Review: The Rundown (non-US title: Welcome to the Jungle)

January 30th, 2004
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Everybody knows The Rock isn’t a genius actor, and everyone can respect that (as they respect him more so in the wrestling ring). His offerings so far have been the non-liner The Mummy Returns, quickly followed by evenly nonsensical The Scorpion King (as I remember absolutely _NOTHING_ about this movie, you can imagine the impact it made). Basically this makes it his second big role, and quite frankly, it’s very acceptable. The story itself is simple, but the action kicks in high gear from the word go. Simple one liners get thrown here and there, and keeps a smile on your face. Enter Seann William Scott, and the party is on. His natural comedic charm works well, as usual. A female, and a bad guy, and the formula is complete. Director Peter Berg uses his fast cut skills and throws in a few nice slowmo’, while The Rock takes care of the acrobatics and his trademark wrestling moves. For 90 minutes of brainless fun, it’s perfect.7½.

curl

Review: Muse – Absolution

January 28th, 2004
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Due to a tiny mishap (a server re-arranging its packets), I ended up with this album on my harddisk. What a waste of magnetic energy that was. Mostly rough guitar sessions, but also some slower ones with only a piano or light guitar and a bass riff, they all irritate the eardrums. It brings out pure and untainted rage, up to a point where you want to grab the throat of the singer and strangle the non-caring tinny uneven voice that would only have a purpose as a torture method for your neighbours.2-.

curl

Off the hook…

January 28th, 2004
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Yeah, it’s official, I’m really off the hook now. Regarding my post a few days earlier, this is their SUPER-lightning-jaw-dropping fast reply:

Betreft: UPC niet aansprakelijk Mwhahhaa, what a way to start a letter. Must be company policy, coz I didn’t accuse them of anything (not directly, anywayz) in the first place. All I asked for was a confirmation.

Geachte meneer, mevrouw Ung,

Naar aanleiding van uw brief van 21 januari jongstleden waarin u een verzoek indiende met betrekking tot het ontvangen van bevestiging omtrent uw zaak. Graag uw aandacht voor het volgende. Yeah well, I’m all ears.

Wij hebben uw brief in goede orde ontvangen. Only because I faxed AND mailed them.

Wij kunnen bevestigen dat wij uw klacht gegrond verklaren (coulance overweging). Het openstaande bedrag ad 87.48 hebben wij verrekend per 14 januari 2004. Aan de betalingsverplichting is voldaan en beschouwen deze zaak als gesloten. Took you ONLY TWO YEARS !! Coulance my ass.

Wij hopen u hiermee voldoende te hebben geinformeerd. Mocht u desondanks nog vragen hebben dan kunt u bellen met ons Contact Center op het telefoonnummer 0900 1580 (0,10per/min). Deze afdeling is bereikbaar van maandag tot en met vrijdag tussen 8.00 en 19.00 uur. Onze medewerkers staan u graag te woord. Not true, but luckily, I’ll never have to speak to them again.

Met vriendelijk groet,
UPC Nederland

Harald Kolmer
Regiodirecteur Regio Zuid Guess I’ll have to give them credit for this. They _did_ honor my request, that this should be signed by an high-up cheating bastard !

curl

How Messy is it at my Work Today ?

January 28th, 2004

Rate 1 (sucks) to 5 (cool). Only rate the latest pictures, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 479 out of 144 votes > Average is: 3.326

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My future VGA card. Fanless ! Hence, noiseless ! (Sapphire ATi 9800 Pro Ultimate 128 MB, probably somewhere around 4 holidays off my record)

curl

And the nominees are …

January 27th, 2004
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Just a day after the Golden Globes have been handed out, the nominee list for the 76th edition of the Academy Awards has been announced. Look at it here.
11 for The Return of the King. Earned. A few for Pirates, Finding Nemo, and a few more for Lost in Translation. Also very much earned.
But 10 for the ultra-boring Master and Commander: The bblablabalalsoboring long title ?? Hope they’ll sail away with NONE !

curl

Golden Globes for …

January 27th, 2004
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… mostly The Return of the King. Taking home the statues for best Picture/Drama and Director.

Other well deserved awards went to:
Original Song: Into the West – Annie Lennox for The Return of the King
Original Score: Howard Shore for The Return of the King
Screenplay – Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation
Picture – Musical or Comedy – Lost in Translation
Actor – Musical or Comedy – Bill Murray in Lost in Translation
TV – Drama – 24
TV – Musical or Comedy – The Office (BBC) (first non-America to be nominated, first non-American to win)
Actor in TV – Musical or Comedy – Ricky Gervais in The Office (BBC)

Should’ve won too:
Actor: Kiefer Sutherland for 24 or Willam Peterson for CSI (beat out by stiff emotionless Anthony LaPlagia for Without a Trace)
Actress: Scarlett Johannsson for Lost in Translation/Girl with a Pearl Earring (beat out by Diane Keaton)

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How Messy is my Desk Today ?

January 26th, 2004

Rate 1 (FR#^&% MESS !) to 5 (how very tidy !). Only rate the latest picture, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 979 out of 280 votes > Average is: 3.496

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An unkown guy is making a mess in my house !!!

curl

US Box Office

January 26th, 2004
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The Butterfly Effect (opens here 29 Jul) landed on the number one spot with $17.1 million, proving Ashton Kutcher has enough star power to carry a movie all by himself. Still doing well on nr. 2 is Along Came Polly with $16.6 million. Third is romantic comedy Win a Date with Tad Hamiltion, starring Kate Bosworth, a few unknowns and a bunch comedian cameos with only $7.5 million.

curl

Review: Tru Calling 103 – 109

January 25th, 2004
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In the middle of this current run, they almost gave away the reason, explaining all the why’s and how’s of the mysterious things happening to Eliza Dushku’s character Tru Davies. However, it ended up backing away totally, and they moved on with some slightly changed character dynamics. Character development goes ahead, very slowly. That leaves Eliza to carry the show with stories that have a very clear and laid out script template. With already 9 stories following her hunches, with the first one always being wrong, you’d hope they (the writers/producers) would’ve figured out by now that we (the viewers) already figured it out. Time for a big change if they want to keep me from zapping to another download queue.

curl

Review: Smallville 309 – 310

January 24th, 2004
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The WB is back for another 8 episode consecutive run, currently going head-to-head with Fox’s ratings magnet American Idol 2. The declining ratings aside, the new stories are showing another strong leap forward in writing. While the A-story of standard quality, the continuing B-stories keep it interesting. The Clark-Lana relationship evolves subtly with emotional direction and camera moves capturing the hidden glances and unspoken words, making the wait for next week’s episode even more harder.

curl

How Messy is it at my Work Today ?

January 23rd, 2004

Rate 1 (sucks) to 5 (cool). Only rate the latest pictures, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 469 out of 142 votes > Average is: 3.303

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curl

3..2..1..SOLD!

January 23rd, 2004
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After many days of negotiation, I had to resort to extortion, blackmail, and my other enigmatic personal qualities.
But here is it, a sale. Although a small one, coz the cheapo buyer is going to re-use a lot of stuff. This will teach him:

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work pic

curl

cHELLo

January 22nd, 2004
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Well, it seems I’m finally off the hook. After 2 years of fighting, the nightmare seems over. ‘Cept, I’m not totally sure. Read a few excerpts of my problems and complaints here.
So, the saying goes, don’t wake up sleeping dogs. Well, sleeping dogs that keep sleeping will eventually die. Horribly. Do the math, I’m a nice guy. So, here goes:

Geachte UPC,

Heden ontving ik een brief van de u en mij welbekende 3de partij Intrum Justitia. Ik quote:


Den Haag, 20-01-2004

Geachte mevrouw/heer.

In bovenstaande zaak kunt u de door ons verzonden aanmaning als “niet verzonden” te beschouwen.

Onze opdrachtgever heeft ons inmiddels verzocht de zaak te sluiten.

Wij bieden u onze excuses aan voor de eventuele ontstane overlast.

Hoogachtend,

Intrum Justitia

Elk normaal mens zou een luid vreugdekreet slaken en de zaak inderdaad als gesloten beschouwen. Ik ben anders, helaas. Met een gezond verstand, houd ik mijn adem nog altijd, spreekwoordelijk, in.

Ik vertel u, mijn psychiater heeft mij gediagnoseerd als zijnde lijdend aan aan UPC-complex. Een nieuw maar ondertussen ingeburgerd term. Mijn collega, moet u weten, had voor zowel zichzelf als voor bekenden UPC/Chello Internet via de Kabel aangevraagd. Problemen alom. Ook Intrum Justitia komt hier ter sprake. Ook onterecht. U raadt het nooit, maar een paar weken geleden vertelde hij me dat hij door zijn psychiater (niet dezelfde als de mijne) was gediagnoseerd met, en echt, u raadt het nooit, een UPC-complex. Maar ik wijk van mijn echte doel af.

Mijn ervaringen zijn over het algemeen genomen, allemaal slecht. Dus daarom wilde ik na de torenhoge kosten die de afgelopen 2 jaar zijn gemaakt, graag nog een postzegel besteden om een allerlaatste brief van u te ontvangen.

Mijn angst gaat vooral uit naar, bijvoorbeeld:
– U heeft Intrum Justitia verzocht de zaak te sluiten, MAAR u heeft een gemenere bulldog in de startblokken klaarstaan.
– Op een later tijdstip neem ik een ander product van u af (bijv. UPC Digital of Cinenova), en door een systeemfout komt alles weer opborrelen. Weer 2 jaar lang torenhoge fax/telefoon/brief kosten en de meekomende slapeloze nachten.

Mijn vraag is dus simpel. Graag een laatste brief, het liefst ondertekend door een hoge functionaris binnen uw bedrijf, ter bevestiging dat de zaak echt gesloten is. Deze kan ik dan inlijsten, en hoef ik hopelijk er nooit meer uit te halen (u weet wel, als bewijs, mocht er ooit een vervolg komen op de net afgelopen nachtmerrie). Het feit blijft dat ik eigenlijk geld terug moet krijgen i.p.v. geld moet betalen, maar dat terzijde. Liever een frisse start, dan een buidel vol met geld, zeggen we maar.

Met bonkend hart, verblijf ik,

KaNam Ung

Btw, don’t expect an answer soon, usually it takes 3+ months.

curl

Real story…

January 21st, 2004
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This happened today…
Imagine you’re a frenchman with 2 kilo’s of drugs on ya. You’re on the Rotterdam Central Station waiting for the train back to France. Then two cops appear. You get nervous. Not knowing there’s a no-smoke rule, you fire up a cig. Ai. The cops see you smoking. They’re moving towards you. Then they start talking to ya. Something about a fine. They start the paperwork, and they want some ID. Nervous as you are, you hand them your fake passport. Now they’re really pissed. Off you go…downtown police station. One stripsearch later, and you’re two kilo’s lighter.
And that’s in a country where we have dumb Belgian jokes. That must hurt.

curl

Poll: My name

January 21st, 2004
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Finally got a reply back from my most favorite public transport company in Rotterdam (probably because it’s THE ONLY one). Read it here.
Now I’m wondering, what in my original e-mail (see 14-01-2004) made this J.Hulscher dude(tte) think I’m female ? Is it a standard e-mail template gone awry ? Or does my real name sound feminine ?

curl