Sunday, October 25, 2020

Quick Thoughts: Ghostbusters

For yesterday's watch along, the featured movie was Ghostbusters (1984) starring Bill Murrary, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver, with Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts in key supporting roles. Now what can one say about Ghostbusters that hasn't already been said, it's a classic, it's a movie that lead to a cartoon that many folks my age grew up watching, toys and comics, video games. Sure it was not aimed at kids but we were drawn to it because it was something unique and special... and I'm really hoping the next film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife which was pushed back to 2021 due to Covid-19, will be able to remind the world of that particular fact while continuing to bury the existence of the 2016 abomination.

Of course while re-watching it yesterday,  there were somethings that obvious stood out to me, and one is the constant reminder of just how tall Sigourney Weaver is, particularly in scenes where she's paired off with Rick Moranis and when she first goes to Ghostbusters HQ and looking down at Annie Potts who is sitting behind the reception desk. Whenever I try to think of another film that unintentionally (or intentionally) draws attention to Weaver's height, I fail to think of one, either because she ends up in movies where everyone she is sharing the screen with is around six-feet tall, or there is a lot of 'Tom Cruise style trick photography' being used to make her co-stars seem taller than they really are.

Now while some of the special effects hasn't aged as well as one would expect for a film that is going to be 40 years old in 2024, there was something that certainly looks increasingly dated and that's the sound stage set for Gozer's temple at the end of the film, where one can actually there is no depth to the surrounding New York skyline which is really noticeable on certain lighting effects. Also when the Ghostbusters are stumbling around when the structure is being shaken, it looks a little more silly than intended because the camera is incredibly still, so the illusion is a bit broken.

It's in regard to the continuity / editing of the film... while the pacing of the original Ghostbusters is fine, one does noticed that the montage that takes place following the Sedwick Hotel segment and some of the following scene don't exactly line up the way one expects if one is paying attention. The real noticable case is when Winston is hired, the film cuts to another scene and then back to Janine telling Peter that Peck from the EPA is in his office, which when you look at it one would assume it would've been continuous scene. I get why it's done, but it does make for a bit awkward timing.

Fitness Boxing Resulys 10/25/20

The one thing I hate about Fitness Boxing is that when you set the time to be 45 minutes it can easily turn into a 50 minute session depending on what routines the game seemingly selects at random. And that was the case today. Still it was a good workout and way to get Sunday started. Of course last night we had a lot of fun with Twitch Sings and even did some Mario Kart 8 things with Lunar_Princess, which added to the highlight reel for last week. Anyway I'll be on twitch later with Overwatch!




Best of the Week October 18-24, 2020

Here are highlights from the week of October 18 to 24, 2020 for my twitch channel (twitch.tv/fredcasden). This week's games included Overwatch, Stranger Things 3: The Game, Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Star Trek Online, Among Us, Twitch Sings and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe!

 


Saturday, October 24, 2020

Fitness Boxing Results 10/24/20

 So following last night's Among Us stream, I had the wild idea of doing some open duets on Twitch Sings, while fooling around with OBS's virtual cam function to have a Mass Effect style background... meaning I have a bunch of open duets that feature me wearing my new N7 hoodie while Garrus and Tali are dancing behind me. It's pretty silly. Anyway I didn't get to bed until like 4 AM, then to my dismay I woke up at 6:30 AM, I tried to get back to sleep, couldn't, then just did a Fitness Boxing stream. I did say if I wake up before 9 AM I would do a workout stream, so things worked out good there. Anyway, today's plans include a watch along of Ghostbustest (1984) in my discord at 2 PM ESTand then doing a Twitch Sings stream at 7 PM over on my twitch channel: twitch.tv/fredcasden





Friday, October 23, 2020

Fitness Boxing Resulys 10/23/20

We had a nice start for today, although I did intend to wake up earlier than I have been in order to stream today's session. I pretty much prefer to do Fitness Boxing streams before 9 AM EST as I feel workout streams do much better earlier (at least statistically it does according to Twitch insights) . Maybe tomorrow we'll have better luck of getting my fat ass out of bed. Speaking of which, my weight has been hovering around 120 kilograms (264 pounds) as of late, so I'm wondering if I've plateaued.



Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis: Why Is It One Of My Favorite Games Of All-Time

This week, we broke out Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis for a Twitch stream because we had a opening in the line-up, and I figure it would be a nice topic for this week's commentary!

Thursday, October 22, 2020

What Is It Like Interviewing Trump Supporters

Let me begin this by saying that my 'day job' involves me having to remain neutral and unbiased, because I work in the realm of market research, and often that involves asking respondents from all sides political questions. I entered this profession when Barack Obama was in office, and even though I thought he was a mediocre President at best, I can safely say when it came to the thousands of people I've spoke to,  that most of then respected the way he represented the office of being President of the United States. To further enhance that, let me point out that I probably interview more conservatives than liberals and moderates on a ration of 3:1 on any given day. People seem to understand that not everything involved the then President of the United States and that listening to what was being asked made sure their answers were inline with their actual opinions.

The same cannot be said about Trump, for he certainly has made trying to interview anyone more of a heated hassle than it needs to be, because his supporters emulate his behavior. Think about how much of a cry-baby Trump is, and how much of a pussy he acts like... now realize there are thousands of Americans out there who use his behavior to justify their own, while being just as uninformed about the reality of what's going on in the world. Let me give you an example, a standard question that appears on most polls is 'Do you Approve or Disapprove of the Job (Blank) is doing as (Blank)", it's a simple question with two choices.... the average Trump Supporter can't give a straight answer on that question, much like the man himself, they will go off on tangents complaining about the same things Trump does while avoiding to give a direct answer. I can safely say when when Mr. Obama was in office, no matter if I was speaking with his supporters or detractors, getting an answer to a simple question was not like trying to

Now let go further down this rabbit hole, another trait of these clown are that much like Trump himself, his supporters believe everything revolves around him. For example, let say that on a ballot there's an issue surrounding industrial hemp, which is an issue that is often up for debate in certain regions of the country and has been for years to where it's more a local state issue than it is a national one. Somehow Trump supporters will turn this issue into being about him when the two are not connected, or if the question is being asked in the form of how it would appear on a ballot during an election. Don't get me started on if they are presented points and counter-points from those who support and oppose an issue, Trump supporters will come across as little more than copy-cats of the man himself.

But what if I'm interviewing people about something not related to the elections or politics, what if I'm asking questions about the reputation of local area hospitals. Trump supporters will assume that's about him too, which has become quite common thanks to how he dropped the ball in regards to COVID-19. Trump supporters get on their high horse in praise of him when all I'm trying ask is if 'Does (Insert Hospital Name Here) have a very good, good, fair or poor reputation', I am not kidding about this. 

I could go on and on, but let me state from a professional stand point, I hope to whatever god or gods or goddesses or what not is out there, that Trump loses and loses big in the upcoming election, so that my job can be normal again.

(Or that I suddenly become huge on twitch and don't have to worry about having a day job)

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