I always like to see the fun side of things in life. Very rarely will I get offended by a joke made by someone. If I do find it offensive I would rather tell them and move on. In the last month there were plenty of events which were not fun at all. I’d like to address some and end with some fun stuff.

First the Virginia Tech massacre was just a total shock to me. I just have no words to describe how sad that event was. Some think gun control would stop this from happening in America. The problem is that the guns are already out there. People won’t be willing to give them up at any cost especially the criminals. I don’t have an answer to this problem in America. Some people will always think killing is the answer to their problem. Trying to help problem kids at the earliest age would be the best way in my opinion.

There was something very interesting that happened after this event, though. Some bloggers thought they found the killers blog and it started to get talked about throughout the internet. Guess what happened next? The professional TV and radio news people found about it and started to report it as fact. Perfect example why I don’t watch the news anymore! They don’t look for facts anymore. All they want is to be the first at the story for ratings. Now I have this guys blog bookmarked so I can read more about what he has to go through for his beliefs.

Then something else I just read that went in another direction which didn’t even cross my mind. This article about how violence against women have been dismissed throughout the news really made me take notice. In the beginning everyone thought this was just a domestic dispute and wasn’t important to anybody else on the campus. That should change. Violence against women is still violence and should not be tolerated in any circumstances. Now we find out the killer wasn’t even in a relationship with the woman he shot first. Would anything have changed if the school took the stalking reports more seriously? I don’t think it would change his mind. He probably would have done something like this sometime in the future. But it doesn’t mean we should look away from these issues! Maybe if we do address this issue more it will stop the next killer who thinks it’s ok to kill innocent people.

The IMUS thing got me on defensive because I like listening to radio a lot! I never really get offended by a comment someone says. I might find their language a bit rough if used excessively. IMUS deserved a warning or a stern talking to but a firing over something small compare to the other things he has said about other people? I am always for dialogue which will help more people than just trying to stop everything that’s offensive. Let’s find out why words can be offensive. I say boycott the killers, drug dealers and take back some of the gang controlled cities. That would make a HUGE difference rather than forcing a talk show host off the air.

But I must stop and get back to the fun side of life. Recently trying to get away from all the bad news I found a great site which makes me laugh, groan or just think what was that all about. The site funnyordie.com is a place to watch funny videos which are submitted and everyone can vote if it’s funny or not. Of course not everything that I think is funny will be funny to you. We are all different and that is what I love about life. Don’t be offended just move along and we will have a fun time with our lives.

I‘m actually having fun playing a MMO game called “Lord of the rings Online” which has take a lot of my free time. It’s a fun game and really keeps me entertained for hours. I also have been playing Command and Conquer 3 which is a really good immersive game. I love the games with a story that makes me believe I am actually in the game. C&C3 is basically an updated C&C generals with better graphics and better equipment. The little videos before each campaign has been great especially with a great actor like Michael Ironside playing in it.

This is the best time of the year for me. October has always been a month I wait for. I have always loved scary movies ever since I was around 10. I remember watching the movies on Select TV late at night. Covering my eyes when it got too scary or to explicit. My grandmother and mom used to love watching the movies too so it was totally natural to watch them.
One thing I do in October is go to a local theme park called, Knott’s Berry Farm. During the Halloween season they change their name to Knott’s Scary Farm and decorate the park and rides with cobwebs and spooky stuff. At night they will close the park to regular guests and prepare the park for Halloween. About 7pm to 1am the park is opened to the guests who want to get scared. They have people dressed up in costumes trying to scare people in the park all night. Their are also plenty of spooky mazes in the park where you can walk through looking at gory scenes or monsters walking around with you.
This year was a lot more crowded then previous years. I usually go on Sundays because it’s not as crowded but this time they had a premiere event for the movie “Grudge 2.” They also had a Grudge 2 maze that was closed almost all night so we couldn’t go through it. I hear it’s a good maze. Maybe next year they will have it again so I can see it. We only missed two mazes this time. I rarely get scared when going to this event because I always prepare for someone around the corner. I love watching other people getting scared though.
I hear the best time to go is during the weekdays instead of the weekend. The crowds are less because most of the teens have to go to school the next day. Don’t go on a Columbus weekend because there are schools that have Monday off still. I also must tell you to go the prescare dinner before the park opens because you get a buffet of the best fried chicken and get into the park 30 minutes before everyone else! Sometimes they won’t let you in on time or they let everyone in at the same time but usually the prescare dinner is a lot better!
If you’re interested in this halloween event or others like it you should check out Theme Park Adventure! I also wrote about some things they have in Second life at the VTOR blog I write for also.

Technorati Tags: halloween, knotts scary farm, theme park, halloween events, scary fun, johnramirez

I‘ve recently started watching a show called Heroes on NBC and I find it a very interesting show. I like the whole idea of getting people who find out they have super powers together to save the world. Each one has a strength and a weakness but together they can help each other. There are many similarities with this show and the x-men but It’s more of a psychological story rather than a straight hero movie.
Following all these people with special powers and wondering how they all are going to join together is the best part about this show. The character that I really like is Hiro Nakamura who can manipulate time and space. He gets a bit excited sometimes but that is what’s so funny about him. He doesn’t know much English so he will have a hard time trying to get with the other heroes. At least his friend knows english to help him out.
The other character I like is the cheerleader, Claire Bennet, who is indestructible but she can be stopped. She doesn’t have the strength or power so she will have to depend on other people to do some damage. The most interesting one of all of them is the woman with two personalities, Niki Sanders. Her other personality has a lot of strength and is very dangerous. She doesn’t seem to have complete control over her second personality yet. I wonder how will she use her power if and when she controls it.
The strangest character is Peter Petrelli who can fly only around his brother, Nathan Petrelli. Nathan can fly anytime but not peter. I think Peter’s power is going to be an interesting addition to the rest of them. It will be interesting to see how he plays a part with all the rest of the heroes. It seems like he gains the power of the nearest hero. A very interesting super power In my opinion.
If you aren’t watching this show it’s something you might want to check out. It comes on NBC on mondays and I hear it’s doing good in the ratings.

Technorati Tags: heroes, tv show, television, nbc, johnramirez

I found a new search engine that uses an interesting idea. When you first go to the website, msdewey.com, you are greeted by a woman avatar. When you search for terms she will say different things according to what you search for. Janina Gavankar is the model who plays the avatar and really makes this project unique and sexy! The search results come from microsoft live and it seems like it’s a test from microsoft to have some fun. This site isn’t very useful but it shows what can be done in the future. I still search with google. If you want to see some of the funnier stuff that this avatar will do then type in the following for your search terms [Updated 10/26/06]:

halo 2
murder
ho
Janina Gavankar
how to fight a ninja
what is your name
how to do the robot
george bush
storm
How old are you
dick cheney
what are you

Technorati Tags: microsoft, search, internet, Janina Gavankar

Let’s bring in real inventors and wannabe inventors to have a contest! The best invention will win lots of money! The invention has to be new, be something that will be useful and show off how smart and creative Americans can be! Sounds great right? Well the show “American Inventor” missed every part of that! When I heard of this show I was really excited! I love inventions and giving the audience a chance to pick the best invention was fantastic.
The first problem is that it came from the idea of American idol which totally works. The contestant on Idol must actually be able to sing and have some personality to win! Their back story would make sense to know who the person is inside and out. Let’s face it, An invention is an invention! Their back story of the inventor doesn’t matter too much. Sure it’s great to find out why they created the invention. It feels good to know they put in so much of their life into what they believe. But it doesn’t make a good invention. This show is only looking for inventors with good sob stories. I bet they passed on some great inventions from great inventors. I can even point you to a website with some details here from Americaninventorspot.com. Be sure to read the comments on that post to understand further. I would have loved the solar cooler to go further. Makes so much more sense in these fuel problem days!
Another problem is the inventions that have gotten through can be found already on the market or a similar product available! I am not going to talk bad about the inventions or the inventors that have gone through. I just think there must be something better out there. Another problem is letting the judges make the decisions for too long!! Give the audience a chance now! Not at the end when we’ll only have 4 choices I hope. Sure it might come down to popularity at the end but any voting by the public will always come down to that. Also way too much air time of previous inventions. I could care less about them now because your judges already dismissed them. Sure it was fun to see crazy people on TV but I think it lessens the impact of this show. Just makes it a talent show and not the best of the best!

Technorati Tags: american inventor, reality tv, johnramirez

If you ever found yourself trying to make a web page with matching colors then I found something for you. It’s called colorMatch Remix! Sometimes when I am building a web page or doing graphic work I find myself using weird colors together. I don’t have a good eye on what colors go with other colors. I constantly find myself going a bit too crazy with the colors. When I found this site I bookmarked it quickly and figured I should post it here for anyone else who needs this help. You just pick a favorite color and it will give you back 6 other colors that will match the original color. Really nice and I’ll be using it from now on!

With the disappointment I had with UK and Australia versions of big brother I was really hoping the US version would be better. Well It left with mixed emotions. I watch big brother for the social experiment basically. I like to see emotions and what happens with different people trying to live together. The US version is different from the international shows, though, because it brings in more of a strategy with the show. I was totally entertained this year. Left me shocked many times and yelling at the TV throughout the show. So It made me interested in these people just like Big Brother 2 did.

But I was disappointed at the end. My favorite housemate, Janelle, did not win. She came in 3rd and was loved by the fans. Kaysar was loved by the fans too. I thought he was a good player but lost because he was too trusting to Jennifer. Howie was a wild guy in the house who made the show so fun to watch. Rachel was a fun person to watch trying to guide Howie, her secret partner, through the game. Michael was totally wronged by the friendship people. He did nothing wrong but was accused of terrible things. The friendship let these beliefs hold their team together even after they knew the accusations were lies. Wish I could have seen more of Ashlea but what I’ve seen I think she’s a wonderful person. James were hands down the greatest player on big brother since Will Kirby of Big Brother 2. He knew what was needed to win and he tried as hard as possible. The problem with his strategy was the two teams were too solid. He wouldn’t be able to break them apart so he had no chance to get to the end.Sarah was a very sweet person and didn’t deserve to be evicted. I hope good things will happen for her in the future.

This is the part I don’t want to write about. The Friendship had the worst people I’ve ever seen in Big Brother history or another reality series. The Chill town from Big Brother 2 used to be the worst but at least they knew that they weren’t on a moral high ground. I hate hypocrisy and the friendship showed every single type of hypocrisy you can imagine. They thought they were the best, never lied, trustworthy and favorites. Every single thing they thought of themselves were false. They talked bad about every other person and they talked about very superficial things like Janelle having hair extensions. They lied to people and they really thought their lies were pure. They were very trustworthy to Eric and Maggie. They were all Worshiping Eric and Maggie. Shows me how easy it is to follow a cult so fast. I feel very sorry for Ivette because she wouldn’t have liked those people in her group if she was outside. Listening to her now that she’s out of the game she agrees that she would have been friends with the other side. She’s one of the persons this season who will learn the most and be able to change her self for the good. She was terrible in the house but she is growing on me now. Her secret partnerBeau wasn’t a very nice person too. He wasn’t a good player in the house at all. April might be the other person who will learn about herself and change for the good as well. She finally saw that she had done bad things in the house at the end of the game. Her Secret partner,Jennifer, is so delusional I can’t believe it. She is hated by the fans of Big Brother so much. She lied or went back on her word to Kaysar and took him out of the game even after America voted him back inside the house. A very Stupid mistake on her part for the game and outside of the game.

I have written so much about this so I need to stop. Maybe I’ll write about these people again after I learn more about them outside of the house. So at the end I was entertained but still disappointed who won at the end which Was Maggie . I even had to stop watching when my favorites would lose. Once I heard something good happen then I would start watching the shows I missed. Guess I’ll have to wait for next year and hope I can be satisfied next time.

Technorati Tags: big brother, reality tv, johnramirez

I‘ve always had a problem with remakes of movies. I am a fan of movies so I love watching the old black and white movies. This is the way to really enjoy movies and the process of making movies. The recent remaking of old movies just doesn’t sit right with me. I would rather have this generation watch old movies and see how movies have changed since then. If a movie is remade they might not ever want to see the original again. Some old movies are really bad and might be a better movie now if remade with all the special effects. But I would rather watch a new movie with a fresh story. I would rather know there are creative people making movies. I watch a lot of B movies and love them for their creativity and low budget special effects.I actually wrote about this before here.

TDavid from MakeYouGohmm.com says:

Just when I think the sequel train is slowing (it will never stop), Jurassic Park 4 violates the radar. What is Spielberg thinking? OK, I’m sort of interested in Indiana Jones 4, but at the present time have 0.000000001% interest in Jurassic Park 4.

Sequels I don’t have a lot of problems with. Some movies I actually would love to see a sequel so I can follow the characters experiences. “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” are a good example of a sequels I enjoy. Each one of those sequels were different and had a refreshing story. There are some sequels who come out just because the first movie was popular. Other sequels are franchises like “Friday the 13th” or “Halloween”, which I loved watching. “Jurassic Park 4″ could be a fun movie but I would rather see a fresh new dinosaur movie. There must be other writers that can write about a whole new story about dinosaurs. I’d rather see a movie that I don’t know anything about instead of something that continues a story I knew about. So Stop with the remakes and only make sequels for a good story.

Technorati Tags: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Jurassic Park, hollywood, movies, johnramirez