Month: March 2007

  • TMNT, a review of

    This will be a review of the film, so naturally there will
    be some spoilers; therefore, I give a…

    SPOILER ALERT!

    Well, I finally took the time out to see the latest Teenage
    Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, hitherto referred to as TMNT. I was expecting a
    complete suck-fest, but it was actually alright. The movie itself was good, but
    it seems that in the years since the last movie, the turtles lost a lot of the
    charm that made them fun. They seemed to become a lot more serious. They just
    were not funny any more. I can watch the first and second Ninja Turtles movie,
    and still have a good time with them (the third will not be mentioned here).
    This modern incarnation just did not strike me the same way the classics did.
    Before I bog you down with what was bad about it, let me start with the good.
    The plot wasn’t too bad. It was fairly original and did have you sort of drawn
    in. Also, each of the characters seemed to remain, for lack of a better phrase,
    in character. They all kept their attitudes from the previous movies (though
    there were far less “cowabungas”). The graphics, while not life-like, were
    rather good for a CG film. The turtles looked a bit anorexic though. The music
    score also wasn’t too bad. I like the way that they squeezed in a remixed
    version of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty.” Naturally though, being the nerd I am,
    there were nitpicks I had with the film. First and foremost, they EXTREMELY
    sissified Casey Jones. He used to be a cool guy, but in this movie he was some
    lame wannabe. I was most displeased with this development, and hope it is
    remedied in future films. Also, what’s the deal with a lady leading the new
    foot clan? I have nothing against it, but I just don’t remember it from any of
    the films. Maybe it’s some new development in the new cartoons which I have not
    watched. Whatever. Also, what’s the deal with April O’Neil acting like a
    kunoichi? From what I gathered, this film took place before the second movie,
    yet she is kicking some serious butt near the film’s climax. I was also
    expecting a lot more of a Yoda-like performance from Splinter. Oh well, maybe
    next time. I recommend seeing this one, even if you have your doubts, but you
    may as well wait until it comes out on DVD.

  • Things to Come

    It’ll just be a short update today due to my circumstances. I just wanted to let you know that, even though I can’t post, I have got a good number of ideas lined up! Here is a sample of what’s to come on Jimbo’s Ramblings:

    • A post about old ladies and their SUVs
    • A review of the new Ninja Turtles movie
    • A post about irrational anime poses
    • The eighth iteration of the "some thoughts" series
    Stay tuned to this spot!

    In other news...


    ZOMG!

  • Now for Something Completely Different

    Sorry guys, but don't expect any posts for a little while. Some things have come up that have severly limited my access to the internet. I might be able to post, and I might not. Chances lean towards not. Everything should be back in order by Saturday. In the meantime, try not to miss me too much.

  • A Night at the Theatre

    300 is outrageous

    Last night, I took some time out to see the movie 300. It's a fantastic movie, but it's not what this post is about. At least, not the beginning. I arrived at the theater rather early, so I had the chance to watch the people as they exited the theaters. The audiences were quite predictable. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles group emptied just before mine. They were mostly little kids and tired parents, but intermixed were people just like me: acne-ridden, bespectacled, and dateless guys. Surely, they were all interested to see if the awesome Casey Jones made a comeback (Shh... my sources point to yes). I'll have to watch that one pretty soon. The 300 audience was no less predictable. It was almost entirely guys. The same went for the audience for my showtime. Let me tell you, nothing beats watching a movie like this with an all male audience. The only movie I've seen that came close to this kind of fun was Snakes on a Plane. 300 was such a guy movie. The entire crowd, myself included, gave our best war cries with the Spartans. It started small. One group of guys, who must have seen the movie before, were the first to start it, and the rest of the audience quickly joined in. It was great. It was not uncommon to break out into applause after grand speeches. At the films close, most of us gave a parting yell of "this is SPARTA!" The theater next to us must have been pissed.

  • A Fictional Anecdote

    “Hey listeners! You’re
    listening to Max one-eleven point five, where we have the best mix of
    songs in the area, but only play about five a day. We are currently
    having our listener appreciation weekend contest, and we have here tickets
    to the great new band Osteoporosis! So start calling in now, because
    caller eleven gets the tickets!”

    “Hello? Am I caller eleven?”

    “Heck no, you’re caller
    one, schmuck. Keep listening though, and try waiting a little before
    calling next time.”

    (a short time later)

    “Hello. Did I win the thing?”

    “Yes sir! You are caller
    number eleven!”

    “Good.”

    “You win tickets to see Osteoporosis
    live at their sold out tour! Are you excited or what?”

    “Hmm? Oh, no, not really.
    I don’t even really listen to this station. I was switching through
    stations when I heard you were having a contest. I don’t even know
    who Osteoporosis is. I’ll probably just sell ‘em on eBay.”

    “Are you serious?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Well, alright. Thanks for
    calling in, and keep on listening!”

    “I wouldn’t count on it.”

  • Men's History Month

    March, as most of you probably know, is Women's History Month. It is a month in which people, mostly women, celebrate the role women played in history. Of course they have a lot of accomplishments to be proud of and deserve the honor, but I want to know where the Men's History Month is. No disrespect meant, but men probably played a greater role in history. In fact, a month is probably too little to adequately respect the phallic role in the history books. Gavrilo Princip, the man who shot Archduke Ferdinand and effectively started World War I, was male. Adolf Hitler, who was famous for various deeds, was a male. Leonardo Da Vinci, the inventor of every single thing ever created including the toaster and the supercomputer, was male. Jesus Christ was, reportedly, male. The Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra... would not have been as important had it not been for the male Alexander the Great (middlename: Reginald). Bill Nye the Science Guy, who played an important role in educating the young minds of today, is male. Clearly, men need an entire year dedicated to them. Lets just go ahead and make every leap year Men's History Year. That should work well for everyone.

  • Don't wait!
    Procrastinate now!

  • Best Time to Get Things Accomplished (a.k.a. Traffic)

    Standard traffic

    As a resident of Northern Virginia, I have had lots of opportunities to sit in traffic. By "lots of opportunities," I mean whenever I'm in my car. Even as I'm pulling out of the driveway. With all of this time, I have seen many people doing many things in their car that seem like the kind of activities one simply should not do in his or her car. Here are some of my favorites that I have seen. Those with asterisks at the end are ones I have done myself.

    • Eat breakfast (*) - I see this very often. I have seen simple things like bagels, to more complex things like bacon and eggs. I, personally, have eaten a package of Pop-Tarts.
    • Drink a beer - Dude, that's illegal. No, it's not just men. I have seen a lady slugging down a wine-cooler.
    • Read a book (*) - This is rather self-explanatory. I am very guilty of this one.
    • Use laptop computer - It's always impressive to see someone in their business attire balancing a laptop on their knees while sitting in traffic. Three times out of five, the person is on the phone too.
    • Use water bottle as microphone (*) - To Hell with American Idol. Just give me, or a couple of other drivers, a water bottle and we have all the audience we need!
    • Breast-feed child - I have never done this one for obvious reasons.
    • Drive their car - Just kidding. Nobody actually does this.

    And that's about it for now. I wish I could crack some cheap jokes about people having sex in traffic, but I have never actually seen it happen. I have seen people who looked like they were "burping the worm," but I couldn't confirm it.

  • The Iraq War

    Okay you lot, before I begin, let me say that
    this is going to be a “serious” post. For those of you looking for something
    funny, try again tomorrow. I wanted to talk a little about the Iraq War. With
    the anniversary of its beginning behind us now, I got to see a lot of people
    complaining and just as many people lauding the war. I figured that I would
    share my views on the mess we are in. While I am not a fan of the war, I
    certainly do not wish for the US
    to pull our troops out right away. I believe that the war was an effort to oust
    an oppressive dictator from power, and an attempt to install a freer, more
    democratic government for the people. For that, I honor the government. While
    the WMDs proved to be a bust, the US managed to recover from their
    folly and remove Saddam Hussein from power. They began working to create a new
    government for the Iraqi people. They expected a quick job of it; however,
    things have escalated out of their control with the religious quagmire that the
    country is plagued by. US
    soldiers are now doing everything in their power to calm the country down, and
    make the “naval of the world” a safe place. It will take a lot of work, and
    removing our troops would undo everything that we have tried to accomplish. Now
    I know a lot of people argue that we unnecessarily entered the country, and
    that we were only doing it for oil. Well, that all may be true, but the
    important thing is that we are making up for it by helping the people of a
    country that had long been held under the fist of a violent dictator. I say,
    let’s see this through to the end and not cut it short. If you read this far, I
    thank you. Sorry if our views don’t mix. I just wanted to get it off of my
    chest.

  • Sick today.
    Not thinking straight.
    Will post again next time when I have some good material.
    Peace.