what I thought was the peak of what the Joker could possibly be. The only thing that ever bothered me about him was his perfect make up. How can someone constantly on the run from authorities have such excellently applied make up? When I first heard Heath Ledger was playing the Joker in the second installment of the revived Batman franchise I remember the blogs and posts about how bad of a decision the casting director made. I had been on a Broke Back Mountain kick because it is such an amazing movie and totally believed that someone who could put their own sexuality aside to play a role could pretty much do anything. In a way, I think the rest of the franchise might be doomed. If you haven't seen the movie yet I would advice you to stop reading now. So we have the ending of the movie; the Joker survives and is carted away to prison by the feds and Two Face has fallen to his demise. I think they did this because the realized Heath's character was what was selling the movie and hopefully the rest of the franchise (whysoserious.com, posters, commercials ex...), but what now? No more Joker? They wouldn't dare recast the Joker, that would be all 500 nails driven into their coffin all at once. No more Two Face right? The one possibly villain who could be carried over to the next movie can't be because Harvey Dent is dead... or is he? I could possibly foresee Harvey not actually being dead and come back to be the main villain in the next installment, some sort of faked death scam so he can regroup, gather up the resources and goons he needs for a proper assault on Gotham City. However, that still comes back to the fact that I think the franchise may be doomed. What's next? How can they possibly top Heath's performance? Not only was his performance legendary (I seriously believe it was) but the stigma of Heath playing such a deranged character and then ultimately meeting his mysterious demise makes this character really come to life through his death. I for one don't think that his death had anything to do with suicide or the role of the Joker taking over his mind, it was all just a mistake in moderation but regardless, it still adds a whole new level to the character. Believe me when I say that I am the first to hope that when the third installment comes out I'll be in the audience at a midnight screening eating my words with a side of popcorn and root beer, but I'm a pessimist through and through and will always be one. The death of such a talented actor is terrible especially when it was said he was in the prime of his career; I hope the franchise won't end up dying with Heath.

The 19 Billion 250 Million Dollar Question

So it looks like the cell phone companies are doomed. Auction 73 finished in March with a result not many people thought would turn out, or agree with or for the most part understand the ramifications behind. Auction 73 was the federal auction for the 700MHz spectrum. For those who don't know, the 700MHz spectrum is the wave length at which calls, text messages and emails are sent and received via cell phone. The auction started in January with a few interested bidders such as AT&T, Quailcom, Virgin Mobile and oddly enough, the advertising power-house knows for it's search engine, Google. Google's explanation for the want for the 700MHz was simple: if it costs the same to chat with someone across the street from you or on the other side of the world, all your simply paying for is the Internet connection. Why should it be any different for phone calls. However, Google took it one step further and asked themselves, why should we have to pay for our hardware (cell phones, PDAs, Black Berries) and then pay a monthly fee to use said hardware we just purchased? Their final plan was to make the 700MHz a free access point to use your hardware that you purchase from the big cell phone companies. How can they afford to shell out the billion dollars to buy the spectrum and to what use would it be to them to just give it away you ask? Google's main income is brought in by their advertising, and with an entire spectrum at their disposal there would be plenty of room to advertise and plenty of revenue to be made. When the large cell phone companies got wind of this they were obviously not happy campers. The estimated revenue generated from the auction was thought to be in the neighbourhood of five to seven billion dollars, but when the auction finished, the bids added up to almost twenty billion dollars. The large jump in the 700MHz value was because all the other companies wanted to keep the spectrum out of Google's price range, making the biggest winners in the auction AT&T and Virgin Mobile. I've read a lot of blogs and message board on the loss of Google, most people are upset and would have liked to see a different outcome. I think, if anything, this outcome may benefit us in the long run. Of course the rumour mill has started moving and it seems Google may have found a niche in this newly delegated 700MHz spectrum... more profitable for themselves and more damaging for the big cell phone companies. What I've heard from my professors and peers is that Google plans on leasing some 700MHz space and giving it away for free, just like they wanted to before, but in addition they will be manufacturing cell phones and giving them away at no cost! All of this is with in Google's budget because they would be using the cell phones to send you text messages or phone calls to advertise things. This of course would make them huge bucks. Seeing that no cell phone companies will be making any money off selling service because Google is just giving it away, next time the 700MHz spectrum goes up for auction no one is going to want it and Google could possibly pick it up for possibly a few thousand dollars... talk about depreciation. Of course the only downside I can see in this situation is the advertising. We are already advertised at left right and center. I think a bit more is completely worth not having a cell phone bill or needing to pay for the hardware. If this trend actually comes to fruition I could see us one day not needing to pay for Internet access and being handed a computer by some company as long as we promise to read one email a week about their newest products and services. As of now, were all still slaves to the cell phone bills but hopefully soon Google will save us. Cheers!

John of the Jungle

All the preparations have been made, the time booked off from work and school, the proper permits have been purchased and canoe lessons have been given. Tia and I are going into the interior of Algonquin park this August for a week long canoe and camping trip. Not a drive to your site and drink beer trip, but a real, survive off the land in the middle of nowhere camping trip. We broke out the canoe route map of Algonquin and mapped out our trip. We are going to start off by launching from the launch site at Opeongo Lake and through out the week make our way from the south arm of the lake to the north arm where we will stay in a moose habitat near a swamp. Tia did surprisingly well for her first time canoing, but I should have known she would seeing she's pretty much the most best thing ever. Bears scare the hell out of me so I believe I'm going to buy bear spray. Statistics show that it's pretty much a fluke if you manage to see a bear because they can smell you and go out of their way to stay away from you; you could be just a few feet away from a bear and not even know it because its slipping off in the the bush quietly as to not attract your attention. In the area's history of being a national park, there have only ever been two incidences that resulted in death due to bear attack. Both these incidences were caused not because of the campers inappropriate reaction to the bear, but because they were attacked by a lone male with the intent to kill and consume. Bears vary rarely stock and kill humans for a source of food (especially black bears, which are the only species found in Algonquin Park) but it has happened on very rare occasion. So like I said, bears scare the hell out of me. Also, I seem to be a magnet for hoarse and deer flies. I don't know if anyone has come in contact with these terrible insects from the pits of hell, but they are not cool. Think of a house fly, but a few times bigger, and they bite, and when they do, that take two plugs of skin with them. Their bite is so deep and large it actually draws blood. When I was younger and would canoe with my father, I would return from our trips covered in little red dots and dried blood. As Tia and I are going in late August, the deer and hoarse flies we'll be gone and the mosquitoes will be at a minimum. With all the being said, I haven't yet delved into the issue that worries me the most. Going to the bathroom in the wild makes me a little worried. Only a few of these designated camp areas have privies (which is what the picture at the top is of) which is a little wooden box with a hole, righ there in the open, that you poop into... kinda scared of that. And you have a privy if your lucky, either then that, your poopin' in a bush getting you ass bit by rattle snakes. The excitement and fun of the trip definitely out-way my worries, but then again, I worry about everything. A few more canoe lessons and a shopping trip and we'll be ready to go. Cheers!