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Letter to the Editor

I have way too much time on my hands these days. For proof, take a look at what I did today: I wrote a letter to the Toronto Star in response to this letter, which appeared in today's paper.

Here's what I wrote:

[Letter Start]

Intelligent Design Is Not Good Science

            On the surface, Intelligent Design is simply a poor scientific theory, and one that should not garner much attention or respect from the scientific community.

            A good theory does not close the book on any further research, expansion, or adaptation of itself, yet Intelligent Design’s conclusion, that the cell is so complex it must have been designed by an intelligent being, is a closed end, one that seems to fit faith-based studies more than science. To simply throw up one’s hands and say “we can’t figure out how this occurred naturally now, so we never will” is very poor scientific practice.

            All of this leads me to believe that Intelligent Design is scientific by name only. When one examines it more thoroughly, what it truly appears to be is “scientists” approaching a subject with a biased outlook and working towards a goal that provides them with justification of their bias. In this case, it is simply something for the Christian Right to use to slip modernized Creationism into school science programs through the back door.

            Also I would like to point out that “atheists can no longer depend on their old-time belief that the universe has no beginning and always existed” is a very misguided statement. To imply that atheists say the universe has always existed in its current form is completely false. The Big Bang is a widely accepted scientific theory of how the universe came to be in its current state, one which most (if not all) atheists subscribe to as well. The theories as to what came before that are more varied and contested, but I have yet to meet a person who believes that the universe has always existed as it does right now.

[Letter End]

I've written to the Star before, after reading an article about people suing Rockstar Games because a couple of teens without brains got their stupid little hands on a rifle that their responsible parents left for anyone to just take, and shot some people in passing cars or something. It made it into the paper a couple of days later. That was in October of 2003 though, and I have a feeling it was a slow letter day.

Either way, I do hope this letter makes it onto the printed page, because that letter defending Intelligent Design was begging for an intelligent reply.

Xbox 360: Not All “Revolutions” Are Good

It seems like pretty much all of the buzz in the gaming world (that would be the world that mostly consists of dark basements and B.O.-infested LAN parties, or a combination thereof) around the time of this year’s E3 is focused on one thing: Xbox 360. This is, of course, the follow-up to that flop of a console that might as well have been called “hey, at least we have Halo.” Don’t get me wrong, the Xbox was graphically superior to PS2 and Gamecube, and Halo wasn’t its only worthwhile title, although it was the only one that truly gave the Xbox a little unique grounding in the console scene, but when you have a console that is basically a bunch of computer parts thrown into a big, heavy box made by a company that doesn’t know the first thing about customer satisfaction, it’s not exactly a recipe for success. PS2 was still the king after Xbox’s release, selling on the strength of game series’ like Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy, and Nintendo’s Gamecube was of course able to hold its own because they acquired the rights to some of the famous Sega game franchises, which padded Nintendo’s already astounding roster of classic games they have milked and milked and will continue to milk for as long as they can. Xbox may have sold a nice number of units, but when you’re losing money on each unit you sell, that statistic becomes rather worthless, especially when people are only buying your system to play Halo and Halo 2.

So, it would have made sense for the Xbox to go the way of all of the other unsuccessful attempts to enter the console world by tech companies: Panasonic’s 3DO and Nokia’s N-Gage come to mind (give it time, it will be remembered as a flop). But it didn’t. Unlike the other one-and-done ventures that bombed and then drifted off into console history, the Xbox has one very important thing going for it: Microsoft. Quite frankly, this is why I loathed the idea of a Microsoft gaming console; not because I was worried they would use a fresh perspective on console gaming to stir up good economic competition involving the creation of great games, but because I knew that Microsoft would not stop until they gained control of the market through the use of their bottomless pit of money.

It was clear from the start that Microsoft was not interested in actually giving consumers what they wanted, but were focused instead on eliminating the other console options by muscling them out financially. Watching all of the buzz surrounding Xbox 360 just makes this painfully clear. The ridiculous paid-programming spots Microsoft bought on stations like MTV and their buckets-of-money deal to get SquareEnix developing for 360 have me feeling very thankful that my interest in gaming has dwindled significantly over the past year. I just hope that Sony and Nintendo show Microsoft that they will survive, because when it comes down to the bottom line in gaming, it’s all about the game itself.

Oh, and both of those companies also have lots and lots of money, so that should help as well.

Movie Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I already posted this in the CoasterSims.com Off-Topic Pavilion, but I thought I'd throw it on here too, as it seems to be the type of thing people would blog.

(Did I just use "blog" as a verb!? DAMN!)

Anyway... Here's my review of the long-anticipated movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

As most of you can tell, my member name kind of explains how big of a fan I am... hehehe

I must say, I enjoyed the movie. It was good, but there were a few main things (main in my eyes anyway, and I'm sure everyone has a different view on what is "main" in this series of books, as it has so much to offer) that kept the movie from being great.

I felt they cut out parts of jokes, or pretty much all of a joke in some cases, that they would have easily been able to leave in. keeping more of the original comedy in the film would not have hurt it, and I actually think the pacing would have benefited from the movie being longer due to them leaving more stuff in. a few examples of this were the last bit of the Babelfish explanation, the second half of the Infinite Improbability Drive bit (the friend I saw it with, someone who has never even heard of the series (how could I ever be friends with him!?), didn't quite get the whole concept behind the ship because they left out that second part), and some minor gags like the Sirius Cybernetics Corp or the Vogon guard convo or even the towel explanation. The movie could have been 2 hours and still kept a good, if not better/more suitable, pace.

One thing that I really liked was the way that it felt like a movie, and not like a cheap attempt to make a book into one. The books were very episodic because the whole thing began as a radio play, so to turn that into something feature-length that you watch all in one sitting is quite an accomplishment. I also liked (most of) the altered plotline, which was part of the whole movie-adaptation success.


Like in most cases, the movie isn't as good as the book, but there's a good movie to be enjoyed in this adaptation of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. British wit, American... well I guess you can call it wit, some superb visualizations of the book's settings, and good casting choices all combined with a well-adapted screenplay (it helps when the guy who wrote the original series does most of the groundwork before he has a heart-attack at 49) make this a movie worth seeing in my books. Go see it even if you've never read the books, and just laugh like you would at an inside joke you don't get but others around you do when something comes up about towels or resistance being useless.

What a way to kick off an entertainment bender...

...than Audioslave at the Kool Haus in Toronto!

That's right: 3 friends and I went to see Audioslave on Tuesday evening, and it was a kick-ass show! They are an excellent live band and now that they have a 2nd album coming out, they have a more extensive reservoir of material to draw from for their setlist. From what I could see while jumping up and down in the middle of the crowd, the fans were really into it (I know I was).

The band kicked things off with two of the high-energy tracks from their debut album: "Set It Off" and "Exploder", and the show was off and running. The whole concert was intense, and the new stuff sounded amazing, but the highlight of the night had to be when "Audioslave" became "Rage Against the Machine with an actual singer" and played a couple of hits from the RAtM glory days, using "Bulls on Parade" as an insturmental intro to "Sleep Now in the Fire", and belting out "Killing in the Name" during the encore.

Morello's solos were energizing, you could feel Commerford's basslines in your chest, Wilk never missed a beat, and Cornell's vocals were spot-on (even if his mic was a little quieter than it should have been). Needless to say, this band is absolutely amazing live, and if you enjoy rock like this as much as I do, do what you can to go see these guys. You'll be happy you put up with Ticketmaster's outrageous add-on fees.

I can't wait for their new album, "Out of Exile", to hit stores on May 25th (if someone has a bittorrent link, please share! I'll still buy the album of course, but I just need to hear some of those songs again so badly...).

And this concert was just the beginning. The much-anticipated movie adaptation of "The Hitch-hicker's Guide to the Galaxy" is in theatres this Friday, which just happens to be the same day that Paramount Canada's Wonderland has its Season Pass Preview Night. And if that wasn't enough, the Friday after that is the date of the Weezer show, which I have a ticket to, also at the Kool Haus. I'm so stoked.

I want my wallet back

Robbed On Orchard
Originally uploaded by tangentialism.

Could work... maybe.

Amazing Calligraphy

A flickr user by the name of Ambiance-Moushkila has shared some photos of his amazing calligraphy in this set called simply ink.

Hitchhiker's Guide Trailer

The actual trailer was just released today. I must say, it left me with grin on my face. April 29th... :D

What are you waiting for? Watch it now!

2005 Should be an Entertaining Year

All current problems in the world aside, I am really looking forward to the next 11 months of this year. From an entertainment standpoint, 2005 is overflowing with potential.

Considering that the only worthwhile album released in 2004 was American Idiot, I'm very excited about this year's line-up of new material. New albums from Weezer, Alien Ant Farm, Audioslave, and the Foo Fighters have me counting the days on the calendar. All of these bands are extremely talented, and I haven't heard an album I didn't like from any of them yet. That's not even mentioning the touring that will surely follow the releases. These bands all play kick-ass live shows, and chances are by the time they hit Toronto, I'll have turned 19, meaning no more permanent-marker X on my hand at the club they're performing at. Score.

And let's not forget the movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that is set to hit theatres on May 6th. That is either going to be very good, or very bad, and judging from the buzz I've heard so far and the cast/crew list, it seems to be leaning towards VERY good. Of course, there's no way to tell until it's released, but here's hoping...

Rock on.

History Revision 101 with Ann Coulter

http://movies.ziaspace.com/ann_coulter_fifth_estate.mov

Amazing. Good job Ann. I always figured you were an ocean of ignorance from everything you've said and done that I've seen, but this takes the cake.

How can someone like this be a respected political commentator? Explain this to me. Please do. It's mind-boggling. How can she even be respected by the most right-leaning people out there? Ann Coulter is the type of person you don't want on your side.

I think my drunk friends put it best after seeing this clip:

"what a dumb bitch"

"cunt"

I couldn't agree more.

Pregnant Smoker Concerned About Effects of Noise On Baby

pregnant
Originally uploaded by Periquita.