For this movie review of “Live Free or Die Hard,” The Dude on the Right puts this installment as a little better than “Die Hard 2” but not as great as “Die Hard.” Lots of action, lots of chasing, lots of people getting PG-13 killed, and an over the shirt boob feel. And, oh yea, John McClane is in top form with his verbal whit and wisdom, as we hoped he would be.
No iPhone, Just a Bottle of Water.
By:
The Dude on the Right
So here it is, the big day, probably the most important day in recorded history,
and this morning I decided "Screw it, I’m going to try and get an iPhone."
Having too many things to do during the day meant camping out wasn’t an option
for the 6PM on-sale time, but around where I live there were three stores I
could show up at, figuring around 5:30 should still be safe to get one.
Store A was in a developing community where I figured demand shouldn’t be that
huge. Store B was by the mall, and I figured that store would probably be
packed with all of the crazies who took off work to buy a phone. Store C
was similar to Store A in terms of demographic, but further away.
So I finish
with the things I needed to do this Friday, I get back to the dude-pad around
5PM, do a quick read of the newspaper, eat some grub, and then decide that I’m
going to take my chances at Store A. Arriving around 5:40PM there’s a line
around the side of the store, putting me at about the 40th in line. "They
should be stocked fairly well" I tell myself, and even the people that started
arriving after me figured getting a brand spankin’ new iPhone shouldn’t be a
problem. It’s 6PM, the doors open to the promised land, and they begin by
letting in 6 people, and then as one leaves, another enters. The line
isn’t moving that quickly, but I’m still confident I will be home this evening,
iPhone in box, then in hand, then activated, and then I’m cool. In the
meantime the nice AT&T employees (of which it seems they were overstaffed by
about 5 people for the way they were selling the phone) came out offering
bottles of water. It’s now about 6:15 PM and the manager-looking AT&T dude
comes out and announces, looking at the number of people left in line, that he
wasn’t sure if supply was going to meet demand, blurbs a little about the
"direct fulfillment program" if they do run out, the ducked back into the store.
The next round of bottled waters comes out, I decide to grab one, and then the
manager-looking dude comes back out and announces the 8 Gig versions are sold
out. He starts to talk about how they still have some 4 Gig versions left,
the "direct fulfillment program" again, but I’m already heading to the
dude-mobile, mumbling "At least I got a bottle of water."
What to do? I
decide that since I’m already out I might as well head to Store B, the one by
the mall, on the slim hope they got a monster shipment of phones. I
arrive, there are about 20 people still in line, and as I take my place the AT&T
employee starts pushing that "direct fulfillment program" again, and I pretty
much know that tonight, unless I really wanted to take a hell of a chance and
head to The Apple Store, I would go to bed iPhone-less.
And so, tonight, I go
to bed alone.
But wait, I could order it on line and have it early next week?
That would be good enough for me. I log in to the Apple web site, click to
buy one, and there’s a little note that says it won’t ship for at least 2 weeks.
I read somewhere that there would be plenty of stock to keep everyone iPhoned,
thus killing the eBay market, but if the AT&T stores pretty much sell out of the
phones in about an hour, Apple won’t ship the phone for a couple of weeks, and
those stores don’t get replenished, like, tomorrow, I’m thinking I really should
have camped out last night and seen if some fool would pay me $1,500 bucks for a
new iPhone.
I suppose I should blame myself because part of the reason I am
iPhone-less is because I decided dinner and reading the news was just as
important as getting in line, and had I actually just gone to the store by the
mall, well, I’d probably have a phone this evening, even taking the time to eat
my dinner and read the news. But you know what – I’m not blaming myself –
I’m blaming the Apple and AT&T people because I’m guessing the only reason they
are selling the 4 Gig iPhone is because they sold out of the 8 Gig, and if they
had only had about ten more 8 Gig versions at Store A, I would be cool.
Instead I just got a free bottle of water.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
What’s New? A Movie Review of “Ratatouille.”
For this movie review of “Ratatouille,” Stu Gotz is disappointed because the movie doesn’t have a scene that is memorable for him. He can easily rattle off scenes from just about every other Pixar film, but this one lacks a certain connection to him, and his kids were a little bored. See it because you have to, but Stu says don’t bother buying the DVD when it comes out.
To i Or Not to i. Buying an iPhone is the Question.
By:
The Dude on the Right
Normally I do a podcast on Thursday evening, but tonight I’m in a typing mood,
so I thought I would hit you with a new blog to read since I haven’t done one in
a while. From the title of this blog you can probably guess that this dude
has a dilemma and that is simply "Do I buy an iPhone as soon as humanly
possible, or do I wait?" Fine, if I do opt to get one it won’t be as soon
as humanly possible because I won’t be camping in line tonight to be "the first
on my block" to get one. I’m going on the theory that between the three
AT&T stores around me, well, if the mood hits, I should be able to score one
tomorrow evening when they go on sale. If the iPhone is already sold out
at all three stores, well, that might be the sign that I should wait a while, or
head to the Apple store in last ditch desperation. But…
Because
sometimes I am partially nuts, and sometimes obsessive and compulsive, and since
I have already, in my own bizarre way justified the expense (I need a new PDA
since my Palm Pilot is about 5 years old and the battery won’t last longer than
a day; Sure, I’ve got a 60 Gig iPod, but it’s pre-video and I think the
battery will need to be replaced soon; My black RAZR isn’t cool anymore.
Add them all together: A SmartPhone-$300, a new iPod-$350, and I’m already
saving money by getting an iPhone), now the question comes down to do I want to
be on the forefront of a cell phone revolution hoping there aren’t too many bugs
to get through, do I sit back, chill, and maybe wait for the technology to fix
itself, or do I want to go on vacation to New Jersey later in the year?
You
see along with the launch of the iPhone I’ve gotten hooked by the Apple commercials for
the phone, have become almost intimately close with Bob, the "black shirt dude,"
while watching
the Guided Tour video, the
Activation and Synch video, and the
iPhone Keyboard video (which shows how the iPhone will suggest the word
"pizza" when you can’t properly hit the virtual keys on keyboard with no keys),
looked at all of the pictures in the gallery, ruled out visiting my local Apple
store in favor of my trio of AT&T stores, and don’t know who to really believe
anymore because even some of the actual reviews that have come out in reputable
print papers seem confusing, with the only thing linking them all together is
the fact the iPhone will be limited to the AT&T EDGE network (which means slow)
as of now, and yet the Wi-Fi option is great.
Along with obsessively checking
the Apple site, I’ve also become obsessed with one of the best message boards
about cell phones, namely
Howard Forums, and all of the latest postings announcing mostly wrong
information about the iPhone. Lots of people keep posting that the iPhone
actually has a 3G chip built in, just waiting for a software patch to "open it
up" and that will be the final surprise announcement of the iPhone, but even I
don’t think that is true. I do have a concern that I can’t have a custom
ringtone for all my friends so I know who is calling instantly (Right now on my
RAZR Stu Gotz has a Beatles tune, Trash has some Jimmy Buffett, The Dude on the
Left has a Harry Caray homerun call, and Mom has some Michael Stanley Band)
because a lot of the posts say designing your own ringtones isn’t an option, but
then another post says this will be coming in the future with a later software
update. I do have a concern that my Shure headphones won’t work with the
thing because of a sort-of different/recessed headphone jack, but than another
post says Shure is working on an adapter for the iPhone. There’s all kinds
of blabbering about the Bluetooth capabilities of the phone, but I don’t really
use Bluetooth so what do I care. And along with some information that seem
legit and a lot of other that seems like crap, my favorite post, so far, deals
with a future release of the
iPhone, version 6.2, which will include an iPhaser, which one poster quickly
states that "only if all the settings, work .. istun.. ikill.. if it only goes
to istun and not ikill i will just wait for version 7.3".
And so I’ve got a
little less than 24 hours from now, and three stores to visit, to see if I will
be an iPhone owner, or if I might be going to New Jersey instead.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
What’s New? A DVD Review of “Dead Silence.”
For this DVD review of “Dead Silence“, The Dude on the Right thought the marketing folks didn’t market this movie appropriately. They seemed to have been stuck on the “It’s from the ‘Saw‘” people, it’s gruesome, and it’s horrifying, rather than promoting it as just a decent thriller/horror flick dealing with ventriloquist dummies and a haunted ventriloquist which would creep out most of us anyway. We don’t always want to see gruesome and horrifying, sometimes we just want a thriller, which “Dead Silence” mostly is.
What’s New? A Podcast of: Kids are Turning Japanese, Journey Scores a Top 5 Single on Sirius, Wii Workouts, and Movie Talk.
For this podcast of “Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!” Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right think they are cool and recollect their cool things they did over the weekend. Some of it has to do with Journey getting a spot in the “Sirius Hits 1 Weekend Countdown,” being good friends watching “The Sopranos,” and Stu’s kids spouting lyrics that might be politically incorrect, or maybe the little dudes are really “Turning Japanese.” Stu also might be on the Nintendo Wii work out plan (though he loses to his 4 1/2 year old), and The Dude talks about movies like “Evan Almighty” and “1408.”
Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Kids are Turning Japanese, Journey Scores a Top 5 Single on Sirius, Wii Workouts, and Movie Talk.
By:
The Dude on the Right
This week’s weather is looking hot, but the weekend was cool, just like Stu Gotz
and I, so cool in fact we are back with all of the cool stuff we did this
weekend in this episode of
"Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast. I hip Stu to the
resurgence of Journey, namely with "Don’t Stop Believing" finding itself at
#5 on the Sirius Hits 1
Weekend Countdown. Stu also has what will hopefully be our last "Soprano"
story ever. Stu was wondering about his fathering abilities as one of the CD’s
his kids love to listen to is a compilation of songs, with one of their
favorites being "The Monster Mash." The thing is that the CD also contains
"Turning Japanese" by
The Vapors,
and "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas, and as little boys will be little boys,
well, Stu wonders about the political incorrectness of his boys when they sing.
I think Stu might at well just get it over with and teach his kids the f-bomb
and s-bomb, but then again I don’t have kids.
With the weekend also comes
movies, and I give Stu my rundown of
"Evan Almighty," and
"1408," and being a little sad that
"Live Free or Die Hard" which opens Wednesday will be rated PG-13.
Stu also has been getting some
exercise lately playing his Nintendo Wii, although sadly he keeps losing at
boxing to his 4 1/2 year old son. Little Stu obviously doesn’t care about
Big Stu’s rope-a-dope or
fancy footwork. I’m guessing Little Stu is just using the punch-a-dope
boxing style, which for the Wii means, well, you’ll just have to listen.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
 |
Subscribe Here      |
What’s New? A Movie Reviw of “1408”.
For this movie review of “1408,” The Dude on the Right was utterly thrilled to find a horror/thriller movie totally well done without the slasher-film mentality. Sure there are lots of pictures of folks who killed themselves and their loved ones in room 1408, but mostly this movie is all about mind games that might be nightmares or might be reality, and they’re lasting for a little over an hour once you enter the room. To quote the Eagles song “Hotel California” you can check out, but you can never leave. In the end you just have to decide how you want to check out of room 1408.
What’s New? A Movie Review of “Evan Almighty.”
For this movie review of “Evan Almighty,” The Dude on the Right understands there will be some people who will enjoy this film, only he’s not one of them. In the end he found that a movie about getting God’s powers (“Bruce Almighty”) is a hell of a lot more enjoyable than being told by God to build an ark.
What’s New? A Podcast of: Three Vetoes From President Bush, I Should be The Next Host of “The Price is Right,” and Maybe Meredith is Nicer than Barbara.
For this podcast The Dude on the Right goes on a slight political rant focusing on President Bush’s recent veto of a second stem cell research bill, and his quote “Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical.”
On lighter notes The Dude also thinks he would be the perfect replacement for Bob Barker on “The Price is Right,” and reminds all of you that Paris Hilton will be getting out of jail soon, and you probably would have done the same time with the purported payday she will get from her first interview, which, sort of surprisingly, won’t be with Barbara Walters.