Best Day Of My Life
First I finish the Sopranos, second I get this e-mail:
That’s the new computer that I ordered from NCIX. It is a BEAST, and I am so pumped about it – but I wasn’t even expecting it till something like November 8th!!! And so I am getting it weeks in advance, OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY.
Here’s the specs:
Hard Drive: Intel X25-M 160GB SSD and a 1TB Western Digital Black.
Processor: i5 750.
Heatsink: Coolermaster Hyper 212
Motherboard: P55M-UD2.
RAM: 8GB
Video Card: Radeon HD 4650 Passive
PSU/Case: P183 with the CP-850 PSU.
Sound Card: HT Omega Striker.
Seriously, I am not going to be able to get to sleep tonight.
The Sopranos
I remember trying to watch the Sopranos something like 8 years ago. My roommate rented season 1 on DVD, but after a few episodes I was bored shitless and couldn’t stand it. However I was in the mood for a serious drama after trying out The Shield(and as I was watching it with my wife, I could only go at a pace where we both could watch at the same time), so decided fuck it – to give the Sopranos a try.
Wow. Just wow.
From here on out there’ll be spoilers about the show. So if you’ve never watched it yet then stop reading now.
Overall, this was just an amazing fucking show. It was just so well written. It wasn’t built on suspense and intrigue – it was just a beautiful story. What I really liked was how there was so many mundane details, yet they kept it from being mundane. Like when AJ tried to kill himself, and Tony comes home, starts eating the lincoln logs and takes a minute to notice. Shit like that was just so beautiful.
There was a few weird things about the show. Like something would happen, but then they’d not follow up on it for a few episodes(if memory serves me correctly Adriana getting flipped was one of them). Also the story progression from the end of one season to the beginning of the next was crazy – you’d come back and someone else would be in jail, with only a small mention of how they actually got there.
But really those are just small nitpicks. Overall The Sopranos was just a fantastic show. Some of the shit they did in it was so beautifully done. I really liked how they would bring you back to harsh realities, like when Tony killed Christopher for example. Or the way Adriana was killed etc.
Also the dream sequences – oh man. Especially the Kevin Finnerty one. Just amazing stuff, and I usually hate dream sequences.
Of course – the ending. What I love about it most is how ambiguous it is – there’s no definitive conclusion. You can make assumptions based on facts – but there’s no solid conclusion of what happened. I’ve been speaking to my friends and heard all the arguments about it. That’s what is so amazing about the ending. Was the dude just going to the bathroom? Or was he there to kill Tony? There’s just so many ways you can read into it all, and that’s what is so great about the show. Everyone has a theory – but there is no definitive conclusion.
Also think about that ending – how suspenseful it really is. Yet it’s over the most mundane thing – Meadow unable to park. Again, just phenomenal.
And now – I feel sad. Because it is over. The show is over. You really feel like you were living through the life of the Sopranos. It’s one of those shows you just wish would go on indefinitely. And now I think back – and there is so much stuff that happened that seems so long ago. Richie. Tonys mother. Pussy. etc etc etc. Plus being able to watch it again with a whole new viewpoint on them.
Just amazing. I’ve been loving The Shield, but so far I have to put The Sopranos as my favourite television series ever.
Books & Movies & Football Manager & Windows
Finished reading John Grishams The Associate today. Pretty weird book overall. You’re basically sitting there waiting for something big to happen and it never does – no real climax to it etc. It’s just a story. Not bad by any means, but I was expecting something more for sure. Next up is John Katzenbachs The Wrong Man.
Fuck, I can’t wait for Windows 7 to come out. I’m buying a whole new desktop machine and I am pumped – my current one is just slow as shit, and badly in need of a reformat – yet I just can’t be bothered with another reformat. Hopefully Windows 7 will be able to handle the piece of shit that Firefox has turned into. It’s always sad when a program gets worse with age, not better. The memory leaks in it are ridiculous.
I wish I knew more computer geeks though – or rather, ANY fucking computer geeks. I’ve lost touch with the computer world, so when I go to buy a computer and I choose the default one, then it is like “DO YOU WANT TO BUY THIS PROCESSOR FOR $440 MORE?” I am like “No fucking clue”. No idea if I need it, what it does or anything. Stuff like “Hyperthreading” is basically a foreign language. Any hardware guys out there up for helping me build a new computer? Drop me an e-mail at G@DealerDan.com.
The new Football Manager game, FM 2010, comes out I believe next week. I’m slightly tempted to purchase it, as FM 09 is getting frustrating at times with the tactics, and so many little bugs. But on the other hand, I’ve never really been able to have a long-term game in FM 09. I had a nice 12 season one in FM 08, but my longest in FM 09 was 5 seasons with Rangers, then the 3rd patch came out and I had to restart. Since then I’ve never been able to get past the 3 season mark, which is disappointing. I’ve started a game with Crystal Palace just now that I hope I can get a long game out of – but who knows.
Anyway the purchase of FM 2010 is probably something I won’t bother with. I mean they are releasing it next week, then they plan a patch around Christmas, then ANOTHER patch around February. No matter what SI say, it WILL fuck with the save game. Always has, always will. So I’m tempted to skip it, or at least play FM 09 up until February.
We’ll see. Watch me buy it on release day.
Finally here are movies I have watched lately and my ratings of them:
Those bottom 3 I never even finished. Horrendous stuff they were.
Update from Twitter
New PAB Article – Calls to Action https://bit.ly/zEV4s
Just Chillin’
That subject pretty much sums up my last few days.
The no-work thing is going pretty well – still just doing the bare minimum, although some days the bare minimum ends up being a lot! I keep getting ideas etc too for website changes and things to do. I recently read a book about domains, and it talked about how you should build one page on every domain, rather than letting them just sit there. One of those things that makes complete sense, but until you actually read it you don’t think of it.
So I went through a list of my domains. I have a ton of NFL Tickets sites(like BEARSNFLTICKETS.COM etc) and me and Vin will split the load on those. Taking those aside, I have about 68 domains that I need to write a 600 word article for. I started that today while watching the soccer, and going to just keep writing this during the football tomorrow.
TV watching I’m down to 5 episodes left of Sopranos. Should finish that in next few days. Absolutely no idea what to watch next – hoping to convince the wife that I can go ahead and watch the rest of The Shield without her.
I finished most of the Joseph Finder books, and started John Grishams The Associate. I forgot how great a writer Grisham was, and how easy his books are to read. I read about 200 pages in an hour, and should have it finished tomorrow. Then I might try Vince Flynn – Protect & Defend.
Also went to see Zombieland on Thursday which was a pretty fun movie.
I’ve been playing a fair amount of XBox 360 lately, and today I went on a marathon session, investing 7 hours into it and beating Saw. Honestly probably not a good idea – I don’t mind playing for an hour or two, but those long sessions are killer, and make me feel like shit afterwards like I’ve totally wasted my day. Think I’m going to tone down the 360 playing for a little bit.
Speaking of – I’m gonna go get me the alternate ending in Saw which should hopefully be worth an achievement.