Macalope vs. The Apple is a religion cult

Once again the Macalope skewers the “any people that support Apple are brainwashed cult members crowd.” The funny part is that those who spout this are just as loud and fervent as the so called ones they say belong to a “cult.” I’d say they are members in a religion of their own, “I hate Apple more than anything.”

Macalope: http://www.macworld.com/article/2902041/the-anti-beatitudes-calling-apple-a-religion.html#tk.rss_all

Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles has to be one of the funniest movies ever made and surely could not be made now. There are so many off color jokes that are sexist, racist, and ethnically insensitive a movie studio would run as fast as possible. That said, if you don’t laugh at the movie and enjoy the story line there is quite possible something terribly wrong with you.

The railroad discovers quick sand as they are going across the southwest desert and needs to be diverted. Unfortunately the town of Rock Ridge lies directly in the path of the new railroad and the townspeople do not want to let them pass. The governor and attorney general Headly Lamar has other plans and sends Bart, a former railroad construction slave, to be the new sheriff. Instead of the townspeople revolting they instead rally behind him and fight off the railroad mercenaries. The movie ends with one of the most hilarious  fight scenes that have ever been filmed.

Actors/Actresses

There is a star studded cast from Gene Wilder as a drunk gunslinger to Alex Karras as a huge oaf who is highly philosophical. Cleavon Little plays an African-American sheriff at a time where there were none and does an amazing job.

Verdict

A must see, must own movie. If you have only seen this movie on television then you are missing out on tons of jokes, one liners, and double entendre.

Apple Watch bands only available as collections

Rene Ritchie at iMore has an article up that is sure to rile the Apple haters and make the latent Apple complainers reach fever pitch. It seems that when the Apple Watch goes on sale in a few days you will not be able to mix and match and create your own watch combo. This is not to say you cannot buy alternate bands for your watch, but the base watch body will come with a predetermined band from Apple. I’m sure this will be touted as an injustice and have papers drafted making this a war crime.

But is it?

One thing people seem to misunderstand is that when you buy something that is higher end or designer, you are buying their vision, their design. Apple is trying to play off this high design style with the watch which is why you at the very least have to buy into their vision of what the watch “should” look like.

Those that will complain are those that think the Burger King slogan of “Have it your way” is the only correct answer. They don’t stop to think, if you go to a high end restaurant you are going there because of the chef’s creations. Why would you spend that much money only to tell the man with the pedigree that you are paying to dazzle you, how to cook your food? It would be the same as hiring Picasso to paint a painting for you and then tell him not to use blue, because you don’t like it.

And if you think I’m incorrect, go to your local Target or Walmart and ask to buy a $30 Timex watch with the band of your choosing. I’m pretty sure they will tell you it comes with a band. Then visit your local jeweler and try to buy a Citizen with your choice of band. That option doesn’t exist either.

iMore: http://www.imore.com/no-apple-watch-mixing-and-matching-come-april-10-collections-are-it

John Wick

If you are looking for a movie that is under 2 hours with nonstop action with very little plot and storyline, John Wick is for you. This is fully a guy flick, and any man will instantly connect with the character, especially if you are a dog lover.

It is obviously over the top and not realistic. If that is what you are looking for, keep moving. The one thing that I do like though is the gun play is very realistic. No unlimited amounts of ammo here. The fight scenes are good as well. Body blows do seem to have an effect on him.

Actors/Actresses

While I have never been a Keanu Reeves fan, I’ve never been a hater either. He does a good job in the movie, showing good emotion and toughness with that little bit of Keanu that SNL made fun of in the Celebrity Jeopardy skit. He makes John Wick really seem like a pissed off guy ready to exact his vengeance.

Verdict

This is definitely a movie to rent. I wouldn’t buy it and probably would never watch it again. But if later on it is on TV or Netflix and there is nothing else to watch, it is a good time waster.

Fury

If you are looking for a good war movie to watch and not feel like you wasted two hours, Fury is for you. It has a very shallow story/plot line but delivers a lot of good action back to back. There are a few awkward scenes in the movie where a sub plot was forced in. These are easily overlooked as the war time action and heroics pick back up.

Some will complain about some “historical inaccuracies” regarding the tanks of WWII. Remember this is a movie, not a documentary. They do hold to historical details such as the US Sherman tanks being severely outgunned by the German Tiger.

Brad Pitt as usual does a great job as a battle hardened leader, and the surrounding cast has a good variety of characters that the dynamic of the tank crew for the most part just works. The final battle scene, while over the top, will keep you entertained and wondering what happens right up until the end.

Grab this one at the RedBox or wait until it is available on Netflix. Not one I would purchase, unless it was really cheap on sale.

SideNote: I rented this on BluRay and it  makes me laugh that as picture quality has gone up, we make a concerted effort now to make it look old with filters and post processing.

The Blues Brothers

Definitely one of my favorite movies. This is a true American classic with great movies, great car chase scenes, and us against the world mentality. If you have never seen this movie, you should put it at the top of your list. The amount of quotable lines that everyone will know is off the charts in this one.

Possible New Apple Wireless Keyboard

AppleInsider has some screenshots and details accidentally posted to Apple’s Czech web store. It seems to have keys that indicate that the keyboard maybe backlit. I for one would welcome a backlit keyboard, though many don’t see the utility. As someone who likes to use darker screen themes, combined with working late; the dim glow of keys would be great.

Possible New Apple Wireless Keyboard
Possible New Apple Wireless Keypad – Courtesy of Apple Insider

 

Many others speculate the use of the new butterfly style key switches, but what would be the reason? I’m sure they cost more than standard ones and there is no push to make the wireless keyboard thinner.

Give me a backlit keyboard and a touchpad with force touch built into it and I’ll be happy. Granted at this point I wouldn’t spend another $150 to replace what works perfectly now. Then again, this old iMac 2010 is getting a bit long in the tooth. Retina iMac anyone?

Link: Apple Insider – New Apple Wireless Keyboard

Ghosts of North Wilkesboro – Jeremy Markovich

A great piece about the track that started it all for Nascar, North Wilkesboro Speedway. It is a sad story about a place that history has left behind. A fan favorite, not a car owners favorite, it is one of the places like Rockingham that was lost in the mix to expand Nascar to places that could care less like California and cookie cutter super speedways.

Many wonder why Nascar’s popularity is waning and I think it has to do with long races at tracks that are eerily similar to each other. These tracks make it so that it literally is cars going in circles for a few hours. It is why Bristol is such a popular track and people love to watch the Mud-summer Classic at Eldora. Track owners at these speedways will still never give up the dates even as they demolish half of the stands and luxury boxes at all their tracks. Maybe one day Nascar will help to revive and return some of these tracks like North Wilkesboro to their glory, but I figure it will be a cold day before that happens.

In the end though it is up to Bruton Smith and SMI to either sell the property for a reasonable cost or gasp, fix it up themselves. Granted with the waning ticket revenues in the sport recently I doubt he has the cash or want to do either for a track that will not host a Sprint Cup level race.

Ghosts of North Wilkesboro – Jeremy Markovich

The Macalope takes on Apple Watch Fail

It should be no surprise that the Apple Watch doomsayers are taking are getting whipped up into a frenzy as the launch grows imminent. While I don’t think it will be the runaway success that is the iPhone or the steady sales category of the iPad, it will make a splash and sell in large enough quantities to be worth while to Apple.

My favorite line from the piece in regards to the oft misquoted 2.5 hours of application time:

This is not so much baloney as it is pimento loaf. Some people actually like baloney. No one likes pimento loaf.

I’m not sure why people think that they will be staring and playing with the watch for hours on end. After the initial fun time of it where you explore new apps and features most will use it like a regular watch or fitness band. It will sit there doing nothing but collecting data and waking up occasionally to alert you to something.

Macalope: Flop flap: Apple Watch comes pre-flopped