ThinkSoJoE's Thoughts

I just got finished writing a new edition of my "ThinkSoJoE's Thoughts" column at BoredWrestlingFan.com (which will be up tomorrow at noon), and I wound up cutting a few things out because it had gotten too long and random.  Here's what didn't make the cut:

So I'm flipping channels today, and I see that The Garfield Show is on Cartoon Network.  I'm a huge fan of Garfield, and in fact have a fat orange lasagna eating cat.  So I decided to check out this show because it's done in CGI and kind of has the humor of Garfield and Friends.  The problem is, Garfield's mouth moves when he has some dialogue.  Garfield doesn't talk - he thinks his dialogue, and therefore, his mouth shouldn't move.  Credit where it's due though, Frank Welker (who did the voices of several US Acres characters on the original Garfield and Friends) makes Garfield sound almost exactly like he did when the late Lorenzo Music voiced him back in the day.

So I finally got around to seeing The Dark Knight - it was the first movie I've ever watched on Blu-Ray.  The movie was pretty good, but Christian Bale's portrayal of Batman needs work.  I get that he's trying to disguise his voice when he's Batman so people won't know he's Bruce Wayne, but he sounds more like a bad indy wrestler than a superhero.

Speaking of Blu-Ray, I picked up Fight Club yesterday morning.  One of my favorite films of all time, I own the two disc special edition DVD, and just had to get the Blu-Ray.  It looks amazing on Blu-Ray, and while I was a bit disappointed that Tyler's warning from the DVD didn't make the Blu-Ray, let's just say I was thoroughly amused by the menu screen.  I'll leave it at that, so as to not spoil it.

I'm sure you may have noticed already, but I've added a bit to the design of the site.  I'm still not 100% satisfied, and I've certainly got a few things in the pipeline that I want to do, but it's getting to where I want it.  I did kind of a throwback to the original ThinkSoJoE's Thoughts design with the gravatars for each post.  If I were to allow anybody else to write for this blog, and they had a Gravatar associated with their e-mail account, it would show up instead of my picture to the left of their post.  I wanted to do something completely different with the date, but alas, I didn't like the way it turned out so I went with the simple approach that I'm using right now.  I'll definitely be doing more work on this site in the coming weeks, because I'm a procrastinator and don't want to get started on the Fropac.com refresh that is so desperately needed.

I redesigned the blog.  It's a bit of a subtle change, and on the surface it would appear only cosmetic - at least, I hope so.  I'd like to think that there are no bugs in the system, but I could be wrong.  Apparently, the Twitter thing isn't working at the moment, but I'll fix that.  You'll notice I dropped the archives from the sidebar, and I just realized as I'm typing, I forgot to add my links section.  I suppose I should get to work on that.  There's a couple other things that need to be done as well, but for the most part, we're live!

UPDATE:  Fixed!  The Twitter thing was missing a bit of javascript, the links are back up, and you can once again share individual articles on your favorite social networking and social bookmarking sites!

It's been quite a while since I've given ThinkSoJoE's Thoughts a visual refresh.  In fact, I think the last time was when I moved from WordPress to my own custom site engine.  Well, I've been working on a new backend system that will ultimately - I hope - cut down on load on the server (IE, only opening one connection to the database at a time, cutting down on calls to the database, and ultimately having less code in general), so I started thinking about where I could use it.  I was thinking of using it for a new project that I'd alluded to a month or so ago that I haven't really been focusing on, but I thought the best place to start may be right here at ThinkSoJoE's Thoughts.  If I do end up using it here, it's probably safe to assume that I might update the look of this site as well.

For now, I'm going back to work on my code, and we'll see what comes from it.

Those of you who follow me on MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook, probably saw the image I posted earlier this afternoon of a lanyard adorned with the "This Is It" movie poster and the caption, "I'm at the movies.  It's a rare occasion."  Indeed, I took the time to see Michael Jackson's "This Is It" earlier today.

I actually wanted to see this film in an IMAX theater, but unfortunately the only film showing in the format at the local IMAX theater was "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs."  I decided on the 12:50PM showing at the local Regal Cinema, knowing that at 12:50PM on a Friday, most people weren't at the movies.  I was right.  My girlfriend and I were two of maybe 8 people in the theater for the showing, allowing me to get the full experience without a crowd of people.  On a second viewing, I might try for the opposite.  A crowded theater may add to the atmosphere.

We were handed the lanyards when we purchased our tickets, which is a cool memento, even if it's main purpose is to shill the inevitable Blu-Ray and DVD release.  Popcorn and drinks in tow, we head to the theater and sit right smack dab in the middle, surrounded by absolutely nobody.  After a seemingly unending chain of trailers, rather than the usual theater fodder telling you to go buy snacks in the lobby, we're greeted with a scrolling introductory statement about how the footage was captured.  Several dancers talk about how great it is to work with the King of Pop, before Michael himself sings "Human Nature," all the while giving instructions to his band.

Through performances of several of Michael's hits, we're treated to immaculate dance numbers, re-imaginations of several of Michael's videos, and performances from a vibrant and full of life Jackson, who delivered captivating performances even in rehearsals.  The two highlights of the film for yours truly were the Smooth Criminal sequence - in which Jackson finds himself chased through classic gangster films - and of course, Thriller. 

The new Thriller sequence looked amazing in 2D.  Watching with the knowledge that it was supposed to be shown at the concerts in 3D on screens surrounding the audience on the sides and above, essentially making them feel immersed in the video, it makes you long for what could have been.

I highly recommend this film for anybody who was a fan of Jackson.  By that, I don't necessarily mean somebody who owned all of his albums and merchandise - I mean anybody who enjoyed Michael's music and performances.  You won't be bored by Michael's captivating performances, and you may find yourself staring at the screen in awe of one of the greatest performers to have ever lived.

Thank you to AEG Group and Kenny Ortega for allowing us this glimpse of what could have been.