Introducing Lisa Ann Salerno

Hey Everyone,

As my regular readers surely know, I don't generally focus my blogs on my friends, but this just has to be said.

I'd like to introduce you all to a good friend of mine, Lisa Ann Salerno.

Lisa and I met when she started working at Chili's a while back. I don't generally get involved with coworkers outside the restaurant, but Lisa was different. Over the past couple of years, we've become great friends.

Now I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that, we are just truly good friends. I'm not saying I didn't try to start a relationship. But as I've come to realize, everything happens for a reason, and just at the point in my life where I had decided I didn't need another friend, and all I wanted was a girlfriend, Lisa shows up and proves me wrong. Nevertheless, She's a sweetheart and I love her.

That brings me to the real point of this post (no, it's not just an endorsement of Lisa's sparkling personality).

Long story short, in addition to everything else she does, Lisa is a member of a community service Sorority/Fraternity, and every year about this time, her Sorority takes part in this "Relay For Life" campaign, as part of the American Cancer Society.

Basically, Lisa is accepting donations for the Relay For Life, money that will go towards cancer research, and I'm officially asking all of you to consider donating money for this great charity.

If you are interested, you can check it out and even make a donation, through this link: Relay For Life.

I hope you'll all consider making a donation to this great charity, even if you can only donate a little bit, that's all it takes. We all have good intentions, unfortunately, cancer patients can't live on good intentions, they need money for research and care, and anything you can donate will go a long way to helping these people.

To all who can donate, THANK YOU!

- The Desert Rat.

Spiderman 3

Recently, Superherohype.com posted a new picture from Spiderman 3, coming in 2007. The picture allegedly shows according to SHH! and the official Spiderman 3 website Spiderman in a black suit, which they claim Spiderman will be wearing in the next installment.

But here's the reason I think this is a ruse to throw us fans off. It just doesn't make any sense. Why would Spiderman be wearing a black suit? That's first of all. Secondly, they have already stated that Venom will be in Spiderman 3, and Venom looks very similar to Spiderman, except that Venom wear a black suit, and Venom has an open mouth of sharp teeth, where Spiderman's suit doesn't have a mouth. But therein lies the problem, in the picture, "Spiderman's" mouth is covered by his arm. Very suspect.

Have we seen a picture of Spiderman in a black suit, or is this a coy way of showing us Venom? Only time will tell.

P.S. Both SHH! and the official Spiderman 3 site have said that this is NOT a black and white picture.

- The Desert Rat.

Batman: Anthology

The other day, I realized that I had come to a point in my life where I could no longer live without the Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997.

For those of you that know me well, you know that I am a HUGE Batman fan. I'm obsessed with pretty much everything Batman (except the lame 1950s TV show). So it was basically only a matter of time before I bought the anthology, and I'm a little surprised I held out as long as I did.

As I'm sure many of you are, I'm weary of buying Special Edition DVDs (especially when I already own the basic version) but the Batman Anthology just seemed too good to miss.

Well, it was.

It is probably one of the top 10 things I've ever bought in my life.

There are so many features in this anthology, that there is no way I can list them all, but here are some of the greatest features:

The Box: The box looks awesome, pure and simple. Weird to say, but it really captures the mood of the Batman saga.

The Movies: Sure, I've seen them all before, and I only really like two of the four (Batman & Batman Returns) but it's a collection, and there are things I like about all of them, and I wanted to own the update, restored, digitally rendered versions of all of them. Not to mention Batman was ten times better with the improved picture and sound.

The Menus: Seeing as though the original Batman was one of the first movies to come out on DVD, the quality was questionable, and the menus were nearly unusable, it was a chore just to get the movie started. The new menus are terrificly simple.

Director's Commentaries: Each movie has a complete director's commentary. It's terrific. Tim Burton really gives some great insights into the first two films, and it's interesting to hear what the hell Joel Schumacher was thinking when he made Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Other awesome features include 9 music videos, 18+ hours of special features, 50+ documentaries and featurettes, and more.

Ok, so like I said, there is entirely too much for me to describe to you, so you're just going to have to go out and buy the anthology for yourself, or at least go out and get the special editions of Batman and Batman Returns.

If you're a Batman fan, you're guaranteed to enjoy this collection.

- The Desert Rat.

Video iPod Problems

Hey Everyone,

It's been a long time since I've written a blog, mainly just because I've been so busy.

My life right now pretty much consists of school, work, and sleep (with the occasional chance for relaxation).

Anyways, one thing that has been awesome is that I finally got my iPod (actually I've had it since Christmas).

It's completely awesome, a black, G5, 30 gig, Video iPod.The problem is; I can't figure out how to put videos on it. Being a huge movie fan, I want to get the trailers to some up coming movies on my iPod, but I can't get the videos from my computer to my iPod.

Apparently, they need to be in a certain format, and the only way I can find to get them into said format is to go online and buy quicktime 7 pro for about $30 bucks.

Now I know what you're saying, "But Desert Rat, $30 isn't that much money, why not just spring for it and get videos on your iPod?"

You make a valid point, but personally, I'm getting pretty damn tired of Apple seeing a $300 iPod, then charging you $80 for a car adapter, $35 for a decent case, $30-$200 for a speaker attachment, and $30 for any other feature/accessory you want.

So, ok, maybe those things are a little over-priced, but they are add-ons, and you can use the iPod without them, but You'd think that for $300 you would at least be able TO USE THE FEATURES ON THE IPOD!

So if anyone knows how to reformat videos for the G5 iPod (on a PC, not a Mac) please let me know. Thanks.

- The Desert Rat.