Obama: Come and Get Your Tea Bag!

I love Marketwatch.com

DVD on Media Center

Quick post about hard drive based DVD playback on Vista (or Windows 7) Media Center.

On computer / file system:
Create a central DVD folder - D:\DVD\
Create folder for each DVD
Move all .VOB and .IFO files to the main movie folder
Remove AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS
Find movie box art and save to main movie folder as 'folder.jpg'

In Media Center:
In DVD Library, add watch folder - D:\DVD\ (and all sub folders) or some equivalent


Original inspiration / sources

Hack Vista and Media Center to make the best digital DVD library EVER!
How to Play your Ripped DVD vob Files in Vista Media Center

Other Media management packages
http://www.collectorz.com/movie/
http://www.mymovies.dk/

The Con of Religion

... my stream of consciousness rant brought about by a sermon I heard which started off with, "I know your future. You're all going to die."

Although I come from a decidedly Christian upbringing, I was always allowed to explore all religious and philosophical concepts. In college, I continued this trend and minored in Philosophy. Unfortunately, I constantly found that people just didn't like to hear what I had to say or what I wrote. I find it hypocritical that the people who preach love and openness are often the most mentally closed off individuals. If you challenge them in any intellectual fashion, they fail to engage rationally, and instead, resort to the trappings of emotion.

Just look at all of the world's religions. I am not the first person to state this, but more people have died in the name of 'God' than any other cause. By definition, at least one side of the table is wrong. However, I have an idea: BOTH ARE WRONG. How can a religion which teaches that murder is wrong preach death to non-believers? You are your brother's keeper... unless he's a homosexual - then he's doomed to burn. Judge not lest ye be judged! Yet the religious constantly judge EVERYONE!

And it continues. Most organized religion is nothing more than an organized brainwashing, self-help session. Sin six out of seven, repent on the seventh... good to go for another six. YEAH! Religion is the ultimate video game. Just hit reset. And keep poppin' in those tokens 'cause the church needs the cash! Why does God cost money?

At this point, people may believe, "Nate's evil!" or "He's a Satanist!" or some other absolute bullshit. Anyone with reason and intelligence will notice that I've spoken of 'religion' to this point and not 'spirituality.' My entire life-concept is built around two very easy to understand spiritual concepts or 'laws.'

1) Creativity and creative acts/thoughts/ideas/energies are good.
2) Conscious, willfully destructive acts/thoughts/ideas/energies are bad.

Everything in life can be placed into this VERY simple framework. You will note that both laws require consciousness. In this way, we can immediately solve the 'animals commit murder, so why can't humans' BS that some moron will bring up. You show me an animal that is capable of consciously selecting and killing a target for any reason other than food or defense. Anyway, back on track. All of the commandments in religion can be boiled down to these two laws. It explains why murder is wrong.... stealing is wrong.... adultery is wrong... etc. Those are all consciously destructive acts on the part of the person committing them. But notice the most important part - it required the individual to consciously THINK about the action at hand.

This brings up the most important part of my problem with religion. All too often, religion is used as a tool to shirk off responsibility. How often have we heard, "Sorry to hear... but it was part of God's plan." Do you really think God consciously plans to kill people? If so, that sounds pretty damn evil given my Law #2. In reality, people just need to accept the very simple fact: shit happens. "The Lord works in mysterious ways" is just another way of saying, "I have no idea." Just admit it. Is it really that bad to admit that you have no idea?

However, here is the turning point. People tend to react in at least one of several ways:

1) Prayer
Some people will pray . Yes, let's request the services of a supposedly already over-worked diety. Ever see Bruce Almighty? People pray for the dumbest shit. On the flip side, directed energy and postive thoughts can affect positive results. Studies have shown that 'loved' plants grow better than 'hated' plants. Regardless, I would rather choose to share my love and healing energy with someone than simply 'pray-in' another work request and pass the buck to God.

2) Do nothing / apathy / fear / self-imprisonment
Seriously... how many people fall into this category? "Oh, it's too big for me. I'm just a ...." Who created most of the problems we currently face? We did! If we caused them, we can solve them. At this point, we witness the true failure of mankind. Our power lies in our ability to create... create solutions, cures, treatments, etc. Every problem is a chance for mankind to rise up in the face of adversity. To take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for our past, present, and future and decide to do something beneficial for ourselves and the rest of humanity. Or you can willfully choose to shackle your creativity and occupy your rotting mind with entertainment and other distractions.

You can do whatever you will as long as your will does not impact upon someone else's will. In many ways, this is a reference to Aleister Crowley's "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

... and the thoughts pass and the stream shifts...

Sort-of-conclusion
My point is this: We, and only we, are fully responsible for the world we live in each and every day. If you do not like it, then do something about it. Don't just pray for a fix or donate some cash, and then go about your day. Actually do something. Think about the problem. Put yourself in the position of those less fortunate than you. Think about the issues facing our country and the rest of the world. Think about the injustices committed against those who view themselves as too weak to affect change.

If religion is so good, then why does the Catholic church own more land than any other organization? Why have so many children been sexually abused at the hands of these religious people? Why do starving African people have to become Christian in order to receive our food?

In the end, the great con of religion is that it exists purely to control individuals and saddle them with guilt, doubt, uncertainty, or confusion in order to prevent them from self-realization. Ever notice how the ferocity with which religion is embraced by a group is equivalent to the desperateness of the people involved? Christians tend to be pretty wishy-washy except the Evangelicals who tend to come from the poorer sections of the United States. Indian's caste system is reinforced by a religion that attempts to explain why so many of them end up living in poverty (karma). And in the Middle East, Islamic 'extremists' are willing to kill themselves in order to prove their point. And this is all validated by their religion!

No matter what your situation, you can be sure that religion has a way of explaining why... Some way to pass responsibility to some imaginary force or diety. Unfortunately, the explanation is used to control the people. Imagine India revolting against poverty and the caste system. Imagine the people of the Middle East finally deciding to rid the region of the dictatorships of Saudia Arabia and Israel. Imagine the people of the United States standing up and realizing that the Declaration of Independence has granted us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our mainstream media has proven quite effectively that fear can be used to guide, shape, and control the masses far more effectively than any other force.

Otherwise, one has to ask, "Is this really all there is?" If you truly believe in God or the concept of a higher power, then how can you possibly believe that whatever you are doing is what you were meant to do with your life. We can do better! It is our responsibility to ourselves and the rest of humanity to engage our creative gifts and strive to do our best.

If interested, please see some of the movies or read some of the books listed to the right of this post. And remember, if you start to feel an emotional pain, ask yourself "Why?" Challenge yourself to understand why you feel and think the way you do.

Lao Tzu in his Tao Te Ching says "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force. Mastering the self requires strength."

Fake Band Names

One of my otherwise useless hobbies is coming up with fake band names.

Doug and I had originally created Creme Brulee as our satirical 'rap / boy band' offering. Each member of the group would be nicknamed after some dessert or sweet.

Today, however, I believe I topped myself. I've unofficially launched a our new satirical 'rock / metal band' named Bucket of Pudding.

In the grand scheme of merging rock and rap (see Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc), I can assure you that Creme Brulee and Bucket of Pudding will be working together in the near future.

And that is why we need Eddie Van Halen!

Activity to Prevent Brain Rot: SQLBackup v0.2

Over the past couple weeks, I've spent an hour or so putting together a quick and dirty application to backup some of our databases which reside on an instance of SQL Server 2008 Express. If you know anything about SQL Server Express, you know that it doesn't include or allow maintenance plans (such as scheduled backups) because MS has crippled the SQL Agent service.

... hence the reason I started writing my own little app.

v0.1
I started with some MSDN code and tidbits I found on other web sites. The first iteration connected to the SQL Server using hardcoded values and backed up every database. Not exactly the best method, but remember - I said quick and dirty.

v0.2
I just finished the second iteration of the app. Instead of backing up all databases on the server, it takes individual database names via command line arguments. This way, I gain a little more control over what databases I am backing up.

What's next?
Not sure. However, I know that I eventually want to get to the point where this app is managed via a little form/console, can run as a Windows service, and stores all of its configuration and database information in an XML file - with encrypted values for the database credentials.

Is that really complicated to do? No. But it gives me little nuggets to work on so that I can prevent my brain rot from becoming fatal.

Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)

What are MLPs?
MLPs are corporate structures that behave similar to trusts. Much like trusts are built around natural resources (oil, coal, timber, even real estate), MLPs are built around resource distribution - namely pipelines: CO2, natural gas, oil, etc. Essentially, all of their income is distributed to unit holders - aka, you. Since this is a cash distribution and not a dividend, different tax rules apply.

Good Intro:
Master Limited Partnership - Great Dividend Savers
MLPs behave similar to dividend paying stocks except they're not. There are tax issues to deal with... not for the weak of heart.

Ready for a deeper dive?
Discover Master Limited Partnerships
So, you decided to trip down the rabbit hole? Well, if you are willing to deal with the tax implications, it's possible to own and hold MLPs your entire life. If so, you can get away with never paying tax on the cash distributions. Your heirs will also be lucky enough to inherit your MLPs with a cost basis based on the date of your death - not the date of your original MLP purchase. Extra bonus!


Want to get REALLY deep? 100 pages of MLP love.
Wachovia MLP Primer 3rd Edition

US Economic Crash 'Solves' Illegal Immigration Issue

I had heard a conspiracy theory some months ago that the US economy was being crashed in order to 'solve' the illegal immigration issue. What does that mean? Well, the theory suggested that a crashed housing market would lead to an excess supply of construction workers - especially illegal immigrants who frequently serve as day laborers. These broken, poor illegal immigrants would then flee back to their home countries.

In reality, I view this as yet another conspiracy theory... but an interesting concept. It seems CNN, the bastion of the US main stream media, has written a 'shed a tear' story about the recent plight of illegal immigrants. Check it out:
Bad economy forcing immigrants to reconsider U.S.

First, I really don't care about illegal immigrants. Why? The truth, I believe, is far more insidious. I believe that the goal of the American power machine is to reduce the middle class to an ignorant, broke, non-threatening mob. Eventually, there will be no distinction between Americans and our less fortunate neighbors to the south. Basically, this is done via repetitive boom-bust cycles financed by Fed-created, debt-backed money. This cycle has been repeated throughout banking history. The most recent housing bubble collapse and implosion of Wall Street is but the latest chapter in this saga. Now, the value of the US dollar is being destroyed via the grand government-backed inflation machine.

Every day, we see the same headlines. The wealthy are getting wealthier, and the poor are getting poorer. The boom-bust cycles are all about transferring wealth from one party, the general American population, to another party ... the owning party. At the end of the day, this is not a matter of Republicans or Democrats - the fake two party system constructed to distract and imprison your thinking. Instead, this about those in power versus those who give up their power.

Each day, the power hungry steal the wealth and hope of this nation. What are their tools? Primarily, distractions. Entertainment, TV, movies, talking heads, poor education, a population that believes reading is useless. Dichotomy-driven thinking: Republican versus Democrat. Rich versus poor. Gay rights versus conservatives. Citizens versus illegal immigrants. Pro life versus pro choice. Does no one remember Lincoln's "House Divided" speech?

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

These distractions, this mental static all serve one purpose: it keeps people from asking real questions. No one is asking the right question: Cui bono - Latin for Who benefits?

Who benefits? The answer seems obvious - those in power. All one has to do is look at the current financial crisis as an example. Those involved are obviously in power. After all, if you or I, as common citizens, had a business where we did ANYTHING even verging on what the banking empire did, we would be jailed - or executed. However, these individuals are allowed to continue to run their businesses... AND the government is throwing BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars - YOUR MONEY - at these criminals.

... and another day passes. And we tolerate this? Why? Are we all really that scared of those in power? Is there such a vast distance between us and those in power? I remember learning in school about a group of individuals who defied a king and the ruling class... and those individuals established a free nation. Wait, that was the American story. When did we forget it? How did we give all of our wealth and power to those who don't have our best interests in mind?

Ironically, writing a simple blog post such as this has probably placed me on some government watch list due to the gestapo-like power of the post-9/11 US granted by the US PATRIOT Act.

WTF: Caffeine free, diet soda

I just noticed that the vending machine at work has Caffeine Free, Diet Pepsi. My question: then what the hell is in it? Just water and caramel coloring?

Back to Blogging - Let's start w/ Obama's Health Care Stimulation

Ok, I'm tired of trying to plan my blogging. To hell with that. Moving forward, I'm going to blog my rants as I think about them... no editing.

This comes roundabout from a co-worker. Here's the original article:
Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan

My response:
You know, this doesn’t surprise me. After watching Michael Moore’s movie Sicko, I knew some Euro-like medical system was going to come here, but my question is how. I started thinking about the how. For a year or two, I’ve talked to others about how the only ‘solution’ to the medical issue is to start using us and tracking us on a level much like that of lab mice. After all, an experimental population of 300M+ people can REALLY have an impact on drug discovery, cost effective treatments, mass sterilizations, population reduction, etc. Data mine the hell out of it.

On the flip side, I think decision support systems should do the vast majority of medical diagnostics. The ‘expert’ systems have proven to be far more accurate and never overlook minor issues like drug interaction problems or allergies. Hell, then you could diagnose yourself remotely – just plug in, answer some questions, and then the system will tell you what should happen next. Combined with routine, preventative visits/examination (made mandatory for $$$ discounts), and we could be able to data mine the hell out of the health care system. After all, how else does anyone ever expect us to reduce costs? How is the medical support situation any different than IT support? Oh, that’s right… there’s people… :-)

That’s the only way ‘universal health care’ will ever come to America.

No one is talking about prevention and lifestyle. Our entire US govt subsidized agri-complex is what’s killing us with all of the animal products, chemicals, insecticides, etc.

Amazon burns DVD's on demand?

Long story short, I was searching for something and my search brought me to a listing on Amazon. I was reading the description and came across this interesting line:

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

That quote suggests two things to me:

• Demand for this offering is so low that no one actually bothers to mass produce it
• I wonder what else Amazon is printing? Are they going to start printing their own books too?

Check it out yourself by clicking the product link to the right.

For those who agree with the first point (that no one lies Smash Lab), you will love this site: Smash Lab Sucks. More importantly, you will gain hours of entertainment by reading the comments.

Software Review: Vista vs Windows 7

I took 2 identical laptops and installed them side by side. The performance results?

Category	Vista	Windows 7
Initial install boot from CD	X
Installation Process		X
Initial Run		X
Startup		X (slightly faster than Vista)
Shutdown	X
Hibernation	same	same
Media Center	X
DVD Playback	same	same

Results?

Vista	3
Windows 7	3
Tie	2

Something else to consider: Vista enabled Aero by default whereas Win7 did not... and they still essentially performed identically.

… so, the jury is still out.

Is the difference between Vista and Windows 7 as pronounced as the difference between Coke and Pepsi?

• Coke: a caramel-colored, sugary carbonated beverage in a red can


• Pepsi: a caramel-colored, sugary carbonated beverage in a blue can

Personally, I like the Win7 GUI better, but the more and more I use both, Vista really doesn’t annoy me that much anymore.

Comcast

If you know me, you know that I am not a fan of Comcast. If I had the ability, I would have Verizon FiOS for everything - phone, Internet, and TV. Unfortunately, my development is hedged on both sides by FiOS yet lacks it.

My recent Comcast bills ($80+ for 'standard' digital cable) have given me the wandering eye. Checking out DirecTV reveals some good packages for half that and includes HBO, Starz, and ShowTime.

So, what does a good consumer do? Call Comcast customer service. For 10 minutes of my time, I now will be receiving their latest promotion. Instead of $74.95 for standard digital cable, I'll be paying $63.99 (plus tax) for standard digital cable and 6 months of HBO, Starz, and ShowTime.

Like Geico, 10 minutes can save you $10 per month.

Villains in a Traffic Jam... Robot Chicken

Comedic Advertising

How do you know it's bad? When you visit Marketwatch.com to check on financials and the ads are for Jack Daniels.

TV's Fall Douche Off Lineup

After the baseball strike, people really started to hate baseball. Guess what happened after the writers strike? People really started to hate TV!

NBC - Heroes
WTF!? This show has been off the air SO long that I don't even remember what the hell was going on before this season. What season is this? Amazingly, NBC didn't run the standard 're-run the previous season' spool.

Bottom line: I don't care about Heroes.

FOX - Fringe
I admit, I am an X-Files fan. I desperately wanted Fringe to be a great show even though it's a carbon copy of X-Files (FBI agents, paranormal, etc). However, J. J. Abrams has pinched off his latest dookie on hapless Fox viewers. After the premier episode, we already had a running plot concept. Let me break it down:

• FBI agent who can't trust anyone - even her superiors.


• Josh Jackson as a smart person who is running from something.


• Crazy, mad scientist father of Josh Jackson.

Now that I've introduced the characters, let me tell you the plot line of every Fringe episode.

Something odd happens. FBI agent is assigned to the case by her odd, well-informed boss. She takes case to smart Josh Jackson and his crazy father - WHO JUST HAPPENED TO DO THE EXACT SAME RESEARCH BEFORE HE WENT INSANE. After investigation, evidence ties back to corporation known as MASSIVE DYNAMIC that is owned/run by crazy mad scientist's old lab partner.

DONE.

WTF!? Honestly. I've watched this show for THREE DAMN WEEKS, and it's the same cookie cutter, repeating plot line. I guess after LOST Season 2 I should expect this type of fecal cinema from J. J. "I wear Emo glasses" Abrams.

Bottom line: Fringe gets one more week, then I'm turning it off also.

As the stock market melts, here are some quotes....

J.P. Morgan

Capital must protect itself in every way... Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When through a process of law the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd.

Sir Josiah Stamp - Director of the Bank of England 1928

Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits.

Napoleon Bonaparte

When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.

How to Borrow $42,000 for $99 - legally

SPECIAL EDUCATION SECTION
Corrupt Banking System - Part 1: Cartels Robbing the Public

Corrupt Banking System - Part 2: How Money is Created

Corrupt Banking System - Part 3: Money is Debt

Corrupt Banking System - Part 4: Monetary Reform

Corrupt Banking System - Part 5: Warning About the NWO

This is so obvious. The thing was staring me in the face for weeks, but I kept throwing the materials away. What am I talking about? Cash checks from my credit card. Now, I know what everyone is thinking, "Nate cash advanced his credit card to the max? That's probably at 29% interest! What a moron!?" Well, to be honest, that is what I thought when I received the materials from Bank of America. After receiving an envelope every two weeks for the past several months, I finally read the details.

• Credit line: $37,400


• 0% APR on balance transfers and cash advances through statement closing June 2009


• 3% service fee. Min $10, Max $99

Too good to be true, right? So here is the chain of events.

7/8/2008
Call Bank of America. Thanked for being a customer since 1999. Instant credit limit increase from $37,400 to $42,400. Verify terms of offer. Confirmed max $99 service fee. Confirmed that the money can be transferred anywhere - including direct deposit to a checking account. Confirmed minimum monthly payment: 1% + finance rate (0%) so 1% of $42,000 = $420 / month.

7/9/2008
Call Bank of America again. Re-verify everything discussed on 7/8. Shock customer service rep who has never seen BoA give unlimited sums of money away for a max fee of $99. Arrange to have $42,000 of $42,400 transferred to my checking account.

At this point, some of you would ask, "Why the hell do you need $42,000?" Well, quite honestly, I don't need it. However, as any smart person will tell you, that is the perfect time to borrow. The more important question: What can I do with $42,000 interest free for the next 10 to 11 months? Quite simply: REINVEST IT AND EARN INTEREST. Since I'm not a big risk taker with this sum of money, a CD will do fine. In hindsight, I called the short term rebound of financial stocks perfectly. I could have earned 30%-60% on this money in the past couple weeks. Oh well. Back to the story.

7/12/2008
Unable to log into Bank of America credit card website. Call BoA. Customer service rep indicates that the website is experiencing issues. I should try later.

7/14/2008
Still unable to log into Bank of America website. Starting to get paranoid. Thoughts of Homeland Security (large money transfer) going through head. Greeted at work by two voicemails from BoA anti-fraud division. Makes sense, but let's crank up the paranoia: How does BoA know my office phone number (which I received in 2000) for a credit card I opened in 1999? I NEVER put my work phone numbers on ANY credit card accounts. Why? I want to receive calls at home... not work. But SOMEHOW, the banking system knows this info. Echelon, anyone?

Anyway, I return the call to the BoA anti-fraud division. We confirm the details of the money transfer, my personal info, and recent transactions. Transfer approved.

7/16/2008
Still unable to log into BoA website. Call customer service again. This time, I am told that my account is locked out and common (aka lowly) customer service reps can't even look at it. I have to call a special division inside BoA.

7/17/2008
Call the double-secret-probation division inside BoA. After second ring, a human answers. When the hell does that ever happen? Needless to say, I saved that phone number. I explain the situation to her, she seems highly compitent, and contacts the parties 'who can help fix this.' Conferenced in with BoA anti-fraud division again. They confirm that they screwed up on 7/14/2008 and did not properly unlock my account. They unlock my account and tell me to wait 1 hour. One hour later, my account is working.

7/21/2008
$42,000 shows up in my ING account. $42,099 is my new balance on BoA credit card. First payment due after August statement closing on 8/11.

And that, my friends, is how you borrow $42,000 for $99. After finding a couple sweet short term CD deals (over 4%, in stable/name brand banks... aka NOT IndyMac), I should be able to earn $1000-$1400 in interest on this 'free' money. Lesson to the world: let your (or in this case someone else's) money work for you. That's a stimulus check I can use.

As it relates, for those of you who have difficulties understanding why Bank of America would allow me to do this, maybe you should learn how banking truly works. I suggest a brief education via the YouTube videos to the right.

Musical / Play: Mamma Mia!

That's right. We were able to get discount tickets to see Mamma Mia at the Academy of Music in Philly. Like most shows, it was split into two halves. During intermission, my wife and I discussed how much we were enjoying the show, and we were both interested in seeing the movie in order to compare the two.

However, that's when everything changed. The second half was completely abysmal and depressing. In reality, there was no real plot in the second half - simply a string of depressing songs with a couple bits of plot sprinkled in to get you from A to B. The creators must know that the show is a downer because the show has an encore (or a reprise as others would call it) - two of the opening ABBA songs performed with full force: lights, costumes, dance routines, etc! So, if you are an ABBA fan and you can endure the boredom of the second half, then by all means do so. The encore/reprise is hysterical.

Regardless, we now have absolutely no interest in seeing the movie.

Best part? One of the potential fathers in Mamma Mia is played by the same dude who plays Electricity in the Propane commercials.

Christian Bale

I just got done viewing the trailer for the upcoming Terminator: Salvation. Now, I've read some pretty ridiculous things about the upcoming Terminator movies, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Christian Bale starring as John Connor.

Why do I mention Christian Bale after Jason Statham? I believe the two contrast very well. Let's look back at Mr. Bale's recent movies:

My Rating	Movie (Year)
--------------------------------
GREAT?	Terminator: Salvation (2009)
GREAT	The Dark Knight (2008)
Horrible	3:10 to Yuma (2007)
OK	The Prestige (2006)
GREAT	Batman Begins (2005)
GREAT	Reign of Fire (2002)
Insane (HA!)	American Psycho (2000)

Granted, there were other movies starting Mr. Bale during that time which I have not seen so I have not mentioned or rated them. So, is Christian Bale better than Jason Statham? How so? Better acting? Better scripts? Or have I not truly experienced the bad side of Mr. Bale's cinema?

Jason Statham

I just got done watching The Bank Job. I knew nothing about this movie (other than the obvious gleamed from the name), but I decided to rent it because Jason Statham was in it.

Unfortunately, I am once again disappointed in a Statham vehicle. Granted, there were some good parts, but my god, do all of his movies sort of blend together now? Let's look back over recent cinema history.

These are the Statham movies which I have viewed:

My Rating	Movie Title (Year)
------------------------------------
Mediocre	The Bank Job (2008)
Bad guy	War (2007)
Retarded	Crank (2006)
Laughable	Transporter 2 (2005)
Bad guy	Cellular (2004)
Bit part	The Italian Job (2003)
GREAT	The Transporter (2002)
Bit part	Ghosts of Mars (2001)
GREAT	Snatch (2000)
GREAT	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a fan. However, he started SO strong... and then his recent movies have turned to crap. Type-casted much? Do you think he actually reads the scripts and cares... or is he in it just for the cash?

Deathrace DOES look promising... but again, Statham driving a car. Transporter? Transporter 2? Oh shit, Transporter 3 is in post-production. One would start to think that Statham is part car. Maybe he's really Kit from Knight Rider, but dressed in human flesh in some sort of Terminator / Cylon plot to take over America via cinema.

Regardless, I'd like to see Mr. Statham get some better movies. He's the every-man (much like the appeal of Bruce Willis). He should be exploring that genre with more than driving and witty dialog and boxing in Brit-centric films.