This site is more up to date than they.misled.us.
Update: This site is once again, king of the hill.
Update 2: I am so fed up with jjafuller.
Update 3: I’m going to win this (June 30, 12:22pm EST)
Monthly Archive for June, 2007
MICHAEL KOENIGSEGG DRIVING KNIGHT
This movie is my Transformers.
Rambo, Knight Rider….2008 is going to rule
Discuss……
Today I totally caved and decided to see Live Free and Die Hard. After all the Rating Controversy I was fully prepared to boycott the movie for being released as a PG-13 film when all the previous installments were rated R. Now I’m fully aware a movie a movie can be good minus a R rating but come on this John McClane. Mr. Yippee-ki-yay, chain smoking, boosehound, ass kicker, and true brother in arms of Jack Bauer. Does one of the best Anti-Hero’s make a hero’s leap into 2007 or falter in a toned down for a wider audience pile of motherfuuuu?
First a story about my trip to the theater. My original thought on seeing the movie was I have free passes for Celebration Woodland. Vanbergs came home from Hart so we decided to go see the movie for free. The internet said there was a showing for early afternoon so we drove to Woodland. Upon arrival to the theater a prepubescent woman meets us at the locked doors saying the theater is closed till 5pm. Aghast I ask her why the theater is closed even though show times are on the web. Her answer was the worst answer I could ever imagine…
vanlandw: “Why are you guys closed?”
younglady: “I don’t know.”
How this woman had no idea why her place of business was closed I will never understand. Regardless we left the mall and went to Knapp’s Corner and paid 6 dollars to see the movie.
Recently I signed up for a flickr account. I’ve been following a few photographers who’s work I enjoy for awhile and felt like posting some pictures. There are a few pictures of Tepper and Gizmo I wanted to share to a larger group then my blog readers so I joined.
My favorite feature has to be the “groups” feature. The tuxedo cats, Cats love Macs, and the tabby cats groups are three of my favorites. I really haven’t even touched the surface in regards to quality photos so I’ll poke around. Already I’ve posted a few pictures to these groups and gotten positive feedback.
Regardless does anybody else have an account? I really only have one “contact” 
Writing this post I’m already expecting a foul response from my readership. Regardless I’m having a good time posting my favorite pictures to flickr. As an iPhoto user I installed FlickrExport to quickly upload pictures but my trial is almost up and I’m hoping somebody can point me in the right direction for a free alternative.
Link: My Flickr Photos
http://s********o.org/ has been updated with text that resembles a post! Sadly there no way to leave comments so everybody please feel free to leave comments regarding the contents here on vanlandw.com!
The community salutes s********o.org for providing us with something other then some random music and a picture on your index.php. 
Yesterday I watched the series finale of ‘The Sopranos’. Within the last year I was able to catch up with the previous 85 episodes to get prepared for the ending. After avoiding spoilers all day on various media outlets I hooked up my Dell to the TV and watched the final 60 minutes with my roommates.
The main reason I’m posting this is because I’m shocked on all the coverage around the net and in the news. On Technorati “Sopranos” is the second most popular search on their site. On CNN they have had two “Latest News” stories [1] [2] on the finale and their first article is listed as the most popular item still today still trumping Paris Hilton (thankg god…). It also seems people are storming wikipedia defacing David Chase’s entry out of anger. The HBO website also has been getting assaulted with complaints and service cancellations over the finale.
**SPOILER CITY**
My feelings on the finale are a little different then I think some people. First I’ve only recently got engaged in the show. Some fans have probably been watching since 1999 and invested so much time (similar to my time investment in 24?) that the finale has been the episode they’ve been waiting for. Closure to a eight year ride? A final goodbye to The Family Soprano?
Did the finale deliver that? I think so…
Did the finale the deliver the desired closure? As a whole I don’t think so…
Look at this picture. When I first saw that I thought we would get to see Tony in New York becoming the Boss of NYC or something crazy. Tony moves out of New Jersey and goes to NYC? Something we haven’t seen before? A New Beginning?
The finale showed nothing we haven’t seen before in the Sopranos. Closure I found was delivered to a degree (Tony’s kids are on their way doing well, Carmella is a woman, Tony spoke with Junior, Phil got what was comin to him, blah blah) but not huge epic ending above all endings.
Second, the more I thought about it though the more I ended up liking the finale but mostly just for what is was. The Sopranos is not a show like 24, or Lost where their best hours need to come at the of a season. With those shows you EXPECT the finale hours to be action packed, clear up all story lines, or have cliffhangers. The Sopranos gave us something to think about, something to discuss, something to dissect and something to argue.
Creator David Chase said: “”I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there.” I agree with him 100%. The finale was left for the viewer to do what they want with it. Rather then spell everything out (Six Feet Under Finale) they left the story open to theories (Tony gets whacked by the bathroom guy/Place the viewer into Tony’s mindset/Dream Sequence) and other internet speculation and craziness.
Regardless, the finale is what it is. Tony Soprano has brb’ed and more then likely never coming back. The final episode packed 12 songs somehow in 60mins (Sopranos Series Finale CD?) and at the same time spawned a million opinions. As a whole I would recommend the entire series to anybody. At the core is a family drama but contains violence, nudity, anger, drugs, and humor. In the end a finale wasn’t bad but I felt was a tad anti-climatic but is good for what is was and tried to accomplish.
I have fulfilled my promise to vanberge, I have finished the first Harry Potter book.
In many conversations over IM, Mulligans Pub, and countless other social gatherings I know the HP books are quite popular with most of my friends and acquaintances. The trailers for the movies make the story seem quite epic and the special effects appear to be top notch. A series that has sold 325 million copies couldn’t have all been sold to libarys and children so I thought there could be a chance that an adult like myself could enjoy the series. After taking a month to finish a 300 page book written for young adults I’m happy/sad? to report that is not going to be the case.
Now, I don’t feel that I’m above this type of material. Right now I’m reading the Maddox book (20 pages in and it’s hysterical) but really it’s rude, crude, but not some literary masterpiece. I’ve played many a videogame that have had cookie cutter story lines that I’ve enjoyed and could be considered on the same level and even below that of Harry Potter. When reading the book I just wasn’t able to allow myself to get into the story. Witches that turn into cats, riding broomsticks, abracadabra based magic, bully characters, and breaking the rules seemed to be the bulk of the story. When we finally get to some adventure and fighting it comes very late in the story and the battle with “Quirrell” lasts about a page. Yes, I understand Harry is only 11 years old in the first book so I was not expecting a confrontation on par with the “Final Battle“.
Before even starting this post I know backlash is going to be harsh. I’m fully expecting 10 comments saying “keep reading they get better”. Personally I’m pretty sure I’m not going continue reading the series, and I sure know I’m not going to keep reading like I have been Sword of Truth. Maybe on vacation I would pick up the second book if it was around. More then likely I’m going to just watch the movies at my leisure and be done with it.
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