What’s All This Then!

This started as a test post after upgrading to latest WordPress. My conclusion is that 2.7 is still BROKEN!

- Preview function still doesn’t work unless you publish your post to the public … which defeats the purpose of viewing your entry before anyone else gets to see those glaring mistakes.

- If you’re signed into your account, you still can’t edit your posts while being directly at your blog site.

- Lots of fancy crap added though! Too bad WP 2.3 made it easier to blog …

Popularity: unranked [?]

I finally upgraded this blog from WordPress 2.1.2 to 2.6.0. The process only took 3 hours and went well except for the database upgrade step. Now all my categories are blank. They are listed in the database as “-2″, “-2-2″, “-2-2-2″, etc, instead as text! And I noticed that my columns no longer fit into their previously assigned spaces. ::: sigh :::

If you experience any other problems with this blog, PLEASE let me know.

UPDATE: Column problem is due to browser rendering. On my laptop, the columns line up correctly. In Internet Explorer and Firefox 3 on my home system, the 2nd column starts after the bottom of the 1st column. Anyone know why?

UPDATE #2: Sometimes WordPress will allow categories with spaces between words and other times it will blank out that category. I’m finding that this happens randomly as I save and exit out of my blog.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Some people complain that movies should be more like real life. Often I wish real life was more like the movies. Although, back in the day, movies were of tamer stuff. You could watch a guy kiss his horse but not his girl. How bad a movie was, was in proportion to the number of chase scenes and explosions. (A wide screen would make a bad film twice as bad. Actually, that last statement still holds true today.) Today’s movies do a great job in stretching the boundaries of reality and imagination. So I do enjoy watching a good film as I get the chance. But with hundreds of new films coming out each year, who has the 8, 9, even $11 to risk seeing each one?

I don’t know about you, but I’m working on a very restricted budget. Yet I try to include a little bit of entertainment money so that my life isn’t all about working myself to death. In fact, playing myself to death is a much better alternative. And if most fun didn’t demand money up front, you’d find me laugh myself to the graveyard. So for now I’m doing the next best thing. While I can’t justify the expense of cable or satellite TV, I have been using Blockbuster online rentals as a very cheap form of entertainment … well, it was cheap in the beginning.

It started out at 15 bucks a month and I could have three movies out at a time. Even when Blockbuster raised the monthly fee to $18, it was still a good deal — much better than $40 for satellite or $60 for cable. It got even better when Blockbuster let me use my online movies for free rentals at their brick-and-mortar stores. Even though I sometimes can only watch 20 or 30 minutes of the movie a day, I was in entertainment heaven. Was it a bargain? Last month, I spent less than a dollar a DVD.

But I guess all good things must come to an end. Or at least, become more expensive. Blockbuster sent me an e-mail today letting me know that I can have the same service I have now for $25 a month. That’s a shame because I’ve been getting letters from satellite companies offering their services for $30 a month. But Blockbuster isn’t so greedy as to not give me some options. In fact, they’re offering 11 plans. If I want to be extremely cheap, I can rent up to two DVDs a month for five dollars. Of course, if I want to be extremely cheap, I’d shut off my electricity. My entertainment center would be a birdbath and some rocks. If I want to splurge, I could always upgrade to a pellet gun.

Oh well. Someday it will be great to be able to play for living instead of work for one. Until then, I guess I’ll have to continue supporting my habit of escaping into movies. Yes, I know it’s good to be without vices. But is it good to be without temptations?

Popularity: 13% [?]

I have enjoyed most of the James Bond genre of movies. While I haven’t seen all of them, a few years ago I rented the very first movie called “Casino Royale”. As a spoof of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, I didn’t find it that funny. So a few days ago, when I rented the latest James Bond movie, “Casino Royale”, I didn’t know what to expect. I have to tell you that this is the first James Bond movie that is actually believable – to a degree. It doesn’t depend upon high tech gadgets and beautiful women to maintain a thrilling story. The only frustrating thing about this very entertaining movie is its ending. You know that there has to be a part two to this very engaging and realistic story. I hate to say this but I think that Casino Royale is the best one in the entire James Bond series. Let’s hope that part two is just as engaging!

Popularity: 23% [?]