Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Send your stuffed animal on vacation

There's a company which will send your toy stuffed animal on vacation. It's an inane idea and delightful comic fodder for Stephen Colbert. Check out his piece.

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Stephen Colbert's interview of poet Billy Collins

Here's Stephen Colbert interviewing Poet Laureate of the United States, Billy Collins. Colbert is probably the only pop culture icon that reads poetry on his show. Here he reads a poem from Collins' book of poetry, "Aimless Love."

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Stephen Colbert on Rand Paul's plagiarism

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow caught Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) plagiarizing Wikipedia. Great comic fodder for Stephen Colbert.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Bengals shoot down Jets

To win in the NFL, you must have good play in the trenches from the offensive and defensive line. Today against the New York Jets, the Cincinnati Bengals dominated in both areas. And that was a very good Jets defense that the Bengals offensive line manhandled. The result? The Bengals ground the Jets, and destroy them, 49-9.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw five touchdown passes. Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones caught four. Folks, the Bengals drafted Jones in the fifth round!. How's that for finding football talent. The defense kept the pressure on Jets quarterback Geno Smith and picked him off twice for touchdowns. One of them came from wise veteran Chris Crocker who just keeps on coming back to the team after being cut. Great guy.

As Allen Cutler would say. It's a great day to be a Bengals fan. Here's the story of the game from Bengals.com.

Stephen Colbert rips Dallas Safari Club

This idea can only come from right-wing America. In order to save the endangered black rhino, the Dallas Safari Club wants to auction off a chance to kill one on what I guess is a safari. Thank goodness for Stephen Colbert who with scathing sarcasm, destroys the Club.

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

A racist Republican reveals real motive for voter ID laws

I'm very happy that young people get their news from The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert. Yeah, some of its' fake. But it's satire. And they comment on real actual news. That's the real part of the show. Anyway, The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi got to interview North Carolina Republican leader Don Yelton. (North Carolina Republican Executive Committee Memeber) He admits that his state voter ID law is designed to suppress Democratic votes. And yeah, he did use racist terms too, like "lazy blacks." Please young people of America, vote out these racist dinosaurs from your state governments.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Stephen Colbert takes on dinosaur erotica

In this Stephen Colbert's Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger video, he takes on Newark mayor and Senate elect Cory Booker presiding over gay marraiges, computers grading essays, and crazy novels published for the Amazon Kindle. There's actually a genre about dinosaur erotica. What the ....?! Riotous stuff.

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The Fifth Estate review

The term "fifth estate" stands for a group outside of the mainstream news media which is considered the fourth estate. This fifth estate is an independent form of news media. In this day and age, the fifth estate would constitute blogs and those individuals not associated with mainstream journalists. So it's appropriate when a movie was made about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that it be called "The Fifth Estate."

The Fifth Estate starts with a montage of how man reported the news. We went from handwriting to newspapers to television and finally to the Internet. It then starts as a flashback to 2007 when Julian Assange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) whistle blowing website WikiLeaks started to rev up. He meets and enlists the help of a young computer expert, Daniel Berg. (Daniel Bruhl) At the time, Assange is directly involved with confidential sources in Kenya who are disclosing wrongdoing within the national government. Later he and Berg start work on disclosing corruption in a Swiss bank. The WikiLeaks story leads to prosecutions. Wikileaks and Assange's reputation are solidified. But Assange has a fundamental rule. He refuses to redact sensitive information that could disclose informants leaked to him since it's editing and he would lose his objectivity. It's that idea that comes into conflict when Assange receives a ton of classified information from United States Army private Bradley Manning.

Director Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Kinsey) and screenwriter Josh Singer (The West Wing) have created a visually imaginative techno thriller. At times, The Fifth Estate features scenes of surrealism. The movie does lose some of its drive when it focuses on Berg's private life. That time could have been spent on better defining WikiLeaks triumph over the Swiss bank. That would have given the audience a more balanced view of Assange. Still, the film takes off once WikiLeaks publishes disturbing video of an Army helicopter attack that killed civilians. It hits its stride when Assange realizes that American intelligence is physically following him. While the film explores the good things that release of secret government information has such as exposing corruption and attrocites, it also shows that Assange's quest is blind when he exposes American informants whose lives could be put in danger.

As he was in Star Trek Into Darkness, Benedict Cumberbatch is simply brilliant. He's arrogant, egotistical and is righteous at the same time. Daniel Berg is also very good as the conflicted assistant. Laura Linney does a fine job conveying the American position as State Department official Sarah Shaw. And Alexder Siddig (Star Trek Deep Space 9's Dr. Bashir) realistically portrays fear as the exposed informant.

The Fifth Estate is not a perfect movie. It's much like Julian Assange himself. Only history will be able to cast the final judgment. My judgment is that The Fifth Estate is a thought provoking, well made film. The grade is A.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Stephen Colbert rips Fox News shrink Dr. Keith Ablow

Look, I like psychiatry but it's not an exact science. One can't label a person as something without a thorough examination. Well Fox News shrink Dr. Keith Ablow made a bs analysis of President Obama on Fox News from afar. Thank goodness for Stephen Colbert. He destroys Ablow in the funny video below.

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Ann Coulter proud of Republicans for shutting down the American government

Tung N. Cheek reporting.

Last night on the Fox News program Hannity, conservative author Ann Coulter said she was proud of the Republicans for shutting down the United States government. Here's what she said.

"The shutdown was so magnificent, run beautifully. I'm so proud of these Republicans, and that is because they have branded the Republican party as the anti-Obamacare party."

She also dismissed polls which show an overwhelming amount of Americans disaproving and blaming Republicans for the shutdown.

I caught up with Ann Coulter and asked her for other examples in history where other anti-liberals made a principled stance.

Coulter said, " I'm also proud of the way Hitler ran World War II."

Jon Stewart rips Obamacare's glitches

Who says Jon Stewart of The Daily Show can't be fair and balanced. Major glitches with the Affordable Care Act's (Obamacare) provide Jon Stewart with comic fodder in these funny video pieces from The Daily Show.


Monday, October 21, 2013

Saving Mr. Banks trailer

This Christmas, Disney is coming out with a movie about how Walt Disney got British author P.L. Travers to give him the film rights to "Mary Poppins." The trailer below looks interesting. The movie just had its world premiere at the London Film Festival. Slash Film has some of the first reviews. The reviews look somewhat positive, I'll wait for Rotten Tomatoes to compile a more complete report for critical consensus.

Democrats could take back House in 2014

According to a survey by Public Policy Polling, Republican support is beginning to wane in some congressional districts. Now to be fair PPP is liberal leaning. But it is logical. The Republicans tried to shut down the United States over the Affordable Care Act and they took a beating for it. Makes sense, a great majority of Americans didn't want these right-wingers to shut down America over the ACA. As a consequence, Democrats may gain seats in the House. Let's hope they get the majority back and end the conservative Republican reign of terror. Here's the story from The Huffington Post.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Gresham's bungles can't stop Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham had a couple of old loser Bengals moments in today's game between them and the Detroit Lions. First in the second quarter, he loses his cool with a Lions player then makes contact with an official. The Bengals are pushed back for unsportsmanlike conduct. That was a fifteen yard penalty. Doh. They miss the field goal. Then in fourth quarter, he moves prematurely for five yard penalty. Doh. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is sacked on the next play. The Bengals are pushed out of field goal range. This led to the drama of the last minute and forty seconds.

Three things stopped the Bengals from losing the game. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, quarterback Andy Dalton and the special teams. First, Bengals punter Kevin Huber kicked a beauty of a punt to trap the Lions on their six yard line. Then after the Lions ran the ball, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis called for a timeout. At this point I was screaming at the TV. Play for overtime. But Lewis had faith in his defense that they would somehow stop the Lions and the Bengals would get the ball back. The defense did stop the Lions and they had a terrible punt. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton took care of the ball and drove the offense to set up the winning field goal. For the day, he had three touchdowns and no interceptions. Previously, the special teams' Carlos Dunlap who plays stellar defensive end blocked a Lions field goal. Now was the time for the Bengals field goal unit. Kudos to Bengals kicker Mike "I'm not Ted" Nugent. He drilled a fifty four yard filed goal with four seconds left to win the game. Bengals come out on top, 27-24. Jermaine Gresham should buy a steak dinner for kicker Nugent. Here's the story with video.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Twerking Robot

Why make a robot twerk? Like climbing Mt. Everest or going to the moon, it's a challenge that man must undertake. Here from Bloomberg news is the twerking robot.

Republicans release hostage and get nothing

The whole government shutdown started with defunding Obamacare. And what did the Republicans get? Nothing. Folks, this is no way to govern. You see House Republicans want to repeal Obamacare aka the Affordable Care Act. But they can't get the Senate and President to go along. So, the law is challenged. The United States Supreme Court has ruled it to be constitutional. It's the law of the land. Last tactic for the Republicans is to hold the U.S. government hostage by refusing to pass a budget. Republican speaker House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh) refused to allow a vote. Finally on the brink of defaulting on our debts, Boehner allowed a vote on the Senate budget. It passes. How much did this cost the economy? According to Standards and Poors, about twenty four billion dollars.

Did the Republicans get anything from this? Nope. Last night on The Rachel Maddow Show, host Maddow went over all the Republican demands. And they got nothing. I'll say this over and over again. If you want to change a law, create law or implement policy, do it legally. Don't hold the country hostage. It's time for all voters to kick out he right-wing Republicans out of Congress. Here's a chart that Rachel had on her show demonstrating how bad he Republicans lost in getting their demands. And below is her video piece.


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Republicans take America to economic Armageddon

Well, it looks like the Republicans will allow the United States to default as they refuse to raise the debt ceiling without defunding Obamacare. Economic Armageddon is coming. Meanwhile Cong. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) led the House Republicans in the singing of "Amazing Grace." I believe in God but I'm thinking the moment calls for two classic moments from movies. First, up is the end of Planet of the Apes (1968) where astronaut Talyor realizes man has destroyed his civilization with nuclear war. "We finally really did it. You maniacs!" Second, is the end to Dr. Stangelove (1964) where the world ends in nuclear war and we hear Vera Lynn sing, "We'll Meet Again." Come Republicans, sing with me. "We'll meet again... don't know where, don't know when..."





Bengals get lucky

So, I'm watching the Cincinnati Bengals-Buffalo Bills game, and between the second quarters and third quarters, I'm thinking the Bengals win easily. They go up by fourteen points. But these are the Bengals. And as Benagls fan will tell you, you wait for Homer Simpson moment where they blow the lead. Yep, the Bengals miss a field goal. Gamble with a blitz that led to a Bills touchdown. End of regular time, the game is tied, 24-24.

Thank God for the Bengals defense. Because in overtime, the Bengals defense forced the Bills to punt. The Bengals punt returner Brandon Tate took the ball back for twenty nine yards to the Bills thirty three yard line. A couple plays later, Bengals kicker Ted... er, Mike Nugent kicks the game winning field goal. Bengals win, 27-24. Hey, a win is a a win is a win. Here's the story from the Cincinnati Bengals website.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Stephen Colbert lampoons Fox News' News Deck

You want to know why Stephen Colbert wins Emmys and Peabodys, it's because of his mix of comedy, satire and news commentary. Yesterday, Colbert covered Fox News's News Deck. This studio has producers working on gigantic computer screens. I guess so Fox News' old audience can see the screens. Anyway, Colbert lampoons Fox News' News Deck with his own. He also makes some nice Star Trek references. Stephen Colbert often cites Star Trek. I nominate him for Star Trek's favorite satirist. Here are the hilarious videos.

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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Stephen Colbert takes on "Angry truckers going to Washington to remove President Obama"

Angry truckers are driving to Washington D.C. They are part of a group called Ride for the Constitution. What do these "geniuses" want? They want to remove President Barack Obama. That's what leader Zeeda Andrews says in the video clip from Stephen Colbert. But to avoid trouble they say on the website Obama must "leave office voluntarily and immediately." They also say that conservative Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have "betrayed" the country in supporting Al Qaeda. That's in their first demand. McCain supporting Al Qaeda? WTF. Okay, we got some crazy people in this country.

So just how smart are these "genius" truckers? They feature a painting of satirist Stephen Colbert on top of an American eagle. Um... guys you do know Colbert mocks right-wing conservatives like you? He's like Archie Bunker in All in the Family. You do realize that Bunker was made to espouse conservative nonsense and looked like an idiot for a purpose? Well, anyway Stephen Colbert has fun with them. Yeah, a "genius" trucker claims they are going to put 100 million around Washington.

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Don't confuse i Yogi with Norton Customer Support

I bought Norton 360 Internet antivirus software and had trouble installing it. I Google this term "Norton 360 can't install." And this is the website that came up. Now note. The url has Norton 360 in it. So, I thought it was Norton. Big mistake.

The company is called iYogi not Norton. When I called the number, a person with an Indian accent immediately answered. It's an Indian company. I told him my problem. He asked for the product key number from my Norton 360. I gave it to him. I let him take over my computer. He ran a "diagnostic" and said I had major problems. He insisted I regularly needed to maintain my computer. He showed me prices of Best Buy and Staples computer maintenance prices and said theirs would cost $169.00. I hesitated. Something smelled bad. I asked if they were Norton. He said they did tech support for Norton and Apple products. Note he never said we are not Norton. I asked him if I could just pull up the old Norton app and type in the key product number. He said it wouldn't work due to my registry problems. So I said to him, "I'm not going to send you or anybody else money through the Internet." He insisted it was safe. I said, "The price is almost the value of my computer. I should consider buying a new computer at that price. Let me think about it or buy another antivirus." At that moment, he said, "Talk to my supervisor." Same hard sell. I said the same thing. I demanded they release my computer. I then started the disconnection process. Get this. I get a call from another supervisor at iYogi arguing with me about the same issues.

Afterwards, I did some online research for iYogi. And I found similar complaints. Here's a similar story. Here's Dan Tynan of IT World with another similar story. According to Wikipedia, the antivirus company Avast terminated its contract with iYogi over similar issues.

The Happy Ending. I found Norton Customer service. I just doubled check with the URL on the product box. They took over my computer and installed Norton 360 instantly.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Daily Show: Republicans own the shutdown

I'll say this objectively again. The Republicans are behind the shutdown. It's all about Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act. And they admit it. If Obamacare were de-funded or delayed you would have a budget to run government today. The debt ceiling would not be an issue. But here's the facts, conservative Republicans. Obamacare is the law. You won't get it repealed at this moment since you don't control the Senate or the Presidency. It passed constitutional muster as the United Supreme Court has ruled it to be constitutional.

What drives Jon Stewart and me nuts is that some Republicans are blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown. Stewart uses prior video from Republican Speaker John Boehner to debunk this as he clearly wanted to shutdown the government over Obamacare. I've also added a video where Republican strategist Noelle Nikpour admits to this much to the agony of The Daily Show's Jason Jones. At least we can laugh at them because the Republicans are full of it.



Monday, October 7, 2013

Bengals outlast Patriots

Before yesterday's Cincinnati Bengals-New England Patriots game, I thought the Bengals could beat the Patriots. The Bengals do have the talent to defeat them. But if you're a Bengals fan, you know that they'll find a way to lose. And there were times in yesterday's game, when the Bengals showed you what I just said. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton throws an interception in the red zone. Running back Giovani Bernard fumbles the ball in the fourth quarter to give Patriots Hall of Famer quarterback Tom Brady a chance to tie the game.

But the major strength of the Bengals is their defense. And it all starts with the defensive line. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins set the tone by sacking Brady on the second play of the game. They pressured Brady all day long. He was never comfortable. The result? Brady did not throw a touchdown pass. That ended a streak of 52 games of touchdown passes. Kudos to other Bengals, the veteran Chris Crocker and defensive end Wallace Gilberry. The football gods also smiled on the Bengals. The clouds opened up and the rain poured down on the Patriots the last couple of minutes in the game. That gave the Patriots passing game problems as Brady had trouble throwing the wet football. His final pass was an interception by cornerback Adam Jones. Game over. Bengals stun the undefeated Patriots and gave them their first loss of the season. The score was Bengals 13, Patriots 6. Here's the story with video highlights.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Bill Maher boils Republican Party down to four types of people

Last night on Real Time with Bill Maher, Cong. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) made an observation on who populates the Republican Party. He said corporate shills, religious fanatics, and the freedom fiends are those that populate the Repbulcian party. Bill Maher had a similar list. Jesus freaks, gun nuts, generic obese suburbanites and the super rich. Video courtesy of Mediaite and HBO. I say the Republican Party consists of Gun nuts, far right fundamentalist Christians, the super rich and angry white men who support the previous three philosophically.

Republicans are the cause of the government shutdown; Jon Stewart blasts Fox News

I'll try to be as objective as possible. It's the Republicans that are responsible for the Federal government shutdown. You see, they won't agree to funding the government until the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is de-funded or delayed. Period.

But those facts get in the way of Fox News' mission to support conservative Republicans. Thank goodness for The Daily Show and Jon Stewart. He blasts Fox News or what he likes to call "Bulls#t Mountain" for its biased coverage. Here's his funny and smart piece. There's also a guest appearance from Smokey the Bear.


Reds make the right decision in firing Dusty Baker

Yesterday, the Cincinnati Reds fired manager Dusty Baker. Now, I'm not one of those guys who bash Dusty Baker. I think he's a good manager. He knows baseball. He's a fine teacher. He's a good man. According to CBSSports.com, Baker stood up for batting coach Brook Jacoby when Reds GM Walt Jocketty wanted to fire him. Allegedly, Baker said, "If you want to fire someone, fire me." And maybe that gave Jocketty cover to fire Baker. According to the story, It certainly didn't sound like Jocketty was happy with Baker at the end of this year.

But was it the right decision? Yes. The Reds didn't hit with runners in scoring position. So dumping Jacoby was correct. However, some of the Reds offensive woes belong to Dusty Baker. The Reds played like him. Laid back. In 2010, the Reds had a leader in third baseman Scott Rolen. But since then, there were no leaders in the clubhouse. If there's no leader in the clubhouse, then the manager must lead the team. After being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last three games of the season, I had no faith they would win a one game playoff. The team looked lifeless. Someone needed to fire them up. And without leaders, the spark must come from the manager. Dusty should have thrown some tables, do what the manager in the movie Bull Durham did. Throw the team in the showers, and read them the riot act.

Dusty Baker is a good manager. He deserves better. But he's not the right man for the Reds at this juncture. He would be great for a Reds team that had a leader like the 1999 Reds. I hope he and the Reds find a happier future.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Gravity 3D Review

The film Gravity starts with a shot of earth. It's a big blue planet that fills the darkness of space. We hear radio chatter. And slowly from the right comes the space shuttle Explorer. This gentle, poetic scene lasts much longer than many scenes in modern films which would favor fast cutting. Such a scene would drive directors like Michael Bay or J.J. Abrams crazy for its slowness. But that's the beauty of Gravity. Director Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) is unafraid of letting a fascinating visual speak rather than worry about the audience getting bored. And the great thing about this movie is that Cuarón uses many such shots.

Gravity starts with the space shuttle Explorer attached to the Hubble telescope. Astronauts Matt Kowalski, (George Clooney) who has a penchant for retelling stories about his love life and Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) are repairing the telescope. The Russians destroy one of their satellites and the debris starts to destroy other satellites thereby sending more debris into space. Some of this debris destroys the Explorer. Astronauts Kowalski and Stone are stranded. Their only way to survive is to make their way to the International Space Station which has been evacuated due to accident. The hope is that one of the Soyuz ships is still there.

The movie's screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón is well written with good character development. The movie has many taut, exciting moments. But much of this film works because of Cuarón's direction. As stated before, he's not worried that the audience will get bored and use camera gymnastics to keep the interest. There are many long, epic scenes without fast cutting. I love it the way the camera follows the floating astronauts. Cuaron also creates disorientation when characters are hurled into space due to the lack of gravity. Cuarón's eye for action set pieces is also logical so you know what is happening without dialogue. And kudos to the special effects team. You really feel as if Gravity was filmed in space. I also appreciate the small nods to other science fiction movies such as Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also welcome are the gentle metaphors to the family of man.

As for Sandra Bullock, this might be her finest work. She demonstrates fear without hysteria. There's sadness, despair, love, bravery and hope in her performance.

The movie does have some flaws. Much of the live action was shot in 2D. The CGI shots look to be shot native. So it's a hybrid. I agree with film critic Roger Ebert. You cannot make a 2D movie look like 3D. Without the 3D camera rig, you can't capture the light, shadow, angles, nooks and crannies. It's a pop up book. And you can tell in the live action scenes. The CGI works but frankly it's not special enough for me to recommend. Floating 3D pens don't mesh with 2D live action. You pay a premium for 3D. There are some neat shots with depth showing astronauts among the stars but that's about it. Go ahead and see this movie in 2D.

And without giving the plot away, the last twenty minutes will ask you to suspend disbelief. I mean you're going to have say to yourself as you watch the ending of this movie that there's luck, miracles or God. But maybe that's the point.

Gravity is a visually stunning and exciting science fiction movie. The grade is A.

Teaser trailer.

Stephen Colbert mocks Bill O' Reilly

Fox News' Bill O' Reilly claims that the Holy Spirit told him to write the book, "Killing Jesus." This is great comic fodder for Stephen Colbert who uses his special brand of sarcasm to rip O'Reilly a new one. Hilarious stuff.

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Grand Theft Auto V: "Minor Turbulence" Gold medal tips

Getting the Gold medal for the Grand Theft Auto V mission "Minot Turbulence" is not that hard. What's hard is getting to that point where you have to complete the requirements. This post will cover the mission and if you fly the plane correctly, you should be able to get the Gold Medal on the first try.

First, prepare for this mission. I suggest you buy or find some armor for Trevor who's going to do the mission. Then make sure his pistol has enough ammo. Yes, we're going to use the pistol to take out enemies. I'll tell you why later in this post.

Okay. Let's get to the section of the mission where you have to fly a biplane crop duster and follow a huge cargo jet. This is the hardest thing about the mission. Why? Because flying planes in Grand Theft Auto games suck. They've always been hard to control. I don't know what rocket scientist at Rockstar thought let's put planes back in after San Andreas. And don't get me started on trying to land a plane in any Grand Theft Auto game.

Now you have to fly low so the radar from the military base doesn't detect you. If you fly too high for too long, the base scrambles jets and that's the end of your mission because they light you up with air to air missiles. Anyway follow the jet and stay low. Watch out for trees. Running into a tall tree is like hitting a mountain with a plane. Eventually your partner Ron tells you can climb and meet the jet.

The point is that you're going to fly you plane into back of the cargo jet. Sounds ridiculous and unrealistic? Yes it is. Once you get close, the jet lowers its rear door and a soldier starts firing a machine gun at you. But it gets worse. As much as this is a totally unrealistic way to get on board the jet, they add a dose of realism to make life hell for you. The jet's engines cause turbulence when you approach, causing you to frequently lose control as you try to crash your plane into the rear door of the jet.

Here's some tips. As you approach the open door on the back of the jet, stay low. Try to line your plane up. Aim low. Try to fly your plane into the opened door which is lower part of the black opening. Look at the video below from Grand Theft Auto Series Videos at about the nine minute thirty mark. Also as you're approaching the jet, don't jerk or move the joystick in large movements. Small, gentle movements.

If correctly done, a cutscene takes over. The plane crashes into the cargo hold. And you're in cover. There are two requirements for the Gold Medal. Let's go over each one.

1. Accuracy. You must finish with a shooting accuracy of at least 80 percent. There are armed guards on this plane. This is why I use the pistol. It takes about three shots to shots to kill a guard. If you use five bullets to kill an enemy your accuracy suffers since you're shooting at a dead body. Using an assault rifle is nice but you can fire too many bullets. The pistol is not automatic so you make your shots count. Use auto aim. And stay in cover. Pop out and put rounds into live enemies.

When the above cutscene ends, you're in cover behind a crate. There's one guard in front of you, one in front of a jeep and another with a shotgun moving on your position. Okay, use auto aim and put a round in each. One bullet knocks them down but doesn't kill them. Keep shooting a round into them until these three guys are dead. Use your HUD to tell you if they're dead. Watch out for the shotgun guard. He'll kill you quickly if you let him get too close.

Stay in cover. The jeep to your right, rolls off the plane leaving a kill zone. Now wait for the other guards to charge. I knock them down with one shot. Then let them get up. I shoot them again until they're dead. Eventually you've taken out all of the guards in the cargo hold.

Now advance. Watch out for rolling jeeps. The sequence is the jeep to your left rolls off. Then the jeep to the right, leaving a jeep behind it. You're going to use that jeep to get the next requirement.

Now climb to the cockpit. There's the pilot with a gun. Don't hesitate. Shoot him. It knocks him down. As he gets up, fire another shot. Keep putting one bullet into him until he's dead.

2. Four Wheel Flier. Okay, you've killed the pilot and take over the plane. However as you make your way across Los Santos, you're attacked by jets. Nothing to do here but bail out. After getting hit with air to air missiles, your now in the cargo hold with a parachute.

Get into the jeep or SUV or Mesa. Drive it off the plane. Then jump out of the SUV. Sometime later deploy parachute. Land safely. Gold Medal earned.

Yeah, this guy is really good. Really good.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Grand Theft Auto V: "Deep Inside" Gold Medal tips

This post will cover the hardest requirement for Grand Theft Auto V: "Deep Inside" mission's Gold Medal. It's the "Not a Scratch" requirement and its quirky as hell. The video below from Grand Theft Auto Video Series shows how the player did it on one attempt. He's really, really good. He's also uses Franklin's Special Skill of driving. But it might require two attempts for you and that's okay. Just remember after your first attempt to save your game. Okay, let's start the mission again.

What makes "Not a Scratch" so hard is the actress in the JB 700 car. (Oh, I get the joke. JB 700. James Bond. 007) Anyway, she grabs the wheel and causes you to lose control and possibly damaging the car and losing the requirement. You can't eject her right away either. You must wait for the prompt. Now there is a requirement "Premature Ejector" where you use the ejector within ten seconds. But if you were like me, you had too much damage with the car to get the "Not a Scratch" requirement.

What's so quirky about the "Not a Scratch" requirement is that you might have virtually no damage to the care and fail to get it. Then you get some damage to the car and get it. So, your best bet is to try to get no damage to the car or at as minimal damage as possible.

So on this second attempt we need to find a way to coax the actress of the car before Franklin gets in it. Here's how. When the first guard tells you that you're wanted on the set, arm an assault rifle. This causes the guards to attack. Okay, waste the first guard. Run to the right of the car. Waste he guard here. You are using auto aim aren't you? Shoot hard and fast. There should be one or two more that will attack you. Quickly dispatch them. Now try to get in the car from the passenger's side. The actress should leave or has already left the car and out of your hair. Drive the car and turn left. Run over the male actor if you didn't get the "Second Strike" requirement.

You're not safe yet. The studio sends cars after you but now you are unhindered. Use the spikes when prompted and the enemy is behind you. Piece of cake. You call Molly. Now if you don't have the "Fastest Speed" requirement, look for a long stretch of road with the map and head for it. Floor the car. Use Franklin's Special Skill liberally. This mission does not have ta time limit requirement. After you're done go back to the secret garage.

Okay, now you should have the "Not a Scratch" requirement if you have not damaged the car. Go back to your Safe House. Save your game. Now look at the data for "Deep Inside" from the Replay Menu. You've got all the requirements for a Gold Medal.



Grand Theft Auto V: "Mr. Richards" Gold Medal tips

I'm going to go over how to get the Grand Theft Auto V Gold Medal for the mission "Mr. Richards" in two attempts in this post. The video from Grand Theft Auto Series Videos shows how to do it in one attempt. But there's a chance you may not get the requirement for the medal with the Mission Time of under ten minutes. Please save your game after your first attempt. Go to the Replay Option in the Pause Menu. Pick the "Mr. Richards" mission that you've just completed.

First I equip my pistol with a suppressor. Now on the first attempt, I got the "Stealth Assassin" the first time. You need to nail guys with their backs to you for a stealth attack. It's pretty easy but time consuming. Unless you'e as good as the guy in the video below, all the sneaking around will take you out of the time limit for the medal. So waste the contractors you nailed with stealth attacks in the first attempt with your pistol this time. But you don't need three. Assuming you got "Stealth Assassin' the first time, you only need to shoot two.

I then clime the ladder. I shoot the first contractor. Run across to the next ladder. Once the door opens, I shoot that contractor. Then I climb the ducts to the roof where the stairs leads to the helipad. Now, instead of taking out the contractor that comes out of the door with a stealth attack I ignore him and run up the stairs. That starts the cutscene where you confront Rocco. Pummel him quickly and jump in the chopper.

Now unlike the guy below who's really, really good, I don't fly under bridges. I just fly fast and dive hard. Get close to buildings. Finally, the actor agrees to be in the movie and you fly them back to the lot. Once you land, run back to Mr. Richards.

Okay, you say you got the Mission Time requirement but it shows you don't have "Stealth Assassin." No problem. Go back to your Safe House. Save the game. Now check out the Repay Option and look at the mission. It shows you've completed the mission and all the Gold Medal requirements.



Grand Theft Auto V:" Eye In the Sky" Gold Medal tips

There's one quirky requirement for the Gold Medal in Grand Theft Auto V's mission "Eye in the Sky" mission. It's "I See You. " I tried to get this multiple times until I found out what I was doing wrong. So let me give you the tip on this tricky requirement.

The first two requirements are pretty easy. One is called "Not a scratch." Just drive the Z Type car carefully back to the marker at the Los Santos International Airport. The second is "Eavesdropper." Again easy. Just listen to every target. But it's the "I See You" that is tricky. This requires you to find Chad's hiding place on the first attempt.

Here's how to get it. After your chopper follows the car back to a parking garage, Trevor tells the pilot to bring the chopper lower. It goes to the side of the garage. There's some conversation between Trevor and the pilot where Trevor complains about not being about to spot Chad. The pilot tells you to use the thermal vision.

First, before you turn on the thermal vision, look to the right. You can barely see Franklin. Turn on the thermal vision. Franklin asks if you can see him. Zoom in on him. This starts the attempt when Trevor acknowledges he sees Franklin. Now this is important. ZOOM OUT BUT STAY IN THERMAL VISION. Move the camera all the way to the left where there's a guy sitting down. That's Chad. Zoom on him and hold. A cutscene then interrupts indicating you've completed this requirement correctly in one attempt. One last warning. Do not zoom on anybody else except for Chad. The video from GTA Video Series shows how to get the Gold Medal. The "I See You" requirement starts at 11 minutes and forty seconds.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Stephen Colbert interviews Daniel Radcliffe

Last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed actor Daniel Radcliffe. (Harry Potter) It's a funny and interesting talk with one of film's most well known actors. There's also a clip from his upcoming movie "Kill Your Darlings" where he plays Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Here's the interview.

The Colbert Report
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Stephen Colbert goes after conservatives for urging people to opt out of Obamacare

Stephen Colbert mocks the conservatives over their declaration that Obamacare is a "failure," You see the conservatives are already saying it's a failure. This criticism comes after one day. And one of their criticisms is that various government websites are crashing because of the high volume of people trying to get information. Huh? A large amount of people trying to access a website is a failure? If that's a failure then sign me up. Colbert then makes fun of the Koch brothers funding ads for young people to opt out of Obamacare and go insurance less. WTF. Young people if you opt out, you won't have health insurance. Funny stuff from Colbert. By the way, that's intern Jay in a panda suit subbing for the real one as the Republicans have shut down the government.

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The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive

Pirates bomb Reds again

The Cincinnati Reds lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the one game Wild Card playoff, 6-2. The game was much like the Reds this season. The team was laid back and listless. They could not hit with runners in scoring position. Reds starter Johnny Cueto did not look like he was ready to pitch after a long absence for an injury. He gave up a home run to the Pirates Marlon Byrd on a change up that looked like a batting practice pitch. Cueto did not last the fourth inning. The Pirates hit three home runs. Here's the story.

The problem for next year is whether the Reds will have enough offense to compete. You can't depend on speedy Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton, left fielder Ryan Ludwick or Todd Frazier. There are a lot of holes.

So the season ends. Wait until next year.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Jon Stewart blames Republicans for the upcoming government shutdown

Look, I'm going to blame the House Republicans for shutting down the Federal government. I don't think it's up for debate. Why? The Republicans want to defund Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act. One problem. It's the law, you conservative Republicans. You can claim that it's unconstitutional. But it passed constitutional muster in a Unites States Supreme Court case. Oh, you can't defund it because you don't have the Senate or the Presidency. So why this kamikaze run? Jon Stewart of the Daily Show covers all this and while it's heartbreaking to see this happen, at least Jon Stewart can make it funny.