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George A. Romero’s …of The Dead, his latest zombie movie, seems to finally have a name, a poster and a new ”in production” trailer.  According to all this new info on the distributors website, Voltage Pictures, it’s all a little different then most of us had initially thought.

Originally, the rumors circulating on the web told us that this was going to be a sequel to the Diary of the Dead, and that it was going to be called Island of the Dead.   It doesn’t look like either of these things are true.

By watching the trailer a few times, it doesn’t look like any of our heroes from Diary are going to make it into this one.   I can also point out that the film does not appear to be shot in the first person “Blair Witch-style” like Diary. 

The title, …Of the Dead, is listed on the movie poster.  I’ll have to point out that this is a pretty strange title.  It leads to two possibilities.  First, the movie could still not have a title, in which case they are going to call it Fill-in-the-blank…Of the Dead once they figure out what they want to call the film.  The second possibility is that they really have decided to call it …of The Dead.  This actually wouldn’t surprise me all that much.  I’ve heard and read a number of Romero interviews where he is irritated about every zombie movie out there ripping off his success and calling themselves “Something” of the Dead.  He is a fairly sinicle guy, and it’s well known that he’s not all that fond of Hollywood.  I’m wondering if this is a mockery of that. 

The cast includes Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, Devon Bostick, Richard Fitzpatrick, Stefano Colacitti and Athena Karkanis.  Alan Van Sprang appears to be the only one in the group that worked on Diary of the Dead, but as a different character.   The rest have made some small appearances in TV and Film, so like most of his other Dead movies, Romero has cast no-name talent (which I’m pretty cool with).

George A. Romero’s “…of The Dead” Plot:

“On a small island off North America’s coast, the dead rise to menace the living. Yet…the islanders can’t bring themselves to exterminate their loved ones, despite the growing danger from those the once held dear. A rebel among them hunts down all the zombies he can find, only to be banished from the island for assassinating his neighbors and friends. On the mainland, bent on revenge, he encounters a small band of survivors in search of an oasis on which to build a new life. Barely surviving an attack from a mass of ravenous flesh-eaters. They commandeer a zombie-infested ferry and sail to the island. There, to their horror, they discover that the locals have chained the dead inside their homes, pretending to live ‘normal’ lives…with bloody consequences. What ensues is a desperate struggle for survival and the answer to a question never posed in Romero’s Dead films: Can the living ever live in peace with the dead?”

Click here to see the “Of the Dead” Trailer  (sorry, not on YouTube yet)  You’ll have to use the link.

I’ve had my series of New Years Resolutions in the past.  When I was younger, I used to resolve to quit smoking, as I got older I would resolve to get into shape.  I’m sure that most people typically fall into one of those two categories.

I can say that without a doubt, the New Year was never the catalyst that helped me do either.  With smoking, I would quit for a week, then start back up.  With loosing weight I would shed a few lbs in January and gain it back (plus a couple of pounds) in February. 

Thankfully, I eventually quit smoking.  I did it on my own terms, and did it out of the blue without any sort of self imposed rules, deadlines or anything else to make me do it. Quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I ever did, and I actually believe that the New Years resolution to do it stopped me from quitting a few years past when I should have. 

This year, I am once again sitting here writing this article thinking….”boy it would be a good idea to loose 10 lbs or so” maybe I’ll do a resolution to do it.  I know deep down that it’s crap.  I’ll go to the gym and fight the other 1000 people who made the same resolution for about 4 weeks then be right back here. 

Ok, so clearly I’m not so bright.  I’m telling you that I don’t believe that the new years resolution works, and a paragraph down, I’m telling you that I’m thinking of setting one up for myself.  Not just a random one, the same one I’ve been doing for years.  The same one that never works.   Maybe I just changed my mind while writing this post.

What will be different this year?  Probably nothing.  However, maybe…just maybe it isn’t about whether it actually works or not, and maybe more about giving yourself a goal.  

So today, I’ll set a goal.  I resolve to get into shape in 2009.

Like to throw things? Like to throw things a really long way? Then play the “Ultimate Game of Catch”. This exceptional flying product which has amazed even NASA experts is a unique flying gyroscope which can be thrown over 600 feet. That’s a really long way! It has even received a rating of `BEST` in MIT tests!

X-ZyLo™ is the incredible flying gyroscope that has been thrown the length of two football fields! It’s flight is simply unbelievable–the ultimate game of catch! Rated the best flying toy in a Christian Science Monitor field test, the X-ZyLo™ has flown onto the outdoor recreational scene as one of the most exciting games of catch. It was invented by Mark Forti, a Baylor University student, and refined within the aerospace industry.

This deceptively simple device commonly flies in excess of 100 yards when correctly thrown. X-ZyLo’s world record throw is 218 yards or 655 feet!! Nothing so light has ever been thrown so far.

I recently purchased a X-zylo from REI and it is amazing. I have not taken it out to a field to really tests its capablities yet, but needless to say I have very high hopes to break the world X-zylo throwing record.

With the close of 2008 upon us I thought what better way to end it then with a BANG of the gorgeous Jessica Alba. Without a doubt she has always been on my short list with her exotic look complimented by her perfect body she is a no brainer “I’d Hit That” for me.  She is also another one of the lovely women who have made Derek Jeter’s All Star cast of ex girls he has slept with. Not a bad notch to have in your belt. We’ll start off with one the greatest ass shots you’ll ever see in your life which is not a bad position to start in:

From Dark Angel to Sin City Jessica is just one of those girls who looks good holding a whip and wearing black leather. Without a doubt after the birth of her daughter this year she because one of the top MILFS currently alive. Here are a couple more for you to think about as we exit 2008 i just love this picture of her and the lollipop it creates such a nice visual!

When the zombie apocalypse comes, major media will crumble and society will turn to the Internet.  Or at least that’s what George Romero’s Diary of the Dead showed us.  In the scheme of things, the Internet is a network, a system, a living organism that will be very difficult to shut down.  And aside from the obvious “bad side” of a zombie apocalypse, the upside is that I won’t have to listen to or read anything from major media sources anymore. I’ll get it from you…real people with real stories. 

I’m not some conspiracy nut or anything.  I just simply hate the “spin” that major media puts on stories to get peoples attention.  I also simply hate the irresponsibility that they have when it comes to how their stories impact society. 

I dare you to turn on the news right now.  Seriously, go do it.  I’ll bet a billion dollars some talking head will be there explaining how the world’s financial backbone is broken, the bail-outs aren’t working or Christmas retail sales have hit an all-time low. 

Why?  Why is this all they talk about?  Because people can’t take their eye off a train wreck.  If you live in a big city like I do, try to drive past a car with their blinkers on sitting on the side of the road without it causing a traffic jam because of all the gawkers.  This is what big media counts on.  Gone are the days of “feel good” stories to strengthen the American family.  Gone are the days of excessive good news.  Nobody wants good news these days, and the big media outlets know it. 

So what do they do?  They put the nasty spin on every story.  They make it so that even during the holidays when we should be talking about tickle-me-elmos and the playstation 3, all we get to hear about is how the American consumer isn’t spending their money because they either already lost their jobs or probably will next year. 

So how much of this economic gloom is media driven and how much is actually a reality? Who knows? I’m not an economist.  I know that a lot of people have been impacted by this downturn.  Or at least, I think I know it because I heard it on the news.  However, I’ll take a quick poll using my closest friends as an example.   I don’t know anybody who has lost their job.  I do know that everybody is scared of losing their jobs.  Does that make sense?  Why are they scared?  Why the mass-hysteria?  I’ll take this moment to blame the media. 

Two months ago, nobody talked about losing their jobs.  Then, overnight, EVERYBODY suddenly was afraid.  It wasn’t gradual….even though according to reputable economist, we’ve been in a recession for around a year now.  The job thing just suddenly happened….and I believe that its partially economy driven, but mostly fueled by big media needing the next big story to talk about.  Now people really are losing their jobs.  People really are getting pay cuts.  Is it possible that it’s media driven?  I don’t know what proportion is media driven and what isn’t, but I’d be willing to bet that the media isn’t innocent. 

After all, there’s nothing better to get people glued to the TV’s then a story that messes with their livelihood…..or maybe a Zombie Apocalypse, in which case big media will crumble and I’ll be just a little happier. 

Vent Over.

Gaslight Anthem’s sophomore album “The ‘59 Sound” came roaring out of the Jersey Shore this summer as if they were “sprung from cages out on Hwy 9″. If you did not know any better i could tell you that the lead singer was the bastard child of the boss himself Bruce Springsteen and all you would say is well that makes a lot of sense now i understand why they write similar songs and sing like each other. To classify them as strictly a rip off band though is a misconception. Similar … yes, but hardly a rip off.

The band is a four piece with Brian Fallon handling guitar/vocal duties, Alex Levine on bass, Benny Horowitz on drums, and Alex Rosamila on guitar. As you have probably already guessed they are from Jersey and draw from the bustling Hardcore punk movement that has been prominent over the past several years as well as the Godfather of all things Jersey Bruce Springsteen. A little folky, a spice of punk rock, and some good old fashioned rock seem to be the recipe they strive for here. They never go too far to any of the extremes. Just when you think they take punk rock to the verge of emo they come right back at you with soulful rock that can’t be denied. I’m impressed by the crispness and flow of the album. The songs never linger too long which is good for a band like this. They are writing bar rock songs that get their point across in three to four minutes. There sound seems to feel like it would be at home in your local bar down the road, but they hint at having greater ambitions to take on arena rock anthems in the future with their sound as well.

The songs are about coming of age in the tough times we all face currently, falling in and out of love, and living for the moment. Many are stand outs but for me the album finishes strong with the run from “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”, “Meet me by the Rivers Edge”,”Here’s Looking at you Kid”, and The “Backseat”. Not to be missed earlier in the album though are the expertly composed title cut and “Miles Davis & the Cool”. My favorite track being “Even Cowgirls get the Blues” which unfortunately is not a song based on the brilliant Tom Robbins book, but is still a very good tune nonetheless.

This album garnished a lot of praise this year and it is deservedly so. It is an easy listen that is catchy enough to jump out at you. I wish i got this album in the summer when it came out. I can see how this is a spring or summer album to blast on your way down the shore or to the boardwalk. Many may scoff at the comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and write them off as an unoriginal new band. Indeed  they have a lot of ground to cover to be considered on the same level as the Boss, but I’m willing to give them a shot and see where they go after this.  I would recommend this album to fans of another often compared to Bruce band the Killers. 

I’l rate this one a 3.25 out of 5 stars. I would go ahead and give it the 3.5 but the slight lack of orginality bumps them down a little. That said i kept waiting for a Derek Jeter or Yankees reference and I might have been forced to give up the 3.5 ranking! This album was a pleasant surprise that came out of nowhere for me this year.

3.25 Stars out of 5

Myspace

Here they are ealier this month doing the title cut from their album on Conan:

Hybrid or no-hybrid…is it really more expensive to buy a hybrid than to go with a “regular” car?  This was the question that came up around a camp fire after a few beers this past weekend.

You’ve probably heard that it’s more expensive to buy a hybrid right now, and that it’s simply not practical to buy one because you’ll never really see the benefit. 

Well, that was my stance on the discussion, but rather than just blindly stick to my guns without looking anything up, I figured I’d give this a deeper look…after all, some of the arguments posed by the others were good, and made sense.

Hybrid vs. Non-Hybrid

The discussion we had was comparing a new car purchase of a non-hybrid to a hybrid.  Here’s what we were working on:

We’re buying a new car for some reason.  The new hybrid will cost $25k, and a similar non-hybrid costs $20k.  The MPG are 35 and 25 for the hybrid and non-hybrid, respectively.  The gas tank holds 15 gallons, and we’ll assume light driving of 1 tank per week.

Under these assumptions, there’s a $5k difference we’ve got to make up from the hybrid’s gas savings.  Based on the 10 extra miles per gallon, and 15 gallons per tank, we’re working with an extra 150 (10*15) miles per week, which comes in at an even 6 gallons per week savings for the hybrid (150 / 25 MPG of the non-hybrid).  This comes to an estimated 312 gallons saved per year (6*52).

I’m going to expand on this a little bit further than we did around the campfire (just so you don’t think we’re complete nerds).  Gas prices have dropped significantly over the recent months (I just filled up at $1.36 per gallon), but we wanted to compare the costs now, as well as in high gas prices—we all know gas is more than likely going to go up again.  For this example, I used $1.50, $2.00, $3.00, $4.00 and $5.00 as benchmarks.  Here are the results:

So, under our assumptions, at the current gas prices of $1.50, you would have to drive over 10 years to make up the extra cost of the hybrid car.  But, we were willing to concede that gas prices weren’t going to stay at this low level for a long time.  Once you get into the $4-$5 per gallon price range, it starts to look pretty good with only a 3-4 year break-even point.  Not too bad, especially if you’re going to buy the car and drive it for a while.

But, this example shows that unless gas prices are consistently above the $4 range, it won’t make much sense financially to buy a hybrid.  And, this example excludes a few other things you’d want to consider when making a purchase, or doing a complete cost comparison:

·         The future value of the lost $5k.  If you’re spending the extra $5k on the car, we’d ideally want to assume that you could invest this money, so we’d want to add any earnings into the equation.  (Even if we’re in a recession, you could still get 2-3% interest in a CD.  Doesn’t sound like much, but we’re not exactly dealing with high dollar figures here.

·         The cost of a comparable used car vs. the new car replacement.  New cars take a huge hit when you drive them off the lot.  A comparable used car that’s 1-2 years old and in great condition would cost significantly lower than its newer counterpart.

·         Tax credits.  There are some tax credits you might qualify for if you own a hybrid vehicle.  I haven’t looked into a lot of these recently, but they used to only cover American hybrids and not foreign hybrids.  I honestly don’t know, and don’t claim to be an expert, but I know they’re out there.

·         Interest costs.  Not paying cash?  Don’t forget that you’re paying more for your car!  The added interest if you finance or fleece…oops!—lease…your car will also adjust this equation (more so in the second example below)

Now, personal finance has as much to do with emotions as it does numbers.  Often times purely financial analysis doesn’t equate well in personal finance because it’s your money, and your emotions help drive your decisions.  Let’s not go too far out there with this, because you can’t ignore what’s financially responsible just because it makes you “feel good,” but suffice to say there are external factors at play that affect our decisions.  For example, even though it might not make sense in the above example to buy a hybrid at $2.00 per gallon gas prices because it will take 8 years to recover the $5k of extra spending, the emotional satisfaction you get from “helping the environment” could outweigh the extra costs.  Of course, this assumes that you can afford to buy the car.

When we changed topics at the camp fire, we agreed that at $4.00 per gallon, the idea that hybrids are too expensive to buy didn’t really make sense.  And, I think the above shows that.  We also agreed that at current prices, i.e. $2.00 or less, the extra costs of a hybrid didn’t really make sense if you were going ONLY trying to save money on gas.

Prius vs. Xterra

This all looks fine and dandy, but we’re running off a bunch of assumptions here — Most notably the completely made up costs of a hybrid vs. non-hybrid.  Why not take this discussion to the next level?  What if I wanted to buy a hybrid?  How would our little exercise pan out in that case?

To start with, I currently drive a 2001 Nissan Xterra.  Yes, a dreaded SUV that’s old and gets crappy gas mileage.  It’s still in decent shape, has 140,000+ miles on it, and I’m planning on driving it until it falls apart.  But, what if I wanted to upgrade to a hybrid?  Let’s assume that I don’t wreck my car, and it doesn’t completely die…basically that I’m going to get rid of my car today and buy a new hybrid.

And if I’m going to buy a hybrid for gas prices, I’m going to get one of the best ones out there:  the Prius.  Yes, the Prius clocks in at around 46 MPG compared to my Xterra’s crummy 22 MPG.  A modestly equipped Prius will set me back around $22,500.  KBB puts my Xterra’s value at $5,080 based on private party sale, features, mileage, and “good” condition.  Let’s assume that I can sell my car for what KBB says it’s worth, and I buy a new Prius.

So, if we compare my Xterra to the Prius in the same way we compared the hybrid to the non-hybrid, this is what we come up with: