Romey's Ramblings

Google+ – the new tech unicorn?

July 7, 2011August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

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At this point you’ve probably heard of Google+, their latest foray into Facebook’s territory. "Heard" is probably the key word, because so far very few people have even seen it. The invites have been slim, and after more than a week of being unmasked, I only personally know one person who has received an invite.

As expected though, all of the tech journalists and pundits have received their invites, and since there have been numerous articles, videos and podcasts touting the new service. People have devoted their entire shows to covering the new features and whether Google is a game-changer in the social networking space. I don’t blame the tech journalists for covering this and discussing this – it’s their job.

At the same time, I think that many of the pundits are failing to notice the disparity between themselves and the people they are supposed to inform. I understand the intention of wanting to give people a good perspective of Google+, but hearing these people get caught up in the excitement is only serving to remind me that the pundits are the cool kids, and we are not. They’re inside raving about the meal, while the rest of us are standing outside with our noses pressed against the glass.

Maybe Google may be thinking they’re carefully cranking the "hype" dials, giving the loudest voices the first access, but Google is walking a thin line right now. While people now seem excited about getting a glimpse, their excitement may turn into resentment as people’s patience wears thin. One can only go so long only hearing about something without any chance of a glimpse.

My hope is one of two things happens: Google starts to open the flood gates on invites, so more of us "common folk" can starts to play with Plus, or that the pundits stop drinking the Google Kool-Aid and let the hype calm down. Hopefully all of you that want invites will get them soon!

Update: It looks like Google is starting to open up the invite process. I was actually able to get in this morning. Who else is in?

Green Lantern

July 1, 2011August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

Continuing my summer of Super Hero movies I wanted to offer a few thoughts on DC’s effort to counter Marvel’s series of Avengers prequels, with Green Lantern.

I grew up a Marvel guy while dabbling a bit in the Batman books, but I never really got into Green Lantern until the Kyle Rayner era. I grew to really like Rayner, to the point that I despised the decision to bring Hal Jordan back as the main Green Lantern – so I have a had time with this character to begin with. That said, the writing going on in the Green Lantern books is amongst the best in comics right now, and I’m really enjoying the storyline.

Caution: Spoilers Ahead

I went into this movie with pretty low expectations. I think it was one of the few movies where each time I saw the previews I wanted to see it less. I’m not a big Ryan Reynolds fan, but I don’t dislike him – and I know my wife likes seeing him in movies. I was pretty leery of the CGI-suit, as well as how all of the aliens would be portrayed in the movie.

Walking out of the movie, it about lived up to my quasi-low expectations. I didn’t hate it, but on the heels of seeing X-men First Class – which had a pretty adult storyline – Green Lantern really came off cheesy. The dialog was pretty poor, there were a lot of mischaracterizations and characters who were pretty rich in the comics became very one-dimensional. This movie is almost like a meal where you have all of the right ingredients, but screw up the amounts so that you’re tasting the wrong things in your dish – that was Green Lantern.

I loved seeing Oa (the Green Lantern planet) and loved the training sequences, but felt like that whole movie was way to short. I wanted them to spend more time with the Corp, more time with some of the other strong and developed characters (namely Sinestro). The storyline was inconsistent how they painted the picture of the Green Lantern Corp, but when it came time to take on Parallax, all of the Lanterns were conspicuously missing.

The worst part was at the end (after the credits), when they had Sinestro putting on the yellow ring. Here was a character, while very well developed off-screen (and partially from my comic knowledge), had no real attachment with the audience and yet was somehow supposed to draw a surprise reaction by putting on this yellow ring. I felt like the director at that point was like “Crap, I don’t think we’re going to get a sequel on merit alone, we better put in some kind of tease.”

One thing that came to mind while reflecting on this movie: what if I’m not the target audience. More and more we saw Super Hero movies that have very adult themes: like The Dark Night and X-men First Class. However, what happens when you see this movie through the eyes of a young teenager or tween? All of the sudden the dialog doesn’t seem as cheesy. Given that aside from some freaky scientist mutations, there really wasn’t a lot of adult content, and the love interest between Hal Jordan and Blake Lively’s character didn’t really get too steamy or complicated. Maybe this movie, similar to Star Wars, was targeted towards a younger audience.

Right now this movie would probably fit at the bottom of the “2011 Super Hero Summer” list, below Thor and X-men First Class. I’m anxious for Captain America to come out later this month, at which point would be a good time to update the Top 10 Superhero Movie list I wrote in 2005.

What did you think of Green Lantern?

X-men First Class

June 18, 2011August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

After taking a few days off from the Ireland blogging, I took the time to get caught up with a few things here – as well as getting caught up on the summer super hero blockbusters by seeing X-men First Class. I was a little nervous about sitting in a dark theater while recovering from a 7-hour jet lag, but I chanced it and was successful.

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In case you didn’t know: I’m a comic geek, and the X-men – my first love – extends to our cat named Logan. Unfortunately the last chapter of the X-men movie really ruined that franchise, to the point to where they couldn’t make any more sequels. I’m not quite sure how X-men First Class fits into all of this. Is it a prequel, or is it a franchise reboot. Nonetheless it rectifies the monstrosity that was X-men 3 and brings this franchise somewhat back.

[Warning: Possible Spoilers Ahead]

Of all of the comic movies,X-men has the ability to venture into some political and philosophical discussion – how do people deal with persecution and prejudice. The battle between the ideals of Xavier and Magneto have always been intriguing, and I love how this movie explored their friendship, their commonalities, and how their falling out occurred. I love that the movie used the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis as the foundation of this movie. The Missile Crisis is one of the few times in our history when we humanity (from a US point-of-view) was genuinely threatened, and it gave the X-men a plausible way to save the world. I love how the US and Soviets – enemies that only minutes ago tried to destroy each other – agreed that mutants were so threatening that they had to band together to take the mutants out.

Other things I loved about First Class:

One of the best training montages in a super hero movie. One could make an argument for Batman Begins, but I love how Xavier helped each one of the students develop their powers and learn how to grow their abilities.
The performances by James McAvoy as Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. These guys did a wonderful job playing young versions of these characters without trying to look like caricatures of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan.
Young Nazi-killer Magneto was badass
During the movie, my wife Bethany pointed out that Michael Fassbender looked like a younger Jon Hamm.
I loved the imagery that was used with the “Magneto” helmet. It of course had the very practical use of blocking telepathy, but I loved how it served as the mantle of the leader of the mutant superiority movement. That moment with Magneto put on the helmet had a Darth Vader-like approach of embracing the villainy
I really liked Kevin Bacon’s acting in this movie, he made a pretty good villain
That cameo with Wolverine was fantastic

Things That Bothered Me About First Class:

I didn’t like how Mystique turned out at the end. The dots that brought her to Magneto’s side didn’t connect, and especially the timing of her turning was bizarre. Somehow we were expected to believe that she would walk over the crippled body of (essentially) her brother over to the guy who caused the incident. I don’t know if the writers felt compelled to have her switch sides by the end of the movie, but I felt like people would have accepted a switch in the sequel or even off-screen.
The Hellfire Club was a little misused and came across a little one-dimensional. In the comics they were originally this secret society, but the movie portrayed them as this hodge-podge group of super villains.
Some of the choices they made for characters were a little strange. There are definitely better mutants out there that could have been used rather than Angel and Darwin (who ultimately were really one-dimensional). This comes down to whether this was a prequel or a reboot. I wish it would have been a reboot, because then you could have gotten away with using some characters that were used in other movies.

It’ll be interesting to see where the X-men franchise goes from here. Part of me wishes they didn’t pack so much into this movie and reserved it for a sequel. My guess is that this movie has been acclaimed enough and has made enough money to continue down this story, so now the question is “Where do they go here from now?”. Do they introduce new characters, and do they introduce the ones we know? How does this tie into the previous movie canon and the Wolverine movie? I would love them to take the “Reboot” route that was done with Star Trek, then they could introduce some of the stronger characters that we grew to love in previous movies.

What do you think of this movie? Where do you think it compares with the other movies? Not counting the Wolverine movie, I would say that this movie probably is second to X2, beating out the first first movie (all of which are miles above X3).

6 Things I’ll Miss Most About Ireland

June 15, 2011August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

11 full days of exploring the Irish countryside are in the books, and while we’re flying home I wanted to reflect on our fun times here and offer my list of the six things that I’ll miss most about this amazing country.

6. The Hospitality

When we were on our Music Pub Crawl, the host joked that “Irish people aren’t friendly, they’re nosy.”, saying that they reason they make conversation is to figure out where you came from and when you’re going to leave – but the people here couldn’t be more hospitable. In a region with countries that are notorious for not taking kindly to Americans, there was never a moment where we didn’t feel welcome. I had even had perfect strangers saying hello to me in the bathroom. People were always happy to answer our questions and make conversation with us. The Irish have definitely earned their reputation for friendliness and warmth.

5. The Accents

Irish accents have to be one of the coolest accents around. They are always so soothing and rhythmic. I could go on listening to people with that accent for hours. Even them reading the daily lunch specials sounded like a beautiful poem. I’m going to miss the joy in just hearing the way the Irish talk.

4. The Heritage

As a student of history, when we go to the East Coast, I marvel at the heritage that exists in some of our 300 year old buildings, but there’s something to be said to be inside structures that are nearly 1,000 years old. There’s something to be said with the way Europe is able to preserve their history. I think unfortunately, much of the pre-US history has been lost by our sins against the Native Americans, as well as our culture propensity to tear down and rebuild aged structures. One of the things I enjoyed was standing in these old places and putting myself in the thoughts of the people who built it and who used these structures each day.

3. The Green

The weather in Ireland would equate best to Seattle. It rains pretty much every day and with it everything is green and lively. There is vegetation growing all over the place, covering buildings, creating tunnels around roads and creating a beautiful pallet of color for the country.

2. Teach Ai Bhrian

As you typically do on vacation, we ate dinner at restaurants pretty much each night, and instead of taking opportunities to try new places, we chose to come back to this place two more times – the food was just that amazing. We stumbled on this place accidentally, as we wanted to try the pub in the closest town to us. When we walked into that place it turned out they didn’t serve food, but recommended this place 5 minutes down the road. We had no idea what to expect walking in, but were blown away. Each time we went back and tried something differently and it was better than the last. If we ever make it back to Ireland, we’re definitely going to mix in some meals back at this place.

1. Guinness.

Anyone who has had Guinness in Ireland will tell you that it’s just not the same in the States. Before I came here, I was not a big Guinness drinker, but something about drinking this beer in Ireland – whether it’s the scenery, the freshness, the fact that you’re on vacation – it’s just different here. Guinness in Ireland tastes great, but it’s even better when you’re drinking it in Dublin, and especially from that fresh tap at the Brewery. In terms of national brand and a love affair with a drink, we have nothing like that in the States. People don’t have the large-scale affinity for Budweiser the same way they do Guinness. For the record I did try a few other beers while out here, but I kept going back to Guinness. I know it’s funny to put a beer at the top of my list, but I think that experience around enjoying a good beer – being with friends, not having anything to worry about – is what really makes the experience.

Day 11 – Last Day & Bunratty

June 15, 2011August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

Tuesday was essentially our last day in Ireland, as our flight was early Wednesday morning – but the last day of travel is always an interesting one. My family can probably relate when we’ve gone on those Vegas trips and booked a late-day flight thinking “This will be great! We’ll give our selves some extra time to enjoy Vegas!” Then that last day rolls around and you find yourself wasting that day with anticipation, boredom and just eager about traveling home. This last day in Ireland felt very much like that. It’s funny how not having a home-base anymore really changes your mindset about your travels. Still, it was a fun day and I think we did make the most of it.

Given that the four of us had our four large suitcases (plus all the tech crap I take on trips that inflates my backpack), we didn’t want to drive far, so we stayed in County Clare and by Shannon (our airport city). We started our day in Limerick, in hopes that we could do some shopping. While LImerick is really pretty, the streets we walked consisted mainly of shops that would be found back at home, offering us little that was unique. After about an hour in Limerick we headed over to Bunratty Castle for the afternoon.

Located about 10 minutes from Limerick, Bunratty Castle was originally built in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 15th century in it’s restored form. It ended up getting restored into a museum/exhibit of sorts. There’s the castle itself, but there is also a surrounding mock village, that has been restored to show what the village would be like. I think the best comparison in the US would be a renaissance festival with no people or merchants – more authentic. There were many groups of kids that were on field trips, as well as tourists all over the place.

The castle itself was neat. It was like the Blarney Castle, but with more restoration (and thus seemed more modern), but wasn’t as modern as the Kilkenny Castle (which if you remember disappointed us for this reason). They allowed photography in the castle, but you were not permitted to use a flash, which is why some of these pictures are dark.

There were the circular stone stairways, like Blarney Castle, but Bunratty had put in some better railing.

You could climb the stairs to the various rooms around the castle, or go to the top, which I think was about 6 stories tall.

I was just amazed at the vast size of the place. When you first went in, you climbed what seemed like 2 stories, only to walk into this vast room that sat inside the castle. Look at this room below and then imagine this sitting on top of another room that was equally big (I took this picture from a little window in one of the surrounding rooms in the castle).

In the surrounding “village” there were various replica homes of people who lived in that time. They had a home for farmers, fishermen, and land-less servants. In one home, I loved how they still had little lofts, making the best use of their small space.

I also love this early version of the hide-a-bed. It makes you wonder if they were ever comfortable to sleep in.

Bunratty also had this little recreation of the village as well, showing off some of the stores that may have existed in that era. We of course checked out the bar, as well as the schoolhouse.

Bunratty also had some of the various animals as well. Our favorite ones were the little miniature pony. I found a baby miniature pony, which was really cute.

One of our favorite spots was by the old Mill House, which had a nice miniature waterfall right next to it. We found an opportunity for another nice picture moment, squeezed in between the times when kids were playing next to it.

Overall Bunratty was a great final day activity. It definitely was not my favorite castle on the trip, but after seeing fantastic ruins like Blarney and The Rock of Cashel, this was a really nice middle-of-the-road attraction. In the end we spent nearly four hours at Bunratty.

We ended up checking into our hotel and then having our last meal in Ireland at a place called Gallagher’s. The food was fantastic, as I took my last opportunity to enjoy fresh fish and fresh Guinness. Our hotel in Shannon was really nice, although the anticipation of the plane trip home made it difficult to sleep. We got to our flight back to New York with no problems, as I am actually writing this blog post on the plane.