So tonight we watched Paranormal Activity finally. I have to say that an episode of Ghost Hunter might have been more interesting than this movie. I think I spent more time complaining about the boyfriend being an idiot than I did wondering about the paranormal “activity”. seriously, is anyone as stupid or idiotic as this boyfriend? Who is as stupidly “macho” as this guy? Do these guys really exist that they are too proud to ask for help because “this is my house, I will fix the problem”. Come on seriously?

The other thing was the amount of nothing going on. I understand that you have to develop the story. But you know, there was so much hype about this movie that we already knew the gist of the story, we knew there was a very bad ghost (or demon), and we didn’t need to have about 70% of this movie. The only thing I got from all the boring parts was the fact that the boyfriend was a total ass.

Now, I know I gave the movie 2 stars on Netflix.com, but I was really tempted to give it 1 star. The only redeeming factor to this movie was that there were some really creepy moments in there. And the end? Creeeeepy. But I have to say the creepiness was too few and too far in between.

I think this may be the first movie I’ve seen where the beginning sucked and the last 5 minutes rocked. Normally it’s reversed.

Tagged with:
 

So today, I called AT&T customer service. I’ve never had any issues with them, and I’ve even backed them up when they were bad mouthed to me. I’ve always came to the defense of AT&T as a cellular company because well, we can’t do everything. Well, that just stops today. I’m having serious doubts about them. Actually I think I’ve had these doubts, but they were kept down.

So I have to say I like some of those commercials with Luke Wilson. But seriously, I think you’re representing the wrong company. I’m not saying that Verizon is any better, or hell, I’m not saying anyone is better.

Why did I come to this conclusion? Because for the past few days, Meesh and I have been having issues sending TXT messages. I’ve been attributing it to problems with their network. It happens. So I called customer service today, and found out a disturbing thing. I fully expected to hear that there were some issues with data towers in our area. But then why didn’t it affect internet usage? Well, turns out, they cancelled my Family Messaging Plan.

What?

Yeah, they cancelled my Family Messaging Plan. That means we have unlimited texting. Yeah, that’s right. I asked them how this could possibly be. Why was it cancelled? I wondered if they thought I was abusing it. But it’s unlimited. What did the Customer Service girl tell me? She didn’t know why it was cancelled.

They had no reason for cancellation of the service.

I know I didn’t cancel it. We send a bajillion text messages in a month. We need that unlimited service. She did explain that the computer does go through accounts and there could have been a mix up with the account. Oh ok, that’s acceptable. Computer Error.

NOT.

No computer error is ever acceptable. Especially when it concerns money and service. Then there’s the other possibility. That it was operator error. That is even worse! That means a person was looking at my account and accidentally cancelled my text messaging service. What were they doing in my account? If they were cancelling the service on behalf of another customer, again, why are they in my account? That is just frightening. But I doubt that’s the issue. Because if it is it’s just too frightening to imagine the ramifications.

But all that aside, I have to wonder another thing. Why aren’t my text messages sent out? Or why do I not receive them? What if it was an important situation? Even if I’m not on an unlimited text messaging plan, shouldn’t I at least get the opportunity to pay for additional text messages? I’m really disturbed about this. It makes me wonder what else AT&T is blocking from me. Are they blocking certain phone calls too because it’s “not part of my plan?”

Am I the only one who’s had this problem? I can’t believe that I’m one of the millions of AT&T customers that has had this issue. Needless to say, when my contract ends, I will not be renewing it with AT&T. iPhone or no iPhone. In the 10 years I’ve been with Sprint, I’ve never had this kind of problem. And I haven’t even been with AT&T for a year.

Tagged with:
 

Who will be the Next Iron Chef?

nextironchefI’m sure this is the question that’s going on in a lot of people’s heads that are watching the Food Network show, “The Next Iron Chef“. What started out as 10 has now been trimmed down to 2 finalists. It’s been a grueling and long journey for all of them, and for those who have finally come to Kitchen Stadium to battle it out, and cook the best meal they’ve ever cooked, I applaud you. Well…not really.

Here’s where I say there are spoilers and if you are watching the show on DVR or whatever, this is the point to turn back. The rest of this article after the bump.

(more…)

Tagged with:
 

Why I don’t necessarily believe in psychics

paranormal stateSo I’ve been watching the show Paranormal State a lot lately. It’s been on A&E quite a bit, I’m sure it’s because of it being close to Halloween. I remember watching it when it first came out and I loved it. I really like his methods on the show. I think it really helps that he had his own experience when he was younger. But that’s usually how all paranormal investigators start.

However, one use I don’t necessarily condone or agree with are the use of psychics. I know there are plenty of people who say they can talk to the dead, or are sensitives, but honestly, a lot of them are probably not really psychics and I’m sure there are a handful of them who are actually fakes. Kinda like how “The Mentalist” used to be.

I’m sure you’re waiting on why exactly I have a hard time believing them. The biggest reason is because my friend’s son, Shawn Hornbeck, went missing back in 2002. I’m not sure if you’ve necessarily heard of the story, so I did link it to his website. During that period of time, they had consulted so many psychics who tried to find Shawn. However, no one had anything of substance. Some actually even stated that he had already passed on and crossed over. Others said he was out of state and he was long gone. But the fact remains that Shawn had never left the state, nor even the city! He was found to be living in Kirkwood, MO, just about 20 miles away from where he went initially missing. Come on now. How can I possibly believe in psychics who claimed to have talked to him from beyond?

I am willing to hear from any psychics who claim to be authentic, or anyone who has met one. Nothing would please me more than someone who can debunk my theory that psychics are either frauds or people who think they have a gift for clairvoyance or whatever. I would just love to hear that there is more to this world, and that there are those that can speak to the spirits of the dead. Convince me!

Tagged with:
 

Cemetery Dance : Reviewed

Cemetery DanceSo I finally got around to reading the 9th Pendergast novel, Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Here’s the basic synopsis from their website:

William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier.

While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou which no outsiders have ever survived.

I was thrilled to hear that some characters were returning in the new story, as I do love their little crossovers they have from various other novels, not relating to the Pendergast novels. Before I start the review, I have to say I really liked the book, although there were some things I’ve had an issue with. (look in the spoilers.) That being said, there are spoilers for the book (yes they’re really spoilers!) and don’t read them if you don’t want to know what happens in the book. Spoilers after the bump.

(more…)

Tagged with:
 

The Lost Symbol: Reviewed

The Lost SymbolSo, I finally got done with the latest Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, I only knew it was a Robert Langdon novel, which I was really looking forward to. I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s novels, including Digital Fortress and Deception Point so it’s not like I only know The Da Vinci Code. (which to this day, I still don’t believe it’s his best book. You know it got made into a movie only because of the controversial content.)

What follows are some spoilers about the book, and if you haven’t read the book yet, I don’t recommend  reading any further. The rest is after the bump.

(more…)

Tagged with:
 

Monsters Vs. Aliens : Reviewed

monsters-vs-aliens-posterSo Meesh bought the DVD the other day, along with Wolverine, and we finally got to see this movie. We totally missed it in the theater, so we didn’t get to watch it in Real 3d, which is unfortunate since there were many scenes that would have been nice to watch in 3d.

I just have to say I loved this movie, it was pretty entertaining and funny. I loved Seth Rogan in this movie. I thought he did a pretty damn good job, and well, he was pretty damn funny. As for the rest of the cast, we were pretty surprised that Keifer Sutherland was General Monger. Didn’t sound anything like him!

I think trying to figure out who is doing who’s voice is the best part. I knew Hugh Laurie was the voice of Dr. Cockroach. Meesh picked up right away that Derek was Paul Rudd. Very fun. I’d totally recommend this movie to anyone. I’m sure you’ll love it if you’re looking for some good old plain fun.

Tagged with:
 

Things I wish iPhone could do

Ok, now that AT&T has finally updated iPhones to handle MMS, here’s a short list of things I wish the iPhone had. Just some small feature requests I’d like to see in the iPhone.

  1. Custom ringtones for text messaging and email. Honestly, most phones do this. We should be able to have custom ringtones for this.
  2. Ability to send songs/ringtones through MMS. Currently as far as I know, you can only send sound via MMS from the voice memos application.
  3. Ability to browse/listen to ringtones. seriously. We should be able to do this. Right now, in order to hear a ringtone, we have to be in iTunes, or change the default ringer. This is no fun.
  4. Actually this ties into number 1. But the ability to assign a ringtone to a multitude of ringing options. Like for instance, calls with caller ID or calls without caller ID.

I think those are the most pressing features I’d like to have implemented only because I just think they should always be part of any phone. I’ve heard it said that perhaps Apple is too elite. Well, if that’s the case, then this mac user will definitely become a Windows user because Apple is letting me down. A lot.

 

Now that I’ve had my iPhone for a while…

iPhone

iPhone

I think it’s about time I gave my opinion on this phone. I’d like to talk about AT&T as well. Don’t worry, nothing horrible or anything. But first, let’s talk about the Empire of the phone world. Yes, that’s AT&T. They did choose to have the Death Star as their logo after all. The service isn’t exactly the greatest. I’d almost say they’re pretty comparable to Sprint. If it came down to it, I’d say of all the services I’ve ever used (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T), Verizon may have the best in service. AT&T in my opinion has too many dropped calls. I don’t know how many times that either Meesh or I have been talking on the phone and we get a dropped call. It’s really frustrating. And MMS text messaging. The iPhone has supposedly had the capabilities since June when the 3GS came out, yet AT&T still doesn’t have it! I realize they have already stated September 25th as the release date of MMS for the iPhone but really, why did it take so long? I just want to send picture mail. That’s all!

As for the iPhone, it’s both a bit disappointing to me and awesome. To tell you the truth, I really don’t know what I did before I got an iPhone. How did I check my mail and manage my schedule? How did I keep track of appointments? I just don’t know how I did it. I guess I could say it’s like having my macbook in my pocket.

As for disappointments, I am sorely disappointed with the sounds. You probably think it’s not a big deal, right? On my old phone, you could set sounds for everything. You could set the sound for calls with caller ID, calls without caller ID (unknown or blocked callers), sounds for text messages, sounds for voice mail, and so on. With the iPhone, the only sounds you can set are for text message, and the ringer, regardless. Oh, and the ringer for anyone on the contact list. Booo0-ring! And on top of that, you cannot use custom ringtones for the text messages! What is up with that Apple? Do you really think because we bought an iPhone we’re never gonna use text messaging again? Is that why you didn’t release with MMS capabilities?

All in all, I would probably be just as happy with a Palm Pre or an LG env. But I’m still glad I have my iPhone.

 

Big Boss Grill – reviewed

I’m sure you’ve seen the Big Boss Grill. It’s basically the grill with interchangeable grilling plates, including an omelet, panini, griddle, and more. Of course, it does include a donut maker and a waffle iron. Pretty sweet. So, I decided to buy it. I haven’t regretted the decision. It’s so easy, and quick to make a lot of foods, although some of the recipes are a bit too simple in my opinion. They could really use some help on the recipes.

So far, we’ve managed to make waffles, meatloaf, burgers and plenty more just easily. Clean up is a jiffy with this grill since you only have to clean the grill and it’s not very big. Which I suppose could be the only drawback.

However, today, when I plugged it in, it didn’t work. I think this might be a fluke and not a normal occurrence. I called customer support and they said there’s really no way of troubleshooting it since the device is pretty simple and it should just work. I mean you plug it in and it goes. What could it possibly be? So they told me since I just bought it, they’ll just ship another one out and I just have to send the one we have back. It was pretty painless. Needless to say I was surprised. It’s probably just easier for them to do that anyways.

All in all, I’d say I’m very satisfied with the Big Boss Grill. I’m just such a junkie for the “as-seen-on-TV” stuff. I do have to say that the plates themselves are pretty light and feel kinda cheap. But it works (well, most of the time LOL) and that’s all that matters.

Tagged with:
 
Page 1 of 41234
© 2009 hello! yoshi