Welcome to my Blog!

I am a man of many hats. By day I have been tech support, a web and software Developer and currently hold a position in email marketing. I am an advocate for animals, love movies, online gaming and photography. I'm a natural smart-ass so sarcastic comments abound... Happy Reading!

Happy Mother's Day
Posted by tiggiler Comments Off

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

The Walking Dead Season 4
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

Oh The Walking Dead... How I miss thee! While season 4 was not the best season, it was not the worst either. We said goodbye to some characters we hoped and knew would depart and to some we wish would have stuck around a little longer.

**Warning: Spoilers**

During the season we see the attack on the Prison, the Governor and Hershel saying their last goodbyes and Rick's group being separated in the chaos. The second half of the season follows the small disparate groups as they try to make sense of what happened, what to do next and more importantly, how to survive on their own.

It takes the style of a new group to chronicle each week and you see the same time frame repeated from a different point of view. I don't care for this and wish they had moved the season along, maybe doing two each week or somehow combining the stories better.

To the writers and directors: Please go back to the style of story telling that was found in season 1. I find it much more enjoyable and it helps to move the story along a little faster.

Enter Terminus... [Read More]

Review: Iron Man 3
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

"When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution."

This movie was more Tony Stark than it was Iron Man. They completely ruined the movie when you find out the inner workings of the terrorist in this movie and the powers possessed are down right ridiculous. They take a somewhat believable premise and completely amplify it to the "N"^th degree. You can tell this movie wasn't directed by Jon Favreau and it has a completely disconnected feel from the previous two.

Unless you own the rest of the franchise or the other movies in the Avengers universe (Thor, Hulk, etc.), this one is only a solid rental at best. You'll watch it once but it'll probably just sit on your shelf after that. Please bring back Mr. Favreau for the 4^th one.

Review: Oblivion
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

"A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself."

Wow! This movie was not at all what I thought it was about. I knew Earth was no longer inhabitable but I thought the conflict was for totally different reasons and between different parties. There's not a lot in the way of action but the movie does an excellent job at moving the plot forward and keeps you interested in what is going on. Tom Cruise gives his typically performance and Morgan Freeman isn't a main character through out but the rest of the movie keeps it all tied together.

This movie is definitely a must see.

Review: World War Z
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

This movie was far better than I had expected. Seeing the super human speed of the zombies in the commercials made me very skeptical. However, it wasn't too much of a distraction and the storyline kept you well engaged. Brad Pitt gives a very good performance on par with his performance in Spy Game and leaps and bounds above his acting in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. If you are a fan of the zombie genre then you'll definitely want to check this one out. If not, it's still a good watch but you may want to rent it.

Six Flags New England - stay away!
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

I have been to Six Flags New England previously but only for a short period of time and it was many years ago. Honestly I don't remember the trip as it wasn't that memorable then either. This year, entry was a Christmas 2012 present and I attended with other family members ranging in age from 2 to upper 50's.

The park is easy to get to and traffic first thing in the morning is not bad. We were able to pull through the parking entrance and park all in a matter of 5 - 10 minutes. Once parked you can either walk to the park entrance or take a shuttle/bus. The walk is not that bad and it's just a matter of crossing over the main road.

Like most parks, Six Flags is broken into different themes ("Looney Tunes Movie Town", "Rockville", "DC Super Hero Adventures", etc.) of which they are laid out on their map. I strongly suggest getting a map when you enter because you will need it in order to find the entrances to some of the rides. The park is pretty big so I wouldn't expect to be able to ride every ride in one day so make an ordered list of the ones you must ride before your time in the park is up and concentrate on those first. [Read More]

Review: Moneyball
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

Wow! This movie was way better than I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't great but it didn't totally suck either. Brad Pitt plays the GM for the Oakland A's baseball team and after a pretty good season which ended in elimination during the post-season and his team losing 3 players to free agency he must rebuild his team.

Through a meeting which includes Jonah Hill with a competing ball club Pitt hires Hill and the two set out with a very small budget to try and win the season based on statistics disregarding the values set on players by the team's scouts. If they can just get on base enough statistically they should be able to overcome.

They end up making it pretty far and on a budget of $40mil vs the NY Yankees' $130mil. In the end they don't win the World Series but other ball clubs adopt their way of thinking and Pitt's character is offered a very lucrative contract with the Boston Red Sox, which is turns down.

It was a pretty long movie but there was enough story taking place to keep you engaged and the timing did not drag at all. [Read More]

Falling Skies Season 3 Finale
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

"That's it? She's a bug killer?" - my wife

We leave with the 2nd Mass on the move again looking for another location to call home. My wife and I are taking bets on how much time will pass between season 3 and 4. I'm betting just shy of 1.5 years given the rate of increase in gap between seasons.

Season 1 - 2: no time lapse
Season 2 - 3: 7 months
Season 3 - 4: 14 months (just my guess)

Anyway, Season 3 gets disappointing ratings from me. Too bad tv series can take a mulligan.

Under the Dome Season 1 Episode 5
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

OK, I'm done with this series. I can't take it anymore. The latest episode has the military using a Neutron bomb on the dome in an attempt to destroy. At the end of the episode you see the surrounding land completely destroyed (as it would be after a blast like that).

Junior's father found the girl in the bomb shelter and left her there so he could "think about what to do".

Ridiculous!

Falling Skies Season 3 Episode 8
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

Season 3 of TV shows now-a-days seems to be the ugly step child. It almost seems like they use it to weed out those who aren't truly fans. First it was the Walking Dead and now Falling Skies...

Last night's episode was a complete train wreck. It had nothing to do with moving the storyline forward and was an empty plot line. You can miss that episode and won't be lost on anything. Tom gets captured by Karen... again. He escapes... again. Next episode will be can people trust him... again. Come on people! We've seen it. It's old. Move on and get the story going. For such a short season (only 10 episodes) you'd think they can fill each of them with meaningful character development, story lines and keep it moving at an acceptable pace.

Episode 8 has to be the worst episode of not only the season but the whole series. I'll wait and see if they can recover with season 4 and if not it will probably be my last.

Under the Dome Season 1 Episode 4
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

Now everyone has Meningitis... Did the powers that be just wake up one day and be like, let's see how much conflict we can cram into this show? The reporter finds out that her husband was lying to her about being in financial ruin and having an outstanding debt that "Barbie" was supposed to take care of. The councilman finds the girl that his son has been keeping in the bomb shelter but not before "Jr" is made a deputy of the sheriff's department. So much bad, just so much...

Falling Skies Season 3 Episode 7
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

*SPOILER*

That's the most ridiculous plot twist I've experienced in a long while. How did she even become infested? Karen didn't kiss her... unless her and Hal had a thing going on the side that wasn't made public to the viewing audience. Even still, just stupid.

I did like the conflict with the Masons and the family who ambushed them on the back road. There was a lot of "now they have the guns, no now they do" going on but it still made for some entertaining television. And Ben's a bad-ass kicking butt on not just one but multiple occasions. I guess those spikes in his back are coming to good use after all.

I am sad that there are only three more episodes. I heard somewhere that they are going to do a two part season finale so it's really only two more weeks?

So sad.

Under the Dome Season 1 Episode 3
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

OK, now we know the shipment of propane had something to do with a drug scheme between the town's selectman, sheriff and local priest. But we still don't know what. My guess has to do with burners in order to cook up some product.

The psycho continues on his whacked out journey, taking advice from his captive to go searching down some old mine shafts to see if they can go underneath the dome. That turns out to be a dead end.

A local cop goes crazy and ends up finding himself in a manhunt that turns out badly for him.

"Barbie" and the news reporter continue their little dance of "do I trust them or don't I"...

The shows writers tried to create way too many plot points that it just gets irritating and none of them really seem to intertwine. I'm not putting much stock in this show. Too bad too. I needed something else to watch and talk about.

Falling Skies: Season 3 Episode 6
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

*SPOILER*

Wow! Those little mind control bugs can work... they made Hal turn on his own father and try to extort information out of him about the weapon the Volm are building. It was pretty sweet actually, he drives up in a Humvee and pistol whips Marina Peralta (the Vice President) and then sticks the gun in Tom's face. They hole up in an abandoned apartment after Maggie shreds the crap out of the Humvee on the escape with a 50-caliber truck mounted machine gun.

Tom tries to talk to the "inner" Hal as he can see he's trying to fight the effects of the bug. Through actions taken by others, Hal is subdued and the bug destroyed. Hal then comes to realize that he must have been the mole. Others aren't so sure.

Drew Roy was getting a little creepy lately playing Hal so I'm actually happy that whole saga came to a close. Although he still didn't seem quite himself at the end of the episode but hopefully he'll return to the preppy high school kid he was before.

I posted a tweet (@tiggiler) that I think Charleston is in for a rude awakening now that Tom has resigned as President. [Read More]

Review: Under the Dome
Posted by tiggiler { 0 Comments }

What the heck is this? The premise was intriguing but I've seen the first two episodes and all I can think is "what are they thinking?" The story is dull and the acting leaves A LOT to be desired. Come on, there's some creepy guy who is insane and in love with this girl he keeps locked up in his parents' old bomb shelter. Seriously!?

And then there's the hidden plot of the huge shipment of propane that was brought in just before the dome appeared. This was suppose to save the town and is this big secret that a bunch of the top officials are trying to cover up yet I don't know what the big deal is. It's not like owning propane is against the law.

There's no fluid plot lines and everything seems to be jumbled up in this small town. It's only the second episode so I'll give it a couple more but I can't honestly see this lasting multiple seasons and I'll most likely end up giving up on it in a couple weeks.