What a weekend it has been. I was hoping to have some alone time to play GTA4 and progress my mission in Liberty City but I barely touched the TV all weekend. Instead I was outside playing in the dirt, soaking up the sun and reliving a part of my youth.
On Friday evening a bunch of Statusfirm employees loaded up into a few vehicles and headed west to Young Guns Paintball. We filled up our guns and proceeded to shot each other for nearly three hours on various courses and had a great time in doing so. Most of us left with a bruise or two and it will be a subtle badge of honor on Monday morning.
Saturday was devoted to flowers, bright colors, torches and a beer boat. Dead men tell no tales, neither do Hawaiian lays but I will say it was a great day to be outside, the weather was perfect, the beer was cold and the company was entertaining. The day after hosting an epic luau in Sherwood Park Gord and I went to see Jurassic Park playing on the big screen at Metro Cinema.
I grew up on this movie and seeing it in a theater was a wonderful experience. It has been years since I saw it last but I still remembered the musical cues, certain quotes (On my way down I’m going to run you over or This is a Unix system, I know this…) but most of all it is still a brilliant movie. Jurassic Park was released in 1993 but the effects and quality of production still look great, which is a testament to Speilberg’s ability to create a world you never forget.
Amidst all of this weekend activity something wonderful happened. Joss Whedon released Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. If you are reading this now the movies have been removed from the main site and will no longer be available for free but all three acts are a $1.99 on iTunes and if you are a fan of Captain Mal, Barney Stinson or musicals it is worth your time (and money) to look for it.
When TV shows aired their final episodes in May Jenna and I were left wanting more. We turned our craving to The Sopranos, a show neither of us thought we would watch but thought we would give it a shot anyway. I knew nothing of the series except the ending had fans and critics talking and it sparked a large loved it or hated it response.
For the next six weeks we watched nearly ninety episodes of the New Jersey mob family. We fell into their story hard and while each episode had a casual ending we wanted more. What seemed like an uphill battle was quickly taken down in size as we were finishing a season a week.
I thought the series was really solid. It was more of a character series than thug life on the street. You felt compassion for the characters even though they were all ultimately evil and self-centered. The slow builds to a climactic point which was well orchestrated and I can see how this show made its way to the top of peoples favorite TV shows. Thinking about how the story unfolded I want to watch it again, perhaps when another television lull occurs.
I can’t talk about The Sopranos and not mention the infamous ending. As the final scene played out I immediately felt upset, like I was taken advantage of. It felt like a cop out. Although over the next few days I thought about the ending, did some reading of what other fans thought about it and came to not only appreciate the ending, but love it. I felt it was perfect and the only appropriate way to end such an intense series.
For anyone who has not seen Sopranos I would highly recommend it because it will continue to stand out as one of the best shows ever for a long time to come. We started watching another HBO series called The Wire. This is another show that is well received so I will see if it deserves all of the attention it has received.
