Life, Video games, and everything in between through the eyes of a Gemini

Traveling and writing = Good idea

2009-12-18T18:36:00.001-08:00

So, right now, I'm currently riding shotgun, on a trip going to a town farther away from where I am. Pincher Creek, here I come.

3:40 P.M. – On the highway right now, behind a Honda CR-V. Lots of people trying to get out for the weekend. My father says there'll be a huge crowd for Christmas shopping. As a side note, I think the whole spirit of Christmas is gone, replaced by the whole materialism deal. Man, I sometimes wish things were different. But, hey. It can't be that bad, right?

3:42 P.M., Outskirts of Blairmore – Still on the highway. Radio is playing, my father is whistling along (not very well) to the music. Snow has melted on the highway, the ground outside seems dry and dusty. Now I know why I usually sleep on trips like this. I also hate shopping, but I don't mind going every once in a while; It shows that I still have a chance to renew my faith in society. =)

3:44 P.M. – Watching a train carrying Sulfur pass by. And it just finished.

3:45 P.M. – Realized I should be taking pictures so it makes this more interesting

3:46 P.M – Passing through the Frank Slide area. The pictures you're seeing are of the half covered landside area just by the highway. If you're curious, I'll write about that later.

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3:47 P.M – Just passed Hillcrest. Small town that happens to be home to Canada's worst mining disaster.

3:48 P.M – Passing by a burnt area of forest. Happened a while ago.

3:50 P.M – I'm thinking I should pick up a camera. An ACTUAL camera. Passing by the Leitch Collieries. Was a coke factory wayyyyy back when that stuff was profitable.

3:52 P.M – Passed by the Burmis Tree. Couldn't take a picture. I just realized taking pictures is a stupid idea, haha. The prairies are as flat as ever.

3:53 P.M – We happen to be driving all over the place. My father was planning on taking the back road to Pincher. I still suggest that he does, but looks like we're heading back onto the boring highway. Yay.

3:55 P.M – The trip has now grown boring and dull. I'm no longer excited to see what I've seen so many times before. Mind you, I'm happy we have more windmill projects going on.

3:57 P.M – "I was made for loving you" by Dave Rodgers has just come on. I'm singing karaoke in the car with my father.

4:01 P.M – Done singing karaoke. I'm seeing a school bus pass by. Carrying girls for high school basketball. I waved. They liked it.

4:03 P.M – Just passing through Cowley now. Extremely small town. I actually think it's called a village, but I'm not entirely sure.

4:04 P.M – "Now or Never" by Kasanova has come on. Karaoke time has arrived again, but it's only me singing this time.

4:08 P.M – Just on the outskirts of the entrance to Pincher Creek. Shopping at Wal-Mart, here I come.

4:12 P.M – Apparently, we're going to eat some food before shopping. BRB

4:43 P.M – Just had dinner. Grilled Cheese Sandwich. My father had a cheeseburger and fries. At 64 years old, he's my hero sometimes. Had a long talk about the talent show and what some people consider talent. I'm not angry or anything, I just wish some other people got 1^st place instead of just playing guitar. With no backing rhythm or bass? Just solo playing? 1. Not interesting for the 3^rd time. 2. Not showing off your talent well enough if you continue to do the same thing over and over again. How about you change it up once in a while? I realize you play guitar well, and I respect that. But, come on. 3 times is enough; Improve. Make it more difficult or something.

Also, shopping. BRB

5:36 P.M – Finished shopping. Got rice, margarine, canned dog food, cat litter, cat food, milk (2%), windshield wiper fluid, bag of almonds, bag of pistachios, deodorant (because I've been without for almost 2 months. Not nice), Ensure (strawberry flavored, and some deerskin gloves. I looked over the prices for games in the games section, and I felt depressed. 69.98 (CND) for Borderlands. When you don't have a job, gaming is a surprisingly expensive hobby. Also, I've been thinking about getting a Wii for a while, but with a selection of games that I'm not exactly interested in, it's rather hard for me to feel compelled to get one. All I was thinking about getting was Resident Evil's Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles, along with House of the Dead, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and Dead Space. Five games for one system? Am I that desperate to play something? I guess so.

5:43 P.M – Dad went into A&W to get something to eat, but I opted to stay inside. I'm not hungry right after eating an exact hour ago. But, surprisingly, I'm a bit overweight. I really wanna change that.

5:44 P.M – Dad's back. Continuing the journey home.

5:50 P.M – Just went over a recap of what's been going on, and what I've been writing. Read aloud to my father. He just commented right now that we're driving against the wind. Also tried to make me correct some things, but I don't want to. I had an argument with him, and now we're playing my music on the way home, instead of the radio. Also, this guy ahead of us is driving rather poorly. If anything I hope we don't get into an accident. Driving at night isn't bad, but I hate it when there are no lights around besides your headlights.

5:53 P.M – Holy wow. The wind is really making this a bumpy ride. I swear though, road rage is happening between my father and this other driver. He's now flashing his high beams at us. Not nice, you dick.

6:00 P.M – Thinking of renting a game.

6:01 P.M – Father might consider it. I think he will if I remind him.

6:05 P.M – At the Burmis Tree; However, it's too dark for me to take a picture, even if I wanted to. Just imagine a very gnarled tree, and you've got it. And it's old. Like, really old.

6:07 P.M – Just passed Leitch. I'm happy they have lights outside of the place. It's a good idea; Long road trips with very little light around you at night makes for a very worrying experience.

6:08 P.M – Entering Bellevue; Wind is blowing very hard. Also, the car ahead of us just slowed down very quickly. Not a good idea. Bad drivers all around.

6:10 P.M – Passing by Hillcrest. Now entering the Frank Slide area. For a natural disaster, I'm surprised it's lost a lot of it's luster and appeal. I used to look out at rock field with wonder and amazement. Now, it just looks like…rocks. Funny how things look when you're a kid.

6:13 P.M – Now entering Blairmore, the heart of the Crowsnest Pass. Passing by the East Access. On the hillside, the Rocky Mountain Sheep come down. I used to see them all the time as a kid. Coming by the central access, right across from the entrance is the Crowsnest graveyard. Now, a little passed that area is the old mill, and another entrance to a place called "Fuckshops". It's called Fuckshops because apparently one of the buildings up there used to be a whorehouse way back when. Coming up on the West entrance now, the one I usually take.

6:16 P.M – I just realized that I should have reminded my father to stop by Movie Gallery so I could rent a game. =(

6:17 P.M – Coming into Coleman. Finally getting close to home. It's amazing how quaint the town is. I like my hometown. Maybe not the people so much, but I love the town. Things just seem so…simple here. As much as I find it boring, I also enjoy the slow times. It's good to relax.

6:18 P.M – We just beat the railroad crossing lights. The stopping bars were coming down, and my father just booked it. Pretty risky, and I'm happy he did it; I don't want to wait any longer to get home.

6:20 P.M – Asked my father if we could go and rent something after dropping everything off and putting it all away. He accepted it. BRB.

7:33 P.M – Got back, rented Borderlands. Did chores. Now going to surf web and post this. I'll edit later to include pictures.

Nothing about movies, because I’m busy…But!

2009-12-17T06:46:00.001-08:00

Just a little bit about Canadian politics. Or, something from a while I did an editorial on.

Is taking the right to vote infringing a citizen's rights? You bet it is. It's taking away a citizen's right to vote justified by the fact that some of the population doesn't have the understanding that is necessary for them to make an informed vote? Yeah, it's still taking away a person's rights, as set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights. Prime Minister Stephen Harper proposed a bill at the House of Commons that would change Canada's election laws. Under the legislation, anyone who would want to vote in Canada would have to pass a "voter competency test" in order to be able to vote. The test would have multiple choice questions, placed at each polling station. Only the citizens who pass the test would be able to vote. The test itself would have questions pertaining to recent Canadian politics, and the whole test would be for sorting out "who knows enough to cast a responsible vote". But, no matter how you look at it, it's taking the vote away from citizens, separating them based on how much they know about current political events.

But is it really a bad thing? It's true that some Canadians have no real understanding of Canadian politics, but some just don't care. Some hardly care as it is, but still vote anyways. A test that would require you to have some understanding of current politics would reduce the already small amount of people voting (59% of Canadians) to a much lower standing. People would find it cumbersome and silly to take a test in order to be able to vote. Another problem that arises because of the test is the types of questions that should be on it. How deeply should someone know current politics? The questions shouldn't be too hard; someone who watches a syndicated Canadian news network every evening should be able to answer the questions with ease. Informed choices are essential in the best democracy, but democracy's definition is something that allows everyone equal rights, and this separates people.

Some people just don't have the ability to take the time to learn about the current political situation, as the antipoverty group A Better Future pointed out. Imagine this situation; you're a hard working parent of three children. You've just come home from working a ten hour shift at your workplace. It's 10:00 at night, and you're dead tired. Are you going to sleep, or stay up another hour to watch the news? And when the election comes again, when you're asked to take a test to determine your ability to vote, how would you feel about being denied your right to vote because "You don't have a proper understanding of current Canadian politics to be able to make an informed vote"?

I do not support the proposed legislation that requires citizens to pass a voter competency test, with the current set rules in the bill. I think that it would be best if we provide an incentive to have people informed about politics. An extra vote should be implemented to provide incentive for Canadians to vote, provided they answer a question regarding political events correctly. A person should ask the voter a random question from a list that is made by the citizens who are informed about events themselves. If they get the answer wrong, they are only given one ballot, but if they answer correctly, they are given two ballots. Some might say that this upsets the balance that one vote would have, but I don't think so, and here's why: It forces political parties to encourage citizens to become involved. It forces the parties to earn the votes, and it encourages every citizen to stay up that extra hour to learn just a little about what's going on politically in Canada.

Oh, remaking movies, Hollywood? Nothing left in the idea tank?

2009-12-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

So, I think for my first official post on my first official blog (Go me), I think I should talk about something that's been bothering me for a while, and if you read the title, then this might be something that's bothering you too.

Movies have been remade for only 2 reasons:

The movie can have some additional "feeling" added to it, either making it better in someway to improve upon the original idea or thought (See: Scarface)
The movie is being used as a shameless cash in, and we're all suckers for it (See: Well, practically any remake)

I suppose something that of note that should spoken about are "The Good Movie Remakes". Sure, some remakes can be unoriginal, but that's not the idea that a director has when s/he is making the movie. I pointed out Scarface, the 1983 film, which was a remake of the 1932 film. Both of these are COMPLETELY different, while the 1983 film still being based off of the original source material.

Another movie I should plug in here, thanks to learning of it from someone else is Funny Games, a film from 1997. If you haven't seen this, then either see the original, or the 2008 remake. They're basically the same thing. The writer and director remade the film because they didn't want a dub to butcher or potentially lead things astray through mistranslation.

But, onto the main course: Remakes of movies that have been done countlessly, American Horror remakes and Japanese Horror remakes.

But that's for another time. I'll do it later. =)

Testing.

2009-12-13T02:53:00.001-08:00

This is a test. Running from Microsoft Word.