Ralford.net

  [Rants]

So after much thought and discussion, I've decided that movies derived from comic books pretty much suck . My complaint surfaced during a conversation I had with Jacob and Will this evening. Will's comparing one comic book movie to another made me realize: movies with superheros are usually worse if the super hero was in a comic book that is well-known.

I wasn't a huge comic book reader, but at one point I had a box of them. On the other hand, I had a substantial collection of Marvel and X-men cards, so I'm pretty familiar with the movies that keep coming out. Before I dig into these movies, I must state that I no longer collect trading cards, nor am I a comic book enthusiast.

Whenever I hear a new comic book movie is coming out, I always have a hard time putting my finger on what my hopes are, but I know my hopes are big. It's hard to really describe how great a character is without saying "Ghost Rider is just damn cool". When I heard Ghost Rider was being turned into a movie, I cringed. I have not seen the movie, nor do I know if it's out yet. But since we are in this phase where comic book movies come out every summer, my gut feeling is that Ghost Rider will suck.

The X-men movies were alright, but in my opinion, failed to replicate the superheros (and villians) in the way that I had envisioned them. There are tangible aspects that can be replicated, the facts - such as the bald head of Professor X, Wolverine's claws, Beast's blue fur - but reading a comic is also about letting the reader put the artwork into motion. Movies, by definition, take this away.

After Spiderman, Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-men, Punisher, and now Ghost Rider, no one has stopped to cap the bottle. I do find it noteworthy that such movies that fall into the good category - at least in my opinion - tend to be the classics (Superman and Batman for example), or those based around superheros/villains that are less known to common folk: Blade, Kill Bill, and Sin City.

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  [Rants]

Over the years, I've noticed that rubber feet, usually installed on a product to prevent sliding on a smooth surface, are crappily designed into the product, and tend to fall off within the first year of use.

For my old EE classes, my breadboard used sticky glue to keep the feet attached. They lasted up until the breadboard made too many trips in and out of my backpack. At that point the feet fell off and disappeared, one by one, leaving me with a breadboard who's primary supply and ground connections could short, if used on a metal surface.

These days the problem is in my coffee machine. Instead of using the sticky method, Mr. Coffee went with an angled tooth grip on it's FTX29. The teeth operate like those on a ratchet, making insertion easy, with the teeth catching on removal. However, the teeth on the rubber feet are made out of the flexible rubber! On my attempts to move the coffee machine to wipe the counter, they've popped out and disappeared.

My preferred style for installing rubber feet to a product is with a screw in the center. Ideally the screw head should be deep enough in the rubber such that the head does not sratch the surface the object is sitting on.

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  [Rants]

Now that my 25th birthday is a week or two in the past, I'll take the time to request that you do not give me gifts on my 26th birthday, but instead, recognize that you are probably part of my regular life, and that a phone call will most likely stress me out. Unless of course you are a wooly mammoth, or someone else I rarely get to speak with.

Please do not be offended by this wish, as it is simply a request to enjoy a peaceful evening without my cell phone. I hope you understand, and please don't hate me!

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