Synopsis (from IMDB):  Michael and Sara wed, but the happiness is short lived when the Feds apprehend her for the murder of Michael’s mother, Christina. Once a hit is ordered on Sara, the team reunite to break out an increasing vulnerable Sara.

This movie was the culmination of the fantastic Prison Break series.  The series aired for four seasons, and each and every episode was a nail biter.  This movie, the series finale, explains what happens in the four years that have passed between Michael and the gang gaining their freedom, and the reunion in Panama to gather at Michael’s grave.  I rated this movie three stars out of five.  I would have rated it higher except the fact that it was not as good compared to the rest of the series, especially the first two seasons.  It’s hard to hold a candle to a television show that completely engrosses you, both with believeable storylines and incredible acting.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I certainly did.  The past few Christmas Days have been difficult, primarily due to health problems or a severe disruption of my sleep schedule (because you try so hard for everything to be perfect, yet just seem to run out of time).  This time, everything worked out and a great time was had by all.

For those in the Commonwealth, happy Boxing Day.  Traditionally, it is the biggest single shopping day up here in Canada, with retailers opening their doors as early as 5:00 am to let the stampeding herd of people through their doors.  Much like Black Friday in the United States, stores offer up deep discounts in the hope to motivate people to purchase.

Personally, I stay away from the big crowds.  I don’t buy too much in any event, as I lead a rather Spartan existence.  I do not have much use for novelties or decorations; as long as I have my technology, I am a happy camper.  In a complete contradiction of the first sentence of this paragraph, I did venture out to Wal-Mart to pickup some milk and juice, and I decided to browse through the store to see what kind of specials they were offering.  Near as I can figure, not too many.  They had some Blu-Ray discs moderately priced at $9.97, but they raised the prices on others!  Two examples would be the movies The Aviator and Pathfinder, which were priced at $16.97 two weeks ago, yet are now “on special” at $23.63 each.  Full Metal Jacket was the same way.  Wal-Mart is truly deserving of a post of its own, as they generate a lot of contoversy.  The trick is to stick to the products on sale in the main aisles.  Those are generally sold for little profit.  They make their money when you decide to venture down the aisles to upgrade your purchase.  The perception that you are getting the best price because you are shopping at Wal-Mart is just that, a perception.

Continuing on…

For those wondering, “A look at the economy…Part Two” is currently being researched, and will be posted soon.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 takes place tomorrow.  On paper, this is arguably the best card that the UFC has put together since Dana White and the Fertita brothers purchased the company seven years ago.  I was always a big fan of the tournaments that were offered up by the early UFC’s, however due to the fact that the UFC has become regulated and gone mainstream, these are a thing of the past.  For those who are unaware, the UFC was conceived by Art Davie and the Gracie family as a method to determine what the best style of fighting is.  They brought in fighters of all shapes and sizes from all disciplines – wrestling, kung fu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and even made a few types up (like trapfighting and pitfighting).  Royce Gracie won the tournament three times out of the first four UFC’s, his only blemish being UFC 3.  Kimo gave him such a fight that he was unable to continue to the next round due to exhaustion.

The UFC could conceivably hold a tournament within a single weight class during a pay-per-view, but the logistics are difficult to handle because you do not know the length of the fights.  An eight man tournament would produce seven fights, which may run over the allotted pay per view time unless they booked four hours.  I think that the return on a tournament would be immense because it would generate millions of dollars and create a true number one contender in the weight class that they run it in (I would start with the 205 lb. division).  The fighter who won would have to fight three times, each fight lasting up to fifteen minutes.

I would also see the UFC introduce a women’s division.  For years I was not a proponent of such a division due to that lack of high-calibre female fighters.  Dana White has felt the same way, but now he is seeing the potential as the quality of the fighters have improved, and the women are now very marketable.  Specifically, I am thinking of Gina Carano, who is a fantastic fighter (when she can control her weight issues) and is gorgeous.  The UFC owns the WEC, which is a feeder organization and that is where they should start the women.  It can only raise the profile of the sport.

UFC 97 has been announced for April 18th, 2009 in Montreal.  The main event will be Thales Leites vs. Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title.  I will break this fight down as we get closer to the event, which I hope to attend in person.  I was in Montreal at that time last year for UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II and I had an absolute blast.  I went alone, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute I in Montreal.  I hope to take a few extra days and see the city some more.  I did not do that last year, but I get a second chance this time around and I intend to make the most of it.

Back to UFC 92.  The card, like I said is fantastic.  Listed below are the fights:

Main Event: Forrest Griffin (Champion) vs. Rashad Evans (Challenger)
Co-Main Event: Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (Champion) vs. Frank Mir (Challenger)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva
C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
Cheick Kongo vs. Mustapha Al-Turk
Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn

Normally, I would break the fights down, and give my pick as to a winner, but tomorrow I’m just going to watch for the fun of it all, rather than analyse each fight critically.  One fight that is not on the main card that I would like to see is Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami.  Hopefully, the UFC will broadcast it because I think that will be a fantastic fight.

In other sports news, at the World Junior Tournament, Team Canada absolutely hammered the Czech Republic 8-1.  The tournament is being held in Canada this year, and they are the defending champions.  The juniors are aiming for their fifth consecutive gold medal.  I enjoy watching this tournament more than I do the NHL, because it just seems like a better quality of hockey.  These kids are not multi-millionaires (yet), and are playing their hearts out.  I hope to have the opportunity to catch a few of the games.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special aired on BBC as well last night.  As with the series, the Christmas Special was very well done.  It is no secret that I have high praise for the BBC and Russell T. Davis when it comes to Doctor Who.  The 2008 Christmas Special does not introduce any new aliens, instead bringing back the Cybermen to the 1850′s.  They are under the control of a mad feminist and the Doctor must stop them from destroying London.  A nutty concept, but they made it work.

In the United States, the digital switchover takes place early in 2009 (February 17th, to be precise).  The OTA analog frequencies will cease to function, and everything will be digital.  For some people, such as those with ATSC tuners in their televisions, will not be affected.  Neither will those people who are currently subscribing to cable and satellite services.

For those who are affected, they will need to purchase an analog to digital converter box.  These boxes are priced in the neighborhood of $60.00, but the federal government is offering a $40.00 coupon to alleviate some of the cost.  You will need to have one of these devices on each analog TV that you own.

In Canada, this transition is not scheduled to take place until August of 2011, but to the best of my knowledge that is an open date and has not been completely finalized yet.  Canadians who live near the border who pick up analog signals from the United States will no longer receive these channels after February 19th of next year.

The sale of the NTSC spectrum is going to reap billions of dollars for the United States Government.  Major players such as Google, AT&T, Motorola and others will purchase this bandwidth.  Some companies do not even know what they will do with it, but they recognize it as too valuable of a commodity to pass up.

Those who subscribe to satellite service are already enjoying the benefits of a mostly digital signal.  Cable companies in the United States are mandated to carry analog signals through 2012.  However, there is an interesting battle shaping up between the FCC and and the cable/satellite companies.  The reason is over the costs of a digital transmission and bandwidth, if it is good for the consumer, and if they can pass these costs down.  The reason to implement an early transition to digital is due to one reason:  bandwidth.

Bandwidth is all that these companies have to sell, when you look at the big picture.  If they do not have enough bandwidth, they are unable to provide such services as internet and cable (or with respect to cable, they cannot carry as many channels).  This is what is motivating the transition to digital.

An analog cable channel takes up 38.4 megabits of bandwidth.  An SD digital channel occupies only 3 megabits, and an HD digital channel is less than 9 megabits.  When a channel is converted to digital, a fair amount of bandwidth is freed up.  Imagine – the crappy weather channel takes up more than four times as much as HDNet!

The more channels that are pushed to digital is the more bandwidth that these companies can allocate to other uses, such as broadband Internet (or adding more channels).  In this age, the need for speed across the Internet is omipresent.  Applications are being developed that require as much bandwidth as we can give them.  A good example of this is YouTube.  If the bandwidth was available they could increase the bitrate of their service, allowing for a much better viewing experience.

The caveat to all of this is that people who are subscribing to basic cable with analog television sets would be required to obtain a digital cable box.  Where the FCC gets involved is determine who pays for this box.  Is is the consumer, or the cable providers?

Being a tech junkie, I’m all for digital cable (better quality, less bandwidth) and faster Internet service over analog tv service.  However, I see the other side of the coin.  I don’t know if this is the right solution or not, but what I would do is start by grandfathering digital cable into the homes.  Split the cost of the cable box between the consumer, the cable company, and the FCC.  All new subscribers would be purely digital.  At the same time, start rolling out pure digital areas in select towns and cities, and upgrade existing users using the aforementioned formula.  The cost would be about $20.00 per party.  Initally, the cable companies will take a hit but by being able to offer better services across the board, they would quickly make up that lost revenue.

As my brain essentially seems to be failing me at this all too important time…yeah…whatever.

Ok…so O.J. got nine years in prison for forcible confinement and kidnapping in Las Vegas. I guess he thought that the real killer was selling his memorabilia. He is a product of his own stupidy. Next thing you know, he’ll be writing a book on how he would have done it…if he was the real kidnapper.

Burn Notice. It’s a new show I have started to watch. Essentially, it’s about an ex-covert operations agent who gets hung out to dry – A Burn Notice. Now he’s trying to find out who burned him and why. The show has some wry humor to it and is particularly sarcastic and funny; it also has a decent amount of action in it. The show is in its second season, but I have only watched the first six episodes. It’s my new dinnertime show. At 45 minutes of TV per day, I’m under the national average. At twelve hours of computer time per day (minimum), I’m so far above the national average they do not even have a classification code for me.

Christmas is coming…Some people love it, and some find it very stressful. I do not find Christmas stressful. It’s a holiday. A time of peace and happiness, for people to get together and enjoy one another’s company. It is truly my favorite holiday of the year. I really enjoy seeing everyone happy throughout the world, more especially so closer to home. For some it will be a meagre holiday, what with the economy in the shape that it is in. To me, however, that doesn’t matter. Of course I buy gifts, and I receive them too. More importantly is the feeling that I get when I see someone open a present and see the smile on their faces.

Christmas shopping for someone is a science. It’s easy to run out and buy jewellery or something quick, but its quite another to surprise someone with a gift that they were not expecting. It does not have to be an expensive gift, either. Sometimes the most inexpensive gifts bring someone the most joy.

The Kill Point was an eight episode TV series that aired on Spike TV last year.  A group of former United States Marines attempt to rob a bank in downtown Pittsburgh.  A simple formula, that was turned into a captivating drama.

Starring Donnie Wahlberg (Yup, New Kids on the Block!) as Detective Horst Cali, and John Leguizamo as Sgt. Jake “Mr. Wolf” Mendez, The Kill Point pits soldier against negotiator in a bank robbery gone wrong.  The bank robbers, all ex-Marines from Platoon 1013, are holed up in the Three Rivers Bank trying to outwit the police and facilitate an escape.  What the police do not know, however, is that they have a little help from a few friends outside the bank.

Even though the series aired in 2007, I only got around to watching it now.  I am glad that I did not watch it when it aired because it would have been tough to wait a week between episodes.  Instead of making this a two hour movie, the producers allowed the story to arc over eight episodes, or about six hours.  This allowed the plot to proceed without a rushed feeling to it.

For those out there looking for a smart, tense drama, this show is for you.  I was captivated by it.  Yes, this is more of a lighter post today, and as opposed to the previous weeks drama, at least this one took place on television.

This is one of the better televisions shows that I have come across.  This show debuted alongside another show, Bionic Woman.  Bionic Woman was a remake of the 70′s classic show and was supposed to be the better show.  It turns out, however, that Terminator far surpassed it both in action and writing quality.

The first season was nine episodes and I thoroughly enjoyed each one.  Summer Glau, despite my initial hesitations, makes an excellent Terminator.  Lena Headley is great as Sarah Connor.  I don’t know if the second season is going to be a full arc, but this is a show that I will make time for.  I hope that the second season is as good as the first one was.

November 11th was Veteran’s Day, or in Canada here, Remembrance Day.  Many of us are far to young to have been apart of either World War, but it is important that we do not forget our history.

The armistice of World War I was formally signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.  Thus were the beginnings of Remembrance Day.  It is not a public holiday in Ontario Canada where I live, though it probably should be.  This day is very important to me despite the fact that no member of my family has died as a result of war.

In April of 1945, a film was made by Alfred Hitchcock and others titled “Memory of the Camps.”  It can be viewed in its entirety on PBS.com.  The link is below.  This film easily serves as a reminder of why these men sacrificed their lives.  It is shocking and brutal, and almost unbearable to watch.  Six million Jews died in the camps.  Many people will debate that number, but regardless of what number you finally settle on, it is sickening and staggering.  Belsen, Dachau, Buchenwald and other camps should never be forgotten.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/camp/view/

As an aside, for those looking for quality television, PBS is where you should be looking.  While I do not watch a lot of television, PBS is generally what I tend to watch first and foremost.  Specifically, look for a show called Frontline.  It airs on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm.  The topics are varied, everything from the aforementioned Nazi Death Camps to how manufacturers market their products to adolescents.  Even better, you can watch all of the episodes online at pbs.com!  For free!  Commercial free!