I'm a fan of the digital revolution. Granted right now it's a little like VHS vs. Beta because everyone has different formats, multiple locations, etc. 

An example, a friend turned me onto the TV show 'Burn Notice.' I downloaded the first few episodes from XBOX Live Marketplace. I liked them but didn't want to spend the money ($2.00 per episode putting the full season at $26.00) on the rest when I'm spending $9.00 a month on a Netflix account. So I ordered the rest of the season on Netflix. This is of course after I checked out HULU.com to see if the episodes we're available for free online.

Now the show is available on itunes and that would allow me the ability to watch the show while traveling on my ipod and also on my TV through an adapter I bought. However, the full season in SD is $20.00 and I already bought the first two episodes on XBOX so now I would have to buy individual episodes and I would have the show spilt between my XBOX and my ipod. Oh, they don't talk to each other (Microsoft vs. Apple).

So with season 2 I have the following options:

A) buy the 16 episodes on XBOX for $32.00 and when the ZUNE HD comes out next month I could transfer them over and have them for the road. Of course I would have to buy a Zune HD first and I'm not sure if that would work or not.

B) Continue with the Netflix option at $9.00 a month and wait a few days for the next disc to show up in the mail which means if I'm traveling the show sits in my mailbox for a week.

C) Order it on itunes for $30.00 and have it on the go as well as the ability to play it on my TV. I could rent movies too but I would have to upgrade to an ipod touch which has a much smaller hard drive hence I would only get a few episodes on the device

or D) Amazon.com for $22.00 and have the ability to play the video online, download it to my PC and to a mobile device which does not include an ipod or Zune.

See what I mean? VHS vs. Beta all over again. At least there's options this time. Oh, I'm leaning towards the Netflix option and hoping that I can swing a deal on a Zune HD when they become available through a couple of contacts.

I turned off my cable some 6 or 8 weeks ago. I got back on Netflix and started catching up on movies I missed. Some have sucked (Superbad) some have been disappointing (Revolver) and some have been really good (The Kingdom).

Doing this also got me back to the theatre a couple of times too. Those who know me know that I use to go see the latest big release every Friday night from High School thru college (even left a party once full of girls once to go see 'GO'. Huh, wonder why I didn't get laid much)

I've since slowed the process down a bit. I've been to the theatre more times this year than I have in the last 2 years combined. But that's neither here nor there. What is relevant is that in the last week I've seen 3 outstanding movies.

First, ' The Kingdom' with a whole bunch of people in it. It's a Peter Berg flick and personally I think that all of his previous work sucks balls. This one however is very, very good.

Second, MOON which I blogged about this past weekend.

Finally, 'The Hurt Locker'. It's wrong to say that this is a great movie. Movies like this shouldn't have to be made. Then again you hope that wars don't have to be fought either. 'Locker' is done by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days) and I think she's the only woman director in Hollywood who can make an action movie.

This movie is good in the way that the book 'Lone Survivor' is good. It's terrible and leaves a pit in your stomach but you later have a greater appreciation of what people do in combat.

'The Hurt Locker' is not some political movie. It is a war movie told through the eyes of a bomb squad. You see some of it coming but it still hurts. I can compare it to 'Apocalypse Now' and 'The Deer Hunter'. Not to say that this movie is on that level but over time it might be.

Most movies that are made about the Iraq war are one sided. Troops complaining or wondering what they signed up for/ how terrible the situation is, etc. This isn't. The only person I can compare the main character to or at the very minimum relate him to is Robert Duvall's character in 'Apocalypse Now'. If that doesn't tell you something right there then you need to watch apocalypse Now'.

This movie is not for everybody. I hope some people I know do not see it because I think it will learn them to the 'get our troops now and never go to war again' mentality and they'll lose the point of the movie.

If you're not sure then ask me. I'll give you my best judgement on if you should see it or not.

I think it was Movies.yahoo.com where I saw the preview to MOON. It has Sam Rockwell playing a guy who is working alone on the Moon for an energy company. Kevin Spacey is the voice of the Gerty, a robot there to help Rockwell and oversee the base.

It's always a challenge with a movie like this because nothing happens outside of Rockwell's space. He's in every scene and nearly in every shot. There is no bad guy to go against per say because he is the protagonist and partially the   antagonist.

What starts off as a movie about the slow boat to madness for someone who has been in isolation for nearly 3 years (his only contact is of taped messages back to Earth) turns into something else as he meets another version of himself after an accident.

The fact is the movie wouldn't work if Rockwell sucked. He did a great job portraying a character that on paper is something we've before. But he did a great job of selling emotion when all he had to act against was a machine and himself.

The environment that the director created and the score by Clint Mansell brought it all together.

Is this a great movie? No but it's worth seeing.

In case you live under a rock you'd know that Walter Cronkite died late last week. He was that "Voice of God" newsman on the television. It wasn't news unless it came from him. JFK wasn't dead until it came from him.

The rise of TV and mix in the baby boomer generation and you see how his death can stir up a bunch of emotions among the boomers.

Ask anyone one of the baby boom generation where they were when they found out JFK was killed and they know.

On the one hand I'm impressed by that and on the other I'm a little unnerved. I guess it will be same for people of my era when it's the 40th anniversary of 9/11. However I doubt we'll remember the newcasters and I'm ok with that.

The CIA apparently had a plan to develop a small team of assassins to kill top Al-Qaeda leaders and this has caused a stir in Washington.

Why? Mainly it was approved by former VP Dick Cheney and he apparently told the CIA not to tell Congress.

Once the new CIA Director Panetta got wind of it he went to Congress.

I don't get it. What's the big deal?

Former VP Cheney wanted to keep a clandestine program secret from people who want their face in front of a video camera every 15 seconds. And why is it a bad thing to try to kill Al-Qaeda leaders or any other terrorist leaders for that matter? Isn't that what the "war on terror" is all about? Oh excuse me, it's now an 'Overseas Contingency Operation'.

...really? Who came up with that name anyway? I can't get behind that.

–adverb

1.
with a side foremost.

2.
facing to the side.

3.
toward or from one side.

4.
with a deceitful, scornful, disparaging, or amorous glance.

–adjective

5.
moving, facing, or directed toward one side.

6.
indirect or evasive.

1st my Grand Father was pretty much right, Germany is a lot like America. There's a McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC and Dunkin Donuts all over the place. In Dusseldorf I ran into a Hooters (yes I went inside and had some curly fries and a beer)

The Netherlands, ok Amsterdam, was a very pretty town. Full of Americans this time of year but a good looking town none the less. Defiantly need a couple of days there to see and do all the things that are available.

I ran into very few people who didn't speak English but I always feel a little rude by not knowing a little of the language of the country I'm in.

1 thing that has been proven to be a great conversation piece is soccer. Being able to argue with some random person about National team play or a certain league seems to go a long way. I bet I could go to Abu Dhabi and argue with some local Sheik about Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Real Madrid.

So I killed my cable TV about a month or so ago. Since then I've gone on a movie/Buffy the Vampire Slayer kick. Recently, meaning yesterday, a co-worker gave me the DVD set of the TV show WEEDS. Funny stuff.

I've also been on YouTube way too much. I found old lame music videos I once thought were cool. Even discovered some things that disturb me (Kelly Clarkston...scary music but unbelievably hot) and things I can't get enough of (The Most Interesting Man in the World anyone?)

I had my first trip to continental Europe a few weeks ago. Western Germany and Amsterdam for a half day.

It's a lot like America. I did hit up a Dunkin Donuts for Coffee but in my 9 trips to Europe in the last 3 years I have yet to go to a McDonalds, KFC, or Burger King. I think something should be said for that.

In any event check out the imagery.

How long do you keep a political sticker on your car? Dude I get it, Obama won. He's in charge. Now take the fricking sticker off your bumper.

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I'm very happy I was able to unload all of the tickets I was asked to. One set went to hot blonde who gives me beer

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I spend  more time planning than I do doing

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Have decided to visit Amsterdam with my 1 day off while in Western Germany

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Don't think U2's latest record is very good. However they have made 3 of the all time greats so...

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I'm not that smart. How do I know this? I have to take orders from people who don't know what they're doing sometimes and if this were the military they'd have been fragged long ago.

As the movie line goes, "You can never go home again but you can still shop there." Well, I'm going to one of my former homes on Thursday, Austin, TX.

I have a surprisingly large amount of people who still keep in contact with (thanks Facebook!) and looking forward to seeing them.

Everyone always asked me, "Why don't you like Austin?" It was too much like Sacramento to me at the time. People's inability to call it a river as opposed to a lake and my job was not all that interesting.

A few things I did like about Austin in retrospect are all of the places to go out to, being able to see any band that I wanted, and the fact that this is the last place where I would actually go out with co-workers after work.

And yes, I do plan to hit 1 of my top 5 record stores and do some serious shopping.

You stare at a monitor and all you see is the word DELAYED highlighted in yellow. Blind Melon's 'No Rain' plays overhead....it's pouring down rain outside. Maybe that's funny.

The 2 guys and 1 girl on a business trip next to you tell stories of Kid Rock in Detroit. A cop on a Segway is wearing a helmet.  To be honest I'd rather be delayed here in Nashville than anywhere else.

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There is no talking for an early flight. Just zombie like looks and closed eyes. No one much cares about appearances. Adidas pants and flip flops will work just fine.

Chicago airports are the best places in the World for people watching. Even better than Vegas. Midway beats O'Hare by a mile if you ask me.

I could ask for a better start to Sunday but it would be tough and...well let's just leave it at that.

In any event Liverpool was playing Aston Villa this morning and I also got NCAA Tourney B-Ball on CBS. Liverpool was up 3-0 at Halftime. As of this writing the score is 5-0 Liverpool and the American Aston Villa Goalkeeper Brad Friedel got Red Carded in a tough call (he actually got an ovation from the Anfield crowd). Then his replacement, fellow American and former University of South Carolina Goalkeeper Brad Guzan came into replace Friedel. Of course Guzan's debut in the English Premier was a tough one. He had to try to stop a penalty shot from "Captain Fantastic" Steven Gerrard who of course made his 3rd goal.

So mixed feelings, especially when I didn't have Gerrard on my Fantasy squad but did have Friedel.

Not mention the fact that it's windy and rainy outside just adds to the reasons why I should sit on my couch and watch sporting events.

So after the DVR proceded not to work and record the 1st MLS game of the season and the 1st MLS game in the history of the Seattle Sounders I was forced to watch highlights on MLSNET.com and ESPN.COM.

Friday night, while playing one of the many games that the folks at THQ gave me, I found out that the Seattle Sounders and MLS made an even bigger than expected coup when they signed XBOX 360 LIVE to a sponsorship deal with the club.

XBOX 360 LIVE is on the front of the jersey of the Seattle Sounders. Prime real estate in the Soccer World. But to have XBOX's goofy personality Major Nelson and crew showcasing the game and talking with team is just huge. Think of the audience!

There were multiple segements and multiple slides to support, not only the Sounders, but also MLS First Kick (the opening weekend).

Being someone who helps supply XBOX 360 with content it's cool but also a challenge. How do I get my content featured over something that XBOX 360 is a direct sponsor of? On the other hand, I want to MLS succeed in the US and can't hlep but think of the possibilities. Live games on XBOX 360 anyone?

I'm trying to wrap my head around why people are freaking out over the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stopping it's daily paper service and moving entirely online.

Yes they're laying off like 145 people but they're keeping 20 and turning themselves into, what's been called, "a local Huffington Post."

I for one welcome the change. Apparently most people don't. I heard multiple stories today from NPR to the NY Times about this shift to an all online platform. They all reported it as is but there was defiantly this tone of "oh boy are we next?"I guess people thought that the inevitable would never come.

Newspapers have been fighting a losing battle for years. This is no secret. But this is not the end, it is a begriming. This online only version will more than likely be successful. I don't go to the Huffington Post but the model that the SeattlePI.com will follow doesn't seem too terrible.

Personally, I would have kept on a few of the journalists and made sure that some of the in depth stories that a newspaper (and I assume the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) are know for would continue on. Not to link back to the "good ole days" but because there is still room for that kind of reporting online.

I would also argue that "newspapers" need to become more multi-media and fast. The papers in the UK are already doing this by doing much more video and the papers in the US need to start ASAP or else the local TV stations are going to wake up and they will beat the papers in that space.

And yes local TV, the wave won't stop with newspapers.

I was listening to an old podcast from some C-SPAN show with Michael Rosenblum.

Rosenblum is the evangelist for the videojournalist or as we use to call it one man band. 

I am a fan however I believe there are some flaws in his practices and theories. In any event he said something on this show that really resonated with me. He said in short:

If you want to be an artist you pick up a brush and start painting on a canvas. Who know you could be the next Rembrandt. If you want to be a musician you pick up a guitar or piano and start playing and who knows you could be the Beethoven. If you want to be in TV you get a job as a PA and work your way up.

His point being that TV is actually a creative process. Video can be very compelling if done right but nowhere in the current structure of things is the creative process taken into account.

I'm saying right but you get the idea.

You can see or hear or read the full interview here

I had 3 days off. Nothing apparently broke at work. I was able to normal human things such as:

-Go to the Movies (Saw watchmen. Pretty good. too long)

-Go hiking at Red Rock (fun. going again soon)

-Go to Costco (still costco)

-Meet new people (dude name Dan who make candles. cool guy)

-Watch Tennessee lose (shocking I know)

-Play around on my PC and make really bad videos using Microsoft products

While in Columbus I heard on the news that some 700+ people applied for A janitor job at a local high school.

Just 1 job. 700+ applicants to be a janitor.