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On this wonderful day of being thankful (and a day or two away from work), I wish everyone the best holiday. For those needing a great future Thanksgiving meal to prepare, I give you Thanksgiving Cake.

Click for more photos of the Thanksgiving Cake creation

For those already downplaying this new meal, please don’t judge until you have a chance to taste the greatness of it. I really believe the layer of the cranberry mixture put it over the top.

By the way, this was not my Thanksgiving meal for the day. We did this a few weeks ago in preparation for the holiday. This is what we had today.

Happy Holidays.

Ok, we all knew this was coming. You honestly think that I wouldn’t breakdown the trailer and provide my thoughts around my favorite superhero’s movie set to be released next year? Neither did I.

Go to official trailer site if this youtube video gets pulled.

Stop here if you don’t want to see the breakdown of the trailer. There could be things here you don’t want to know prior to the movie.

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Ok, here we go.

• 0:00 to 0:29 – Meet Hal Jordan, the test pilot who just doesn’t know responsibility. Ryan Reynolds is the superhero here. I originally wasn’t big on the casting here as he wasn’t my number one choice. I think Jon Hamm is more of a Hal Jordan but I’m certain the casting came down to youth in hopes of making several GL movies. I’ll leave further judgement to the full movie. The same will go for Blake Lively as Carol Ferris.
• 0:30 – 0:44 – I’m hoping these test pilot scenes are as good as Iron Man’s fighter plane scenes as it is central to Hal’s character.
• 0:59 – Abin Sur looks perfect. This scene will help to build the rest of the story. It is an origin.
• 1:19 – Here’s the first shot of the Green Lantern ring. I originally wasn’t a fan of the shots I had seen of it previously but it is starting to grow on me. The ring is born out of alien technology so it makes sense to make it look alien as well.
• 1:30 – Welcome to Oa and it looks as though Tomar Re is showing Hal the grounds as this will be where he is trained to become a member of the Green Lantern Corp. The suits are very interesting here as each has its own look and feel much like you find in the comics, yet we can easily tell that they are alien instead of the human style that the comics often portray them as looking.
• 1:31 – Sinestro, one of the greatest Green Lanterns and easily one of my favorite villains in all of comics. Played by Mark Strong, we should be in for a treat. This image couldn’t be any more perfect for the look of Sinestro.
• 1:38 – Here we find Hal’s power battery which will be used to charge his ring. I’m also interested in learning about his friend in this scene and a few others. Is this the stereotypical lackey that helps the hero along his way. I’m not really sure Green Lantern needs this.
• 1:44 – 1:46 – Here is Hal’s first construct of the trailer, a fist. The ring allows the wearer to create any object as long as his will is strong enough to support it.
• 1:48 – Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond is another brilliant casting move. The subsequent images of him add even more to the appeal.
• 1:52 – Meet Kilowog, the trainer of the Green Lanterns and a fan favorite. My only concern is that he might be entirely CGI. Too much CGI is never a good thing and this film might lean on it too much at times. Why not just make him as a man in a suit?
• 2:08 – 2:22 – The suit seems to becoming beneath Hal’s skin. Very interesting view. I like everything about the alien look here except for one thing, the mask. It just looks too fake. Almost painted on as a Halloween costume gone wrong. Again, what’s wrong with a physical mask? I do miss Geoff Johns addition to the Lantern universe of the symbol on the uniform being more of a beacon or “siren” for the uniform than a physical part of it.
• 2:23 – 2:30 – “In Brightest Day. In Blackest Night.” These are the first words of the Green Lantern oath. Bring on the rest! But what’s with the TDK style ending with the flaming logo?

Overall, the trailer is a teaser of sorts. I’m not super pumped but that was kind of expected for this film. Its not going to be The Dark Knight nor should it. TDK works because Batman is based on reality. Green Lantern is not. It is a fantasy, space epic. I want it to be Star Trek (2009) with superheroes. Will I get that? Too early to say, but I can guarantee this is a midnight showing (if not earlier if I can help it) for me. As of right now, my summer is packed and the only real question is what superhero will be standing tallest in the end: Captain America, Thor, or Green Lantern.

I keep getting asked what apps do I enjoy on my HTC Droid Eris. Well, I guess the best way to do that is just use AppBrain.

Anyone have some other cool suggestions of apps to download?

Note: For those interested, do not buy the HTC Droid Eris if you are looking at getting an Android phone. I honestly love it, but HTC and Verizon do not so it has stopped receiving the latest Android updates and is discontinued by Big Red. If you are looking to get an Android, go after one of the flagship phones so that you can be certain to receive the latest updates for at least a year.

Last night I was fortunate to finally attend one of San Francisco’s tech events. This one happened to be a GDGT show which is just another way for saying let’s show off some really cool gadgets to a bunch of nerds. Ooo! Ooo! Pick me!

Therefore, I met up with two friends and all of our significant others (they were super excited too…) and headed to the free show. I’ll get to the SWAG in a bit, but first what we all came to see: TOYS.

Phones
GDGT was no different than the rest of the electronics world as phones seemed to be king. We began with a viewing of the history of phones and AT&T, which of course included such hits as the Palm Treo, Blackjack, a briefcase phone and THE ZACK MORRIS phone (yeah that’s what it was called). The person managing the booth even offered Zack’s phone to us to call Slater or Screech if needed. We passed.

From the phones of the past, we cast our eyes on the phones of the here, now, and future. T-Mobile’s booth was showing off the latest in Android, Windows Phone 7, and the 4G network. Let’s start with the last one first. When I thought 4G previously, I thought of it more as just another marketing campaign. Well, with a room full of cell phone users, this phone was still able to pull in a 3MB speed test. We were informed it even did at least 7MB before the room really started filling in. That’s freakin’ fast for a phone in my eyes.

I really enjoyed the look and feel of the G2 as well as its more vanilla flavor of Android. Its processor and running Froyo really helped with the speed and reaction time of the OS. This is now on my possible list for new work phones even with its big drawback of weight. After seeing Android’s offerings, we moved on to the Windows Phone 7 phones which seemed to be very popular at the event as there was also a separate booth for just these phones. I have to say that if Microsoft had arrived at the Phone party (iPhone vs. Android) it could have made it a legitimate 3 way fight. However, they just might be too late to make it count. That really is a shame though as I really liked what I saw in terms of the interface and usability. Windows Phone 7 will be my second option in the future but it will probably take a lot to get me to move away from it.

Enough with that Windows Phone 7 (too long to type) stuff. Let’s get back to Android. I saw several phones from HTC and Samsung, but Samsung really won me over thanks to their AMOLED screens. These things were beautiful and probably the closest you might find to the iPhone’s screens. It was also great that they were able to have such a gorgeous screen but keep the weight and width of the phone to be so small.

Entertainment Boxes
Next on the horizon is the battle for the living room. From TiVo, Revue by Logitech, Sony Google TV, Roku, Slingbox, and Boxee. Thoughts? Well…

Laptops and Keyboards
Why does 3D seem to be the next big thing? I really don’t think it adds much if anything to the medium it is presenting. I think possibly that sports could change my mind here, but I’m going to remain skeptical. I saw several 3D laptops and they all left me going “well that’s nice but what else do you have?”

Logitech did have a keyboard that was solar powered that raised an eyebrow or two. It could be charged with solar or internal lighting and could last several months without needing a new charge (so we were told). It was also sleek and thin. Total cost around $90 seemed reasonable to those who might be interested.

Celebrities
So celebrity might be a relative term as it is highly dependent on who you ask. For me, it came in the form of Ron Richards, who is a podcaster for iFanboy and revision3’s AppJudgement (remember this post?). No, I didn’t go talk to him because I didn’t want to be one of those people but I was tipped off it really was him when I walked by and he was wearing a Green Lantern pin.

One of my other buddies met his celebrity in the form of Bre Pettis. I had never heard of him but Brett was super excited and had to get several pictures. I was too busy learning about the machine standing behind him from his company, Makerbot. Wouldn’t you be interested to if you saw this machine trying to make a Green Lantern ring? Nicely done.

Overall, a great show and I’m really glad I was able to make it out. I leave you with this picture taken from my Android phone (HTC Droid Eris, don’t buy as it is discontinued now). Now this is how one should be playing online video games.

Now that’s how you should play an online game.

There’s no hiding my love for the Atlanta Falcons. With a team that sits at the top of its division and currently ranks 3rd in ESPN’s Power Rankings (yes, they are meaningless), I have no reason but to smile. However, the season is long from over and a night before the third biggest game of the season (New Orleans, Tampa, and now Baltimore), I thought it might be nice to give my thoughts on the season thus far.

When the started season with a loss to the 3rd QB led Steelers, I was left shocked and wondering how the remainder of the season was going to turn out. I mean, if you can’t beat an NFL team who is playing their backup to a backup QB then what’s the point of moving on. But, myself and the team gathered our collective selves together and moved forward game by game. Now on the steps of Week 10 of the schedule, the Falcons stand at 6-2.

The Falcons defense has played well. The offense has played well. The special teams have played well. They just really haven’t played well collectively on the same day. Each facet to the game has showed up when needed in order to take up any slack that the former might have left out in the open for another team to take hold of. Many analysts and football lovers will say my team is boring. That they are only good. Not great. I’d actually have to agree with them, but that’s the actual plus instead of the negative. We are boring to watch if you are not a real Falcons fan (except for the New Orleans game which was the greatest game of the year), but its our style that works and it is a style that is very familiar to many Steelers fans. We run the ball, then we throw. Not the other way around. Our offense is built on Turner first, and White / Gonzalez / Jenkins / Ryan second.

With that football philosophy, I feel that we can beat any other team in the league. My best example of this is the New Orleans game where those Dirty Birds crafted a 20 play drive that took 10:39 off the clock. That’s 10 minutes of play that Drew Brees was unable to step onto the field to bring his team back. If you can keep the opponent’s offense off the field, then 9 times out of 10 you’ll win the game. The Falcons lead the league in drives of five minutes or longer. Currently they sit at a Time of Possession per game of 33:05. If a game is 60 minutes, well you do the math.

So what am I saying here? I’m saying the Falcons are better than most might give them credit for but they are not great. They do have the talent, drive, and coaching to go the distance though. Yes, I mean THE DISTANCE. The Superbowl for those not following along at home. The first real step in that direction is locking up the remainder of the season in order to score home field advantage. I don’t want it because of my season tickets (yes, I live in SF and still have season tickets). I want it because Matt Ryan is 17-1 in the Georgia Dome when starting. That’s a REAL home field advantage. If you still think I’m full of it in my expectations, see what John Clayton, respected NFL journalist / analyst thinks.

Now that I have the attention of all Dirty Bird hopefuls, I want to look at you, Mr. Bandwagon Jumper. I’m ok if you hop on now and I’m even going to help you not seem so much like a bandwagon jumper. Here’s your quick guide to looking like you’ve always belonged with the Falcons.

• When asked about last years’s season, don’t state it was failure. The Falcons finished the season at 9-6 and missed the playoffs. Why is this not a failure? Because they broke the 42 year curse of never having back to back winning seasons. Think about that for a second. In 42 years, nothing. Even with a year of going to the Superbowl and another going to the NFC Championship game, no back to back winning seasons. Therefore, I say to you it was a success for the entire organization to bring what this franchise has been lacking, consistency.
• Roddy White was perfect up until late in the Tampa Bay game in terms of catches thrown his way. He had not dropped a single pass all season. This was the same WR that only a few years back I stated was overpaid with his new contract and would not be the person I want the ball thrown to when the game is on the line. Well now that’s a different story now isn’t it.
• Name Dropper – Brent Grimes. Brent Grimes would be the number one cornerback in the league if he was at least 3-4 inches taller. He’s listed at 5’10 but he is not 5’10. Led the team last year with 6 INTS and this (greatest play I’ve ever seen). He’s a little guy from a little college with little expectations of him.
• Name Dropper – Coy Wire. Coy Wire? Well he’s a veteran LB that you only see in certain packages. Mainly goal line stands and special teams. He’s a ball hawk. If he’s on the field, he’ll find the ball and soon the ball will find itself in his hands. New Orleans game last year, onside kick recovery. Chicago Bears last year (or year before) late game strip.
• Name Dropper – Kroy Bierman. Kroy Bierman, defensive end. Only other thing is that he is athletic and well who doesn’t love yelling out BIERMAN (pronounced BEERMAN).
• Name Dropper – Ovie Mughelli. This man is pure beast. I’m always high on a fullback and Ovie is no exception. If opposing defenses lose sight of him, well then that just means that Michael Turner is going to go on a nice little 70 yard stroll along the open field.
• Final and best stat of all is that under Mike Smith, I am undefeated in games attended. That’s 10+ home games and one road game.

Now that the positives are out of the way, I’ll end with the only negative that I have. The team has an “official”, “unofficial” song this season. Atlanta’s own Sevendust recorded “Falcons On Top”.