How dependent are we on our digital equipment? Remember the Y2K scare and all the people running to the stores stocking up on water and food? It gave us a little glance at the panic that would capture people’s minds if computers were to just stop functioning.

How digital is our world? I wake up every day to a digital alarm clock. I then proceed to drink the coffee freshly brewed from a digitally controlled coffee maker. I strap onto my belt a pager, grab my cellular phone (don’t ask why I still have both that is another editorial) and remote start my car. As I enter my car I turn on my digital radio and check all the digital gauges on the control panel. That is just my morning, not even touching an actual computer just yet and I have already listed a variety of little gadgets that I will miss if I did not have them.

It goes further than that. Since the explosion of the Internet, we have created a new kind of community. The Internet has spawned email lists, online forums, and other gathering places where communities are formed. All of these things have made our world even more digital. If you were to ask someone involved on any of these communities whether they would miss their connection to the internet and they would for sure tell you that they would not know what to do.

So should we be concerned that we are becoming more and more dependent on digital devices for not just entertainment but just every day life and now even social interactions? I am not sure; I guess it all depends on an individual’s comfort level. Some people might be ok knowing that computers might be gone tomorrow and their life would go on and not skip a beat. I am somewhat in the middle, sure I work in the technology sector but if an electromagnetic pulse destroyed all technology in the world I would change my profession and make a living. I am not that dependent on computers for happiness… that is of course if the economy does not collapse and the world ends like a lot of people thought it would during Y2K.

I do believe that there are some people that have centered their lives around the digital world so much, that without it they would feel empty. If all your human interaction is purely done via a computer screen, then you would feel that not being able to talk to your internet community is a total desolation situation. Some people might think I am crazy but watch the movie The Net, with Sandra Bullock and you will see the scenario, that back when the movie came out to most of the general public might have seemed far fetched is today’s reality in some level.

And for the skeptics out there that might think I am going a little bit too far saying that people are not just living in virtual communities now a days. Talk to anyone that is addicted completely to MMORPG games and they might shed some new light on this ever growing reality of living in a digital world.

Starring more bin name stars than oceans 11 and 12 put together, Sin City is a great movie that brings a comic book to life on the silver screen. Starring Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, Jaime King, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, and Brittany Murphy to name a few.

Robert Rodriguez teams up with comic book icon Frank Miller to co-direct this masterpiece. The film is based on the series of graphic novels created, written and illustrated by Miller. Miller has also done excellent work in other notable comics as Dare Devil and Elecktra.

The first thing I heard about this movie was that Robert Rodriguez was taking a stance against the director’s guild, I believe he actually quit it because they would not let him share the directing credits with Frank Miller. I believe that it is not a great gesture but a showing of respect an honor. Frank Miller’s graphic novels most have been monumental to be blueprint for this wonderful film, I am not a big comic book fan, but next time I go into a store that has them I might have to get a couple of his books.

Sin City is fast paced with an amazing use of color (or lack there off, I believe besides black and white we see yellow the most). There was even a car chase scene that was directed by Quentin Tarantino. Lots of wonderful vintage automoviles. With an almost chaotic story line the movie follows 3 main characters. They are all more villains than heroes, but you cannot help but bond with them in a human level. They all display tons of charisma and a different sense of justice that sometimes we feel has been lost in the world. I also believe this same kind of appeal makes Boondock Saints the cult classic it now is.

The acting was amazing, showing actors in roles that puts them in places where might not have seen them before. I was impressed by Mickey Rourke who’s comeback to a big budget film is in my eyes a success. Marv, his character, shows tons of emotion and a struggle between the question of is what I am living right now real or not. You can stare at true insanity and passion in his eyes. It really captivates you, and even makes you guess if what we are seeing is reality or Marv’s interpretation of it. Tons of gore that because of the absence of color does not look overdone, great acting… What are you waiting for go get it now!

Logtar’s Rating System
* Don’t bother
**If there is nothing else in the video store
***Rent it for sure
****Go watch it in the theater today, or buy the DVD
—–


SinCity.

What an awesome weekend I had We had tons of work but it was just utter satisfaction

Saturday was gardening day and pre-Mom’s visit cleaning. I have not worked on a garden since back in Colombia. I am glad that I did not because it was a great experience to share with Cielo. We went to her old place and got probably about 25 plants (mostly flowers) that were beginning to sprout. We also got 2 bushes and a tree. The dig up was not too bad and it felt good to get dirty. As a computer monkey I do not get to do much manual labor, so it feels good to work with your hands building stuff, or just gardening. One of the aspects of motorcycles that I like the best is that I can work on them. Cars, I am not too good at, and now a days they are super complex… it’s hard to keep up.

We came back home and started planting. We decided to start a garden at one of our backyard corners with a cool birdbath and all then we did a little outline garden of the deck as well as placed the trees on cool viewing spots. Cielo has a very nice Japanese Maple tree that has been groomed to be umbrella like and we cannot wait for it to bloom. That work took us most of the day, but we still had cleaning to do inside. We got to go back in and work some more because my Mom was coming to visit.

My Mom was doing just a one-day trip to come and visit, she and her fiance got up at 5 AM and drove for 6 hours from Chicago to MI. When they got home we took them for a little tour of the Area, not that there is a lot to see but it is a nice town. Then we went for some Ice Cream. We had dinner planned as a barbecue, which turned out excellent. Cielo had made tuna salad as well as marinated chicken, Teriyaki and Hawaiian style. It all turned out awesome and everyone seemed to enjoy the food.

My Mom liked my house and was happy to see us. She had an excellent time, and even though she had to turn back and wake up at 4:30AM to head back to Chitown, she was very happy to see us. Cannot wait until she comes back and spends more than just a day with us.

One of the most difficult questions that I have always been asked is the following conversation starter. If you could talk to anyone (Insert Celebrity - Mentor - Etc.) dead or alive whom would you talk to? I have finally found that person. Hunter S. Thompson.

Cielo actually introduced me to him, we watched Fear of Loathing in Las Vegas with Johnny Dep. At first I can say that I did not get the movie. I had no previous experience with who Hunter S Thompson was, and I was just kind of overwhelmed by the sensory input that the movie was. This past week I read an article in Rolling Stone that Johnny Depp wrote about Hunter S Thompson and I have not been able to stop thinking. I was also impressed at how good of a writer Johnny Depp is. How cool would it have been to spend a day with this guy, just talking, just riding motorcycles, or listening to him?

One of the most impressive things to me right now was what he wrote after 9-11 happened. I know there are tons of stories floating around there about his death, and a pre 9-11 article… but I do not want to even talk about that. I just want to say that his writing is just like no other, and I now have a mentor, I now want to write even more than I did before.

Some people might not be able to see beyond a lot of the things that Hunter S Thompson was. He lived a very fast paced eccentric lifestyle. All I see is a loyal friend to many, and an extremely talented writer. Now I will have to read his work and learn. Maybe I will learn something about writing from him, maybe not, but I am finding inspiration on everything that I have read so far.

It is sad that he is not with us anymore, and also that I did not discover him before. I have probably read him before online on his ESPN column without even knowing I was. Now I have a writer and I can finally answer that pesky question. I would love to spend even if just an hour with Hunter S Thompson.

Gitana - Gypsy by Willie Colon

As a kid, I spent hours learning the lyrics to this song. I had my first tape recorder and this song just really captivated my young mind. I had to be around 7 or 8 and I memorized all the lyrics. Now thinking for my Cielo’s mesmerizing eyes I thought of it again

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I do not remember seeing previews for this movie before. I really went into with little expectation. The only thing I had heard it was that it was a good movie and that it could make me cry. I have watched the movie twice now and I still do not know if the movie was good or not.
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Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better
on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God
was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said,
“THAT’S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will
run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the
better job.”

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.
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