Hero Inc.

While setting up shop back home for a few days post vacation, I ran across the latest Time magazine that was showcasing an article entitled “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live“.  In this article, Johnson made a case for why twitter is relevant, currently, and his initial hesitation to join.  This case may have been enough to encourage others that twitter is more than a reverse peep hole into one’s life, but I still think of Twitter as my own personal archnemesis.

I have friends who have twitter accounts and “tweet” often, but I just don’t get it.  I don’t care what you had for breakfast.  I’m not really up to share my daily bowel movements or steps I take with my right foot.  Twitter could possibly maybe have more functions than this but that’s all I see it.  Hell, it’s almost becoming MySpace as the older generation continues to join (Oprah, Larry King, Tony Kornheiser, and etc.)  Even without Ashton being the main twitterer I wouldn’t join.  Besides, if I have to hear about the next technology bringing about hyper-local marketing, I’m going to scream.  It’s just another buzz word that’s still years away thanks to the terrible cell phone infrastructure (conversation for another day).

Anyway, back to the title of this post.  The Time article mentioned above in passing context the idea of a Twitter spawn that would be based around the use of nothing but punctuation.  Why does this sound so strange while typing only 140 characters is a 500 million dollar idea?

Therefore, let me introduce you to the next internet phenomenon, Punct. The name is based on a play of Ashton’s famous Punk’d and what the new service will be used to convey feelings/thoughts, punctuation.  The rules are simple:

1. Only the basic set of punctuation characters can be used in order to keep global appeal high  . , ? ! ; : – ( ) [ ] { } | \ / < > ‘ ~ @ # $ % ^ & * + = ” …
   
2. Each “punct” must be no more than 10 characters in length
3. “Puncts” can only be single lines, which  means no ASCII art or cool bunnies (Sorry Will)
4. Overall goal is to show your emotion, thoughts, or current state with only punctuation.  With enough people being creative, a whole new language could be created for those with severe ADD and not enough time to read messages that are longer than 10 characters.

Four simple rules for an even simpler concept.  Still confused at the depth you could take this?  It’s simple.  The rules of punctuation already dictate emotion/thoughts. Here are a few samples:

• period (.) ==> a declaration, the end of a thought
• exclamation point (!) ==> excitement, loudness
• comma (,) ==> taking a break, listing of items, separation of thought
• question mark (?) ==> questioning, confusion, thinking
• ellipsis (…) ==> statement of things left unsaid, annoyance
• semi-colon (;) or colon (:)==> linking multiple similar thoughts, clarifying confusing lists
• braces ({}) ==> new dental braces or leg injury

I’ll even allow text based emoticons since those were always fun during the mid 90’s.  Here’s another great site of someones emoticon creations.

Now that my million dollar idea is out there, I’ll sit back and wait for the money to be sent.  Here’s a final honest thought for this post.

==|:-)}       <—  Get it?  It’s “Honest” Abe Lincoln

The spy genre is back and better than ever as Michael Westen shows that spies are always cool.

Now for those select few who don’t know who he is, you are missing out on one of the best new shows out there. New might be a relative term since Burn Notice is about to start its 3rd season, but the seasons are short so we will keep using the term “new” for at least a few more weeks. Anyway, the basic story is simple: Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) was a spy who had a burn notice placed on him. In even more simple terms, he was fired. He is now stuck in Miami with his trigger happy ex-girlfriend Fionna (Gabrielle Anwar), an FBI informant buddy Sam (Bruce Campbell), and his mom (Sharon Gless).

I would describe Burn Notice as James Bond meets MacGyver meets A-Team. Each episode furthers Michael’s hunt for those that burned him as well as helpful spy tips to help you get out of any situation. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know that the best way to beat a cell phone jammer is to connect your cell antennae to an ethernet connection of a computer to boost its power. And might I add that he is one sharply dressed unemployed individual.

I get more excited about new or old episodes of Burn Notice than I do any other show. June 4th, here I come. If you care to catch up for the new season, it looks like a few mini-marathons are coming up.

Here’s the next set of reviews from my Netflix queue.

Revolution OS A geek’s movie about Linux. Too bad it doesn’t go far enough to make it interesting to non-geek’s. Rating:	The Italian Job I didn’t enjoy it as much as the new version, but it still had its moments and it was cool for its time period. That and everyone loves Michael Caine. Rating:
Inside Man Another great thriller but the ending went farther than it really needed to go. Rating:	Memoirs of a Geisha It just jumped around too much for my taste. Others seem to like it. Rating:
Who Killed The Electric Car? Whoever did should have also tried to kill this movie. Must see. Rating:	Charlie Bartlett Anton Yelchin is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors to see on the big screen. This kid’s got talent and so did this movie. Rating:

I’m not going to hide from the fact that I was never really a fan of the other films. Sure, T2 was a marvel of modern technology at the time, but that was about it for me. Something about this film seemed interesting to me and that was just enough to get me to shell out the money to see Batman beat up some machines.

Salvation is set in the year 2018 where the war against the machines has begun (but not in a Matrix sort of way).  John Connor (Christian Bale) is not the leader of the resistance, but he certainly leads his own team.  Over the course of the war, the Resistance has found a signal that will act as an off switch for the machines and allow the humans to win the war.  However, things change when a new man is saved and is discovered to be one of the machines.  Marcus Wright believes he is human but slowly learns that he is nothing more than a project for a woman after he was put to death for past crimes.

Salvation is simply another post apocalyptic movie of the future where both Sony and Seven 11 are still around.  Remind me to invest in both soon rather than later.  The graphics are simply amazing throughout.  The Terminator movies always excelled in this category and this movie doesn’t disappoint.  I’d say the highlight of the film is known to some and others of us are kept in the dark about a special appearance.  Take a shot in the dark and you will get it.  Let’s just say what they can do with graphics today is shocking.  It’s just too bad that X-Men and Wolverine just made it look weird.

Overall I was pleased with this movie more than the others (minus T2), but it’s not great.  McG plus some horrible out of nowhere love story makes the movie fall short.  That and a post apocalyptic world that has a gas station sign set at 1.89 just doesn’t make me believe it is going to end like that.  Someone call Mad Max and maybe John Connor can fight it out for the new world.

In a non Terminator comment, go ahead and get used to Sam Worthington and Common.  Say hello to Hal Jordan and John Stewart respectively.

Rating:

The Trekkies are back and better than ever.

J. J. Abrams prequel is a hit in my eyes. This movie starts us at the very beginning of James T. Kirk’s birth and moves forward from there. We see him join the Star Fleet Academy and slowly are introduced to the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprises’ future crew. From Spock to Sulu to McCoy to Checkov, all characters are perfectly cast and you get a good feeling of the original actors that made these characters famous.

The story is your typical time space dealings of old returns to young to right some wrongs. Sure it’s a cliche in itself but you don’t care. You are interested in seeing the characters grow in order to win whatever conflict is ahead of them. It’s also nice to watch some space action along the way. Star Trek, unlike the new Star Wars movies, doesn’t look cheesy or fake (for as real as computer graphics can become).

For those worried that you need to have seen prior Star Trek movies or tv series, no more need to worry. I believe the movie gives those of us with prior knowledge the small tidbits we need to enjoy it further but not enough of them that those who are clueless of what has come before will not enjoy the movie. One of the guys in my group had never seen any of the movies and he enjoyed it just as much as I did.

Rating:

My original expectation of this movie was that it would be bad. Possibly even worse than X-Men: The Last Stand. I sure hate it when I’m right.

Since this review will mostly consist of the negatives, I’ll start with some positives. Ryan Reynolds was perfectly cast as Deadpool (Wade Wilson) and Liev Schreiber was a great Sabretooth. Visually, I was not pleased with The Blob at the beginning of the film, but his second main appearance in the movie definitely turned things around. The movie also does a good job of leading into the other spinoff movies Fox is hoping to produce (X-Men: First Class and Deadpool).

Now that the positives are out of the way, you can hear why this movie was so bad. Early rumblings from those that watched the early pirated copy stated that the biggest issue was the special effects. Well, they didn’t seem to update them much. One particular scene with Wolverine’s claws (the bathroom) looked laughable. Almost as if some teenager was doing the animation for them using Flash. I would have rather seen Hugh Jackman holding kitchen knives between his fingers.

Everyone was waiting for Gambit in an X-Men movie and they finally got it with Origins.  The response previously for not having him appear was because his character was too close to Wolverine (loner that isn’t a team player) and would be difficult to differentiate on screen. Looks like someone got that one right because his inclusion was lackluster and laughable.  Not sure what it was, but his powers seemed less impressive on screen.  Maybe the first X-Men movies tried to select mutants whose powers would look “real” on screen.

Overall, the movie was boring, long, slow, and limiting on the action.  It was a true origins story. For those that do go to see this movie, I wouldn’t wait around after the credits. The extra clip my movie had was not worth it and I have heard the same for the other alternative endings as well.  Here’s hoping Star Trek makes me forget this entire mess.

And I seriously feel bad for the movie reviewer who decided to download this movie early and provide a review. He was promptly fired and now gets to tell his family he lost his job over a terrible movie.

Rating:

The 2009 NFL Draft is now in the books.  It was a day of football super hype where we won’t know the true outcome of who was right and who was wrong for another 4 years, but that will never stop us from offering our critique today.

I will of course start this all with “I was right.”  Go back and read my preview and you will see that I stated if Peria Jerry was on the board, then we [Atlanta Falcons] take him regardless.  For those that have known me over the years know that this is a big deal for me to get a pick right.  So therefore, I throw to you my new favorite joke.

Hip! Hip! Peria!  (You pronounce his name as Per-RAY)

Overall, the Falcons draft grade from me is (B+). Here’s the quick summary of the picks thanks to NFL.com.

1. Peria Jerry (Mississippi) – Defensive Tackle, Round 1 Selection 24 ==> The Falcons address their thin defensive line by picking up Jerry. As a hard-working one-gap penetrator, Jerry gives Mike Smith the “3-technique” that he covets in the middle of the defense. Though Jerry’s production in college was a byproduct of an aggressive movement system, he’s a solid player who fits in well with the Falcons.
2. William Moore (Missouri) – Safety, Round 2 Selection 23 (55 Overall) ==> The former Tiger was regarded as a top-tier prospect heading into his senior season until injuries and inconsistency derailed his play. In spite of those flaws, he’s an intriguing prospect with the potential to blossom in the Falcons’ two-deep scheme. His range is above average and he has a knack for coming down with INTs. If he plays to his potential, he’s one of the draft’s biggest sleepers.
3. Christopher Owens (San Jose State) – Cornerback, Round 3 Selection 26 (90 Overall) ==> The Falcons pick up an aggressive corner with good cover skills. Owens loves to challenge receivers with his physical style, and he’ll compete for time as a nickel or dime corner in the Falcons’ sub-package.
4. Lawrence Sidbury, Jr. (Richmond) – Defensive End, Round 4 Selection 25 (125 Overall) ==> Sidbury Jr. played in the Shrine Game and then flew right to the Senior Bowl. He has really good pass-rushing skills and had 37 tackles for loss and 20 sacks in college. He’ll be a situational pass rusher for the Falcons.
5. William Middleton (Furman) – Cornerback, Round 5 Selection 2 (138 Overall) ==> The Falcons continue to stockpile defensive players on the draft’s second day. Middleton gives the team another athletic corner to groom as an eventual nickel or dime defender in their sub-packages.
6. Garrett Reynolds (North Carolina) – Offensive Tackle, Round 5 Selection 20 (156 Overall) ==> The former Tar Heel is a tough, hard-nosed blocker with the size to be an imposing right tackle as a pro. With time, Reynolds could develop into a potential starter.
7. Spencer Adkins (Miami) – Linebacker, Round 6 Selection 3 (176 Overall) ==> Adkins is an undersized linebacker with excellent speed. He’s a very good kick coverage player on special teams. The Falcons can use Adkins to beef up their special teams.
8. Vance Walker (Georgia Tech) – Defensive Tackle, Round 7 Selection 1 (210 Overall ==> Walker had 29 starts in college with 11.5 sacks. He did not have a great Senior Bowl week, but he was struggling with a bum ankle. Walker ran slow at the combine, which is why he fell down the draft. He fits in a four-man front that stunts and is a one-gap guy. He helps the Falcons add depth to what was a depleted defensive tackle position.

Otherwise, here are my quick hit thoughts from the draft.

• Is Oakland trying to create the NFL’s version of the Florida Gators?  Their huge reach in the first round was fueled by speed more than anything else.  Why not take Crabtree who was available instead of going after the 5th best available WR, Darrius Heyward-Bey?  Did his grandfather play in the NFL and that’s who Al Davis thought he was picking?
• Yay, the Jets have a QB.  Now I’ll get to hear about nothing else from Mike & Mike in the morning other than the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.
• If I was an NFL team and the Patriots offered to trade their picks to me, I’d quickly hang up the phone because I would know that whatever I use that pick for would be wrong.  How many more years before the petition the league to remove their requirement for accepting a 1st round pick?  I know of no other team that continues to try to trade further and further down the draft.
• There was no real crier this year because you can’t pick Michael Oher due to his situation/story.  However, Michael Crabtree was as close as you could get.
• Michael Oher has a great story so I’m going to make a terrible joke here and state that I need to start timing the homeless that I see to scout for the best 40 time.

Georgia Players Selected

• Mattew Stafford (QB) – Detroit Lions, Round 1 Selection 1 (1 Overall)
• Knowshon Moreno (RB) – Denver Broncos, Round 1 Selection 12 (12 Overall)
• Mohamed Massaquoi (WR) – Cleveland Browns, Round 2 Selection 18 (50 Overal)
• Asher Allen (CB) – Minnesota Vikings, Round 3 Selection 22 (86 Overall)
• Corey Irvin (DL) – Carolina Panthers, Round 3 Selection 29 (93 Overall)
• Jarius Wynn (DE) – Green Bay Packers, Round 6 Selection 9 (182 Overall)

And if it matters, this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant” is Ryan Succop, a kicker from South Carolina.

The end of April is almost here and that means Draft Day baby. This is the day that ushers in the NFL season for me even though we are several months away. I’ll crowd around a TV and watch 4 hours of what some may call boring television in order to discover the newest players and where my Birds will go from here.

Thanks to the amazing season last year, the Falcons pick 24th in this year’s draft. The following bullets are a compilation of several mock drafts I found online about 2 months ago.

Mock Draft, Round 1

• Brandon Pettigrew, TE OSU
• B. J. Raji, NT BC
• Mike Mickens, CB Cinci
• William Moore, S Missouri
• Brian Orakpo, DE Texas
• Louis Delmas, S Western Michigan

Mock Draft, Round 2-End

• Peria Jerry, DT Ole Miss
• Jared Cook, TE, South Carolina
• Michael Hamlin, SS Clemson
• Emanuel Cook, S
• Dorel Scott, DT Clemson
• Chase Coffman, TE Mizzou
• Mark Parson, CB Ohio
• Max Unger, OC Oregon
• Willie VanDeSteeg, DE Minn
• James Casey, TE Rice
• Alex Magee, DE Purdue
• Ramon Foster, OT UT
• Lawrence Sidbury Jr., DE Richmond

I’m also throwing in the mock drafts for UGA players.

Mock Draft, Round 1 UGA

• M Stafford, QB Lions (1) or Seahawks (4)
• K Moreno, RB Browns (5) or Bucs (19) or Jets (17) or San Diego (16)

Mock Draft, Round 2-End UGA

• Mo Mass -> Jets or Dallas
• A Allen -> Cardinals or Lions or KC
• Jeremy Lomax -> Baltimore
• Brannan Southerland -> Steelers
• Corey Irvin -> Compensatory Pick

Now with the mocks out of the way, here are my thoughts.

1. First, I know everyone is saying TE for Atlanta, but I don’t know why. Our offensive system does not throw to a TE enough to pay 1st round money to a TE, maybe late rounders but not 1st.
2. The Falcons have several needs on defense but the top of the list is defensive tackle so that is my pick when Mr. Goodell calls for the Falcons.  Of course, if a better athlete is available here, then you draft best available.
3. People talk about the CB situation with the Falcons.  Please understand that is not as big of a hole as people not familiar with the team might think.  Yes, they lost Foxworth, but Houston played well.  Rookie Jackson held his own.  Grimes is small but speedy.  Hutchins returns from a season ending injury.
4. If Peria Jerry is available at 24, then the pick better take less than 1 minute to make.
5. I honestly believe this will be a failed draft for the Falcons.  I’m stating this on nothing more than the fact of how well last year’s draft went and the numerous wins.  I just don’t see lightning striking twice.  This is the Falcons and the back-to-back curse must continue.

Now to end with the pre-Draft awards.

• Best Player in the Draft – Aaron Curry (OLB), Wake Forest => This guy is a freak of nature.  He’s fully ready to start on day 1 and can be a leader in the locker room.  If you have a a defensive hole on your LB line, take him yesterday.
• Most Overrated Player – Matthew Stafford (QB), UGA => I’m a UGA fan, but I’ve never truly been a Stafford fan.  Hearlded as the next big thing for UGA, he never accomplished all he was hyped to win.  Arm strength is nice, but it isn’t everything.  For a QB to be taken within the top 15, he must be prepared to start on day 1 and lead.  I just don’t believe that Stafford is that guy.  If he goes to the Lions, he will fall harder than Carr.  If he goes to a team where he can sit for a year or two, then he will have a better chance in the long run.
• Most Underrated Player – Pat White (QB), West Virginia => The biggest issue here is  where to place him on the field.  Scouts want to convert him to a WR, but he wants to play QB.  He doesn’t have the size but he has the skills.  The question is what team can convince him to sign up for WR but work him into the new hot wildcat offense.
• Most Likely to Cry on Draft Day – Percy Harvin (WR), Florida => I’m not making this pick because of his school of choice, but because of the dumb things since leaving UF.  He amazed the scouts and had many offensive minds thinking of a new, better Reggie Bush explosive player.  Now his outside the lines issues are coming to light and could drop  him farther than he originally was predicted in going.  Percy, you will follow the same footsteps as Matt Lienart. I hope to enjoy the quality television.  If it gets bad enough Percy, you can contact Andre Smith and discover you weren’t the biggest loser on Draft day.

I’ll post again after the draft to list all of the new Falcons as well as where my UGA Alumni are headed.   Draft coverage begins at noon and the 1st round starts at 4PM (not sure why this late other than to  keep the west coast people quiet).

Here’s the next set of reviews from my Netflix queue.

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters Who would have thought a movie about Donkey Kong could be so entertaining? “People work because they can’t play video games.” Rating:	This Film Is Not Yet Rated This film is rated A for Awesome. I’m glad I now know that the ratings system means absolutely nothing. Thanks Hollywood. Rating:
Punisher: War Zone This is the best Punisher movie yet…wait, that’s not really saying much. At least we actually got the violence part this time. Rating:	Choke For those not fans or familiar with Palahniuk’s style or humor might have a difficult time swallowing this film. The book is better, but the movie stays as close to the pages as possible. Rating:
F**k: A Documentary It started out strong and was interesting at times but I did find that the movie lost itself at as time passed. Rating:	Get Carter Your typical 70’s movie (sex, violence, etc.) but Michael Caine is always fun to watch. Rating:

For those noticing a pattern, I am trying to switch between regular films and documentaries when I can.

Yes you are reading this correctly. I went to see Dragonball Evolution and I’m actually stating it publicly. Have you ever known that a movie would be terrible but knew if you got the right group of friends together that it could be decent? Well it worked for Snakes On A Plane so maybe it could work as well. Only problem is that most of the original viewing crew backed out at the last minute. Booooo on them.

Also for the record, I’d like to state that I am not fully knowledgeable of all things Dragonball.  I only  watched Dragonball Z when it was being shown on Cartoon Network and that is apparently a different era of time.  Go figure.

As for the movie, I must state that it was much  better than I had anticipated.  That could be due to the fact that I lowered the bar so low for this movie but it’s always nice when things end up surprising you.

There was limited action for a movie based on an action packed anime cartoon but there was enough (for those that arrive on time. )  The characters were campy and believable at the same time.  I mean, how realistic can you be with a big green alien fighting a young white kid that should have been played by an asian. Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) was probably the best cast character but everyone else  worked well too.  I wasn’t truly happy with the white kid instead of an asian for Goku (Justin Chatwin), but I was able to get over that issue quicker than I thought.  Just think of a younger Keanu Reeves and you’ll be able to picture the look and dialogue for Goku.

Nice to see Jamie Chung of Real World fame getting the part of Chi Chi.  Ummm….I’ve probably already said too much.

Overall, it wasn’t worth the high price to see it on the big screen, but I’m at least up for renting any sequels they make. The rating below is a strong 3 out of 5.

Rating: