The Foot Print On The Earth

Wikileaks be damned! When climate gate happened it seems that opinions on human causes of climate changed cooled off.

Lions, tigers, and bears are on the decline all around the world.

Pollution, habitat destruction, and poaching are all whittling away the numbers of said species to the point that I would have to say within the next 50 years or so they will be extinct in the wild, only to be seen at circuses and petting zoos.

Let's face it, most of the resources we consume are going to run out at some point. It's just a matter of time.

Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, and Collapse, to paraphrase, described resource consumption as two horses racing; one is the move to sustainable development and alternative energy sources, and the other is stay the course, and it is just a matter of which horse finishes first.

What amazes me is the gong show between politics, business and industry, when it comes to talking about climate change, pollution, energy policy, etc.

I will admit to being oblivious to what is happening around me occasionally. However, we can't simply shrug our shoulders when we reach a critical tipping point and say how we're we supposed to know?

Organic Vs. Non-Organic

A while back there was an article online about organic versus non-organic food and one of the comments left by someone claimed that organic farm practices are harmful to the environment ....

Hmmm, so for thousands of years, human beings have been doing more harm then good when engaging in agriculture!? As opposed to the plethora of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, GMO's, hormones, and antibiotics that have proliferated over the last century of human development which is less harmful to the environment?!

Putting that tirade aside, I wanted to conduct a taste test between organic and non-organic bananas and luckily Superstore carried the same brand of banana; Del Monte

Hands down the organic banana was more creamy, smooth, and flavorful as compared to the non-organic banana.

This difference in taste also applies to organic versus non-organic red delicious apples.

I can't speak to nutrition though, which the aforementioned article stated that there is no difference between organic versus non-organic.

I hope to conduct more organic versus non-organic taste tests in the future!

Overheated Economy

China is manipulating it's currency and currency manipulation could spread to other countries.

I read a book called The World is Curved, by David Smick, which had a chapter on China titled Tony Soprano Rides the Red Dragon. The chapter describes China's monetary policy as being run by Tony Soprano behind closed doors.

We might be crying fowl about the lack of transparency and control that led to the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis, but if China is hiding debut or manipulating it's currency is questionable ways, and China's economy collapses, watch out!

The US has so much credit tied up in China that if China's economy fails, then all the debt that the US owes China will be called in and there is no way the US can afford to make good on that debt.

I would like to think other more qualified individuals are thinking about these doomsday scenarios, but after the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis allowed such obviously toxic financial products to be sold to so many people, I have to wonder ....

It is damn difficult to legislate greed. But we need to try. The consequences for one country will inevitably be transfered to another.

Netflix in Canada!

Well, Blockbuster Video is declaring bankruptcy and Rogers Video is quaking in it's collective boots because of Netflix's entrance into Canada! Ok, maybe not.

If you have a Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, you may have noticed a promo for Netflix where you can get a 30 day free trial.

I was ambivalent about Netflix at first, but after some prodding from my wife, I signed up for the trial via the Playstation network.

There are four headings to choose from, new arrivals, TV series, movies, and genres. And that is pretty much it.

The selection was disappointing, but then again, I think I expected to be able to rent Iron Man 2 and brand new movie releases aren't offered by Netflix.

Movie wise, it is pretty much older titles, though you get some foreign movies thrown in as well. Where Netflix might be your game is in TV shows and documentaries, of which there were a fair number of. Apparently in Canada you are not able to download anything off of Netflix, so when that comes around there will be added value to what is offered.

Is Netflix worth the $8.99 a month? I personally don't think so, but that is just me. If you like TV and documentaries and watching the occasional older movie and don't care about the finest selection of new releases, then Netflix will probably be worth the monthly price.

Marijuana is bad m-kay!

A Winnipeg teen was shot for apparently refusing to buy some marijuana. That is how it is worded on the ticker on CBC National this morning.

The wording gives the impression that the teen that was shot is a martyr for the war on drugs, and certainly anti-drug PR machines go into overdrive when a specific type of crime related to drugs such as the one mentioned occur.

I remember years ago an anti-drug commercial airing on Fox Rochester announcing a young teenaged girl had died of an overdose related to either ecstasy or crystal meth at a rave or house party. It was very solemn and tragic sounding. To bad the commercial had to subsequently be pulled because later medical reports indicated the girls death was not specifically drug related at all!

I'm not justifying the shooting in any way. Let me be clear about that. My point is the anti-drug groups have their 'spin' on things and I am always weary of the message being sent out by any group with an agenda. Which in truth, is just about every organization out there good and/or bad.

Groups for decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, could just as easily 'spin' the aforementioned events and advocate that measures to legalize marijuana can prevent said incidents.

For now though, the anti-drug PR machines have more clout because we elect governments that consistently harp on a 'stay the course' treatment of the war on drugs. Specifically the multibillion war against marijuana which has been raging for decades.

Niche Advertising

Ok, I don't normally watch hunting shows on Saturday mornings, but I brought my car in for a tune up and on the TV in the waiting room is this hunting show on Global that I can't remember the name of, and during the commercial breaks I catch a couple of hunting goods commercials.

More specifically, commercials for hunting weapons. One was for a hunting rifle made by a company called Terra, and the other for a crossbow bolt called Excalibur. In both commercials, a lone male hunter is about in the woods stalking his prey. The prey happens to be deer in both commercials, and as the hunter is taking aim and about to fire, the benefits of each weapon are extolled by a narrator. I liked the fact that in the rifle commercial the hunter takes out a big male buck deer (they don't show the deer being taken down for obvious reasons I think) and then proudly carrying off the horns as a trophy (again, skip past the messy part!) In the other commercial the hunter doesn't seem to succeed in taking down the deer with a crossbow bolt which was a little confusing, though perhaps the idea is the bolt didn't kill the deer outright.

So, what is interesting about these commercials? I don't think they were highly 'creative' per say, though I think if you could make a hunting rifle commercial creative without being absurd or blatantly offensive, more power to you! Aside from any PETA types being horrified, it is quite clear that the aforementioned products would not be advertised, and I have not seen advertised in any other time slot and/or when a non hunting show is airing. There were other non specific commercials mixed with the hunting related commercials, but this shows that certain products are only going to be suitable to be advertised in tandem with a specific TV show.

I also know that the price for a 30 second spot on Saturday morning is pretty cheap compared to prime time slots, and the audience in question for that show is the audience those products would want to be advertised to, no matter how small said audience might be.

In the end, I think I might have to watch a few more fishing and hunting shows just to see what other commercials I might come across.

In the meantime, this is Billy Bobby signing off with "I'm goin' Waterhorse huntin' with my brand new Excalibur Crossbow!" Love that smooth recoil action!

Dissidence

In China a wife is sentenced to house arrest ...

Tensions rise with Norway ...

All over a Nobel Peace Prize in the name of democracy ...

In the West a quiet hush ...

No one dares upset the economic juggxrnaught ...

Ironically the very laptop that this is written on

Is made in China, so hypocrites are we all

New Hockey Season - New Commercials!

So a new hockey season is upon us and to kick it off I saw some new commercials.

The one stand out was the Captain Morgan commercial. Not that it was exceptional, but that the current campaign which has the slogan "Calling all Captains", seems a bit worn out with the premise of this most recent commercial being a bunch of guys at a bar who ditched their girlfriends via leaving 'versions' of themselves back home ranging from a stuffed dummy to a knight is shining armor in bed.

It is interesting to note that slogans and themes come and go as the brand chugs along. You either see a brand being tweaked by a new slogan or campaign or in some cases being a complete tear down and rebuild and reposition for a brand like the recent Old Spice campaign.

Oh, and attention to Leon's, try some creative for commercials that don't happen in the furniture store!

Video Game Review: Bioshock 2

Ok, I actually picked up a game within the first year it has been released! Well, it was on sale and I couldn't resist!

The other purchasing factor decision has to do with the fact that I bought the first Bioshock game not so long ago and was blown away by what an amazing game the first instalment is.

I can say unequivocally that the Bioshock series has some of the best narrative I have come across in a video game and that is saying a lot. I recommend these titles based on that fact alone. The story is fantastical, but topical, and you will get involved with the characters and their stories.

I don't want to put in any spoilers, so the basic premise of the story revolves around a huge city under the ocean called Rapture in the 1950's. Rapture is the creation of Andrew Ryan, a meglomaniac industrialist who wants a society where art, industry, and science belong to the person, and as one of the great opening lines in the first Bioshock goes, "Am I not entitled to the sweat off my brow?", Rapture is supposed to be an ideal utopia, though greed, control, abuse of eugenics, and cruelty usurp the utopia and plunge Rapture into civil chaos and crime.

In the first Bioshock, you are a survivor of a plane crash over the ocean and come upon the entrance to Rapture. Again, no spoilers! Play the first instalment as there is a nice kicker at the end!

Bioshock 2 takes place 10 years after the first Bioshock. In the second Bioshock you play as a Big Daddy, the guardians of the Little Sisters that go around Rapture finding Adam in corpses. Yes, creepy I know! And that alone should intrigue you into getting into the story of both games.

So what you say? What about graphics and sound? Comparatively, Bioshock 1 and 2 are pretty much identical graphically. The first Bioshock has great detail in everything from the weapons to the surrounding environments and that is maintained in the sequel.

Sound wise, you get some cool effects of gunfire, plasmids that defy physics and biology, and a musical score that kicks in at the right times to heighten the mood.

The weapon system is virtually identical in terms of being able to upgrade weapons as the game progresses in both instalments. What has changed is that you can't invent ammo and items, which was a neat feature in the first instalment, though not direly necessary, and the ability to hack cameras and turrets is made easier in the sequel via a tool that allows you to fire a hacking 'dart' and hack from a distance.

There are familiar enemies via the splicers of different varieties of crazy looking, with an addition of a 'Hulk' like splicer and the scary Big Sisters which sound like a cross between the Ring Wraiths in LOTR and the Raptors in Jurassic Park.

Play control is smooth and responsive in both instalments and depending on whether you decide to save or harvest the little sisters in both instalments, you will get a varied ending after completing the game which adds a little more to the replay value.

Is there a Bioshock 3 in the works? Well, based on the ending to Bioshock 2 I would say that another instalment is possible. We can only hope that the developers at 2K put "the sweat off their brows" into another instalment with the fervour for which they put in the first two instalments!

GRAPHICS: 4.5 out of 5

(Only a hair lower because there wasn't anything vastly improved graphically as compared to the first Bioshock)

SOUND: 5 out of 5

CONTROL: 5 out of 5

My Week With The Ipad ....

I will get right into it. The Ipad has great appeal because of it's usability. And by that I mean you can do a lot with the Ipad considering you can only run your finger on or tap the screen.

From games to magazines, there are a lot of possibilities with the Ipad.

Using the screen was easy enough and it was responsive to what I wanted to do. I found typing on the Ipad for taking notes was relatively easy with the exception of capitalization with the onscreen equivalent of a shift key which seemed to be dodgy at times.

The person who used it before me had some cool apps downloaded such as the Thum Drum and Keyboard app which sound amazing and are very responsive.

I downloaded the IGN app, which was free, and was disappointed as it is nothing more then a bunch of articles you click on.

I noticed in an article from awhile back that the Ipad is big in business and I recall in the latest app commercial for the Ipad that you can drag and drop charts into a presentation, and that is the side that would make or break me purchasing an Ipad in the future; if it is as useful for business purposes as I've heard.

The next time I have the Ipad I will search out some more games and see what I can find!

PS Oh yeah, Angry Birds is an enjoyable game on the Ipad!

Go Water Horse!

Did you notice that pop up ad during your favorite TV show?

Alright, I can't remember what TV show I was watching but I couldn't help but notice that a pop up ad for All Bran appeared in the bottom left corner of the program as I was watching.

The fact that I remember the ad and not the TV show I was watching at the time is a testament to the fact that the ad worked. It got my attention for the simple fact that it was distracting and stood out.

Was it annoying? Perhaps a little because it took my focus off the TV program. Non traditional ad techniques such as the one I mentioned are creeping in all over the place. On Xbox Live, there are plenty of business connected sponsorships associated with online gaming competitions. I suppose the traditional mix of TV, Radio, and Print will never fully go away, but are giving room to new media forms of advertising such as the ones mentioned.

Welcome to the new age of ad!

Attention Andrew Swan, Minister of Justice for the Manitoba NDP

If prisoners sleeping on top of each other seems like such an acceptable state of the penal system in the province of Manitoba, why don't you spend a night in those conditions and see what it is really like!

Ode to a fake lake ....

It doesn't seem to matter which government we elect, inevitably the government in power makes questionable use of tax payers dollars.

In the case of the G8 to G20 summits, the expensive cost of security is justified to prevent terrorists from taking advantage of a lot of world leaders being in one location at a time.

Seems sensible doesn't it? Well, not really when you realize that a lot of the agenda is already agreed upon before said meetings/summits, and it is predominantly a show for politicians to appear before podiums and sign agreements with fancy ball point pens with cameras giving off epileptic levels of flashing light.

The G8 and G20 meetings are as much about the PR of politics as they are about economics, international trade agreements, etc.

In today's rage against government bailouts for banks and companies who put themselves in a financial pickle, taxpayers are getting tired of stomaching the bill after the party is over.

So, for all you political types out there, heed this warning: Keep it simple!

The Assault on Democracy .....

So, there seems to be conclusive evidence that a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean Warship (unless that evil organization Quantum that James Bond is fighting against is behind it).

Immediate rhetoric and condemnation was uttered by both Canadian and American political figures.

What puzzles me, is in the wake of this latest folly between North and South Korea is the on going assault on democracy in Thailand has not nearly received as much political zeal from our elected officials.

Much like Tianemen Square, advocates of democracy are being put down. I don't think a military coup, whether bloody or bloodless, counts as 'democratic'. The Red Shirts have a valid concern that the current government is not legitimate and that immediate elections are the only fair way to settle the differences between the political and social groups struggling for control.

I think the reason that no one is talking about sanctions against the current Thai government is the same reason that Western political powers don't complain about the lack of civil rights in Saudi Arabia.

Oil, minerals, cheap labour, tourism, chances are if a country has an abundance of one or more of these, then foreign policy says to not upset the apple cart.

So clean up the streets current Thai government, the stains of your assault on democracy will be the most visceral part of your legacy.

Attention Rand Paul ....

You do realize the irony of attacking Obama's criticisms of BP as 'un-american' don't you? After all, BP stands for British Petroleum and the original motivation for the Boston Tea Party was to oppose British tariffs on imports such as tea.

Oh wait, drilling for oil is so ...... patriotically American?

And Paul, what if the CEO of a major oil company is of Hispanic, Latino, or Mexican ethnic origin?

Like any good hypocritical politician, you would take the money and run.

Attention Lawrence Cannon ....

Hey Einstein, you were asked about the CSIS report on the vulnerability of universities and government agencies to attacks by hackers.

You were not asked about border security!!

I hope you plan on using those CSIS reports for more then just coasters or toilet paper!

Attention Vic Toews .....

Face it dude, the federal conservative party has had how many years to review the pardon system in Canada and do something about it and you've done what exactly? Nothing!

If Sheldon Kennedy hadn't commented on Graham James pardon and what the pardon entails would we have heard one peep out of any of you mugs?

This happened on your watch!

The law should be stable, but not stand still. Even more important though, the law should not be reactionary, which is all your inflammatory rhetoric is.

Attention Federal Conservative Party of Canada .....

I hope you plan on increasing taxes to help pay to feed, cloth, shelter, and educate all those babies that are going to be born in the future both abroad and here at home ......

Avatar: Blu-Ray Disc Review

Ok, if you have been living in a cave of some sort you might not have heard of a small budget film from an emerging director named James Cameron called Avatar.

When I first heard about the movie I was intrigued, and when I also heard about the enormous budget for the movie I was even more intrigued. Alas, becoming a parent during a full time school schedule meant no goin' out to movies for Mikey.

So I waited till it came out on Blu-Ray disc and picked up a copy.

All you get is the Blu-Ray version of the movie along with a regular DVD version with no extra features. So if you like extras you might want to wait till the apparent beefed up version which will be released I suspect around, wait for it, Christmas! I could be wrong about that though.

So, Avatar got mixed reviews, a few bad reviews and a few excellent reviews. I went into watching the movie with an open mind though I couldn't help compare this movie to some of James Cameron's other action epics like The Abyss and Terminator I and Terminator II. Technically, Avatar surpasses anything that James Cameron has done.

Overall, I felt a little a let down by the end of the movie. Don't get me wrong, as I said previously, technically the movie is near flawless from a direction, editing, sound and cinematography sense. For those reasons alone seeing this movie on a big screen would have been worth it. Where the film loses marks is in not convincing me to buy into what is happening to the characters. Even Terminator II had some really good dramatic moments that I bought into. Can you say Ahhnold!

The acting is fine, I just didn't buy into the motivations of the characters. Is it that they aren't developed enough? Is it that there isn't enough tension and conflict between certain characters? I think it is something along those lines that left me a little disengaged as the movie rolled along.

The theme of the story is a tried and true human journey kind where a character gets involved with another culture with his or her motivations in mind, but then changes as the narrative progresses and sides with the culture he or she is supposed to be working against.

With that in mind I give Avatar 3 stars out of 5 stars overall. Most of those stars go for the effects which were criticized by some as being either cute or fake or some combination of the two, but I found the visual and special effects to be spectacular.

Overall, if you are looking for an original sci-fi adventure flick then Avatar might not be the ticket, but if you want a decent story with top notch effects then Avatar will be right up your alley.

The picture quality of the Blu-Ray disc is second to none with vibrant colors and rich black levels. The sound is engaging with a host of alien sounds filling your speakers on Pandora and the rumble of the subwoofer when there are explosions in the big action sequence at the end of the third act.

Picture: 5 out of 5.

Sound: 4.5 out of 5.

Story: 3 out of 5

The PR of the Black Blood of the Earth

Face it. The world economy to large degrees is driven by oil. With that in mind even the gigantic and catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not going to stop people from driving their vehicles, taking business or vacation trips by plane, or ripping that oil based plastic product off that new toy for their child.

Chevron Canada is embarking on the deepest offshore oil drill in Canadian waters. Timing aside, I can't recall Chevron preemptively reassuring Canadians that they are taking every precaution possible to prevent a similar disaster occurring in Canadian Waters.

BP's PR response to the Gulf of Mexico spill gets mixed reviews as far as I am concerned because at first BP seemed very subtle and muted about the initial explosion and possibility of oil leaking. Only when the reality of thousands of liters of oil making its way to the shores of Louisiana and Mississippi became all to apparent did upper management for BP start to appear on TV and make statements to the press.

I'm sure Chevron is watching what is happening the Gulf of Mexico with keen eyes and ears and I would think that crisis management and communications materials are being drafted or at the very least being considered. I would like to see Chevron issuing news releases or statements talking plainly about the safety precautions they are taking to ensure a similar disaster doesn't happen in Canadian waters.

If the spill in the Gulf of Mexico is even more disastrous then the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989, then this is a chance not only for BP but all oil companies to right a PR wrong, and make the oil industry look less draconian and profit mad then I personally think the oil industry is.

Attention Justin Beiber fans in New Zealand ....

I don't care how easy it is to get lost in his big brown bear eyes ... Get a life!

District 9 Blu-Ray Disc Review

Ok, the alien vs. human genre of films have been done to death, but District 9 is a really great film that not only has brilliant visual and special effects, but a story-line with human overtones.

The basic story is this, a large alien space ship comes to a stop over Johannesburg in South Africa and after some time, humans go to the ship and break in to discover the aliens, referred to as prawns by humans, sick and starving. The prawns are rescued and nursed back to health, but are quickly treated like second class citizens by being kept together in one segregated area. The human side of the story comes into play when you see South Africans complaining about the prawns, saying they have diseases, they are dangerous, not to be trusted, etc. It is a direct play on apartheid in South Africa, though ironically the Africans are the ones advocating apartheid along with everyone else in the narrative of the film. You also get a touch of corporate malfeasance via the cold, calculated actions of the MNU corporation in the film.

Most of the actors in the film are not familiar to me at all by name, but all the performances are solid. Peter Jackson puts his producer muscles behind the film which results in fantastic production values. The visual and special effects are second to none, and it is easy to see why District 9 was nominated for Oscars in said categories. The prawns are rendered so vividly that you forget you are seeing CGI!

Video: Crisp clean picture with nice black levels and color reproduction.

Sound: Mostly dialogue driven at the start of the film, but the sound of weapons fire both human and prawn in the third act comes through nicely via a DTS HD 5.1 mix.

So, District 9 is a sci-fi film for you if you want to go beyond Alien vs. Predator, with equally good effects and a much more human story to it.

Video: 5 out of 5

Sound: 5 out of 5

Story: 5 out of 5

The synergy of PR and advertising

So, a person can be a product. And when your product is a person, and the person 'messes' up, PR serves as damage control for not only the person, but the product and the brand.

In the case of Tiger Woods, Nike waiting to air that introspective commercial with nothing but Tiger's face and his deceased father's voice lecturing him seemed to be more PR then advertising to me.

In my PR class our instructor indicated she thinks that Nike waited to long to do anything and that when they finally did something (the commercial) it was not effective.

I wonder what Nike would have done if Michael Jordan would have been found in such ostentatious circumstances? Especially considering that Michael Jordan is still a huge cash cow for Nike.

I wonder what Nike would have done if Woods had won the Masters? Some triumphant ads of some sort?

We shall see what Nike has in store for Woods in the future ..... hopefully nothing scandalous!

Heat - Blu-Ray Disc Review

I remember when I bought the two tape VHS version of heat back in the late 90's ..... Now that I've dated myself let me continue. Heat was released in 1995 to critical acclaim. I rented it and was blown away!

Then DVD comes along and I swapped (gave the VHS copy to my dad) and upgraded to the DVD version of Heat which was a decent enough transfer.

In 2005 a tenth anniversary edition was released and after reading reviews online the picture and sound were apparently not tweaked, and despite a bonus disc with extra features, I wasn't going to drop the money being asked .... so patiently I waited.

In 2009 the Blu-Ray version was released and after watching it I was not disappointed.

The picture is clean, crisp, and clear pretty much throughout the entire film. One issue that was not cleaned up with the original DVD transfer was the presence of grain and noise that was common with virtually any VHS release (and was why I didn't want to buy the 2005 special edition) and those issues are almost nil on the Blu-Ray version. There are a lot of scenes at night and the black levels are fantastic which gives off excellent contrast in full 1080p.

Hi-def sound comes via a Dolby TrueHD track, and even though the film is dialogue driven for the most part, the gunfights are really present and there is enough ambient sound in different scenes ranging from the hustle and bustle of a hospital to the hotel evacuation at the end of the film and the intense climax at LAX with the sound of jet engines roaring through your rear channels .... whoa baby!

Heat is based on a True Crime novel involving Chicago cops and robbers which I am not to familiar with. Insight into the real life inspiration for the film and why it took so long to go ahead are a couple of the bonus features you get in this version as well.

The story line is great and although Pacino's relationship with Deniro's character is dynamic and interesting, Pacino's character goes through a marriage breakdown because of his obsession with catching the bad guy, his wife having an affair, and his step daughter trying to commit suicide, which can come across as a little much to take in during the course of the almost three hours you will be watching. Don't get me wrong though, overall the narrative is excellent, with stellar performances from the whole cast, and Michael Mann, who loves a wide shot, films LA in cinematic epicness.

So, all that being said, if you like a good cops and robbers genre movie wise, Heat is the ticket. Who knows what the next gen of hi-def will give us ..... In the meantime, I will give my DVD copy to my dad. It's alright, he only wants to be one step behind technology anyway.

Picture: 5 out of 5
Sound: 5 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5

God of War I and II - Playstation 3 Version

The God of War franchise has been lucrative for Sony much like the Halo series has been lucrative for the Xbox.

I purchased the bundled version containing the first two installments in the God of War series ahead of the PS3 release of God of War III.

What drew me to it was the promise of high definition gaming in 720p over the 480p PS2 versions.

In case you are not familiar with the story lines of the GOW series, the main character is Kratos, the ghost of Sparta. Kratos is a powerful Spartan general who is victorious in battle and extremely brutal. Eventually Kratos meets defeats at the hands of huge army of
Eastern Barbarians, and at the moment Kratos is about to be killed, he pleads with Aries, the God of War, to grant him victory.

Kratos then becomes a servant of the Gods, and is blessed with superhuman powers and throughout GOWI you play Kratos as he embarks on several quests to fulfill his duties to the Gods. In GOWII Kratos is betrayed by Zeus and the quests are more about Kratos getting revenge against the Gods.

The original games are breathtaking graphically, with lush environments that include an amazing color palette that makes you feel like you are in ancient Greece. The sound is equally amazing with a soundtrack that shifts from soft ambient tracks to pumped up orchestrations for battle sequences and boss levels. The character acting is very impressive overall as well with the voice of Kratos appropriately tough and rugged sounding.

The 720p resolution is fantastic! Where the transfer loses marks though, is when game play gives way to cut scenes that give you back story or additional narrative information. It seems Sony got lazy and left all the cut scenes in standard definition which can be quite noticeable at times. Boo!

The original sound is the same format as the PS2 predecessors, a Dolby Pro Logic II soundtrack that does give you some spatial organization to what is happening onscreen if you have surround sound. I am a little disappointed that Sony did not do a full 5.1 Dolby Digital remix as both GOW titles have sound effects and soundtracks worthy of the full surround sound treatment.

There aren't many extra features except the bonus disc features from the original GOWII special edition which includes deleted levels. You do get trophies for reaching achievements which is kind of neat, and there is a code to download a demo of GOWIII with the game when you buy it brand new.

Overall, for the price of 29.99 plus tax, this GOWI and GOWII PS3 addition is a great price for hardcore fans who desire better resolution picture quality wise and anyone who hasn't tried the franchise and has a PS3.

Graphics: 4 out of 5: 720p during the cut scenes!?

Sound: 4 out of 5: 5.1 Dolby Digital, no excuses!

Play control: 4.5 out of 5. You can't control the camera angle in game which is a little annoying.

Replay value: 5 out of 5. With puzzles mixed in with visceral action and four difficulty settings, this package is well worth the price.

Rating: M for Mature. Blood and dismemberment and some frontal nudity so parents watch out!

Hopefully I will be able to review GOWIII soon! May the Gods be with you!

Attention to Ann Coulter ....

I'm not suggesting you are not intelligent, but the ability to speak does not make you intelligent!

Random Thoughts ....

I don't like it when I by a CD, a dinosaur technology that isn't of good sound quality.

On the plus side, I just purchased a digitially mastered copy of Neil Young's Harvest album. The mastering comes via the HDCD format and it is freakin' amazing!

This sound quality is what all CD's are capable of, but still to this day fall short of.

More HDCD for me please!

Attention Prime Minister Harper .....

Ok, you got your beer from Obama because Canada won gold at the Winter Olympics ......

Now get back to work! All of you! You all had an extended vacation already!

Obliviousness is bliss .....

So, you put your recycling out and think "I'm doin' my part!" In reality, much of what you put in your recycling ends up being thrown into the regular garbage, particularly plastics with a number higher then 2.

I'm not saying recycling is a bad thing as I'm sure millions of metric tonnes of waste have not ended up in landfills. What we need to remember is that recycling requires energy and produces it's own waste as well.

You need electricity to run the lights and conveyor belts the recyclables come in on to be sorted and that piece of paper you wrote on, you need water and I'm sure some other chemicals to break that paper down before it can be made into a new piece of paper.

So, here is my ideal recycling facility. It would be powered by green energy via geothermal, wind, and solar panels, and have a sophisticated water recycling system to minimize it's need for additional water.

Hmmm, now I have to see how many recycling facilities actually meet any of the aforementioned criteria. I'm sure there has to be a least one right?

Atrazine is toxic !!!

I noticed a recent study out of Berkley in California concluded that the commonly used herbicide in Canada and the US on corn crops, Atrazine, disrupts hormones in frogs and causes chemical castration in some male frogs. For the aforementioned reasons, Atrazine is banned in Europe.

There have been extinctions and population decimation's in amphibian populations throughout North America, while the quality and quantity of sperm amongst humans has been on decline.

Are these just coincidences? I hardly think so. We are dependent on the technology of chemicals and chemistry for everything to keeping the insides of our house smelling like a spring meadow, to keeping insects from consuming the crops that become our breads and frozen vegetables.

The federal government of Canada, to the best of my knowledge, wedged open the homo toxicus doors even wider by allowing the chemical industries to get new chemicals approved like herbicides and insecticides on the basis of 'acceptable risk'. In a nutshell, small amounts of chemicals that are deemed not to be all that much harmful to human beings are alright.

I personally find this notion to be ridiculous. If something is not proven to be safe, then it should not be allowed on the market! Does anyone remember the faux pas of DDT, Thalidomide, or Asbestos?

Products that were once thought to be beneficial were discovered to be harmful and were banned, though much to my personal disgust, DDT is still being sold cheaply to third world countries while a little talked about embarrassment is the fact that Canada is still exporting Asbestos to countries like India.

A warning to politicians on Parliment Hill: A maelstrom of public backlash is coming if you continue to peddle policies that cater to the whims of big business profits over public health.

I for one will not vote for any political party in the future that either does nothing to regulate the pollutants that are put in the air, ground, and water. Neither will I vote for any political party that panders to the cash lobbyists of corporations and industry.

The company that is the main purveyor of Atrazine, Syngenta, had their scientist, of course, dismiss the Berkley findings as 'fundamentally flawed.' Pardon my sardonic and cynical yawn!

Of course a company is going to defend their product! If my livelihood or ability to buy a new Porsche is being threatened by an external study or policy implementation I would be up in arms too.

We as citizens need to send a message to the chemical industry about the reckless endangerment they are engaging in. But don't worry if the current crop of politicians both in Canada and the US don't do anything, eventually what goes around comes around, and the reckless endangerment of business and industry today, become the lawsuits and litigation of the future.

Halo ..... the best video game franchise of all time?

I was looking at pictures of Halo Reach on IGN and I will admit the artwork looks impressive.

My only concern is that Bungie is potentially setting themselves up for disaster if the game is nothing short of immaculate.

I remember when Halo 2 came out for the original Xbox, and while I was totally into the game and played it more then a few times from beginning to end, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was a miss .....

In truth, I thought that Half-Life 2, released by Valve in the same year as Halo 2, 2005, was at least a slightly better game overall.

Then along came the much anticipated Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 in 2007 and the story line that started back in 2001 with the original Halo was resolved.

Again, Halo 3 was awesome, but not immaculate awesome for some reason and it seems little details, much like with Halo 2, just robbed both Halo 2 and 3 of some of its fine polish.

I have yet to try the spin off Halo Wars, which is a real time strategy game similar to Warcraft and Starcraft or the prequel Halo ODST, so I want comment on them till I get around to trying both those games out.

Halo Reach is supposed to be the final curtain on the Halo franchise and with all the hype leading up to the release date, it better be epic from beginning to end.

Convergance is coming!

It seems that very little electronics wise can't either be hooked up to the Internet and/or have a USB based plug and play aspect to it.

Right now, I have three major components on my home theater rack; a receiver, regular DVD player, and a Blu-Ray player in the form of a PlayStation 3.

I am thinking it is only a matter of time before the receiver as we know it, becomes a fully integrated hub for everything. With the ability to store HD content on something as small as an Ipod, the time will come when one piece of electronics might do everything and separate components will not be necessary.

Of course, that might be a while away, and the technology in question for such universality will be expensive at first as most new technologies tend to be, but is it a stretch to think that one day in the future home electronics and even computers will be so integrated as to be not to dissimilar from the main computer on the Enterprise from Star Trek?

I digress to say that after reading a review for a 2000 dollar Denon Blu-Ray player that separate components still have their appeal and are not about to disappear quite yet.

Mathematical anomalies

I had a thought one day about school. The program I am in lets in a cap of 75 students roughly a year.

Given that population growth is only going up still (albeit apparently slowing down in most industrialised first world countries) and not going down anytime soon, I often wonder about the nature of competition in crowded places.

If you've ever been on a bus that is packed like a can of sardines you get the feeling that civilization is best represented by the calm that people on those packed buses retain.

Eventually, the number 75 will have to be increased to accommodate more students coming and the facilities will have to be expanded somewhat to meet the demands of more students as well.

In our program, we are told, competition is fierce for jobs/careers upon graduation, which leads to another mathematical anomaly; is there potentially a tipping point in the future where the ratio of actual jobs/careers to graduates will see supply not meet demand?

In other words, will some people simply not get jobs/careers because population is to high relative to the amount of jobs/careers available and/or being created?

Death of a Small Bank .....

In the US small banks are not recovering so well as their bigger brothers and sisters who received billions in taxpayer funded bailouts.

Unfortunately, this is a symptom of a larger problem with capitalism; the distribution of wealth.

Yes, capitalism and free markets allow JUST about anyone who has a business idea to make a go of it, but when it comes to issues of inflation and cost of living increases in relation to wealth distribution, its no surprise that the lower and middle classes are paying more to get by then the wealthy.

You need to look only at years of cuts to social programs coupled with shrinking wages, salaries, and disappearing benefits to see how inflation increases hit the lower and middle classes the hardest.

It might be a cliche to say that plain old greed is the culprit, but there are individuals more responsible then others. A large portion of free market zealots believed that absolutism in free markets would manifest itself in a short period of time into a Utopian capitalist paradise in economic experiments around the world from China, to Bolivia, and the former Soviet Union.

What has instead happened is hoarding of wealth by a few percent of the populations with minimal trickle-down to the other social strata's.

And so now, even though the free market zealots core beliefs were shaken to the very foundations during the Credit Crisis of just a few years ago, the heroin addicts that are the large financial institutions that got high on their on supply of liquidity, were given sickly sweet doses of methadone via large bailouts.

Whose to say that someone won't try to pull the same high risk for short term gain economic stunts again?

Twitter to Facebook ....

I was aware of Twitter and Facebook before entering Creative Communications at Red River College, but had no desire or need to use said social media before.

I had to sign up for Twitter in my first semester Public Relations course, and then not to long afterwards, on my own, opened a Facebook account.

So far I use Facebook much more frequently then Twitter. Part of the reason is that you can create photo albums which is a quick way to get pictures out to family and friends without having to develop and physically mail pictures.

Facebook has some other interesting features as well like the birthday function and being able to simply get someones attention by 'poking' them.

To me personally, Twitter is a scaled down version of Facebook, and Facebook is winning the social media battle for myself personally in terms of features and functions that I like.

My wife has had a Facebook account for sometime before me, but she rarely uses it. I have a cousin who refuses to use Facebook because he doesn't want his personal life to mix with his business life in light of privacy issues that Facebook has had to deal with over the past year.

I do have former work colleagues and friends on Facebook which is indispensable as a means of getting a hold of people you don't see on a regular basis, or finding people you might not have seen in years.

On the other hand, I do sometimes feel frustrated when I say I have posted pictures on Facebook and someone wants to see said pictures and they indicate they don't have a Facebook account.

One side of Twitter and Facebook that I haven't really been able to get a sense of fully yet is the business potential for both forms of social media.

On Twitter I've noticed you can follow anyone from a celebrity to a scientist. Short form messages do have the potential to say a lot; potentially just as much as an elaborate Facebook page for a business or PR campaign.

The rapidity of information as well as the complexity or simplicity of information has been transformed by Facebook and Twitter. I can simply assume that whatever career in communications I have in the future, that Twitter or Facebook will be some part of it.

Let it snow ....

Record snowfalls in Washington DC, and lack of snow fall in BC. What do we make of this? Some would say it is the result of El Nino. I say it is the result of climate change! I know I don't have any actual empirical proof but neither does anyone else to the contrary.

Again, we must remember that yes, if the planet warms, overall it will get warmer, but that doesn't mean the whole of the planet will necessarily transform into the Mojave Desert!

Divine Intervention in Disaster Areas

So, we all know full well because of media saturation what has happened in Haiti and out of the woodwork comes those with metaphysical explanations of what has happened.

Notably a televangelist in the United States declaring that the Haitians sold there souls to the devil many moons ago and the disastrous earthquake that struck Haiti is punishment for their sins.

Aside from the obvious geological reasons as to why the earthquake occurred, to many people who are not so wound up in finding divine reasons for disasters, such testimonials about why natural disasters happen sound, at least to me, uneducated, ignorant, and down right absurd.

That televangelist has a lot in common with individuals or groups of individuals who would use interpretations of religious texts to condone acts of violence against others who don't think or believe as they do; a blindness to obvious facts and a narrow point of view on the world.

The world is small. So small in the grand scheme of things. Still, it seems we have the desire to weather divine meaning out of events like natural disasters and even to use such divine meanings for our own purposes and propaganda.

Heart Disease Anyone?

I overheard last night on the news that there is supposed to be a new wave of heart disease in the age group which includes people in their 20's to 30's.

In addition to this fun medical fact, is the apparent need to exercise everyday for 60 to 90 minutes vigorously.

Now, the last I heard on the subject of how much physical activity was desirable was the recommendation that you get your heart rate up and keep it there for about 20 minutes and that you should endeavour to achieve this cardiovascular goal three times a week.

Does the aforementioned disparity ring any bells?

The Canadian Food Guide called for, and only as an adult did I realize how non-sensible the serving numbers were, an awfully high daily number of servings of meat, grains, dairy, and fruits and vegetables.

Three square meals a day was considered the norm and now some wisdom is saying six smaller meals a day is ideal for digestion.

And it turns out you really don't need eight glasses of water a day; especially for men as apparently the extra pressure on a males bladder is not good for the prostate.

I am not saying that we shouldn't be exercising or being mindful of what we eat, to the contrary, we have become one of the least physically active generations in human history with access not only to an abundance of relatively healthy foods in the industrialized world, but an equally abundant amount of relatively unhealthy foods as well.

The recent Canadian cardiovascular update just made me think about how conventional wisdom when it comes to our health which persists can be so easily dismissed, ignored, and/or proven inaccurate in the future.

Attention International Monetary Fund, World Bank, & Heritage Foundation ...

People who are caught in disaster zones are still people!

In The Chamber 2010: Last Men - Play Review

The seats were comfortable for the near hour and a half of the play (the start time was 15 minutes late as they were cramming as many audience members in as they could) In The Chamber 2010: Last Men, a Theatre Projects Manitoba production.

The play consisted of two parts - Part One: Last Man in Krakendorf, written and performed by Gordon Tanner, and Part Two: Last Man in Puntarenas, written and performed by Steven Ratzlaff. Both of whom are local actors/playwrights.

I found the beginning or 'overture' as it is aptly named, a little confusing in terms of what it was supposed to symbolize. It seemed to focus metaphorically on the concepts of self and chaos which are elements of the two part play that was to come later.

Part One sees Gordon Tanner playing a somewhat disheveled and disillusioned analyst who works for a large agriculture company, who is video taping a rant in a hotel bedroom which he plans to send to Warren Buffet about hog farm safety. Part One is laced with plenty of political, satirical, and sometimes self-deprecating humor about agribusiness and individual choices, while keeping up a pretty consistent continuity and flow. There were a few times were I felt the continuity and flow got bogged down, but overall I did enjoy Part One and Gordon Tanner's performance was well acted.

Part Two sees Steven Ratzlaff playing a somewhat, wait for it, disheveled and disillusioned ex-teacher and former medical consultant for patient safety, who just quit because he is so mired with cynicism and pessimism about his former occupation and how it relates to the death of his mentally challenged son, who underwent a complicated but unsuccessful heart surgery. Phew! That is quite a mouthful as I found Part Two was much more detailed to the point that it did seem to drag out as the balance between the humor, political, and satirical, which was pretty well balanced in Part One, got lost as Part Two went on and seemed to be only serious and lamenting come the end of the play. Ratzlaff plays his character well, and has a little more to work with then Tanner as Ratzlaff's character is at a restaurant with work colleagues who he addresses but are not actually there. The imaginary characters are portrayed by balloons tied to chairs which I thought was clever. Over time, a waiter, played by Tanner, takes the balloons away one by one till there is no one left to listen to Ratzlaff's character rant about the medical system and the inquiry into his son's death.

What tied the two plays together in a rough sense was the concept of 'human error with the new view' and something called 'human factor analysis'. Those themes are in both plays, though more so I thought in Part One, and both parts entail a tragedy of sorts, whether it be a hog barn fire or a botched surgical procedure, and how the characters are coping with said tragedies and the cold way the 'system' investigates and treats such tragedies.

Was the overall theme about the treatment of animals or socialized medicine? Was it more about individual choice or coming to terms with the consequences of ones actions? These were themes prevalent in both parts of the play and it seemed to me that there was no one main theme which made the play overall, a little convoluted.

There was a fifteen minute intermission where you could get water to quench your thirst from the first hour and a bit of the play, with music to keep everyone entertained while they stretched their legs and chatted with other audience members. At the end of the play there was a snack table with little bits to eat which was a nice touch, and I found the aesthetics of the theater itself to be simple and effective with the stage not really a stage, but part of the floor which gives the theater an intimate quality.

Overall, the play was great, though I found that continuity and theme development were a little scattered, particularly in Part Two, which left me not sure what the main gist or theme of the play was.

PR pseudoevent

Well, Balloon Boy was a hoax and we all know that the father of that family was motivated to get a reality TV show.

You might think other families would not dare pull any sort of stunt to land a reality TV show after the Balloon Boy hoax, but the Dunn family from Vancouver did it right.

In late December of 2009 the Dunn family lit themselves on fire and danced around a pile of wood holding sticks with big marshmallows.

The Dunn family are stunt enthusiasts with Jim having appeared in several movies as a stunt double. His wife Celia and their kids Connor, 15, Ali, 12, and Austin, 9 are also stunt doubles themselves and are Canada's only full on stunt family.

What makes this an excellent example of a positive pseudo event is that Jim Dunn was meticulous in the planning and execution of the stunt, and the stunt itself was innovative and eye catching.

Compared to the Balloon Boy family, the Dunn's were clear in their motives and were not deceptive to the media. All members of the family were willing and able to be interviewed to help give the stunt positive publicity and credibility.

Some say there is no such thing as bad press or bad publicity, but in the realm of pseudo events and publicity stunts you better not mislead the public; especially when public safety and the life of a child is at stake!

Rainbow Six: Vegas video game review

What can I say, it was just under 20 dollars when I bought Rainbow Six: Vegas new. It is an older game and having played a couple of the original Xbox titles bearing the same name, I felt it was a bargain coupled with the fact that I am in school and not making money.

Platform: Xbox 360

Publisher: UBI Soft Montreal (Oh Canada!)

Release date: 2006

The hallmark of all previous incarnations of the Rainbow Six series is squad based anti-terrorism missions in first person perspective. In a nutshell, Rainbow is an international force from many countries called into situations where negotiations have failed and action is required to resolve unstable and violent situations involving terrorists.

With that in mind, you don't get an in depth narrative with many unique or inventive plot twists, but rather an overall narrative that more or less links the individual missions together.

Graphics: This Rainbow Six title got really good overall reviews for it's look and feel and I would have to say I agree overall. The environments you find yourself immersed in from Mexico to Las Vegas are wide open with a lot of superb overall detail. I found that just in terms of the minute details the graphics are a little flat; especially in comparison to the Ghost Recon: Advanced War fighter title I have played previously, another Clancy licensed and UBI soft developed series. The characters are realistically designed and move fluently but not on the same level as the characters in the Call of Duty series. You get some nice touches like clothes fluttering in the breeze on a clothes line and vehicles that react to being shot, but overall I thought the fine details lacked a little bit of punch.

Sound: The sound of gunfire, grenades, and explosions are staples for this genre of game and said effects are rendered nicely. You will hear menacing yells and curses from your opponents (there are f-bombs in the dialogue during the game) as you take cover and try to take them down. There is a musical score that serves as ambiance in mission and then becomes a little more prevalent during cut scenes to heighten drama and compliments what is happening onscreen nicely. If you have surround sound you will hear the aforementioned effects and yells of opponents come through your speakers with good overall clarity.

Play Control: Whether it be Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, or Rainbow Six, which all are under the umbrella of UBI Soft in terms of development, the play control scheme is different for each title and for the most part the play control in Rainbow Six: Vegas is pretty tight. I only found the peaking around corners and shooting a little bit cumbersome to get used to because you have to hold one button and then use the analog stick to lean out.

Go Rainbow!

Graphics: 4.3 out of 5.

Sound: 4.5 out of 5.

Play Control: 4.5 out of 5.

Oh, just before the new year begins here is a prorogie!

I want to go on the record and say I don't agree with Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue parliament till essentially the end of winter.

About a year ago, the word prorogue was on the lips of many Canadians and I was curious and intrigued by what proroguing parliament meant.

That was then and this is now. Stephen Harper's claim that he and his government need to 'recalibrate' as justification for proroguing parliament is not acceptable to me.

Why can't re calibration happen when parliament is sitting in the house of commons?

No debates, no legislation being passed, no federal government 'working' in the sense that most Canadians probably think when they envision elected officials working.

At minimum, every time parliament is prorogued, then all elected officials should forfeit a sum of their pay for the time they are not in parliament; especially the Conservatives since Canada now has a multi billion dollar debt to pay down.

Government cannot work if one person can decide to make it stop working whenever they 'feel' it is in their best interests or even when it is necessarily right!