Nooooooo!

In three days the complete Star Wars saga will be released on Blu-Ray.  Unfortunately, I will not have the $80 to spend on the complete set so I will not be buying it when it comes out.  (Note: Nick’s birthday is coming up and Christmas is shortly after).  With the release of the Blu-Ray discs there is been news about changes that were made to the movies yet again. 

One of the changes that got a lot of buzz was the addition of Darth Vader yelling “Noooooo” at the end of Return of the Jedi.  When I first heard this I thought it was a joke.  Simply because Darth Vader’s “Noooo” at the end of Revenge of the Sith became as much of a joke to Star Wars fans as Jar Jar Binks.  If you are even in a dire situation nooooooooooooooo.com comes in handy.  Of course I turned to the Internet for the answer.  Was it true?  Did George Lucas yet again ruin another piece of my childhood?  Of course no one can truly rape one’s childhood like Michael Bay and his Transformers movies but that is another issue.  So, I turned to YouTube for the answer. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Other changes I have heard of is that they made the Ewoks blink, replaced the puppet Yoda in Episode I with a CG Yoda, and replaced Obi Wan’s dragon call that scares away the Sand People in Episode IV. 

Now to the main reason for my post.  With all the changes that have been made to the original trilogy Nolan may never see the original trilogy in its original release.  Now I may have the original released versions of Episodes IV – VI on VHS, but who the hell has  VHS player now a days?  Also, I wouldn’t even know if they would still play years from now.  I do have the DVD release of Star Wars but that is the “enhanced version.”  I’m sure and hope that Nolan would still appreciate and love the movies.  The special effects used when they made the movies were ground breaking for the time.  However, now a lot of it was replaced with CG effects.  So now instead of explaining to my son how they did it all with models, I will be explaining how it was with models but George Lucas felt it still wasn’t good enough. 

Wake Up Call

Today I had a wake up call.  It was not a wake up call from Nolan. Though he did wake me up this morning. My wake up call was when I went back to Weight Watchers to see what the damage has been.  I say damage because over the course of the last two weeks I have not tracked or ate the least bit on the healthy side.  This morning at Weight Watchers I found out that I gained nine pounds.  I need to get back into the swing of things if I am to keep this weight off.  Today I went back to tracking every thing I ate.  I got back on the bike and went mountain biking this morning.  I hope to ride more over the next week since I am taking a week off of work. 

To hold myself accountable I will be tweeting my point use for the day (http://twitter.com/nickgailfus). 

Our New Addition

On Sunday January 9, 2011 at 9:55 PM we welcomed to the world Nolan Bart Gailfus.  He was 9 pounds 3 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long.  He came home from the hospital on Wednesday the 12th and we are loving every minute with him.

My Android Review

A few months ago I upgraded from a Blackberry Storm to the Motorola Droid running Google’s Android mobile operating system.  I would have to say that I am very impressed with the interface that Android has.  The phone itself is fast.  The Blackberry Storm I had would sometimes be unusable for a few minutes after unlocking the device.  The Droid is very quick and responsive.  The web browser loads pages very quickly even on when using the Verizon 3G network.  The phone also has the capability to connect to an 802.11g Wi-Fi network.

My favorite part of using an Android phone is how it integrates with my Google account.  I use a lot of Google’s products such as Gmail and Google Calendar.  Any appointment on my calendar or any email in my inbox is always in sync between the phone and my account.  The Blackberry Storm required a plug-in or order to sync the calendar with Google and would always duplicate or mess up the events on my calendar.  I tell people that if they use Gmail and want a smart phone that they should get an Android phone.  Android can pull email from other sources and will even sync with Microsoft Exchange server.

My Favorite Applications (Apps)

Here are some of the apps I use the most on my phone.

Astrid

Astrid (weloveastrid.com) is a task list manager that I have been using as my to do list.  You can set up reminders, set priorities and even sync with RemembertheMilk.com if you have an account with them.  Right now Astrid hosts my ever growing list of things to get done around the house.

Locale

Locale can change settings on your phone based on conditions you set up.  You tell Locale that when it sees you are at the movies it can silence your ringer.  I also use Locale to turn off alerts and leave on only the ringer at night so that new emails do not wake anyone up.  Ringer volume is not the only setting it can change.  I also have it turn the Wi-Fi on based at home and at work but have it off when I’m away from either location.  Note that this app was free when I first got it as it was in beta.  It is now $9.99.



Google Sky Map

Google Sky Maps uses the camera, GPS and compass in the phone to show you what constellation you are looking at.  I do not use this app a lot.  However, it is an app that I show off the most to people.  The rare times I do use it are when I am trying to see what planet is shining brightly in the night sky.

Twidroid

Twidroid seems to be the most popular Android app for Twitter.  I admit that I have not used any other ones but I find that Twidroid does everything I need for posting to and reading from Twitter.  They have a paid pro version but I find the free version to be more than enough.

DroidLight

DroidLight was made by Motorola for use on the Droid.  It does one thing: turns the LED camera flash on so you can use it as a flash light.  The interface is simple, just turn tap the light bulb to turn the light on and off.  I find this a lot better than the flashlight apps out there that just make your screen all white.

50 Pounds and Counting

Today I did my weekly weigh in at Weight Watchers and passed a new milestone.  I have lost a total of 51 pounds since joining in August.  Today the meeting leader referred to me as the “results not typical” member given how fast I lost 50 pounds.  I feel so much better than I did back when first joining.  Yesterday I wore pants to work that were 2 sizes smaller than what I used to wear.  Even though they were a little tight I figure that I will “shrink” into them. 

Though I still have a ways to go before I obtain my goal I am looking optimistic and hope to be a lot closer to that goal by my 1 year anniversary with Weight Watchers.

Another Year Comes to a Close

Another year has come and gone.  2009 has had its share of ups and downs but all in all it has been a good year.  Terra and I have been in our new home for a little over a year now and have been making it more and more like home.  The sprinkler and drip system has been fixed so now we have landscaping that is alive.  I am amazed how well the lawn came back without having to seed it.  It is hard to believe that we have been in this house for over a year.

This past year I have finally strived to lose weight.  I have joined a gym and in August joined Weight Watchers.  I have been going every week December 26th I have lost 45 pounds.  I have to say that I also feel 45 times better than I did before starting.  

For 2010 my main goal will be to continue to lose weight and reach my goal of losing over 100 pounds.  This year I should also work more to help Terra as she works towards her master’s degree.  Not necessarily helping with homework but by helping her deal with the stress of work and school.

Here is to a new year and hopefully a good one.

A Week of Public Transit

This past week I had to go to training for Microsoft's Systems Center Configuration Manager.  The training location was at Central Ave and Thomas, right next to a Valley Metro light rail stop.  I decided that I will use the bus and light rail system to get to the training center.  This took a load off of having to deal with traffic and navigating downtown Phoenix.  Having a park and ride center near my house also made this an easy choice.  Valley Metro had an express bus route that ran from that park and ride non-stop to downtown Phoenix.  From there, I would get off the bus near the Central Station at Van Buren and Central Avenue, cross the street and hop onto a light rail train to ride it up Central Avenue.  The whole trip took roughly 45 minutes in the morning and a little longer in the afternoon. 

The experience was something that I would not mind doing everyday to get to work.  I got to see how the light rail works, and got a good impression on using public transportation in order to commute to and from work.  The light rail basically just require you to have a pass to ride but they do not make you go through any turn stalls.  Instead it is more of an honor system.  However, they do perform random checks.  Three times this week I witnessed Phoenix police coming onto the train to perform one of these random checks.  Just today in fact, a police officer stepped into the car I was in, waited for the doors to close and the train to start moving and said, "Ticket check."  After this week's experience I would not hesitate to use the buses and light rail to get to downtown Phoenix in the future.