Well written, expertly directed, and acted with precision, True Grit easily moves into the top-five westerns I’ve ever watched. The plot is enthralling and filled with rich characters fully immersed in the genre. It is a pleasure to watch on the big screen and I can see myself making this a purchase for my permanent collection — an honor rarely bestowed on any recently released films. Furthermore, True Grit shows the acting talents of Jeff Bridges in a role few will be familiar with: a fat, aging law man who is quick to anger but moves with deliberate and mostly deadly intent.  Now I see why there is Oscar talk regarding this role.

True Grit is worth paying a premium price for theater viewing because it is an exceptional piece of American film making. Grand vistas, with a gritty storyline, I strongly recommend this film and would rate is a solid to strong 8 out of 10.

AMC has come through again with The Walking Dead. Based upon a comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead is a post-apocalyptic setting where zombies have taken over and a small band of survivors struggle to avoid becoming dinner for “the walkers” stumbling around. But this series is so much more than a simple zombie flick — truth be told, it rewrites the genre. The typical zombie fare is a steady diet of gruesome deaths lashed with special effects and lots of screaming. The protagonists are typically moving from encounter to encounter and the most we find out about them is how fast (or slow) they are in reacting to the next threat. The Walking Dead goes much further. The series is a character study of people in the worst of circumstances, making tough decisions, while trying to eke out a niche to survive in. The weekly plot lines are compelling and become a high-point on the DVR each Sunday.

The Walking Dead has become a run-away hit and AMC has commissioned another 12 episodes to compliment the first six. I look forward to watching the series unfold and applaud AMC for taking a shot at something completely different … and winning.

The heart and soul of this picture is the daily toll placed on these young men as they strive to live in some of the harshest conditions in modern combat. We watch as they are repeatedly ambushed, assaulted, and bullied until the commanding officer has enough. In the dead of night, he orders a small squad of men to create a observation post on the very summit the locals are using as a vantage point for sniper fire. Once established, the story continues with intense combat sequences, the never ending labor to improve fortification, and the camaraderie of soldiers under fire. This picture is a testament to enduring spirit and the sometimes heart-wrenching pain suffered by those in harm’s way. The platoon has just one goal: survive the deployment and return home.

I personally found this picture inspiring, tragic, powerful, and thought-provoking. Because of the distance and gap between the U.S. and the war, one sometimes forgets the real pain these men and women endure. Though this isn’t a multiple viewing kind of film, Restrepo should be watched at least once. Let’s not forget those veterans.

Sure enough, I’ve come to love the iPad. It is without a doubt, a fabulous piece of technology which allows all manner of content viewing. Whether it is checking email, surfing the web (without Flash), watching video, playing music, or employing one of the many apps I’ve purchased, the iPad does it all (mostly). Some of my favorite apps include Craigslist Pro, Flipboard, Flickster, Pulse News, or the Kindle Reading app to name but a few.  It really has earned a place of tech honor in the household but not for long. To move forward, sometimes one must sacrifice pawns — or in this case, the rook.

My primary computer system is quite long in the tooth. I’m still running a Core 2 Duo E8500 and though solid, it is unspectacular when compared against the i7 family of processors and the triple channel RAM of today. Time to upgrade. So, for Christmas, I’ve asked Santa (read: family and friends) to chip in for the upgrade. This will give me a solid foundation with which to rebuild my system save one critical, missing component: the graphics card. One should not build a system without a bleeding-edge, pixel-mangling, graphics card. After doing some research, I’ve settled on the Nvidia GTX 580 — the tip of the spear for graphics cards. But these aren’t cheap so how does one generate the requisite cash to buy it? Simple, sell the iPad.

So, I pulled the trigger on the EVGA GTX 580 and have it in the fold. I’m backing up my iPad contents to my iMac and will clean off the device and put it up for sale. One day, in the not-to-distant future, I’ll buy an 3G iPad again; this time with more memory and a couple more accessories. The iPad is here to stay and if you’re looking for a eBook reader or fabulous multimedia device, this is the gadget to own. Did I mention mine is for sale?

Since I’m an Apple apologist, I decided to research an Apple iPad, specifically the 3G variety (which allows Internet connection away from wi-fi hot-spots). The 16GB version (entry level) goes for $629 on the Apple Store but I found one going for $450 on Craigslist. Long story short, I managed to chat the owner down to $350 for a 16GB, 3G model which is only three months old. Sure, it has a couple of minor scratches on the back panel but screen is pristine and the unit is completely functional — for almost half the price! Initially, I was skeptical of the iPad use-case in my own life. I could not see how it would benefit me but after having now for around three weeks, I’m finding it harder and harder to resell. Why? Because its functionality covers a wide variety of uses and it is just darn handy to have around.

Examples of use includes a great Craigslist app which allows fast, easy and organized scanning of local items for sale. It seamlessly syncs with my Dropbox application, allowing access to any file stored in the cloud. There are sketching apps, business productivity apps, star gazing apps, and movie trailer apps. Heck, though I’m not much of a political junkie, I grabbed the ABC Election Results app so I could watch returns in real time on the iPad. I’m even writing this piece on a blue tooth keyboard associated with Writer, an excellent streamlined writing app for the iPad. The longer I keep this thing around, the more I like it. Truth be told, I may sell this only to get the larger version (this the 16GB model, Apple also sells the 32GB [$729] and 64GB [$829] 3G models). However, at the highest price point, one might as well just go for the latest Apple 11″ Macbook Air because that is full blown computer which weighs barely 2.3 pounds.

So, if you have a chance to “rent” an iPad, or even borrow one from a friend (I’ve loaned this out to a college friend a couple of weekends ago), then take one for a test drive. See if this gadget fits your lifestyle. You might be surprised. It won’t replace your computer but it can certainly become a great extension to your mobile computing world.

Yesterday, Directv called and offered what seemed to be a huge deal. I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say, I managed to procure the NFL Sunday Ticket, their premium channel lineups (everything) for the low, low price of plus $6.00/month to my existing bill. What the …?

I signed up immediately.

Unsure if I’d actually landed a deal, I called two days later to check on the status of the order. A customer service rep named “Adam” confirmed the details and confirmed the price. All was good. Furthermore, when I tried to sign up for the Super Fan package (which provides HD games and the RedZone) Adam said, “You’re gonna like this…” and went on to explain Directv received so many complaints from customers saying the extra $100 for the NFL Sunday Ticket in HD was a rip-off (my words), they did away with it, now the entire package is one price. So, recapping, I get to enjoy not only the entire NFL season in HD, but also can enjoy all the premium channels as well for the next 5-months. Fair warning, if you forget to cancel the package, you’ll automatically continue with the premium package at a premium price so put that date in your phone and stay on it. Now I just need to repair/replace my receiver so I can enjoy the movies and sports action in full surround sound. One step at a time…

So I did. It was more to see just how well Blizzard put this game together. Why? Because I want to see what resources they poured into this proejct, and by proxy, will assume the same for Diablo III. Blizzard is saying Diablo III won’t be released this year. Yeah, no shit. But this game, the fabulous sound, the enigmatic cut scenes, and the rock solid voice-acting, and the silky-smooth interface are reasons to take a look. I only hope they put as much time, effort, and focus on Diablo III.

Man, I’m such a freakin’ game geek…