Ozzy77's blog

Dear Readers,

I am so filled with joy. I can hardly believe that the day has arrived. The blessed Friday, May 19th. What is so good about today, you ask? Today is the day that The Da Vinci Code opens in theaters. The opening has been marketed as world-wide, yet through reading a blog posted by another user, it has come to my attention that Manilla, the capital of the Phillipines, will not be allowing any viewing of the movie today. How tragic for those loyal Dan Brown fans over in the Phillipines! No movie for the masses! How unfair it is for the government in the Phillipines to deny these viewers the freedom to watch a simple, fiction movie. Controversial or not, a movie is just a movie; a cast of actors thrown into a story built around a plot, all directed, produced, and filmed at various sets, all for the entertainment and enjoyment of ticket-purchasing viewers. It seems that this country doesn't agree that freedom of expression is part of citizens' natural rights. Fortunately for me, I live in America, a country who still manages to uphold the vital principles of democracy. So tomorrow, I will be viewing the newly released The Da Vinci Code. A review will be posted later.  Read More »

Dear Readers,

Are you a recent high school graduate? Will you be graduating this year with class of '06? If so, then I must address a very important topic relating to graduation and commencement. During the time of commencement, what should be a time for expansive independence is often mistaken to be a time of reinforced discipline before college. For example, parents tend to grow really serious and involved around graduation. And they begin to worry about their graduating sons and daughters. And in worrying, they begin to strictly reinforce all of the principles that they have taught their child through the years, almost to the point of treating him like a kid and not a young adult. Now, I'm not ragging on a final cumulative review in order to prepare graduating teens for real-life tests and examinations in college. It just seems that this prolonged review is a bit excessive. Commencement is a time for beginning, a time for the sons and daughters to gain independence and make their own choices. Parental guidance is all good and dandy, so agrees the V-chip and the movie ratings, hence PG. Yet, there comes a time in a teens life when he or she must become less attatched to the parents. It would only be with sound reason that this time takes place over that first summer when the teen has just graduated high school and is working. However, in many cases, this time doesn't begin until the teen is away at college during the first semester. The adjustment to living away from the parent is difficult for the teen, and is one of the reasons for such high failure rates for freshman students. That is why this process of adjustment should begin in the summer, so that the teen will have more time to gradually grow more independent. So to all of you graduating teens, begin the process now, or at least before the end of summer. And to you parents of graduating teens, quit latching on to them and allow them to live their own lives.  Read More »

Dear Readers,

I was outraged when I first heard about the Nintendo Revolution changing its name to the Wii. I am pretty sure that Sony and Microsoft were laughing the day that Nintendo release info on the switch to the bizarre title. My outrage is primarily due to the fact that all senior year, I had been planning on purchasing a Nintendo Revolution when it was released. I was going to buy one before heading off to college. Now, with the name changed to Nintendo Wii, I'm not sure that I still want to buy one. Not saying that my loyalties have switched; I still am an admiring fan of Nintendo. It is just the online pics of the purple Revolution that I scooped last fall truly satisfied me. The descriptions of the Revolution's new touch-sensitive technology in the controller and the pricing range had me ready to purchase one. Now, Nintendo chages gears and unleashes a new, weird, unseen console, the Wii, onto the market. The straight controller and the wiimpy name has made me take a step back. I will need to consider the entire package now before purchasing. With no purple and black controllers, no touch-sensitivity, and no curved shape, the Wii has to depend on the software that is compatible with their console. With games like Rayman, Super Monkey Ball, Disney's Cars, Super Mario Wii, and Happy Feet, it seems Nintendo may have an uphill battle fighting against XBox 360 and Playstation 3. Unless Nintendo is toting around a secret weapon up their sleeves, this is Game Over. By the way, what the f**k is Happy Feet???  Read More »