Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Box Office Numbers on Sunday February 24



Vantage Point took over the number one spot this weekend with a three day total of almost $23 million.






























MovieGrossTheatersTotal GrossDays
1 (1) Vantage Point$4,988,8953,149$22,874,9363
2 (2) The Spiderwick Chronicles$4,094,809 3,847$44,076,04311
3 (3) Jumper$3,293,1783,430$56,264,38611

Best Buy Drops Xbox HD DVD Player Price To $50


This is a follow up to a blog I wrote last week about the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD. On Monday, Best Buy advertised a HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 for only $50. This huge reduction in pricing comes the same day Microsoft announced it would stop making the player for its gaming system.

Toshiba admitted defeat last week by saying it would no longer make or market any players supporting that format. This announcement came four days after Wal-Mart said it would stop selling HD DVD and players by the end of June.

This is a huge blow to Toshiba and it will be interesting to see what kind of affect it will have on the company in the coming months. Sony on the other hand will enjoy increased profits and sells. With Microsoft's announcement that it will no longer make the HD players for the Xbox 360, it might help increase sells of the Playstation 3.

This is a great site to keep you up-to-date on the format war. http://formatwarcentral.com/

Friday, February 22, 2008

Rioters Break Into US Embassy


Last night more then 150,000 rioters turned out to protest Western support for Kosovo's independence in Belgrade, Serbia. (What exactly were the Serbs protesting? The bid made by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority to create their own state out of what Serbs consider the ancient heartland of their culture.) A group on angry Serbs broke into the US Embassy and set it ablaze as other rioters ran wild through the streets of Belgrade carrying sign that read "stop American Terror". Rioters destroyed a McDonald's, looted stores, fought with police and burned American flags in a display of anger thats raising in Serbia over the secession of what has been its southernmost province.

The violence last night came after violence earlier in the week that Serbian officials wrote off as "insignificant." During a mass rally earlier yesterday Kostunica attacked the U.S. and others for supporting Kosovo's independence. "Is there any other nation on Earth from whom (the great powers) are demanding that they give up their identity, to give up our brothers in Kosovo?" he told the crowd.

Once the Embassy fire was put of a charred body was found. An Embassy spokeswomen said that all the Embassy staff was accounted for so it must have been a rioter.

Of course the White House strongly criticized the violence in Belgrade and called the rioters "thugs." The spokesman for the State Department said they would hold Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic responsible for any further damage.

But can we really blame the Serbs? They are trying to protect something that is important to them and they don't have the same luxuries that we do in America. In America if we don't like a bill thats going to be pasted(this is just one example), we can vote against it or petition it. Over there they don't have the luxury. They have to deal with a corrupt government. If they want something done they have to riot and still that doesn't always work. Am I saying what they didn't was right? No, but I think we should stop and think about what motived them to do what they did and look at what options they had before we criticize them.

If you have an opinion or view on this subject please leave a comment.

This is a link to a site with related information. http://politicalkudzu.com/

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Open to Input

If you have any suggestions or ideas for topics I should write about, please leave a comment or email me at clay_were_leopard@yahoo.com or boeotus@yahoo.com. I'm open to any and all suggestions and criticisms.

Love, A Double-Edged Sword

Love, what is it? Nowadays the word love is used too much and not enough. We all love something or someone. Some love objects: food, money, worldly possessions. Some love power and what that power can give them. Still yet, some love another person or persons: a significant other, a parent, a child, a friend. Any one of these types of love can be very powerful. Many don't realize how powerful and destructive love can be. Wars have been fought, great leaders and nations have rose and fallen, and many have died because of love.

So again I ask, what is love? Love may be the most difficult thing to describe. Its meaning differs from one person to the next. For some love is meaningless. It is given out freely and with no regard to who it might hurt. While some people are afraid to love and be love because they have been hurt so many times.

In closing, I ask you to stop and think the next time you go to say you love something or someone: Do you really?

The War Over High-Definition DVD Is Almost Over


The war between Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD DVD may very well be over. Warner Bros., which is the biggest seller of DVDs, said that it would continue to release movies on Toshiba's HD DVD format only through May after that they will work exclusively with Sony. Upon hearing this news, the HD DVD promotional group canceled their scheduled CED press conference. Which in my opinion says a lot about how big this deal is.

Blu-ray has previously enjoyed the support of 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, and New Line, among other studios. Warner Bros. is a huge addition to an alright impressive line up. It will be interesting to see if any of the other studios will make the jump from HD DVD to Blu-ray.
Warner Bros. announcement is great news for Playstation 3. Since the Playstation 3 has a Blu-ray player built-in, this will likely mean more sells.

Although Toshiba recently announced they were cutting the price of its HD DVD player in half, I didn't think it will do much to change the tide of this format war.

Playstation 3

Ancient Devil Frog


On Monday a group of scientist said they found a frog from millions of years ago dubbed the "devil frog." The frog was discovered in Madagascar. Paleontologist David Krause, one of the scientist who found the frog, said the amphibian may have been the largest frog ever to have lived.

The frog's name, Beelzebufo ampinga (try saying that three times fast, heck I can't even pronounce it), comes from Beelzebub, which means devil in Greek and bufo which means toad in Latin. Ampinga means "shield", named for its armor-like anatomy.

The frog was reported to have weighed in at a whopping ten pounds and was sixteen inches long. (I know a few people who would be in frog leg heaven.) It was a nasty little bugger too. With a very large mouth and a powerful jaw, it was possible the frog ate baby dinosaurs.

Now, I have a few questions for you my readers: What do you think about the frog? What is your stand on evolution and creation? What impact, if any, do you think the discovery of this frog will have on proving or disproving evolution or creation? Express your views by leaving a comment or by creating a blog of your own.