Books are better than Movies!

Okay, I previously put together a list of Movies that I enjoyed watching more than reading the Books. I promised I would put together a list of Books that I found better than the movies as well. This is that list. 

1) The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers: I loved Tom Bombadil in the first book and was very disappointed he was removed from the film. Yes it doesn't really contribute much to the mission they are on, but it adds a lot of flavor. While the first book is Hobbit heavy (the reason I disliked the third book) there is enough of the two fun hobbits (Merry and Pippin) that its still a better book than movie. 

2) World War Z: Three words, No Fast Zombies!

3) Harry Potter Series: Okay, I won't break down each book or give specifics events. The biggest thing is all the little flavor lore in the books that is missing from the movies, there is a TON of it. Probably next, which is common in books to movie adaptions is the characters thoughts. Reading the ideas and thoughts of the characters is important.

4) The Hobbit: This may not be fair as all three movies aren't out yet, but I am worried that the movies will become too drawn out. I loved The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins was awesome in it as were the dwarves. 

5) Chronicles of Narnia Series: Okay, again this may not be fair, there have been multiple attempts to adapt the series for movies and thus far no one has been able to complete it. While I have enjoyed the films that have been released, the books that are skipped over or missing just expand on the lore of Narnia too much.

6) Interview with the Vampire: I love the Vampire books by Anne Rice. When she "found god" and stopped writing them I was very disappointed. These were mature books about vampires who did vampire things rather than a love story. I found Interview to be very different from the others. While I was first reading it I can recall asking my mother who were favorite character in it was and was shocked to hear her say Lestat. I hated Lestat, and continued to hate him throughout the book. When the movie came around I didn't feel that same loathing for the character that I had when reading the book.

7) Queen of the Damned: What is wrong with this movie? Its okay and has some decent music but the real problem comes from the fact that it is a VERY BAD ADAPTION of not only one, but two books. This movie completely changes the back story for the main character of Lestat (who I will say is my favorite character in the series, Yes from loathed to my favorite) and then only spends about 10 minutes going over events from the Title namesake. The rest of the movie is a bad adaption of the preceding book 'The Vampire Lestat'. I will say that this movie is easily the worst film adaption I have ever seen.

8) The Shining: Okay this book is just plain scary. The movie is good, but this is the only book I have ever read to actually give me nightmares. I can recall reading it in winter during a snow storm and the way King describes the wind outside the hotel and my window just gave me goosebumps.

9) Bridge to Terabithia: It may be an age thing, but when I first read this book it reminded me a lot of 'On My Honor' a book I had read earlier (though this book was published first) and at the time it was only the second book to make me cry. I hated when Leslie died and Jesse loses his friend. The movie is good, but it didn't have the same effect on me as reading the book did.

So there you have my list. Its incomplete and probably won't ever be completed considering how much I read and watch movies. I know its not a very good mix of Genres, I mean the whole list is made up of either Horror or Fantasy. I apologize for that but it seems that a lot of Sci-Fi books that I have read haven't actually been turned into film. Nor have many of the historical fiction novels.

Its quite a shame really because I think that there would be some really good movies to be made from them.

My conversion to Rugby League

Back when I was in Maryland, I would watch both Rugby League and Rugby Union. After moving to New Zealand and watching more of both I noticed that the officials in Rugby League were terrible. Not only were they inconsistent in making calls, but even when they did make calls they were usually incorrect.

Not only this but if a call was reviewed by the TMO (television match official) the on-field official wouldn't make a call leaving it up to the TMO. This would be fine if not for the fact that "benefit-of-doubt" always went to the attacking team. So if the TMO wasn't sure what happened the attacking team would automatically get the call. I hated this.

These things led me to watch more Rugby Union, where the refs were more consistent.

In the past two years however Rugby Union officials have got much worse, often completely ignoring rules such as forward pass, hands-in-the-ruck, players leaving feet, incorrect entry, high tackles, and knock ons. Officials will also now go to the TMO and either make the call themselves without waiting for the TMOs decision, or in some cases, overrule the TMO and go with their own decision.

Rugby League meanwhile has rid itself of the "benefit-of-doubt" rule, requiring on-field officials to make a call which can then be confirmed, overruled, or upheld for lack of evidence. Officials now rule on knock-ons, forward passes, and illegal tackles much more often than in the past.

Considering I don't support any specific team in either form, I find i easy to flip from one to the other based on which i enjoy most at the moment, and the only I enjoy most will be the one with the most consistent officiating.

Of course Aussie Rules (AFL) is better than either.

List of Movies I enjoyed more than the book

I saw a list on Huffington Post of Movies that were just as good or better than their book counterpart. There were only a few on there that I had seen AND read but it got me thinking of my own list. So here it goes...

1) Return of the King: Why don't I like this book. It has some great moments in it, and the writing is fine. Its on par with the other two books in the Lord of the Rings series. No, the reason I don't like this book as much as its movie is because it focuses so much on Frodo and Sam. It gets to the point in Frodo's corruption that I just want to wring his neck myself and I was actively hoping that gollum would kill him.

2) Jurassic Park: SEE BELOW

3) The Lost World: Michael Crichton is just a little too long winded for me. I liked both books, but nowhere near as much as the movies.

4) The Bourne Series (Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum): The Movies don't follow the books and are completely different stories. The books are great, I just like the movies a bit more. I would not call this series an adaption of the books but rather borrowing the character and title.

This is in no way a complete list of Movies that are equal to their book, only movies that I enjoyed as much or more so. There are books like the Godfather which I should read...

Stay tuned for a list of books that are better than their movie.

Why I don't play DayZ

I find it weird to say but I love zombie entertainment. There are a few books I really like, movies, tv shows, games, and even radio dramas. I also enjoy survival games, and really, zombies and survival are perfect bedfellows. Recently I have been playing a lot of Project Zomboid and State of Decay.

So why don't I play DayZ? Well when it first came out I found it hard to install. Also whenever I tried to join a server I would get timed out for having a high ping. Now its easy to say, "Just join a server with a lower ping." and you would be right that for most part that is an easy solution. However that leads me to the next reason I didn't play... Different versions of the game. I'm not talking about different mods, I'm talking about different base game versions.

Every New Zealand server that had low ping also ran a different version of the game. There were some aussie servers that were alright, but they weren't very well populated. Now I'm sure these problems have been fixed with integrated Steam install, but have no idea. Why don't you host your own server? This brings me to the number 1 reason why I don't play DayZ. Players are unable to host their own servers.

This is true for both Standalone and the mod. Now I am okay with Multiplayer only games, but not when the user is unable to host the said game.

EDIT- April 1st, 2014: It has come to my attention that servers for the multiplayer only game RUST is also available only through sponsored hosts. You are unable to host your own private server for it. As the game is in early access this may change in the future. However there has been no word on whether or not that will occur.

As far as DayZ, I have also learned that you are unable to reserve player slots for servers, that means if the server you pay for is full, you can not join it until someone leaves. You are given no priority or special access to the server even if you are the one paying.

What is a chip?

I've lived in New Zealand now for close to four years and in that time I've come to accept that besides having no real cuisine of its own, it doesn't seem to have a common definition for what a chip is.

Since arriving in New Zealand I have seen many things called chips, so I am going to try to enlighten the country for what they should be calling the various fried potato sides you eat.

FRENCH FRIES (aka. SHOESTRINGS, FRIES)

These are the fried potatoes that you get at most fast food shops. They are long and thin, often cooked to the point that they are crunchy throughout. They can be curled around in a spring-like pattern to become curly fries.

CHIPS

These are the typical kind of fried potatoes that you will get in most New Zealand fish and chip places. They are slightly thicker than french fries and aren't as crisp. They have a much more potato taste as compared to fries. Americans will call these fries and often won't distinguish between them and french fries.

STEAK FRIES

These are fried potatoes cut slightly thicker than what New Zealanders call chips. Some may argue that they are the same as chips, however I have noticed that steak fries tend to be slightly larger and to contain more potato than chips.

POTATO WEDGES

The are a fried potato side that is cooked with the skin on. They tend to be roughly the same size as steak fries but to contain slightly more potato. They often have a crisp outer layer with a much softer inside.

POTATO CHIPS (aka. CRISPS)

Potato chips are potatoes that are cut extra thin and then fried.  They are completely crunchy and don't have any interior potato past that which has been exposed.

So whats all this tell us about the different Potato sides? Well for one thing theres too many of them. I have not seen any Steak Fries in New Zealand. Wedges are popular to make at home, Fries are only really common at fast food places, Chips are common at most take away restaurants, and Potato Chips are a very common snack food.

I personally don't care for most crisps or steak fries. There are crisps that are home made that are thicker cut which I like, but for the most part I avoid them. Steak fries don't have enough taste for me, I like wedges and chips though.

Space Question

I know that there are Binary star systems where two stars orbit a common center of gravity (often outside either star) and have a stable orbit.

Recently I have been taking part in Galaxy Zoo helping to classify images. I have seen a lot of merging pictures and it got me thinking. Can there actually be a Binary Galaxy. The real question here is can two Supermassive black holes (herein refereed to as SMBH) reach a stable orbit around each other without one of them becoming too dominant and sucking the other into it.

Everything we know suggests its not possible. It would require two black holes which have the same mass merging, and then it would require that each other those black holes grows at the same rate (so it doesnt grow too large and suck the other into it). Even if there is a very slight difference, over the course of billions of years it will lead to one of them cannibalizing the other.

Since it is believed that at the center of every galaxy is a SMBH that would mean there can never be a binary galaxy.

UPDATE 3/23/2014: After contacting 2 astronomers and 2 physicists, the results were somewhat surprising.

Both astronomers told me there are no observable binary galaxies in the universe that are in a stable orbit around each other. They also informed me that our own Milkyway galaxy is in a binary system with the Andromeda galaxy. We are not however in a stable orbit and are expected to merge within the life span of our own sun. What this tells me is that all binary galaxies are in the process of merging.

The physicists however disagreed and told me that it was entirely possible that somewhere out there a binary galaxy with two black holes at its core can exist. They did not comment on the possibility of multiple galaxies being in a stable orbit around each other.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

I've been semi-following the story of MA-370. I found it interesting that flights could still just disappear as this one has. Various news sites began to report on the store just hours after the scheduled arrival time for the flight.

I first read about it about 2 hours after the scheduled arrival time on CNN. There was very little information, basically read as if a flight had got lost and they were trying to reestablish contact. When I first read it I figured that the flight had made an unscheduled landing somewhere and the airline forgot to inform the media. At this point its seeming unlikely this was the case.

Since then they have discovered a couple passengers were flying on stolen passports (which CNN was very quick to link to terrorism) but little else. Vietnam is cutting back on search efforts, and since hearing that Malasia Airlines is claiming that the flight may have gone west (closer to Vietnam) then what was originally thought.

What prompted this blog post though was a report on CNN, "Could meteor have hit Flight 370?" I love space, I love space games, I love sci-fi, I love images of space. I have been meaning to buy a telescope since I was 12. However looking for an extra terrestrial reason for what happened to this plane is completely insane.

Yes a meteor could have burned through the earth's atmosphere and struck the plane causing a sudden and violent decompression that tore the plane apart, but the chances of that are so astronomical that its almost just as likely that they were abducted by aliens. Actually statistically speaking it's far more likely that they WERE abducted by aliens than were killed by a meteorite. In-fact there has never been a human fatality that was caused by a meteorite.

I want to give my condolences to the families and friends of those who were on flight 370. I also want to remind people to keep it REAL. Thats a statement I never thought I'd make, but it seems like people have to be told every once in awhile. I mean come on CNN... A FUCKING METEORITE!? Thats something I expect on the tabloids.

UPDATE 3/23/2014: I thought CNN had reached rock bottom with this story and a potential meteorite. I was wrong. CNN has now suggested it got swallowed up by a small black hole "as occurs in the Bermuda triangle". Shoot me now, even Hitler's propaganda had more truth in it than the shit that is coming out of CNN these days.

Let me enlighten you CNN. There is no black hole in the Bermuda triangle. The reason ships get lost in the Bermuda triangle more than other places is because of a magnetic anomaly that screws with navigation systems. Back when ships were actually sailed by people who navigated by the stars, this area was not known as anything special. Infact it was a major trade lane between europe and the 'west indies'.

No Black hole can occur as you suggest. Not only would a black hole tear apart earth, it would tear apart our entire solar system and most likely the entire solar neighborhood. It is suggested that there are 'rogue' black holes that are not at the galactic center, but we honestly aren't entirely sure about that.

Oh Hell! (Card Game)

Growing up my grandmother used to play a lot of card games, some of which are not well known. One called the 'Mafia Game' consisted of runs (1-2-3-4...) and sets (I don't remember if this was of a suit or specific card) but you required certain configuration (1 set and 1 run or 1 set and 2 runs...) between each hand.

Another game has been easier to remember, its a variant of Canasta called 'Oh Hell' and followed closely the rules of Canasta with slight variations. It is a game for 2-4 players. When playing with four, players are split into two teams, alternating turns. You require canasta (sets of a specific card) that come in unnaturals (consisting of a wild card, Jokers and Twos) and naturals (no wild cards).

I will list the rules and then differences between Canasta and Oh Hell.

The game is played with 3 decks if 2 players and 4 decks if 4 players.
Each player is dealt two hands of 13 cards each.

The hands are stacked into piles without looking at them and the top card is compared. The hand with the high card is played. Twos and Jokers are equal (to 2), Ace is high. If both cards are the same, the hand held in the right hand is played first and the second hand is set aside.

The top card of the stock pile is flipped over and placed on the discard pile. If the player wants this card they may take it and replace it with a discard of their own. If they choose not to take this card, they draw two cards from the stock pile and then discard one. Unless going out or to their second hand, a player must discard. During the course of the game the stock pile may become exhausted. When this occurs the discard pile is reshuffled.

Players must 'meld' groups of cards in front of them in which they play their cards.  A meld is a group of cards all of the same rank (from 3 to Ace) In order to meld you must have at least 3 of the same rank.

At the start of the game you must be able to meld 50 points before you can play any cards to the board.
When your game score reaches 2,500 you must meld 90.
At 5,000 you must be able to meld 120.
At 7,500 you must be able to meld 150.

Red 3s are worth -300 points each.
Black 3s through 7 is worth 5 points each.
8-K is worth 10 points each.
Twos and Aces are worth 20 points each.
 Jokers are worth 50 points each.
Twos and Jokers are wild and can be meld with anything. The amount of wilds played on a meld can not outnumber the rank cards.

Once a player has meld sets onto the board, that players partner (if applicable) may play their own cards onto those sets. A partnership cannot have 2 sets of the same card. Any points played on a partners set does not count toward your own meld count.

When a player has exhausted all cards in their first hand, they may continue on to their second hand. If they exhaust their first hand without discarding they may continue to play during the same turn. If they discard they must wait until their next turn.

In order to 'go out' you (your partnership) must first have a' Natural' and 'Unnatural' Canasta. This means when playing with a partner that if you have no canasta but your partner has the required natural and unnatural that you are still eligible to go out. Natural Canasta are worth 500 points each, an Unnatural is worth 300 points.

A 'Natural' Canasta is a meld of seven cards of the same rank without any wild cards. An 'Unnatural' Canasta is a meld of seven cards with the use of wilds. To make it easier to identify what type a canasta is, a Red card is placed on top to signify a Natural and a black card to signal an unnatural. In the case of a Natural Black 3 canasta, inform the table that it is a natural.

Once a player has gone out the other players count the point value in their hands, as well as their second hands if they have not reached it, and subtract it from their teams score. Then the players count the points they have meld using the same values as above. Aside from the Canasta value, each card in a canasta is also counted individually.

Normally a game ends when a player (team) reaches 10,000 points. This can be extended to whatever value players at the table agree upon. In our games we had some marathon nights that we played to 100,000 points.

One big difference between this game and Canasta is that a second hand is dealt to each player. The player can not look at (excluding the top card when determining which hand to play) or play from this hand until he has played all of the cards in his first hand. Another big difference is that a player can pick up any card discarded without having to meld it. Instead of picking up the entire discard pile, the player only takes the top card.

Another BIG difference is in Canasta Black 3s are worth 100 points each and cannot be meld, in Oh Hell Black threes are ordinary and instead Red 3s have a Negative 300 points.

Today I Learned pt.2

Today I learned that the actor who played C.G.B. Spender (More commonly known as 'The Smoking Man') from the X-files, William B. Davis, was an ex-smoker when he took the role as Spender and was given the option of tobacco or herbal cigarettes.

Davis originally took tobacco cigarettes but soon switched to herbal cigarettes because it was "dangerous" to his health as well as his fear of becoming addicted to them again. During the time he was on the show, he campaigned with various anti-tobacco organizations.

Davis was not only an ex-smoker, but he was a vehement skeptic who believed in neither the occult or aliens.

Beyond

I've recently been thinking a lot about Space. It started when I found out that the Gas cloud that is features in the 'Pillars of Creation' image is most likely gone now. It hasn't been destroyed since the photo was taken, but rather its 7000 light years away and scientists believe it was destroyed by a SuperNova 6000 years ago. That means in 1000 years we will be able to observe it.

We have recently located a galaxy 13 Billion light years away. This means that what we are seeing actually occurred 13 Billion years ago. Less than 1 Billion years after the Big Bang.

Really though I have been thinking about life out there. I believe there is life elsewhere in the universe. Even intelligent life, both far more and less advanced than our own. I base the technological difference on how quickly humanities technology changes. In only the past 100 years Humanity has discovered Nuclear Power, what will we think of next?

The law of averages practically guarantees that somewhere out there is another intelligence. I have come to accept this without any difficulty. The only thing that I can question is that whether man has had contact with aliens, and if so to what extent.

Its possible, however unlikely, that the probe we sent out was intercepted and a more advanced race could have traced back its point of origin. I then suppose that the race could have come here. This is all speculating that they are far more technologically advanced than us.

What about UFOs? I believe in the strictest definition of a UFO. I believe there are OBJECTS that are FLYING in the sky and remain UNIDENTIFIED. Are these "aliens"? I don't know for sure but I highly doubt it. I believe that the majority of sightings which are not gases, weather balloons, or other obvious explanations are experimental aircraft. Good examples of these would be the flying wing aircrafts that were developed in the 60s and 70s, these include the B2 Bomber, F117, and more recently the RQ-170.

So while I don't know much of anything for sure, I believe a few things...

1: There is life beyond earth, INCLUDING intelligent life of varying technological levels.
2: Given the age of the universe, there will be races out there capable of contacting us if they knew we were here and wished to.
3:  Given the vast distances between stars and galaxies, its improbable that life from outside our solar system has arrived on earth.
4: I do not believe that Intelligent life would come to Earth for reasons that would be good for humanity.
5: I do not know if life originating within our solar system has come to earth. I do NOT believe that this would be intelligent life, but rather microbes.
6: I believe that UFOs observed in the sky are gases, weather balloons, or experimental craft.

Bonkers

I used to shop through Amazon.com a lot back when I lived in the states. Mostly I would use the marketplace to buy books and games second-hand as they were much cheaper than buying them from shops such as Gamestop. Since moving to New Zealand shipping has become an issue, often negating any savings I would get from getting a good deal.

Since I bought a Nexus 10 I have had to purchase two cases  for it through Amazon. The first one was a Poetic Bluetooth keyboard case which did not work at all. Amazon wouldn't ship this to New Zealand so I had it shipped to my mother who forwarded it to me. When I found it didn't work and requested a return slip they could only provide me one for shipping within the USA, understandable since they were only supposed to be selling them within the USA. Instead they told me to send it back to my mother who could use the slip and to scan invoice for the international shipping and they would reimburse me for that. This worked out great and even though the case was terrible, I at least got my money back for it.

I ordered a case from within New Zealand for $10, something which is quite difficult to find since the Nexus 10 isn't sold here. While it has served its purpose for a couple months, its not something I would use long term. The buttons for sleep and volume control are difficult to access and the screen is partially covered. This is bad considering its on the side of the device that like to be on top to have easier access for the POGO Charging Cable.

To replace this cheapo case I ordered another case from Amazon, a leather MOKO case. Again this case could not be shipped directly to me and had to be forwarded to my mother. I told her to watch out for it and asked her to forward it to me when she received it. In late January the tracking on the package changed to Delivered. My mother told me she didn't receive any case so I waited a while. This isn't the first time that a courier has given me the wrong tracking info, nor would it be the first time that my mother failed to find an item that had been delivered.

I honestly forgot about the case for a bit and it wasn't until today when Amazon e-mailed me about an unrelated purchase (from 7 years ago!) that I remembered I was expecting the case from them. I e-mailed my mother asking if she had got the case yet, she replied that she had not. I decided it must be lost and filed a claim with amazon. They processed this claim in under 2 hours!

Now heres the brilliant thing. After receiving the email from amazon telling me I would be reimbursed, I then receive an email from my mother asking me "...what color is it?" and I send her a picture of what the case looks like, which i must say is VERY case-like. Her reply? "that is the thing I asked you about. Yes I think I have it here." [sic] GAH! I only told you 3 times that it was being shipped to you, and only asked about 5 times after it had been "Delivered" if you had received it. Then on the same day you tell me No, which leads me to file a claim with amazon, and then tell me Yes!

My mother drives me Mad.