Review: Big Al's Bowling Alley

After work one day last week Darci and I were trying to think of somewhere new to go eat dinner. Darci remembered that the new Big Al's bowling alley was now open, I immediately made an executive decision to go there. I was amazed by the size of the place, the large vaulted ceilings really made the place feel inviting. A big difference from the traditional low ceiling bowling alley that makes you feel claustrophobic as soon as you walk in the door. I marveled at the site of 30 brand new bowling lanes. I've never played on a brand new lane before, all the lanes I've bowled were at least 20 years old. There was even 12 separate luxury lanes in a separate area that featured plus couches instead of the standard table/chair design of the other lanes. This is my type of bowling!

I toured the arcade section next. I marveled at the selection of brand new arcades, some of which I had only seen in development before: Rockin' Bowl-O-Rama, NASCAR & World Poker Tour pinball, Time Crisis 4, House of the Dead 4, a bank of The Fast and the Furious, Super Bikes, Mario Kart Grand Prix racing arcades, and a myriad of ticket redemption games. All of the machines run off a prepaid credits card, that is purchased from a nearby machine. This is a great option as it allows parents to prepay for their kids arcade time and takes out the hassle and risk of kids carrying around pockets of quarters.

Next we heading out in search of their large sports bar. We entered a large auditorium in the back of the facility. This had to be one of the biggest sports bars I've ever been in. There are booths and tables setup in and auditorium style layout, much like a movie theatre, so you never have a head in your way. In fact the bar wall/ceiling is decorated to appear like you are in a baseball stadium. At the front of the bar is the TV wall, which is actually three 8ft x 12ft projector screens. The display is split across three LCD projectors that have the ability to split up each screen into several different displays, each playing a separate sporting event. While we were there we they had approx 11 channels playing everything from football, baseball, NASCAR, golf, and even a movie. It appears that they could chop the display up into 9 displays per screen and still have each large enough for viewing, or even stretch a single display across all three screens for special events like Super Bowl. There was eight brand new pool tables in the middle of the bar. And at the rear of the bar was what is called the Skybox. It's a separate room with large glass windows looking out into the main area. It includes large leather chairs, couches, and it's own pool table. Seems this would be a great rental area for corporate outings.

After drooling over the brand new lanes for a while I just had to play on them. Darci and I played two games. The first Darci won, I sucked, I was too rusty, especially since I was playing without my bowling ball. Although it was very nice to play with brand new house balls. Not the old chipped, alien finger hole sized/aligned house balls we're all used to. The second game I kicked ass! I scored 203 and only missed 13 pins out of the possible 110 pins. It's funny how fast you can gain the respect and admiration of bowlers around you. During the first game there was this grumpy old guy bowling on our right side who was taking his game too seriously (and sucking by the way), and a group of rowdy annoying young punks on our left. After I bowled my 4th strike in a row I gained the respect of both parties. The old guy was trading tips and trying to talk me into joining his league, and the young punks were yelling "Damn!", "Nice!", "Sweet!", each time I finished. It was pretty cool, I haven't had an on game like that in a while, especially with a house ball. I'll definitely start frequenting this place. My score card is below:

Frame	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Pins	9 /	X	X	X	X	9 -	X	9 /	X	8 - -
Score	20	50	80	109	128	137	157	177	195	203

If you are up in Vancouver try this place out, better yet, call me and we'll go hang out there together.

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Let me first tell you a tale of the mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood, his love Elaine Marley, his nemesis the evil undead pirate LeChuck, and the notorious secrets of Monkey Island. Sound familiar? If you were a video game enthusiast of the early 90's it should. The Monkey Island game series was one of the main influences that sparked my fascination for Pirates (the other influence being the original C64 game "Pirates!"). I loved Monkey Island because not only did it include traditional real world pirate themes (ships, treasure, sword fighting, exotic local, etc.) it also included more of the romantic themes such as those of the legendary Sinbad (epic adventure, super natural creatures, mystic treasure, etc). And on top of all that they threw in an extra large serving of humor. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies have recreated that model, and added a load of special effects eye candy. This might be as close to a film adaptation of Monkey Island as we'll ever get (especially considering how bad game->film adaptations have been done lately). I'm not the only person who sees the similarities, even Ron Gilbert. However I enjoy the irony of the situation (as MI was reputed to be semi inspired by the PotC ride, and now fanatics are up in arms about PotC being a rip of MI. I see it as being more of a homage. Darci and I went to see PotC2 last night at Cinetopia. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this movie and would have loved to see it at the midnight showing on premiere night. However since this movie is somewhat of a family film, I decided it would be best to wait and see it in a 21+ environment so the kiddies didn't ruin my theatre experience. Overall I was very happy with the film, and strongly recommend it. A little long with a run time of 150mins, but I barely even noticed as they make good use of that time and suck you in. Go see the film and then come back and read my detailed thoughts below.

*** SPOILER WARNING ***

Pros:

• Boot Strap Bill: From the last movie, I was aware that they could bring back Will Turner's father, Boot Strap Bill, as he was also part of the Aztec Gold curse, and would simply have been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for years in an undead state. And the mention of his father to Will Turner added a sense of history, that I was hoping would be brought back.
• Davey Jones: Adding the menace of Davey Jones helps provide a tangible entity to the mythology of Davey Jones's Locker. I think it made for a great plot point.
• Voodoo Priestess: I loved that they included her character. Her scenes helped to add to the supernatural feeling of the film, and sort of bridged the gap between reality and mysticism that occurs in the film. Plus it seems that she has a long history with Capt.. Jack Sparrow, so hopefully there is more explained about that in the 3rd film. (Note: Although it seems she has the same heart shaped music locket as Davey Jones, is she is heart broking love interest?
• Captain Jack Sparrow: once again Johnny Depp makes the movie, his character really develops in this film and ties everything together. I don't think any other actor could have played that role and been so successful.
• Special Effects: Overall the effects were great. Especially on Dave Jones and some of the key members of his crew. However I think that the CGI became overwhelming during shots of the crew all together. They repeated textures of the coral/barnacle skin and the darkness of the shots made all the crew members and the ship blend together too much. A few times it looked like a wash of grey & black, with Will Turner standing out amongst it. I think they could have used more hands on makeup for a few members of the crew like used on Boot Strap Bill. And since it's shown that Davey Jones is constantly gaining fresh crewmen, they might have varied the degree of sea life decay a bit more.
• Good Vs. Bad: I was happy to see them show the internal struggle within all the characters. Each developed either rising to new heights, or sinking to new lows. It truly shows the romanticism of piracy, that even a bad guy can be good at times, and the purest of us can be evil when our lives are on the line.
• Midgets: I was delighted to see the midget pirate. Midgets crack me up. In every scene the midget is in, he is constantly doing something funny. It's sort of like a "Where's Waldo" Book. In every scene I'm looking for the midget to see what he's doing LOL

Cons:

• The Cliff Hanger: While cliff hangers just seem more of a copout to make a long movie into two parts so it can make more money, I wasn't too pissed about this one. They tell enough of a story, and wrap things up in a way that you feel satisfied. Although the setup at the end really makes me want more. I was glad to hear that they filmed PC2 & PC3 simultaneously so that we only have to wait a year to pick things back up, and complete the adventure. I just hope that they don't tie off all the loose ends in part 3, so that there is enough to elaborate or spin-off of for a part 4.
• Special Effects: See comment above
• The Cracken, Attack #2: Well I guess it's officially attack #3 because there was the scene he ate the East Indian Trading vessel early in the film when they fish Jack's hat out of the ocean. Anyhow, I don't get why then loaded up the black powder & Rum, hoisted it in the air, and blew it up? Okay, I see that it managed to blow up a couple of the tentacles, but it just wasn't apparent to me the mind set behind that. Wouldn't a better plot be to put it on a raft, get it to follow the raft somehow, and blow it up entirely? Maybe I need to see the film again to understand it, but at the moment I'm perplexed.

Review: Cinetopia

I finally made it to Cinetopia for a movie viewing. Cinetopia is a new luxury theatre in Vancouver that opened up a while back. They have luxury seating, a 5 star restaurant, art viewing, live music, etc. It's supposed to be a great deal better then the traditional style theatre. I watched a movie in one of Cinetopia's Living Room Theaters. For about $1.00 more per ticket then a viewing at Regal Cinemas you get a 21+ environment (no kiddies, no disrespecting teens, or loud families), a nice high back leather seat (leather arm rests, and optional leather ataman), and an option for in theatre dinner/alcohol (additional charge). I showed up a bit late (20 mins before showing) and ended up having to sit in the front row, which really wasn't too bad. However I think I would have enjoy sitting a bit further back from the screen. Turns out you really need to get there about 45 mins early to get a select seat, as many people get there early to eat dinner in their seat before the show. While this is nice, I really think the cinema should handle it differently. Sell reserved seats for the middle 3 rows during dinner time showings (6pm or later) and sell the rest as general admission. That way you can eat dinner in the restaurant and then walk in 5-10 mins before the show starts and sit in your reserved seat. The only other issue was the lighting, they had little lights illuminating the armrests so you can see your food while the show is playing. It wasn't too annoying, I just like it perfectly dark when I'm watching a movie in the theatre. One thing I didn't really understand was the "pillow pit". There is a one foot deep rectangle hole cut out of the cement floor at the bottom of the screen. It's carpeted and lined with pillows. It's advertised as an alternative seat for movie viewing. While the idea is good, the pits are just too close to the screen. Even lying on your back I don't think you could see the movie correctly due to the severe angle. Overall it was a great experience, I'm glad to see someone else respects the theatre experience and wants to offer a bit more luxury. I'll likely start seeing a lot more movies there. Next time I think I'll try their grand auditoriums and see how that is. More to come ...

Review: X-Men: The Last Stand

On Sat 6/10 I went to see X-Men 3. I've been anxiously awaiting this movie as I'm a big X-Men fan, especially of Wolverine, whom in part my son is named after. Since this was only the second weekend since the movie's premiere, I decided to get to the theatre early. I'm very picky about where I sit in a theatre, as I've mentioned before. I arrived at the theatre 30 mins early and to my surprise I'm the only one in the auditorium. So I take time to find the perfect seat. Moments later two 16 year old female theatre employees enter the auditorium, one with a neck strap concession tray (much like the old era cigarette girls). They asked if I wanted to buy any candy, popcorn, etc. I already had a pop (soda for you non-PNW folk), so I politely declined. I'm assuming this is a new sales method for the theatre chain. I'm mixed on how I feel about it. On one side it's a great service much like the vendors at a sports event, alternatively it's also one more chance for them to get you to buy their over priced consumables. Either way the girls were required to hang out in the auditorium until the film started. Standing around got pretty boring for them so they got pretty chatty with me, and then decided to entertain me with some cart wheels, flips, and slow split maneuvers. It was a hell of a lot more entertaining then the 20-spot that Regal was showing. I showed my appreciation by staring and clapping, like a retard watching a kitten. Eventually a few more folks showed up, in all about 15 arrived before the trailers started. An amazingly small number for a hit movie, at the main theatre in town, and on a Saturday afternoon. That suited me just fine. I watched the movie excitedly and felt pretty satisfied afterwards. My thoughts are below after the spoiler notice. One funny thing worth mentioning. I had previously read that there was an extra plot point scene played after the conclusion of the credits. As soon as the credits started rolling everyone left the auditorium. I sat patiently for the credits to roll. Soon the theatre cleaning crew came in, anxious to get the cleaning job done so they could go back to standing around doing nothing. Of course they couldn't start until the auditorium was completely empty. The whole time the cleaning crew was standing at the entrance with garbage can, mop, and brooms at the ready. I kept glancing over at them and they just looked more and more impatient. Like "Why the heck is this guy watching the credits, who the hell watches credits". I felt like I could feel their beady little eyes glaring at me through the dark. I started to get impatient, had it not been for Heath and Trieste confirming the extra scene's existence, I likely would have left early. After what felt like an eternity the credits finished and the extra scene played. I got up to leave and a sigh of relief was felt from the cleaning crew. One guy seemed to acknowledge my need to wait, and said "Thanks! Have a good day" in a sincere voice. "Thanks, I will!" I replied.

*** SPOILER WARNING ***

Pros:

• Kelsey Grammer did an excellent job of portraying Beast. I was very skeptical of how he would do in this role after I initially heard the news. I knew his sophisticated well spokeness would be a good match for Beast, but I didn't know how well he would be able to pull off the makeup and action scenes. I especially liked that they were able to show Beasts self-pity for his appearance. Shown best in the scene where Leech is able to repress his mutant appearance and show is true hand, after which Beast thanks him.
• They didn't bring back Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler. I don't know what it is about that guy, but he creeps me out. Plus Nightcrawler was never one of my favorites.
• I like the emotion they showed of the young Warren Worthington embarrassed of his freakiness, as he attempts to cut off his wings. Really shows the hardship that being a mutant causes some, especially at a young age and not understanding it.
• Even though I didn't like that they took Rogues powers away in this film (she did it voluntarily) it does bring a little closure to the struggle Rogue (in the comic book) has always had with not being able to touch another human.
• The special effects were excellent. Seeing Magneto re-route the golden gate bridge to Alcatraz was awesome, and a good show of his powers.

Cons:

• I think they took too much liberty in killing characters. Killing Cyclops, Prof X (sort of comes back), Phoenix, and taking away powers from Mystique, Magneto (sort of regains them), and Rogue. I understand that the film has tried to incorporate as many X-Men characters/villains as possible, and that it requires that they create exits for some characters so that others can shine. I just think they did a bad job of it, and took too many liberties in changing the characters storylines.
• I don’t think there was enough action. There was only about 3 or 4 action scenes, including the final large battle.
• I'm getting tired of seeing Warren Worthington Sr. portrayed as the main mutant hating bad guy. They should have killed him off in this movie, that would have fit in a bit better with the comic book background. But having Archangel save him makes a point that he loves his father even if his father hates his mutantness.
• Mutant Classification. In the comic books the mutant power classification was only ever used by the government hunting mutants, and Apocalypse. And then they used a different classification scale (Alpha, Beta, Epsilon-Delta, Omega, … ) In the movie the mutants are all using a new classification (Class 1, 2, 3, 4, … ) And they all seem to understand the different classifications like they all learned it at Mutant High, sort of makes it sound like they are all D&D characters. Did Prof. X make next level with all the XP he gained from battling Phoenix and transporting his consciousness to a new body?

Hopes for the Future:

• They will develop Beasts character further and show the love connection between him and Storm. However it might be hard to get Halle Berry to reprise her role now that she is a big Oscar winning star. Although one of her stipulations on returning for X3 was a promise of character development. So who knows?
• I would like to see a two part sequel that deals with the comic book story of Apocalypse.
• I'd like to see Archangel developed more, seems like his appearance in this sequel is a for shadowing for that.

Review: Craigslist

If you don't know about Craigslist or don't use it regularly, you are missing out on one of the greatest web resources. I've been using craigslist or the last three years or so, and I'm always amazed at how valuable it is. Just yesterday I was once again taken back by it's power. In the process of cleaning out my garage I found a bunch of old baby items from when Logan was little. I decided it was time for them all to go, so I posted them up w/pics in the free section on Craigslist. With in 15 mins I had about 30 emails asking for the items. I immediately closed down the ads and sorted through the emails. I told them all to come pick up the items between 6pm-9pm, and by 7pm all the items had been picked up (4 different people). Something very similar happened a few months back when I posted up an old washer/dryer set. I've also found some killer deals on merchandise myself. All but one of my arcade machines were found on craigslist, as well as my Blazer, as well as tons of misc auto parts for the Blazer and my Neon. I could go on and on about all the deals I've found or others I know have found. So if you have something to sell, try craigslist first. If you're looking to buy something used try craigslist first, and then eBay.

Review: Rainbow Playground Depot

I attended a birthday party for a friends daughter at the Rainbow Playground Depot. They have a large indoor showroom with several small to extra large big toy type play structures, and the entire floor is padded with thick foam tiles. They also provide a couple small rooms for birthday activities and refreshment. The kids had a blast playing on all the structures. All of which had unique designs and toys that you won't find at the local school or park playgrounds. The best part was the entire thing is inside. Which is very important here in the north-west. So the showroom gives the building double usage, they can show off their innovative designs by giving kids hands on experience, and to help raise revenue they rent it out for birthday parties. Which is also free advertising as the attending kids get a couple hours to play on the structures and then beg their parents into buying one for them at home. To help plant that bug further, there is no shortage of catalogs. Every 10ft there is a another large bin full of 1" thick catalogs. At the end all the kids had a great time, and I was glad to see another kid birthday party location option. Something besides the usual Chuck E. Cheese echo "";

Review: Urban Fondue

To understand what type of restaurant this is, you first have to understand what type of place NW 23rd & 21st is. The area is often referred to as "Trendy 23rd", and rightly so. The streets are lined with some of the trendiest shops in town, wannabe fancy overpriced restaurants, tons of coffee shops, and all sorts of nick-knack stores. Only tourists really come to this area for an retail intentions. For locals this has become the place to be and to be seen. People cruise by in fancy cars on weekend afternoons, motorcycle groups gather in large numbers to pose, girl groups parade up/down under the premise of "shopping", and people sit in outdoor café's to people watch. And with the lack of parking, it's become a traffic nightmare. According to census records one of the highest residential densities in Oregon occurs near 23rd. And with all those people there is only limited curb parking throughout all the cross streets. It's nearly impossible to find a parking spot without stocking shoppers that appear to be returning to their cars to leave. For these reasons I avoid this area like the plague. However last Friday night was one of our friend's birthday's, and she chose Urban Fondue as the dinner location. We headed out a little early so we had some time to look for parking. After combing every street within a 1-mile radius I was so frustrated I almost just left to go elsewhere. However we found a very small parking garage a couple blocks away. The garage likely had enough spots for 15 cars at the most, but they had a couple spots left so we took one. As we were about to pay for parking a lady who was pulling out offered to give us her old parking ticket. It saved us $4, but more importantly it helped give me a better impression of the people who inhabit this area. It was a nice gesture. We hoofed it two blocks to the restaurant and were extremely surprised to find that mostly everyone was there on time. We were however a little perturbed when we found that it had been decided that we were all going in on a $25 per person pre-packaged meal. While that may have been a good value for the food, I had only planned on getting a small appetizer and then getting some real food later on. We didn't want to ruffle any feathers so we went along with it. After dealing with the aggravation of parking I really needed a good stiff drink. I found their drink menu and ruffled through it. I was amused to find that almost the entire list of drinks were all martini variations, cleverly so as the adjacent bar was Bartini. The rest of the drink menu comprised of various wines & champagnes (how trendy is that?), and 3 beers (hefeweizen a seasonal micro, and Coors light). I just started things off with a good old whiskey sour, and ordered a hefeweizen (as I knew it would take forever for her to come back for round #2, and it would take them forever to find the beer, as it's likely not something they serve very often). As expected the waitress forgot to bring my hefeweizen three times, each time we razed her about it. Finally she remembered and brought it out, upon which I immediately ordered a second. Stating that I would be finished with the first by the time she got around to bringing the second. That time she got on the ball and brought it right out, likely only because I challenged her. Soon after they brought out the food. The appetizer was garlic & olive bread with three separate fondue cheeses (sharp cheddar, swiss, and ??). All pretty good, and once we finished our bread they brought out more until all the cheese was gone. I was pretty impressed with that. The main course was a tray of various meats: lobster, prawn, scallop, salmon, sausage, beef, chicken, and pork. They brought out pots of broth in which we would individually cook our own meats, and little hour glass timers so we could tell when they were cooked. While this was mildly entertaining I really had a problem with slow boiling my own food. As we joked, for $20 more bucks I could really slum it up and do my own dishes. It would have been a lot better for the foods to have been precooked and different cheese or other alternative fondue sauces to be present for dipping. All the cooking took so long (3 minutes for each piece of meat) that we didn't even eat it all. I was pretty disappointed. For desert they brought out pots of chocolate for dipping and a plate of cookie dough, cheese cake, brownie, and various fresh fruits. Even though I don't eat a lot of sweets, I did try a few pieces of cookie dough. It was pretty good. In the end it wasn't a horrible experience. What food we did have was good and the $25 per person charge wasn't too bad for the value of the meal you get. I would have liked to see more variations though. Maybe a few different types of bead, and some more sauces for the meat. There wasn't much to dip the meats in once cooked. We ended up eating most of it raw. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, if you are in the mood for fondue I would go to Gustav's or the Rheinlander instead. You'll get a lot more food for your money, and they have more the three beers to choose from.

Review: V for Vendetta

I was initially hesitant to see this movie as I had it fingered as another crappy comic book adaptation. I also had mixed feelings after finding it had writing credits from the Wachowski brothers. I've seen a couple of their early works and know that they have a knack for drama and action, but I was worried that too much of their Matrix styling was going to shown through. However after hearing good things about it from a few of my friends, whose opinions I value, I decided to give it a try. While I may or may not agree with all the political aspects of the film, I did come away with what I feel is the overall message. That we as a people need to educate ourselves on the workings of our government, keep our eyes & ears open, and get involved & speak up when things aren't being handled properly. Otherwise we are simply mindless cattle being herded by a higher power. Too often I find today that people keep their heads down and only focus on what's two steps ahead of them. We are no longer in the middle ages where we only have to focus on our small section of land. We are a global body where our actions effect the world as a whole, and someday in the future we may become intergalactic. But here I am getting political and steering off course, that's a discussion best suited for it's own entry. One thing I did really appreciate was that they never show V's face, or expressly tell you who he is. A lot of whom you believe he is, is just that, your own decision based on hinted evidence. He then becomes the character V entirely, a symbol of an ideology, something that will never die. (In the comics it's even hinted at that he may in fact be a she, Valerie, the prisoner of room IV from Larkhill, and the memorial that he has is in fact a memorial for the past life lost). In another view point if he indeed is the burn victim of room V from the Larkhill experiment (which his burnt hands express) then his face would be severely burnt and would no longer resemble who he was. Therefore it would be futile for Evey to remove his mask to see his true face. In the end I really enjoyed the film. It gets you thinking while keeping you entertained. The story was cohesive enough that it doesn't appear to be a far stretch just to make a film with some action. I'ld definitely recommend it. These are my initial thoughts, I may have more after I let the film soak in more. What were your thoughts?

Review: Gillette Fusion Power

While out shopping I saw the new Fusion series of razors from Gillette and figured I'ld buy the Power model (vibrates) and give it a try. Upon first trial I had four days worth of facial hair growth (for reference I could shave my goatee and regrow it in about 10 days). Normally with this much growth and using my old Mach 3, I have to do about 4 passes on the same strip of skin to get a close clean shave. And each pass feels/sounds like a cheese grater sliding across sand paper. Overall a pretty painful and time consuming endeavor. On the very first use with the new razor I was amazed at how well it performed. A quick clean, pain/sound free cut. At first I wondered if it was even cutting hair, that's how smooth and quick the passes were. More importantly however there were no nicks, cuts, or razor burn. I constantly have problems with razor burn because my facial hair is very thick/strong, and my skin is very sensitive. I definitely recommend everyone try out one of these razors and see how it works for you.