Sony’s Playstation Move hits stores this Friday. We got our hands on Sony’s new motion controller early and took it for a test drive on Breakfast Television. In this video clip I’m showing Andrew and Zane how to care for a virtual pet using the new peripheral. Take a look below at our EyePet demo below!
When you think of Halo, one character always comes to mind: Master Chief. So it’s hard to imagine a game in the Halo franchise that doesn’t center around this iconic video game character (except for ODST, but that feels like an anomaly). But that’s exactly what we find with Halo: Reach. After 10 long years, Bungie is saying goodbye to the Halo franchise it made famous with not a sequel, but a prequel to the series. Does Bungie’s swan song live up to expectations?
CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 16, Partly Cloudy
TONIGHT: 6, Showers begin this evening, changing to rain overnight
THURSDAY: 6, Rain
>A one day ‘break’…don’t get too comfortable with the sunshine…in for a Soggy Thursday….look for clearing by Friday.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz.
Check out these “healthy” chocolate chip cookies we learned to bake at Wild Grainz bakery in Inglewood! They have more fiber than the regular version which is healthy…relatively speaking!
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CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 10, Rain
TONIGHT: 7, Mostly Cloudy
WEDNESDAY: 18, Partly Cloudy
>Don’t rush to put away that umbrella ! More moisture today, with a one-day break coming on Wednesday (also, warm Wednesday: 18)…then, back to the unsettled weather by Thursday.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz
CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 9, Rain
TONIGHT: 6, Partly Cloudy
TUESDAY: 10, 60% Chance Showers
>Another week…another bout of unsettled weather…expect soggy weather today & tomorrow – with a bit of a break by Wednesday.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz.
That the “Reverend” Terry Jones is a bigoted crank is now self evident: that the “Reverend” Terry Jones is a man of limited intelligence equally so: that the “Reverend” Terry Jones got his parson’s certificate from a cereal box less so, although highly probable.
But the case about or against Jones doesn’t rest with the man himself, and his distorted view of American patriotism versus the devil’s cauldron, as he sees it, of Islam. Jones, the preacher at that dinky little Florida church, is in fact a dangerous loose cannon in the post 9-11 world, because he represents an alarming American drift toward extreme right wing attitudes and politics. Whether he proceeds – or doesn’t - with his mad plot to burn perhaps 200 Muslim Holy Books to ashes, just as the World Trade Center disappeared in the flames of religious fanaticism nine years ago, Jones has already inflicted incalculable damage to his country. The fires of religious counterattack have started burning with raging fury in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and in fact through most of the Islamic world.
I’d guess that within the next 48 to 72 hours, the “Reverend” Terry Jones will be largely out of public eye and mind, although perhaps the U.S. media will embark on some internal reflection about granting a certified nutbar his moments on the international stage. But the deep and very troubling problem he came to represent will linger on, and that’s where we find real cause for worry.
Ever since 9-11, the United States of America has been like a heavyweight boxer, once a champion, but now reeling about from an unexpected and very hard shot to the head, blinking and bewildered, lumbering after imaginary opponents existing only in his addled brain, confused and frightened about a rapid descent from dominance to uncetainty about his future in the ring.
It’s an appropriate metaphor, I think, for what’s happened to the United States because ever since the World Trade Center went down, the country has been stumbling around, aimlessly lashing out at phantoms. The foremost of those, of course, would be the mythical weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, ghostly threats which cost 4,500 American lives and untold billions of dollars. That kind of expenditure, with no return by way of investment (the classic military-industrial complex, with the industrial component entirely absent) was bound to raise economic difficulties and it did. And recession was inevitable when the immense cost of waging a futile war was combined with careless, if not criminal neglect of financial regulation with the subsequent housing disaster, job losses, bank failures and corporate bailouts. Pointless and expensive warfare; economic mismanagement: both have seriously damaged, if not destroyed the protototypical American perception of itself: a good job for everybody, comfort and ease, a standard of living far in excess of all other nations - all enveloped in the serene presumption that good things are based on Truth, Justice, and the American Way. And by majority, Christianity.
The historical U.S. response to uncertainty about itself in difficult circumstances, when demons seem to loom, has been to withdraw, primarily, to religion and faith. ”In God We Trust” is a mantra found not only on American coinage, but also in the nation’s very heart and soul, and so it’s no great surprise to discover many Americans returning to the arms of their Lord and Saviour. And it’s certainly no surprise that having done so, they would eschew or in the case of Pastor Jones, denounce all other Gods and especially He who represents Islam. The 9-11 terrorists. The infidels. The Evil.
But the difference between Terry Jones and U.S. citizens at large is that he spoke up, shouted from his little pulpit, articulated the widespread American uneasiness about Islam, and in fact did so with a religious wrecking ball. I suspect a great many of his countrymen sympathize, but will not – at least not yet - publicly endorse Jones and his rantings. Americans do not wish to be seen as religious zealots and fanatics, and then too the inate sense of American decency, the wish to be tolerant, still prevails. But it’s under very considerable stress.
In other words, Terry Jones is the visible riptide, if you like, of American angst which has been increasingly expressed, for example, by the emergence of the Tea Party, by the astonishing political durability of Sarah Palin, by the ability of a television talk show host named Glenn Beck to attract thousands of people to a Capitol Hill patriotic rally, by Arizona anti-immigration law, by a return in many states to guns in the holster, by incessant partisan fighting among politicians at the expense of sound governance. The country is not that far removed these days from isolationism, which explains why – from our Canadian perspective - a lot of U.S. congressmen and senators seem quite content to condemn “dirty oil” from Alberta while paying no attention to the disastrous consequences that would flow from a full-blown embargo.
And so, nine years onward from Ground Zero, the genetic structure, the DNA of American society has become that of the heavyweight with the scrambled brain. The nation blunders from one side of the international ring to the other, jabbing and windmilling – but hitting nothing except its own sense of self-esteem.
You can be sure of this. Terry Jones, when he first posed the idea of burning Qu’rans, was intent on doing precisely that, because he is, after all, a man clothed the the robes of Christian righteousness. If in the 12th century the crusaders were going about right and proper business by consigning the Arab heathen to hell, then in the 21st he would do the same and allegorically send Muslims off to burn in hell, too. It was only the intervention, in unison, of the entire brass section at the Pentagon, and President Barack Obama, that prevented him from doing so.
You can also be sure of another thing. The United States of America is deeply encased in an identity crisis, which has caused a great nation to lose direction, purpose, and in disturbing measure, common sense. And if you wish to see the evidence for this, I would present the “Reverend” Terry Jones. The American populace, by and large, may look upon him as something of a wingnut – but it hasn’t yet labelled him a pariah.
That’s the problem.
EA Sports has long been known for its sports titles. They are arguably some of the best. Then again, that tends to happen when you own the exclusive rights to some of the most recognized sporting franchises in the world. It’s surprising, then, that EA Sports has never produced a hockey game for the Nintendo Wii…until now.
NHL Slapshot is not only EA Sports’ first hockey title for the Wii, it is also the first to make use of a peripheral hockey stick. Yes, EA is hoping gamers will pick up a plastic hockey stick and swing it around like they’re actually playing hockey. I know what you’re thinking: another shovelware title for the Wii. Not so fast gamers! EA Sports may just be on to something here.
The kids are back at school talking about what they did over the summer…and showing off their new cell phones. Sure iPhones and Blackberries are hot, but dies a student really need a $200+ smartphone so they can text, keep tabs on their social network and keep in touch? Nope. Check out the video below to see three smartphones all under $30 dollars that your teen may like.
CALGARY WEEKEND WEATHER
TODAY: 16, Partly Cloudy
TONIGHT: 5, Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY: 15, Partly Cloudy
SUNDAY: 13, Partly Cloudy
>Finally! A change in the weather pattern – teen temperatures with a mix of sun and cloud straight through the weekend.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz.