Welcome to Hero Inc.

A new year and a new post. This also means it is time for me to complain about my site and decide it is time for a change. I'm getting the new Macromedia Studio 8 in the mail soon so I will probably start creating a new layout for the site and getting rid of several old items that I just don't seem to update enough anymore. The version of the site that exists now is too complicated (with the many flash areas) and just doesn't allow me to update all areas of it as easily as I want it to be. Therefore, look for the site to have some downtown and/or new look in the next several weeks. It just depends on when I get the software and find the time to start creating.

Now that that small piece of news is out of the way, I want to talk about something I read about the other day. I read an article that was talking about how the amount of people going to see movies has dropped drastically. I didn't believe this figure at first based on the argument of bad movies, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I'm a statistic in this fact. I don't go to the movies as often as I used to go. This partly deals with the low amount of movies I truly want to see, but it also deals with the movie experience. The movie experience today is not what it once was. In today's times, people's living room entertainment centers do as much if not more than most theatres. I also hate dealing with some of the people that are still going to theatres. I'm talking about the loud annoying types who won't shut up or have their cell phones go off every twenty minutes. Why would I fight to deal with all of this when I can just rent the movie from home?

The probably last great movie experience I had was thanks to my first IMAX movie this summer with Batman Begins. It was amazing to watch a film on a screen that big, but it would not be practical for me to do this with every film. When I was in Norway, I went to the theatre in Kristiansand and thought they had the movie experience right. It starts with buying your ticket. When you buy your ticket, you don't just buy a ticket. You buy your seat like you would at any other concert. This way you don't have to arrive an hour or longer ahead for those movies that usually sellout and require lines for the good seats (Spider-Man, LOTR, etc.). They also have different types of setups for the movies. There was the large theatre seating room, the medium seating room, and finally the luxury theatre seating room. This final room had recliners for each person with a personal table located next to the seat and the room held about twenty people. The tickets for this room cost more than the others, but there was a reason to have them cost the amount paid. I believe that if the US adopted these additions and started creating more original and entertaining movies, then people would return to the movies.

Now it is the Holiday break and I would normally be thrilled about this time of year, but something has recently come to my mind that I need to vent about. It came to my mind mainly due to an article about a new television or movie, but it is related to this time of year. Let me start from the beginning.

The article I'm talking about was an upcoming Winnie The Pooh project. I would normally not care about this sort of thing, but the article was talking about how producers were thinking of taking Christopher Robin out of the project and replace him with a girl. Well, this just got me going. Have we really gotten to that point in our culture where we have to change everything from what it was to something that might accommodate some other group of people. What I'm talking about is known these days as being "PC" (Politically Correct). This new PC world is one where we all have to watch what we say so that we don't offend anyone. That's ok for somethings, but it is beginning to be taken too far. Why the crap can't Christopher Robin stay a boy? Why can't Cookie Monster continue to eat cookies all of the time instead of just eating cookies some of the time?

During December, we are reminded of this PC world due to the use of the phrase "holiday season" instead of any of the other religious references often seen in years past. I'm tired of watching what I say in terms of Christmas for the slight chance I'm talking to someone who doesn't celebrate this holiday like I do. I'm not saying that I dislike any of the other holidays. I'm just saying I shouldn't have to change what I say to other people. If someone came up to me and said "Happy Hanukah," I would thank them and wish them the same. I don't celebrate the holiday, but I know what the ultimate meaning of it is about and that's what I accept through their gesture. They are not pushing any religion on me. They are just trying to wish me the best during this time of year and hope that all goes well for me. That's the basic for all of these religions so why should I even care how it is said as long as it is said.

Disregard the update bar at the top of this page. It is hard for me to update that sometimes if I don't have Flash on the computer I'm updating from. I have added a new Movie Review for the Chronicles of Narnia. Check it out from the links on the left side of the page.

Christmas time is rapidly approaching. That means family fun and the gift of giving for some while it means terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things for others. I'm one who loves Christmas personally. I look forward to it every year. Not truly for the presents (even though they help), but also for the time with friends and family. Recently, I've gotten on a kick of trying to find that perfect gift for someone each year. It's really hard for me to do it so I just shoot for ONE perfect gift instead of many. Last year, my perfect gift was to my brother. I gave him a LEGO set I bought online. When he put it together, it displayed a picture of him and his wife from their wedding day. The farther away you got from the picture, the clearer it became. He loved it and I was rather proud of it myself.

For those who don't get into the Christmas spirit, I will list several items that could help to make the break better for you and others.

You can buy gifts online, instead of the stores.

It is a common myth these days that the perfect gift cannot be found online. I believe it is easier to find certain gifts online because you have access to worldwide markets. I can only find a handful of things in Atlanta, GA, but I can find anything I can think of when you give me internet access and a computer. This also helps if you hate holiday traffic like I do. I'd rather take finals again than to drive into holiday traffic and deal with people at the stores.

There are always people who take the holiday season too far and make you enjoy it no matter what.

No matter what you do to celebrate Christmas, someone will always do it bigger and better. This should make you laugh and smile because you don't have to try as hard to decorate. Don't believe me about people taking things too far? Click Here and you'll see.

A Christmas Story is shown 24 hours straight.

That's right. The greatest Christmas story ever told is on tv all day. That means even though nothing else may be on, you are always guaranteed to find that movie. You'll get all the "Double Dog Dares," "Shoot Your Eye Outs," and "Fudge" that you could ever hope to have. If you've never seen it, try to watch it all the way through at least once. And Fa rah rah rah rah, rah rah rah rah.

Presents

If anyone ever says that they don't like getting gifts, they are not being honest. Sure giving gifts is fun, but we all love to get something new. It's also interesting to see what people sometimes think you might want.

A Break from Work/School

If you are in school, finals are over and you get about two weeks break from your teachers and some classmates. If you are working, then you get at least a few days off at some point during the Holiday season. That's a plus. It will give you time to take a breather or to get some things done around the house that you have been putting off for a whole year.

Wow, two updates in two days? That has got to be a world record for me. Let's not take it for granted though. Let's just look at it as me being bored and felt that another update would be nice.

I also want to take this time to plug a new update to a program that I have begun to use in the past year. I'm talking about FireFox 1.5 which was just released in the past few days. For those that don't know what it is, FireFox is an alternative browser to Internet Explorer. It was created through open-source so it is free. Some may believe that a browser really can't enhance the internet for you because you are still just browsing pages. Well, you are wrong. This browser has allowed me to search the web faster and allowed me to complete different types of work in a better way. If you doubt me, just download the browser and test it out. If you don't like it, then you have lost nothing. Just follow the link from my main page or go to mozilla.org. You will thank me after you get it.

While flipping channels the other night, I saw a preview for the new season of my favorite show. That's right. 24 returns to television in January. For those who have never seen this show, I really do feel for you. This is probably one of the best shows to come out in the past five years. It is a great thriller of a show that has the plot almost reverse on you each and every week. It is not to late to join in on the show. Just go to a local store and rent it. If you want a little more info about it before then, it follows Jack who is an agent for a anti-terrorism unit known as CTU. The name of the show is from the way in which it is setup. Each show is one hour of a day (get it? 24 hours). It is shown in real time and really keeps you on the edge of your seat. Rent it, download it, watch it, whatever. Just get into it.

Let's stick with the topic of television shows because Lost is another show that has gotten me hooked lately. When I first heard about the show, I laughed at it. I thought it was just another Gilligan's Island type show. However, I heard more about it throughout its first season and slowly began to realize that maybe I was wrong with my first assumption of it. I found a copy of the first season and watched it. I was instantly hooked by the second or third episode. There was more to this show than just people stranded on an island. When the first season ended, I was mad. Not because the show ended badly. It was just because I wanted to know what was going to happen next and I had to wait a whole year to see the show try to conclude. Well, here I am in season 2 and I'm hooked now more than ever. I've come to realize that this show is brilliantly written because it contains references from all areas of the world (science, religion, literature, movies, etc.). If you have time during the break, find season 1 and watch it. Be careful though. Once you are hooked, you will be "lost" in the thought process of trying to figure out what is really going on.

While waiting for my class to start today, I decided to check out Google Analytics. This is a new service from Google that tracks information about your website. The information it provides includes page views, return vs. regular users, and locations around the world of users. Don't bother trying to get the service now because there was too high of demand for it and they have closed it currently to new users. I'm glad I was a lucky one though because it is really amazing. My favorite part is seeing who is a returning user vs. a new user.

Another great part of the service, like I said, is its ability to tell you where in the world people are viewing your page. I already knew some of the normal spots (all in Georgia). However, there are other drastic locations that people have stumbled across my site. These include: California, Cincinnati, Iowa City, Chalai India, and a few others. If anyone is from that location and view the site regularly (which I doubt), please let me know. I just think that's cool that someone besides those few people I know see the site.

Finals are coming up soon so hopefully I can post something interesting once they are done and I have more free time on my hands. If you missed a past post, check out the archives section for the past few month's postings.