lips like asukal

Don't Read This If You Can't Stand Whiners.

2011-12-03T12:01:00.004-05:00

Motherfucker.

I can't believe this bothers me this much. Just this morning I was going through my typical lazy-ass Saturday routine: procrastinating and being alone. Then BAM! My aunt shows me a picture that shatters all my naïve bubble fantasies.

She was talking about how one of the doctors at work was bugging and begging for her to send him the picture she took of him and his date last night at a Christmas party. (Thank Jeebus that I didn't go with my aunt and uncle last night, since I'd probably be a soaking mess of lard and alcohol. Dammit, stop the fat jokes!) The doctor is a cool guy. He's friendly and there's nothing I hated about him before what I found out this morning. I mean he said hello to me in the hospital when I had my appendix taken out. Sure he was there for work but he didn't have to stop by. I'm easily impressed (by the way, my itunes playlist of Taking Back Sunday is not really helping right now). I now wish he hadn't visited me or that he wasn't so friendly to me because now I can't hate him for going on a date with this girl (more on that). Now all I can be is jelly.

When my aunt tells me this anecdote I don't pay too much mind. I think to myself how cool that the doctor is enjoying life and dating. I tell my aunt that I thought he was married since he mentioned he had to visit family abroad. I assumed wrong (you, ass!). This conversation is happening as I gorge myself in wonderful holiday rolls (I think it was coconut roll). It tasted good going down my throat. It was sweet.

A couple of minutes pass after the comment and then BAM! My aunt shows me the photo of doctor and his date. I didn't ask to see the pic. I was finishing up probably a second slice of that empty calorie dessert (redundant). Oh, why did you have to show me that, Tita. Instead I just smile while inside me something cracks wide open and my mind starts sloshing possible songs that I will be playing in the presently happening pity party of one. (Ghost Man on Third is playing right now and it matches my mood. So sue me for listening to emo music right now, okay? Let me be.)

The picture was of the poor iPhone 3GS quality. Mostly because it was a dark restaurant, face-to-face, we-are-two-happy people type. It's like the doctor doesn't even know what he's doing. His grin is wide like how it was when he asked me in the hospital how I felt.

I'd rather grow another appendix and have it go berserk than have to find out that the girl from work that I was crushing on was dating the nice doctor. Not that I had a chance anyway, but not only am I jelly of the doctor but now I have to pretend to be happy for them both if it ever comes up. Please nobody talk about them dating in front of me. I'll be fine, just don't talk about people being with people or general happiness for a while, like for a period of never.

Whatever. The playlist is almost done and the coconut dessert has settled in my gut (soon to be fat on my belly). I think I better start working-out so that I don't emotionally vomit on my blog every time a girl I like dates another dude.

End Rant.

This is a hospital not a Red Lobster.

2011-05-31T19:48:00.004-04:00

There was this young latina in the ER today who did not speak any English. The nurse at the front desk asked me to bring food to her but she I was having trouble communicating to her. It's happened before-- people in the hospital think I'm Hispanic which is pretty cool since I've been mistaken for chino all my life. As I brought her some hospital sandwiches I pointed to one and said "tuna" which she responded with "tuna". I guess "tuna" means "tuna" in Spanish. But then I pointed to a turkey sandwich and did not receive a similar response. I quickly considered miming a chicken action but I didn't know if cockle-doodling would translate into Spanish since it was turkey sandwich anyway and not a fucking pollo one.

Her boyfriend (I assume that's who he was) was there for the emergency and I think her mother/aunt/grandmother. It's funny though, the older lady did not look anything like this girl. The girl was petite, or in my case, just my size. When I say petite though, I don't mean in the pixie-ish white girl kind of way. If you saw her in the woods you wouldn't think she was a smurf or elf. This girl had a nice shape to her so I tried my best to communicate to her. Her boyfriend was pushing the tuna back to me and after I said a bunch of things in Spanish I heard her say something like "no comprende". I assume she was saying I don't understand so then I just say to her lucky boyfriend "no te gusta?" Then I hear the word "otro" so I guess he just wanted something other than tuna, or maybe the bastard was just so fucking hungry that he wanted me to go back to the fridge to get another plate of dry-ass hospital bread and meat/fish combo dish.

Whatever.

This girl was cute so I went to get more anyway. I thought my mission was complete while I was chilling at the front desk when she walked over to me. Damn! Was she going to hug me? Kiss me? Thank me for feeding her hungry future ex-boyfriend? Was she going to confess her love for me?

(Dammit, Asukal, this is why you suck: you think one day some girl is going to do this exact same shit. You're the dude. Either you start taking chances with girls--with life--or you'll waste your life waiting for something so stupid that you think is blog-worthy.

She walked up to me and since she knew I didn't speak Spanish (actually, she probably thought I was just a better option than the white folks in the ER) she half-mimed an action that resembled eating out of a bowl. I gave them sandwiches not soup du jour so that did not make too much sense. She also said some Spanish and I heard "abierto". Fuck whatever that means. I used my lighting fast skills to use the Tagalog words for fork and spoon and she smiled and said "si".

We had no forks in the department and I didn't feel like going out of my way for her boyfriend so I just got some plastic spoons from the back. Then she reminded me and said something with the word "tomar". It was okay since she mimed lifting her closed hand up to her mouth and tilting it up-- she wanted somethings to drink. I volunteer in a hospital, by the way, not in Red Lobster (although the RL my family went to for Memorial day had horrible service that included the waiter spilling ice on our table and forgetting that we don't eat with our hands and need utensils to eat our vegetarian calamari). So I give her some juice.

This experience at least showed me that I'd like to one day be with a Latina chick and use my fake Spanish to communicate to her while I hold her close (actually, I always think about holding girls close).

In Defence of Stargate Universe

2009-11-15T12:55:00.003-05:00

I'm a first time Stargater so I can't really compare Stargate Universe to any of the other series, but I really do enjoy SGU. I can't understand where all the haterade, justified or not, is coming from.

First off, I like how SGU isn't too funny. People have said that Stargate series are known for their humor, and while I do find SGU funny at times, I don't think it's forced humore. Also, it's not necessary to be constantly light-hearted: these dudes are stuck in motherfucking space, I'm surprised that a character can even crack jokes at a time like that.

That' why I like Eli. Yes, he's the character who everyone, at least first-timers, are supposed to relate to, but that doesn't mean his schtick (?) doesn't work. His comic timing is not forced and it matches his character of being just a guy who wants to be liked by everyone. Some may say he's socially awkward, but I think it's just that everyone on Destiny are too busy being scared or horny to relate to him. SGU needs a character like him and I don't think having everyone else crack jokes would make the show better. Sure, it would be great if some of the characters one in a while made a joke. Like when Col. Young made a joke about how Eli and that other dude both smelled. It was funny and didn't seem out of place. It was a bonding moment for the people who are stuck on such a hard place.

Also, I hate characters like Topher on Dollhouse who are so mean-spirited and is constantly being sarcastic. Thank God that SGU doesn't have a Topher or else I'd never gotten in to any Stargate.

Who else do I like on SGU? Well I'm hoping that they develop Rush and Young more. I can appreciate Young's steel-like demeanor and can tell that there's something simmering beneath. I want to know more through flashbacks or interactions with everyone else. Rush seems to have his emotions out all the time (He's constantly angry and yelling) and I like how he's a morally gray/black character. It's probably blasphemous for me to compare him to Baltar on Battlestar Galactica (also a favorite of mine), but I'm going to do it anyway. I'm hoping to see Rush more vulnerable down the line, but he's definitely hiding some evil plan.

I agree with critics that Ming-Na is being underused, maybe there's a plan for her later on and not just being a cold-hearted lesbian bitch. But that's okay if they maker her that way. She seems to only want to advance in her career and saver her ass. Let's hope they utilize her more.

In general, the women of SGU are not being used well, but I wouldn't go so far as to say the show is sexist. Sex sells, and I understand why a certain big-breasted soldier has been portrayed prominently in the early episodes. She hasn't popped out recently, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I hope to see more of her (literally and whateverily). Does that make me sexist? No, because I do want to also have her relationship with that jackass (I forget the name of the guy in the closet with her) to develop too. Not into some corny love triangle, but I'd enjoy it if it became a love quadrangle (plus Eli!).

The senator's daughter hasn't been used well either. I hate the fact that she's with that jackass and messing with Eli at the same time. Maybe this is just going to be a soap opera thing between them, but I'd really love for Eli to realize she's not worth it if she can't see how cool he is.

Finally, I love the fact that they can't really control Destiny. The planet of the week thing seems cool just as long as it isn't literally a planet every week. Of course, I can't wait for the mysteries of Destiny to be revealed.

Oh yeah, I can't forget, I also like Sgt Greer. Hope they do a better job of developing all these characters.

Heil Crazy

2009-08-19T15:35:00.006-04:00

It's one thing to be against the proposed health care reform and have a sound defense against it, and it's another thing to be a mindless, ignorant, hate-filled racist like this woman who yells "Heil Hitler" to an Israeli immigrant. Seriously, lady, you are making your side of the health care argument look bad and I feel bad for sane conservatives and Americans in general. Sure, I understand you're scared that things are changing so fast in a nation that was once just completely composed of white folk-- no, wait, never in the history of the United States of America was it completely a homogeneous nation. We are a stronger people because we are not all the same. Don't be scared just because the people around you look different than yourself. We can't all be hateful bitches, but we'll try not get in your way too much.

Now let's get back to fixing health care.

Cheyscer

2009-07-02T22:31:00.002-04:00

I just saw one of the hottest girls I've seen in a while on Wowowee today, which is saying alot since that show is full of gorgeous women (I miss the Philippines). Her name is Cheyscer. She was wearing a sash because she was a winner of some pageant or contest. She was so attractive that Willie allowed her to co-host the main segment, but she was more eye candy than a great interviewer. It made for a great bit though. Willie is hilarious and this is one of the few times I can say that I would also have flirted with her if I were in his position. Screw professionalism.

Super-hot. If she developed a personality then she could be a star in the Philippines. Well, you know what, many of the stars and starlets are very vapid so she could still have a shot. Man was she attractive. I even had a hard time googling her, so I had to google Wowowee since she's new.

I really hope to see more of her on TV and not in the lascivious sort of way. That can be later.

Choose Love.

2009-05-18T19:23:00.002-04:00

At the end of last Sunday's mass, the monsignor at my church made a semi-veiled statement about President Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame University. He did not mention Barack's name, but he did say something about how the Catholic priest who made the Notre Dame school song is probably rolling in his grave.

That's fine to me-- the Catholic church is allowed to protest this visit from a pro-choice politician, and I do not blame them. The University of Notre Dame (I still can't figure out if it's university of OR ND Univeristy) is a Catholic institution and is a private one at that. Both the views of this president and the church are at conflict in the case of unborn babies/women's rights.

But I will say how I don't like it when politics creeps into my weekly mass. Sure, I should have been not paying attention as usual, but the monsignor snuck his message at the end of mass so it was a change in the format. If he mentioned it in passing during his sermon, then I would not be blogging this right now.

Unborn babies/women's rights are a very, very delicate issue that cannot be easily explained, much less solved, by just a single person. But I genuinely agree with both Barack and my monsignor in this case. Long story short, my priest talked about how "God is love" and Obama talked about opening a dialogue. What needs to happen is that both sides need to talk about it but in a less impassioned way so as not to alienate the other side. I'm not saying that both sides should compromise, not immediately at least, but to at least listen.

Yes, I'm biased becasue I go to church on Sundays, but that's it. That's exactly all I do, I go to church once a week. It does not make me anything more or less than a person who goes to church once a week.

But I believe both sides are lacking in love, so I choose love.

Top 3 Major Idol Dump

2009-05-13T15:56:00.004-04:00

Been gone for a bit, but let's talk Idol.

The top three performed last night and I think the judges just plain suck at picking songs for the contestants (Apologize, or should I say, 'pologize? really?). Of course Randy picked OneRepublic's Apologize for Kris to sing. Why did he pick it? It's because Randy is constantly trying to prove to us that he's "hip" or "relevant" and is "down" with what's "in". Rather than pick a song that would make Kris sound awesome, Randy chose a song because it's a popular song that was popular two years ago and the whole season he's been saying how the contestants should do OneRepublic. Is that the only band that's current? Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the band. I think they're decent, but that song is so played-out. Proof that the song choice sucked is when Chris performed a single/album worthy rendition of that idiot megalomaniac/idiot Kanye West's song Heartless. I won't hate. That song by Kanye ain't bad, but Kris' performance was killer. It was very catchy and he displayed his vocals too at the same time. He did not flounder around like Randy forced him with 'pologize.

Sorry, Kris, if you're not through to the next round, let's hope it's not because Randy is a 13 year-old me-too wannabe.

Speaking of bad song choices. What the eff was Paula's choice? I never heard of "Dance Little Sister". I'm sure it's a decent song, but it seemed forced on Danny Gokey. And while there's plenty of evidence that Gokey was responsible for adding that scatting/improv-but-not-really part in the middle, I'm pretty sure Paula thought it would be a genious idea to have Gokey go all "skippity bopp bopp bee doo". Seriously, I don't know much about scatting, but it sounded like shite. No, it sounded like shit. I felt bad for the saxophonist who had to mimick the scats that Gokey was choking up (wait, you're seriously going to riff the same thing over and over again? I thought you're supposed to improvise and make it sound good). Maybe Gokey isn't used to the improvised part. Maybe there is a limit to his perceived smug, in-your-face-watch-me-sing style, and it's when he's battling another musical instrument.

But give it up to Danny, I really liked his "You are so beatiful" rendition. He toned it down and controlled his singing. And when it came down to belting it out, that's what he did. I don't know about how genuine the emotion was, but it was close to a sincere performance as I think we'll see from him. In the very least, his performance makes him a contender for the finals. Sans scatting, of course.

Adam Lambert. Let me just say, right out of the bat, while I may have some haterade in my genes, I just don't get Adam. It's not really his ability, because he can sing when he's not screaming like a motherfucking banshee. It's just that. Stop screaming all the damn time, Adam. Not every song requires you to stick your tongue out and blow air at a high pitch. Save it for the epileptic inducing funk performances where it really doesn't matter if you scream because the song and the lights and the whole goddam presentation are already assaulting everyone's senses and better judgement that adding yelling to it really makes not difference.

Yes, I really did enjoy the slow performances he's done, specifically the "Tracks of your tears". And I thought he'd learn to tone it back. But I guess that's part of his personality, and I won't knock him for being himself. He seems also to be very humble. But I wouldn't look forward to his album. I may enjoy a broadway musical with him in it though.

Actually, Simon picked a good song for Adam ("One" by U2), but of course Adam had to "make it his own" but singing the melody different and spackiling some screaming for added effect. Come on. This would have been a good chance for Adam to show the world (or me at least) that he can find a happy middleground between screaming in songs and doing slow ballads. U2's "One" is perfect for that. He could have sang it the way it was meant to be sung (sang?) by starting off soft with emotional and then end it loud with authority and meaning. Good pick, Simon, but Adam had to reaarange it.

That's the other thing. I hate Adam's arrangements of certain songs that do not need to be changed up, like that fuggin' "Ring of Fire" that became some weird middle-eastern gamish that made me feel slightly icky at the end of watching it. We get it, okay, you're musically inclined enough to make songs your own. Just don't start owning every song you sing because sometimes the original owner sang it just fine.

And one more thing. Adam's other slow performance would have been great except that Idol tried to play it off as an original rendition of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears. I've actually heard the slow version somewhere else, like in Donnie Darko. So Adam was not being a musical genious when he slowed down "Mad World". What pisses me off more is that everyone loved it so hard like he was the second coming.

Everyone sweats Adam Lambert. But let's see how good his music is when everyone has to readjust the volume of the tracks of his album on iTunes because he's screaming the whole damn mammajammin' time. Ugh, I hate that.

Other than that, Adam is okay. And to be extremely fair, I really did enjoy his own personal song choice and performance of Aerosmith's "Crying". That's an example of where screaming makes sense and sounds good.

I hope Kris gets in though, because, at least, when he tinkers with other peeps' music, it actually sounds better. He also sang "Falling Slowly". Enough said. But for the record, also because I won't get tinnitus from listening to his music.

Midseason TV

2009-04-13T15:34:00.002-04:00

Where's the snap judgments for The Unsusuals? Seems like the most original of the mid-season shows that's not yet canceled. I'm going to stick with it until it gets canned just to see Goldberg and Perrineau play off of each other.

I have yet to see Southland (DVR'd), but I'm hoping it's less ER with cops and more The Shield but with not-so-crooked cops.

Parks & Recreation is crap. I like Poehler but she plays basically a female Michael Scott (I know, it's been said before) and The Office has not been funny recently, so why should we expect copycat mockumentary to be any funny? Stick to 30 Rock and Scrubs and enough of this staring into the camera business.

Who am I kidding? Kings gets all but canceled because of poor ratings (can network TV just give shows a shot). I understand the ratings were bad but what do you expect from sticking a high-concept drama on at Sundays? Okay, maybe that time slot wasn't so bad, but at least leave it on that day to let it catch some steam. I'm still reeling from NBC's cancellation of The Black Donnelly's.

Let The Right One In, Part 2

2009-03-18T13:57:00.003-04:00

I understand if you've read the novel Let The Right One In by John Lindqvist, who also penned the screenplay for the movie, but that's to be expected. I pretty much never enjoy movie adaptations of books I loved, so it's acceptable and understandable to hear negative reviews. However, I don't understand the critiques from people who just don't get it. There's no disputing taste.

What's great though is that Lindqvist did the screenplay too, so the vision of the movie still holds true, in some way, for the novelist. I don't plan on reading the novel because I already love the movie and want to keep the same interpretation that I had when I watched it.

I'm goint to say it again, best coming of age and love story. Made even more meaningful when you add the vampirism and somewhat pedophelia undertones. The fact that the reasons for the two characters being together is so open to interpretation, makes this movie so great. Definitely worth watching again. But to be honest, I only got the the pedo part after the fact (from reviews, it's apparantly a theme in the novel).

Let the Right One In

2009-03-18T00:12:00.004-04:00

You need to see this movie.

I could Let the Right One In as a vampire movie, but that would not do the movie justice. It's a coming-of-age story and a love story with a spice of vampire mixed in. I have not seen Twilight and have no real desire to as it has been described as tween/teen porn, but I have a feeling if you want something deeper and meaningful, this movie will hit the spot so many times over.

There are no gimmicky or splashy special effects that make vampires look like cartoon characters that belong on a chocolate cereal. It's about a 12-year-old boy who just doesn't seem to make friends and is the subject of bullying at school; and he meets this vampire girl and they become friends. Of course there's action and suspense and blood. But this is not a Saw movie. I really can't describe this movie well enough. Again, I would not even call this a vampire movie, but a love story. It's a love story of the first love kind. What's even better is it's the kind of love that's innocent but true.

Think of when you were twelve, or think of your first love. It's ironic that it takes a vampire movie to make a great love story, and not the overly sappy and romanticized kind. But then again it's not a vampire movie.

Uber props goes to Lina Leandersson, who is the best vampire ever and the best love interest or friend in a movie. If vampires were real, Lina's Eli would be the mold. Of course, since love stories usually have two individuals, Kare Hedebrant gets props too. Definitely the best love/friendship couple I've seen in a while.

There's a Bomb

2009-03-17T15:26:00.002-04:00

I'm late on this.

I'm trying to figure out when is it ever a good idea to yell "There's a bomb!"? I could also make a sexist remark, but there were some guys on the line too and I have much love for the "short" ladies, which in my case would mean ladies of my height or taller.

They do look like ants though. And once people saw that it was just a car that had overheated, why were they still running away? Mob mentality? The ANTM people are going to hold another batch of New York additions. So people should be on the look out for anything that might resemble a bomb and just get rid of it. Extra jail points goes to whoever drives their car and makes it break down in front of the lines again. Extra are-you-f@#$ing-kidding points if someone yells out "There's another bomb!".

iPod for the Blind

2009-03-11T09:54:00.002-04:00

Meet the new iPod shuffle. Now with the new feature of: if you lose the earbuds, you have to buy the same pair from Apple since the shuffle can only be controlled with the earbuds. Yes, the iPod shuffle has no buttons at all (aside from the lock/shuffle/switch).

I guess this is still for those people who workout and need music but don't want to buy the iPod nano, which to me, is light enough and more full-featured than the shuffle.

Who will benefit from the new shuffle? People whose ears fit perfectly with the earbuds, who take good care of the shoddy earbuds so it won't break or get lost, and for blind people. There's a new feature where a robot tells you the name of the song and artist if you hold the special button on the earbuds long enough. Then if you hold it even longer it tells you your playlists. This makes me wonder why one doesn't get the nano instead. If you're literally blind, I understand then this feature, but it seems infinitely wiser if you can see with your eyes, to look at screen and choose your next song.

Still, Apple is apple. I'm always going to pine for a MacBook Pro. Sigh.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

2009-02-28T01:37:00.002-05:00

Jimmy Fallon will start hosting Late Night this Monday. I just checked out some of his more recent vlog posts on his site, and wow is he nervous. I feel bad for the guy, because I honestly don't know if Late Night will be good.

He seems to be skewing towards a younger demographic. They're trying to make it more accessible to the "internet generation", which, if you think about it, is stupid, because the people on the internet can find, do, and watch anything online. Why would they have to watch a late night talk show? Isn't Carson Daly suppose to be appealing to the younger crowd? Can't people just watch Attack of the Show instead of this show?

I don't want my talk show like this. I want good sketches and bits. I don't care what Joe-internet thinks about x and y. If I did, I'd just google it. If I'm going to watch prime time talk shows, I want something well written or organically funny, not the latest youtube video that someone tweeted to a host on television.

Just hearing Jimmy Fallon describe how he's still trying to figure out how his internet audience is going to participate live when the show tapes and isn't shown until 12:30 scares me. I hope he pulls it off and it's funny. I don't care about innovation. What's funny is funny. Good writing and improvisation. Yes, improv over innov. This is scary.

I guess all I can hope for is that Jimmy Fallon stays true to himself and he's just not trying to pander to the tech crowd because he thinks he might get points. Hopefully, he is doing this because that's who he is and he wants to make the show like this. Right now, it seems forced. Fallon always seems to want people to like him, like he's nervous, so I don't know how that will translate in the show.

This Idol Season Sucks

2009-02-25T20:19:00.003-05:00

American Idol

- For the first girl, singing Sara Bareilles: Bad performance. It's definitely a wrong song choice.

Matt Giraud - Coldplay, Viva La Vida? Are you serious? People need to stop trying to change up/ remix songs into their own style. This song sounds like shit in his bluesy voice. His dancing and herky jerky moves made it even worse. Doing all of this is the kiss of death, so people should stick to their strengths.

Jeanine Vailes - Singing This Love, which is my all-time favorite song to sing in Karaoke, but I don't know if I like it when a girl sings it. And now she's singing it. Not as bad as the first two, but nothing can ever be worse than that Viva La Vida travesty that happened before the commercial break. She has nice "runs" during the bridge part of the song so it sort of makes this song not worse than mediocre. It was an okay performance, not too bad, but still not good.

All these creepy leg comments make this show American Perv. Now they talk about her lips. GD this show is jumping the shark. I told you all-- this Top 36 format is killing this show and not in the "you slayed it by Randy twisted" way.

Amateur hour.

Norman is next, but I'm beyond tired of his act. He was funny once and another time when he sat on the piano for his solo in Hollywood, but now I cannot see him getting anywhere near the top 12. So let me see after the break.

Wow. Eliza Dushku is tre hot in this Hulu commercial.

Okay, kill me now. I'm actually liking this Norman Gentle performance. It's funny. But it will get tired. Whoa how did they let this guy get into the top 36. But by far, the best performance of the night. I'll take this weird act over the crap that I just saw in the past three. At least he stuck to his guns, which is more than I can say for the other contestants who try to pander or get votes by singing songs that they think people want to hear.

Allison Iraheta - What is she doing? She's acting all weird in her pre-interview. She's doing this thing with her voice and distortions with her face. It's like she's just joking around and confused as hell. She's singing a Heart song. She's way too young for me to comment on her looks, but she's a cutie and so far her performance is sick. She's so young yet she's giving so much emotion in this performance which is what all Heart songs have. Not as good as last season's Carly Smithson, but with this horrible crop of singers, Allison is pretty good. This better get some better than good reviews. Good. Randy agrees. I agree with K(C)ara's statement about her stage fright. Iraheta is good. I can see her getting through unless America pulls an Anoop.

Kris Allen - OMG. Michael Jackon - Man in the Mirror. Let's see if this is the train wreck I predict. I take it back. I'm actually this performance. I guess it's all about the control and confidence when you sing this song because it's a good song. And this dude has a good voice. Not bad. I liked it. Kara diagrees with me, however. Damn, Paula agrees with me. AND SIMON too. But now I have to throw up because Paula and Simon kiss. I agree with Randy-- Kris sang without a guitar and was still decent so we'll see how good he is when he's comfortable with a guitar.

It seems like this year, the magic age is twenty-three. Practically everyone is twenty-three! I'm so sad that I'm a year older than these cats.

Megan - Singing Girl Put Your Records On. I'm just distracted by her tats, not her boobs, her tatoos. She pronounces "down" on "let your hair down" all weird like "dun" instead of dOWn. And she does this weird body twisting thing like a four year-old. I guess it's so she can end notes on time or add vibratos, but seriously, does she have to use her whole body and swing her arms back and forth. I didn't really like the performance because the Corinne version is more subtle so I agree with Simon. And hell no to Paula, Megan does not remind me of Nelly Furtado or even Duffy as Randy said. But she is better than the first three horrible performances.

I'm sure American will crap in my face and vote her in. Oh well.

Oh, God, the bald one and that jazz scatt chick are next.

Matt The Welder - Singing that Tonic song. Sounds good so far. He's sticking to his guns but at the same time singing something that's not played-out. But now it feels very karaoke. This whole night is karaoke. I'm tired of this bullshit show.

Jesse - Betty Davis. I don't know this singer or song. But she's not bad. If she gets through, which she should, I hope they don't milk her single-mothered-ness. Randy, even if it's just an okay performance, it's still better than 90% of the other rest tonight. You do the math. I'm tired and bored. Oh my god, she's talking about the drumming in the song and now the judges are clapping and everyone is doing the clap, this show is horrible. I take back what I said about her deserving a spot just a little because though the song was sort of meh, I feel she has potential.

Kai Kalama - Seems to be a favorite of the judges, but I'll be the judge of that. "What becomes of the broken hearted?" He looks doofy. He sings okay. It's probably the song choice. It's very old-fashioned. See, Kara agrees with me. I want to see something just a little more contemporary. Wow. Simon says he would be a good back-up singer. Ouch.

Mishavonna - Drops of Jupiter. Uh, oh. Starts off slow. I like this song so I hope she doesn't frak up this song, but inevitablely the arrangements always make or break the performance. Once again, this performer isn't bad but not yet good. Well, now that the song is crescendoing, it sounds a little better. Overall, meh. Does not blow me away. Wow this episode is horrible. Mother-effer, she's just a baby, 18. I'm not paying attention to the judges right now because talking to my brother about how people look is more interesting. Horrible name.

Of course, as I predicted, they have that Jonas brother wannabe as the show-ender. Do you think this will be the awesome performance of the night, because in all respects this show was the equivalent of a Heroes episode. No one was a standout. Okay now we're back.

Adam Lambert - He looks gay. No problem there except he's not singing well. Wrong song choice because his gyrations and runs are horrible. He sort of saves it in the end, but it's very rock opera-ish for me. Surprise, Paula has a boner for this dude. Was she watching the same thing I was watching. Thank God Simon is bringing it back to earth. I agree 100% with Simon. I feel like, just because it's the last peformance, the judges have to hype it up. So wrong.

And, what the fuck. Randy throws out a bunch of names like that dude in twilight and fall-out boy, which is funny since Edward Cullen is not a singer. I still can't figure out if he's the actor or the character.

Who are my picks? Iraheta has to get in. Then maybe Kris (Man in the Mirror). The third is a toss up but I think Jesse should get in and possibly Adam Lambert as long as he picks a better song and cuts his hair.

Horrible episode. Everyone should be gone.

Christine Lakin

2009-02-18T19:36:00.004-05:00

It's so wrong that Christine Lakin hasn't made it big in Hollywood. She's absolutely beautiful and seems like a really down-to-earth girl. In one interview, it was probably done eight years ago or so, she was asked what she does spiritually to stay grounded in Hollywood and she answered that her Christianity helps her. First of all, any actress who can bring up her religion in an interview without breaking a sweat or an ounce of apology gets a sticker in my book. However, since that interview is a bit on the old side, it's possible she could have strayed away. But here's to me hoping that she's still cool.

Plus, she's petite and uber cute. She looks very fit but not in the I'm-a-starving-model or a I-can-beat-you-in-volleyball type of body. Don't let anyone tell you that small girls can't have sick bodies because Lakin looks awesome in her FHM pictorial (Is that un-Christian of her? My body says no). So maybe it's a good thing she hasn't made it big. I don't want her changing or anything.

Even as a naive tween (can a boy be a tween?) in the 90s, I was a huge Step by Step fan and I noticed how well she developed. She played Al, a tomboyish girl but of course biology struck and she became hot. The middle sister on that show was definitely not the prettiest one of the bunch (I'm also a fan of Staci Keenan, or maybe her character, Barky, moreso). God, I miss that show.

Christine, you are definitely hotter than Paris Hilton, but by all accounts that is like saying the sun is hotter than a black hole. Paris Hilton is not human-- she's a weaponized form of ignorance with glitter shoved up her pooper. You were the Hottie and Paris Hilton will always be the Nottie. I'd rather have relations with the guy who played JT in Step by Step than hug Hilton.

Kreuk

2009-02-15T20:25:00.003-05:00

Even though I stopped watching Smallville right about the time Lois Lane stopped stripping (that's not a joke, there really was a stripper episode), I never stopped thinking Kristin Kreuk was one of the most beautiful actresses out there. Yes, hyperbole much, but she was the reason I started watching Smallville and the reason I stayed on for a long time. I definitely was infatuated with her for the longest time.

Now she has this Street Fighter movie coming out, that by all accounts, looks like a stinker. If it weren't for her, there would be no reason to see this flick. Kristin has to do press tours and God bless press tours because then I get to see how lovely she still is. Kristin might even look better than she ever has. There's a sophistication to her look. She still has the most beautiful eyes which I describe as piercing eyes or dagger eyes. I don't know much about fashion but this dress and that feather thing in her maker her look really good.

Finally, I'm talking about a non-blonde. Maybe I should start watching Smallville, again.

Pacitti and the Miley Bitch

2009-02-12T18:28:00.002-05:00

I'm Angry.

This season of American Idol has just dropped down a notch. News has just broken out that Joanna Pacitti is out of eligibility. Some sites say it's because she's still under contract, but some commenters have said that it's because Pacitti has close ties to 19 Productions, the American Idol production studio.

Booo! I was rooting for her so much. Sure she's your typical cute girl who can somewhat sing, but would just look at her. She's the cutie of the moment.

She's like the anti Miley Bitch Cyrus. On the one hand Pacitti looks classy while Miley is a whore. She's a whore who does Asian racist face eye slants. I'm not angry about her photos. I'm just angry that she gets so much exposure for all the stupid teenage bitch things she does.

So you can see why I was rooting for Joanna Pacitti.

Idol over Lost just for Tonight

2009-02-11T17:38:00.002-05:00

Aw, man. I can't believe I'm going to do this, but I think I might have to pass on Lost tonight and, instead, watch the second hour of American Idol. I know what you're thinking (blasphemer begone!), but it's just that this eppy of Idol is the one where the judges have the contestants sit one-by-one and let them know if they're through to the competition round. Extra special this year is the judges get to be extra mean by letting the ones who get a "no" sing for their survival. Can you imagine how much groveling and tears you'll see from people who are simultaneously doing their best to sing that horrible Dreamgirls song?

Yes, alot of this part of Amerian Idol is manufactured. The whole idea of group singing during Hollywood hell week is horrible, so this part makes up for it. I just hope that my favorites get in. Aside from the Robert Downey, Jr. look-alike, there are only, maybe a handful I have developed strong enough opinions of. I want that Joanne Pacitti gal and that Indian dude to get through (Go, Anoop-dog!). I spelled their names wrong but whatever. I like that Pacitti girl simply because she's got the whole package. She can sing and she's tre-cute. If she gets through, or even not, if we ever see more of her, I think I could develope a huge crush for her. She could be the Ramiele of this season for me, except not Filipino. Anoop, the Indian masters/college student, is just a good singer too. I'm digging him because he breakst the stereotype that singers in America should look and dress a certain way. He looks like a straight-laced college guy/nerd who can sing. Maybe it's just the first impression, but for now, he's got my vote (if I vote). But he's not even that nerdy looking. He doesn't cross into that area of that chikcen little looking guy from the past seasons or that doofy red-head looking crooner dude. I'm not a hater, but those guys were okay. Anoop can sing way better than any of them and he's got the cool smart guy look.

Plus, he's already made up for what Sanjaya did for the South Asian image.

There's also this piano dueler guy. I didn't even know that that was an actual occupation so he gets points automatically for having the word duel in his job description. He's a sick pianist and he can sing. I'm looking forward to his performances.

Of course none of these contestants will matter if that Downey, Jr. guy keeps his A-game going. But at least I'll still heart Pacitti no matter what.

Battlestar Galactica Mutiny

2009-01-30T23:02:00.003-05:00

Sick. Battlestar Galactica was so good tonight. It's becoming a trend. It's just sad that these are the last episodes. I guess it wouldn't be that good if I thought that the show was going to continue indefinitely.

There's a mutiny on Galactica and you get to see Starbuck back to kicking ass and Lee gets to hold a gun again. I was always peeved (not pissed, that's reserved for other things) that Lee became a politician. His character became boring. I liked it better when he was an ace viper pilot and he had daddy issues. Instead, now he just goes on and on about principles and democracy. Meh. Well no more. This episode flipped the characters on their heads and made them bring out their true colors.

Like how Gaeta is the ass-hole I always knew he was. I really hate him so bad. Not just because now he's a frakkin' racist, but because he's always had this whole air of arrogance. Even though he was at one point loyal to Galactica, I started hating him when he let Baltar out to dry during his trials. Gaeta never had his back. Sure, Baltar was a crooked guy and he sorta did get the whole human race in this predicament, but if you were being held hostage to the demands of the toasters, wouldn't you lean on the side of self-preservation? Had Baltar just let refused to work with the Cylons on New Caprica, then they would've just killed him and the Cylons would've gotten their way with a different president anyway.

Gaeta always held that against Baltar as if he would have done differently. Yeah, okay I'll give Gaeta the respect for leaking info to Tyrol, but his douchiness afterwards made me sick.

Anyway, back to this episode. So Gaeta is running the whole mutiny thing along with Zarek. Chaos all over the ship. Great stuff. But the best is seeing the two elder-statesmen, the admiral and the colonel. Boy. I have always been indifferent about Adama at worst or have enjoyed his fierceness when he's at his best. In this episode you get to see him be tough along with the newly-revealed Cylon, Colonel Tigh take out the big guns and stand their ground. Did you see how the admiral still had his shooting chops. I can't wait to see if Tigh (one of my favorites) kick some traitorous assess. I love that dude. Even though he's a Cylon his patriotism and loyalty and friendship are strong enough to overcome his "blood". As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the good guys.

But I'm just a little scared that the what the previous for next week are saying is true-- that Tigh has been killed (it seems that way). He can't die like that. There needs to be some fight to the last blood is dropped. And if Colonel Tigh sees the end next episode, boy will it be emotional.

Lost was Okay.

2009-01-23T13:08:00.002-05:00

The season five premiere of Lost was good, but I wasn't blown away. Maybe I'm still reeling (?) from the great second-half premiere of Battlestar Galactica (new eppy tonight!), or maybe this season's Lost is so hyped up, but I wouldn't remember much from the two brand new Lost episodes were it not that I am such a huge fan.

The Oceanic six are off the island of course and are trying to go back because something happened (is happening? Who knows with all this time traveling shite). So basically the show has devolved to a 24 episode, where instead of Jack Bauer trying to escape, you have Hugo and Sayid running form the police because of some murder at a safe house. Then you have this weird time-traveling element. Instead of flashing forward or backwards, now the folks in the island are stuck on a skipping time loop if you will. But of course, there are rules and even if they bounce around time, the people can't change the outcome of things (Then what the hell is the point?).

You have to suspend belief even more-so now that Lost using time travel alot. But I still liked the premiere. Seeing Dr. Haliwax/Chang was Owhsome (in sing-songy voice). He was very bad-ass with his ordering around. And I definitely want to see what makes Desmond exempt from the rules. Of course, how will the six get back to the island and what is the relationship of that Richard dude to Locke. (I actually remembered the whole compass thing from last season and liked how it was brought back in this episode. It helped to watch the short season before this premiere.

I hope that Lost utilizes Miles and Faraday more this season too. More-so Miles because I feel that Faraday will be useful this season. I'm just a new fan of Ken Leung because there aren't that many Asian Hollywood actors that are fairly unknown but so versatile. Big-ups to Kenny.

BSG > LOST (Maybe)

2009-01-18T22:32:00.004-05:00

Fuck 24.

Hehe, just kidding. It's just that I'm more excited for Battlestar Galactica's final episodes than for Jack Bauer's escapades. Plus, as big a crap of a show Heroes is, I will watch that over 24 once it returns for what's probably going to be a goofier volume. But I digress, Battlestar Galactica was so good this past Friday. It's premiere was so good.

I have to give the showrunners props for revealing the 12th cylon right away in these final episodes. They definitely avoided the show from devolving to being primarily about the 12th cylon. Sure, it is a big deal. It is. But, by revealing it early, the show won't let down any fans. This is a problem that Lost may have in its final season next year. All anyone wants to know is what the frak is up with the island.

Will the creators just save the reveal for the last episode? Or will they find away to make the show conclude even with an early reveal? Can it even be revealed?

So, Ron Moore definitely did a good job with the BSG this past night. What's even interesting is the fact that the show was filmed right before the WGA strike (writers strike) of 2007.

What made this eppy so good? Well, it was mainly about despair-- the lost of hope of the human race for the human race. The last members of humanity had just found Earth, which they all believed would be their salvation since their previous planets/colonies were destroyed. Now imagine coming to an nuclear devastated planet, instead. How would you react?

Would you blow your brains out if you felt hopeless? I actually give props to Lt. Dualla for this episode. Not because she died, but because I felt her character became more human to me. I could never relate to her before. She always seemed dull and emotionless, which was why I never got the pairing of her and Lee (I was a Billy fan). But in this episode you really felt her despair, when she cried on Earth when she saw the toys on the ground. You knew she felt lost, but you didn't realize it until she tried to have just an ounce of happiness right before she blew her brains out. God, I did not see that coming and for a few seconds I didn't understand what was happening on screen. Just seconds before that, I thought, "Oh, here we go again with this stupid Lee and Dee, crap", then I realized after her blood blasted on ther locker door why she tried to be happy again

To Dee, there was no hope left.

Such a good episode.

Now the reveal that the 12th cylon was Ellen Tigh. It didn't make sense to me at first, also. I didn't like her character much. I just thought she was on the show to enhance Col. Tigh's character, who is one of my favorites. But this realization that Ellen and Tigh were both Cylons all along and that they were together thousands of years ago is absolutely romantic and wreaks of destiny. Love and destiny and purpose. They were always together and will always be together.

Now I can't wait to see how the show developes this "cosmic love".

This post is too long already, but I just have to say that Starbuck's storyline is also another thing to look out for. I thought the show just forgot to explain how she survived the previous incident, or I thought that I was not paying attention. But this will definitely be interesting.

Battlestar Galactica > Lost. Almost.

24 is back

2009-01-11T22:57:00.003-05:00

24 kicked balls tonight. Maybe I've come to accept the unrealistic nature of 24 or maybe I'm just comparing it to a horrible Heroes season, but the first two hours of this new season of 24 (sa wakas!) were absolutely exciting. Some may say that it's more of the same: Bauer is here to save the day through torture and just being plane lucky, but dammit if you're not hooked with wondering how all the different plots will converge into one. Of course, that's not to say that the writers may fuck up and just drop the ball. They may not tie loose ends up or they may give a character horrible powers, like a truth bell that rings when someone lies, that may lazily tie up plot holes, like how viewers will find out whether a bad guy is the father of another bad guy.

Hey, I guess I'm still angry about Heroes. Won't stop me from watching and bitching though. Plus, Lost is coming back soon so I say "Huzzah"! And for the record, my money is on Tony Almeida still being a good guy. He's just undercover. Is it wrong that I care more about Tony (who we haven't seen in ages) than I do about Peter Petrelli? I had so much hope for Peter, but Heroes hasn't recovered.

Jack Bauer has powers though. He can take on any of the Heroes gang single-handedly.

It's the End of the World

2009-01-09T22:04:00.002-05:00

I keed, I keed. We're just a little closer to being genetically engineered and/or taken over by robots. According to this news article, the first genetically selected baby was born in the UK. The human (maybe she's not human, gasp!) was selected to not have the faulty genes that MAY lead to breast cancer. That's different from being genetically-engineered. At least from what I understand, the embryos were not altered to have a specific code. Instead, the science folks took a chance in growing several embryos and checked to see which embryo did not have the genes that would predispose the individual to having breast cancer. I also imagine that the other embryos were "discarded". Yeah, they weren't good enough. Obviously, if an individual may have the possibility of developing cancer, they don't deserve to live.

I'm writing this off the top of my head and I'm surprised at how disturbed I am about the possibility that this may be used in the future. Sure, there other ways of screening or selecting. For example, some Jewish families have matchmakers who search through the genes of individuals to see if their becoming a couple and procreating would lead to a child who had some hereditary disease that predominantly occurs in the Jewish race. No embryos are made and screened in the process.

It's one thing to make embryos for science, which I'm still iffy about, but it's another to screen and then let the rest die or whatever. It's like going to an orphanage with all the kiddies lined up and then choosing the one you like the best. Shouldn't some things be left up to luck or fate? This is not even a religious issue. What's to prevent the screening of other "diseases". Yes, cancer is a disease, but what about being something like screening for genes predisposing one to being short? Alcoholic? Gay?

This is a very slippery slope. This individual who was born doesn't even have a zero percent chance of getting breast cancer. According to the article, "faulty genes are responsible for between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the 44,000 cases of breast cancer that occur in the UK each year". This means that 90% or more are cases where the gene has no affect at all. (I'm lazy and am not looking up if this is actually true, I'm just basing this on mathematics and reading comprehension of the article). This girl could have been born normally and been perfectly fine. Also, early detection could give her a healthy life if she did get breast cancer.

I don't know. This is some scary stuff. I can't imagine rejecting embryos while keeping some. To me, that's life. This is life. You take what you got and make the best of it. You can't make it perfect, but you can still enjoy what you get from it even if it's a daughter with a chance to have breast cancer.

Press Secretary

2009-01-08T23:20:00.002-05:00

Dana Perino is hot. I'm actually watching her appearance on The Daily Show and she's wearing this red dress that is boasting some slight cleavage. She's probably the best thing about this administration, and I'm a little sad that she'll be leaving soon. Boo. I bet she's only in her 30's-- I would even say that she's only in her mid 30's, 41 at most. Dana Perino was President Bush's best decision. Maybe it was not Bush's decision because the press secretary position had a revolving door during President Bush's eight years, but at least it's ending on an attractive note. Well, at least with respect to the press secretary position.

Okay, to be fair, let me filter myself a little. I am being a little sexist. Secretary Perino seems to be on top of her game. Tonight Jon Stewart cornered her on some issues, but she didn't get flustered and fought back. Very professional. But she's still hot and I'm jealous that she's married.

Is she blonde?

Just a little note to myself, I should definitely see the following movies soon: Gran Torino, The Wrestler, and The Slumdog Millionaire. I can't wait until all the crappy movies in theaters start leaving. Thank God for NetFlix.

A Hundred Years to Live

2008-12-30T23:28:00.003-05:00

Here I sit the night before New Year's Eve and I am wondering why I simultaneously choose to be alone but wish that I were surrounded by friends, friends, and more friends. The first friends are the friends that I have always had and I should not take them for granted. The next friends are friends of friends. I wonder how my friends became friends with those friends and whether, by the associative law, I could be friends equally with those friends. The third friends are for friends that I have recently made but, more importantly, am soon to make. Sometimes I don't believe that third friends exist. You might think that I am lonely. Not exactly. I live in my head and I could easily add friends there. I can add not just friends, but random people from the street like hobos and plumbers. That's probably why I am comfortable being alone. Alone in the sense that I'm not twittering or facebooking people til kingdom come. I'm not overly obsessed with acquaintances and how I can develop their status into friend territory. It's trouble enough to just maintain the friendships that I have, that adding new people into what should be my circle of five (ten, fifteen, etc.) feels like work. I feel that if I don't even try then I won't have to suffer the humiliation of someone rejecting me as a person. And let's be honest, 99.9% of all rejection is a personal rejection. So I put up fluffy walls that can easily be crossed by me or by futur friends. It's fluffly because really scary walls scare people and I'm not like that. I don't want to scare people, of course, I just feel comfortable with my head on something soft and not having to worry about being liked.

The good news is as long as you're alive there's always hope. I forget what movie or book I recently learned that maxim from, but it's a good start to 2009.

Punk Rock Princess of Baby Shakes

2008-12-10T00:11:00.003-05:00

I just found out today that, this whole semester, I've been in class with a rock star. Can you believe it? The same girl I've developed a thing for, wondering what she's like, wondering how such a cute girl could have all these tatoos (two). Just today, my friend facebooked me and said to check out the basis of this band. I recognized the band in the link as the band that that girl in my class has a bag of. Right before I clicked the link I already had a feeling something was up. Could there be a link? Why did I think that? Well, me and my friend were recently just talking about that girl and it's sort of become an inside joke of sorts. And when I say talk I mean me curiously talking about her a little too much (just see the last few posts on my friend's wall).

So Frack me when I click the link and see that the basist is the cute girl in Spanish class. It totally answers the tatoos. She's in a punk/pop-punk band-- and it's all girl. All cute girls. I don't know many basists but this girl falls in the intersection of cute basists and cute girls I take a class with. She sort of gives off the vibe of "why do I need to be in class? I'm a goddam rock star". She's quiet but not in the shy way, like in the way that borderlines I'm better than you status. I was so excited when she sat next to me in the past. I thought she was just the artsy type because she had those art portfolios and during a lesson on "cursos de universidad", she described where the location of the art facilities.

You should have been in my head this whole semester. I had made up all these diabolical plans of how I was going to finally have a conversation with her. The first plan was to catch her right after class and casually talk about how my brother also likes art and whether she knew any good way to get art framed. That's sort of true because it is and I like to think that it would have worked except she always leaves class early. Should I have been the weirdo that also leaves class fifteen minutes early (Umm, are you stalking me?) right when she does. Obvious.

I also thought of a plan that involved winning some Coldplay tickets to a special Yahoo secret concert. I'm of course a huge Coldplay fan, but something tells me had I won those tickets and asked that girl, she would have been less than thrilled to go since she's so punk and all. Apparently, Coldplay makes you gay. Me gay. Also, I never win cool things, especially when it involves Coldplay. I don't even know why I'm in that frickin' mailing list when I can't even see them live for shite.

Anyway, she's now 100 times more out of my league now that I know she has a secret identity. It's hard enough to talk to girls. Plus combine that issue with the fact that she's pretty gorgeous and then the fact that she's a rock princess of punk and I might as well become celibate.

To think I was about to right a poem about her. Eso es mi vida.

Reboot Heroes

2008-12-07T01:14:00.002-05:00

This post has been a long time coming, so here goes: Heroes is horrible. Watching it now is an absolute chore because on the one hand I am a die-hard fan, I defended it after it's bad second volume, and even after several wonky episodes of this third season. But now, this show makes no sense and I care nothing for any of the characters.

Back in season 1, I like a handful of the characters. Each character felt trapped by their mundane lives, and realized that they had extraordinary abilities. Connected by some destiny that would only be realized at the end of the season, and you have yourself a great story. Forget even that it's a superhero story.

Season 2 was bad, but I use the word bad only because I have had the privilege of trudging through the third season. It's as if the first season and all it's back-stories and character development never happened. Now the characters are not acting like themselves, which would be acceptable if the show ran with this but Heroes' characters flip-flop so much that you'd think that they were puppets being played by first graders. No-- I actually remember classmates in first grade making better stories with our action figures.

I can't even list all the crap that pisses me off about Heroes now. I will pretend that season exists in a vacuum, in a world where everything past the last five minutes of the first season never occurred.

Prospekt's March

2008-12-06T16:47:00.003-05:00

I freakin' love the Prospekt's March, sans Jay Z of course. But it's so good that adding Mr. Beyonce is almost entirely canceled-out. Coldplay probably did that so that the new EP would not be too awesome, 'cause you know, you have to leave the fans wanting more.

Let's do a track by track analysis, shall we?

Life in Technicolor II -- What happens when you take the best non-track ever from Viva La Vida (the track is basically a less-than-two-minutes instrumental) and you make it a "real" track? You get a part two that's even more awesome. Who knew that adding vocals to one of my favorites would make it so good? Well, actually, I did.

Postcards from Far Away -- This is probably the equivalent of Life in Techinicolor part 1 from Viva La Vida. It's also an instrumental. But this time it consists of only piano. It's a short, tiny morsal of warmth. Maybe if there's a second EP (please!) then Postcards could become a smooth balad.

Glass of Water -- l love when Coldplay rocks out by banging wildly on the piano. Clocks and Speed of Sound from their last albums were great, but Glass of Water has this great off-beat chorus of thundering piano. I'm not as musical as my history would say I am, but I think the timing changes during the chorus and makes you want to grab a piano and smash along with it. Go crazy. I can imagine Chris Martin just doing his weirdo dance while playing this song. Coldplay at its best.

Rainy Days -- This reminds me of Beck for some reason. It sounds like there's a turntable in the beginning so it sounds nothing like Coldplay in the begining, but you start to realize that you like it still. Then the strings come in during the chorus and Chris plays around with the lyrics in a syncopated matter. You'll find yourself waiting patiently for the chorus everytime.

Prosepekt's March --Here is the title track. Love the smooth feeling and the lyrics are great (Don't you wish life were as simple/ as shooting fish inside a barrell when you've got the gun?) . Though it's slow and there's a simple guitar riff, Chris really sings the song well. Another track that makes you feel good.

Lost+ -- Jay-Z. meh. Sounds like Jay-Z phoned in the lyrics, literally, rather than show up to the studio and jam with Coldplay. This is disapppointing considering that had the two actually come up with something original, it would have been oodles better than this weak effort. I loved all previous Lost versions, but this one is bad.

Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix) -- I absolutely love this track on Viva La Vida. This is pretty much the same track. There's a slight change in the middle where there's some faint extra singing added. Also, this is no longer a two-fer-- no Reign of Love. So it's a good addition to the EP not like that bastard Lost plus.

Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground -- This is acoustic Coldplay. Slow and Calm. It's a good change of pace and an end to the EP.

I love Prospekt's March. When Viva La Vida intially dropped this summer, I did not get the chance to buy it. However, I believe that my not buying it was a sign from the music gods. They delivered to me this little gem. Especially, now that there's a Viva La Vida: Prospekt's March special Edition.

So, yeah, I love Coldplay more than ever.

Love to Eat Turkey

2008-11-27T23:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Today I have an excuse for over-eating, which, as it turns out, is much better for my self-esteem than pigging out during any other day. The food had some Filipino twists compared to your All-American fare. For example, instead of collard greens we had something called "laing". It's pretty much just like the former, except spicier and with some coconut milk. I'm probably getting the recipes mixed up, but I'm no cook. I prefer to consume with minimal discretion, unless there are any crustaceans since I'm allergic.

The key-lime pie was bad, though. I don't think I've ever had it before, but it was one of those pies you get at the supermarket that's made at the supermarket. It tasted like it wasn't meant to be eaten, like it belonged in one of those comedy sketches where people throw pies at each other. The interesting thing is that there was another pie from the same supermarket that was made in a similarly careless manner, but was chocolate, and it tasted way better. The pie was still light enough to fit nicely in the said comedy shows, but everyone had seconds. Of course, that includes me. What didn't I have seconds of?

I ate too much. Before dinner, I told everyone that Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. Immediately after my last bite, I was barely able to breathe out the message that I changed my mind-- I hated this holiday. But that's the best thing about Thanksgiving: I love it before and I hate it afterward. It's sort of like when you do something that's evil and you feel dirty and guilty immediately afterward. This is the only holiday where it starts to feel like work towards the end of dinner. It became my mission to not let that huge-ass turkey leg go to waste. I was going to let all its white meat go to my own huge-ass, right next to all the pie fat.

Then we all played Rock Band-- The gimped Wii version because I'm such a Nintendo Fanboy and I'm still suffering from having this sorry excuse for next-gen hardware.

Guys and Dolls

2008-11-26T00:46:00.002-05:00

Frack me. I just saw this documentary called Guys and Dolls and it will blow your mind. I like to think that I am somewhat open-minded (sure, you can be gay but I don't think you should kill babies), but damn if having plastic girlfriends isn't the weirdest thing ever. It really is just a high form of masturbation. That's why I suggest you save your money for something else because the internet is free and full of you-know-what that you don't need to screw synthetic material shaped into human form.

After watching this disturbing/interesting piece, I now have another thing to put on my list of what-I-hope-I-never-become. It's difficult to get dates, but do I really need to bone a doll?

Why, Coldplay. Why?

2008-11-24T11:40:00.002-05:00

Should I even bother putting the "Lost+" track into my iPod? Yes, I'm a huge Coldplay fan, even though I've never seen them live (still furious about that), but that doesn't mean that I don't think that Coldplay has a few stinkers. Just listen to any version of the track "Lost" except for the plus version and you'll see why the version with Jay-Z might not make it into my mp3 player. I really want to put all the tracks of their new EP into my playlist, but something about hearing the beautiful Lost raped by an overrated rapper seems wrong. Maybe it's the rape part.

Just listen to the track. It's basically the original track plus JHov's voice rapping over it. I'd rather have Kanye remix Coldplay's track while he stutters than listen to this abomination again. I'm probably still bitter about not getting a chance to see Coldplay, but dammit if this song isn't crap. Other than that, the Prospekt's March EP is pretty great. It complements Viva La Vida well.

Pushing Daisies

2008-11-21T00:01:00.002-05:00

I knew it was coming. I saw the signs on the wall when I did not see a single second of promotion from ABC. But here it is: Pushing Daisies is canceled. Let me keep it short and sweet. Such has been the fate of other great-but-canceled television (specifically Arrested Development). What will I miss the most about Pushing Daisies? Pure escapism-- from the vibrant colors to the sharp dialogue. It looked good and it sounded good. You won't see color like that in the real world. You won't hear conversations like that in the real world.

Quantum

2008-11-16T22:39:00.004-05:00

What are the critics smoking? Quantum of Solace was fantastic. While I'm not ready to concede the title of the best James Bond movie, which for me still goes to Casino Royale, Quantum gives it a run for its money.

Quantum is like Casino, but with more explosions and less talking. I can definitely see that the Bond franchise is taking a bit off of the Bourne series, which in reality has taken a bite from Ian Flemming's Bond. Casino Royale gets an edge in the pacing, though, since there is much more plot and character development. In Quantum's defense, this is probably, to my knowledge, the only Bond movie that is a direct sequel (it takes place right after Casino left off). So if you take this movie as a sequel to Casino, rather than a stand alone movie, you may enjoy it more. Either way, it's still a great movie.

Plus, Olga Kurylenko is so beautiful. She definitely pulls of the Latin looks well. Bond always gets the hotties, doesn't he? Oh, and there are gadgets, you're just not paying attention, but Bond and MI-6 is not underpowered.

As an aside, this is the type of movie that makes me wish I spoke other languages--just look at the locales and people! Yes, this semester I'm working on some sort of Spanish, and I may have to just learn it on my own when I start my second masters, but I wish I could just immerse myself and learn it already. I'm actually really jealous of anyone who is multi-lingual. I really don't count the Tagalog that I understand since, I can't communicate properly and most Filipinos speak some sort of English (just watch the frickin' The Filipino Channel and you might understand half the words they say). We're living in a global world that's more interconnected than ever, speaking more than one language can bring us closer.

Kanye Le Douche

2008-11-14T21:45:00.003-05:00

Kanye West is hilarious, if not a huge douche. He is a megalomaniac who thinks that the words that comes out of his mouth have some sort of profound meaning. Let him speak for himself. I do just fine making sense on my own.

Maybe he's just run out of oldie's to sample.

What the FOCA

2008-11-12T16:42:00.004-05:00

I am surprised to find myself a little torn. On the one hand, I feel it is wrong that the government gets to define who gets to marry whom. Then there's my long-held belief that abortion rights should be determined locally, that is, the states should be allowed, via voting and referendums, to institute laws allowing or prohibiting abortions. Basically, if you are the type to believe that a person should be able to get an express abortion, then you should be able to get one if you live in a state where the majority of people agree with you. However, if you still believe, for whatever reason, that you cannot allow abortions to occur, then you should be allowed to live similarly.

Shockingly, I find that this view that I hold resembles more closely the right-to-choose views of the country rather than what I initially believed was my pro-life slant. But, I have to declare that I am a pro-lifer because at the end of the day I would stray on the side of life and love. I am not making a judgment here on other people's morality-- I have not brought any religious elements into the equation. Life, for me at least, begins at conception. So in essence, when one aborts, they are destroying a life. (Interestingly enough, I am unable to type "kill" in place of "destroy.) However, I believe there are certain situations that paint this moral issue a dark gray. In instances of rape, incest, or when the life of the child or mother is in danger, then I believe abortion is an option. I have no problem with this and I actually understand this position. However, I just don't think anyone else should easily be able to have an abortion.

One may argue that it is the woman's choice because it's her body. Well, you can believe that, but I believe that that is a life inside a woman and not an object. This position of mine is very slippery, but that's why I draw a line at defining life. I use the simplest definition and that's at conception. No trimesters, no partials, just life.

What I will oppose is any mandate forcing all physicians to perform abortions. If a doctor does not want to perform an abortion because of personal, moral, or religious beliefs, then he or she should not be forced by the law. They can still fulfill their role as health caretakers by offering the individual other options, including doctors who can perform the abortion. It's one thing to perform what I believe to be morally questionable, but it's a whole 'nother issue when the government forces someone who does not believe in it to do it.

Proposition Hate

2008-11-11T09:45:00.002-05:00

The United States takes two steps forward and one step back. While we have beautifully inspired the world by electing a minority to the highest elected position of power, President-elect Barack Obama, the state of California has voted to pass an amendment to their state constitution that re-defines marriage, essentially making all previous same-sex marriages illegal.

This is proposition 8, or as many now know it as proposition h8 (hate).

This is no doubt due to the influence of right-wing Evangelical Christians and their stubbornness to realize that their god (and probably my god), if he were so ever-loving, would at the very least, love all his children, including gays and especially ignorant religious biggots.

Look, when it comes to the issue of abortion, even if were absolutely unassociated with any religious organization, I would always believe that life begins at conception-- when the sperm and egg join. (I believe that the zygote is the beginning of human life. I have no problem with preventative contraception that stop the sperm and egg from joining. Because that does not destroy the life. But abortions are a different beast, and I am not entirely black or white on that topic, which is a post for another day.)

When it comes to homosexuality, I could never understand how some people could be denied their right to love. I understand that a church can make its own rules, but it is absolutely hypocritical that god proposes "love thy neighbor" but deny "love" for some. That's what irks me so much about Christianity. I grew up learning about how Jesus loves you, but as I grew older it seemed so contradictory that some people are loved less. I'm pretty sure that's not what Jesus had in mind, denying all people, embryos and homosexuals, a right to life and love.

That's what it comes down to folks. You could be the most religious person in the world, or you could be an agnostic, but what you all have in common is the right to life and the right to love. To have someone else deny you that right defeats the whole purpose of everything. If a single person in the United States of American is denied this right, then we still have a ways to go.

Love thy neighbor. Period.

This is So Wrong

2008-10-03T23:28:00.003-04:00

You have to, have to, have to, have to, eighteen years-old before you can even remotely look like this. I'm going to need therapy now because you cannot look like this and NOT be legal. It's the law somewhere. I need therapy. Thanks, Momsen.

Actually, I probably already need therapy for a host of other complexes but this one is just the most easiest to write about. Burn this photograph from my mind, por favor!

More Action Than Heroes

2008-09-03T23:34:00.002-04:00

"I need to tell you something, Blaire. I have a British accent."

Fucking Hilarious. The season premiere of the second season of Gossip Girl had it all. More importantly, out of everything else about this show, it's extremely over-the-top. Half-way through this episode I thought I was watching a sluttied-up version of Pushing Daisies. If Daisies met some science fiction like Star wars.

Why? Well, all this bullshit that's going on between Blaire and Chuck. First of all, make up your fucking minds, you two. Chuck, you left Blaire and now you're surprised she's found someone else. Then you are near tears when it appeared that Blaire-bitch gave her pin to that fake Brit (My money is on him being actually from Staten Island and is actually a rapist). As for Blaire, what is the deal with you still liking Chuck? Do you really need him to say those three little words. Can I say those words? Will that make it okay? Seriously? You became a couple by boning in a limo.

Gossip Girl felt really science-fictiony in the scene where Chuck chases Blaire as she is about to talk to that Brit dude. Then Chuck says that she is manipulative just like he is, that they are meant to be together because they are the same. Then Blaire backs off and is all like, "I can't because I don't want to be like you". Que her running away.

That was actually awesome. It's like Chuck (the dark side) is showing Blaire (secretly the dark side) her true colors and she won't accept it. Awesome.

What else happened? Well you have statutory rape between Nate and this married woman. I guess Nate has all the fun, huh? By the way, how forced did the opening scene seem when Chuck had to be suave with the triplets ("I'm going to sleep with you. You. And . . . you." One of the weaker lines of the episode).

Also, Dan is a player now. Good for him. Except I would've liked it if he had learned to be a player back when he was too busy pining for Serena at the beginning of the series. Now he just comes off as cocky ("Hey, I had the girl of my dreams. Now I just want to have fun because I can").

A resounding finally (sa wakas!) that there's an Asian chick on Gossip Girl that's not nerdy or a sheep following the herd. It was just a walk-on roll, but she played a cute, strong girl very well. Kudos to the show and here's hoping for more Yellow fever. I think I know that girl, though.

Eric's role in the episode seemed force too. Especially that frickin' brunch in the beginning. Who was hosting? Why was Chuck, Blaire, that Brit, Eric, and Serena's grandma having brunch together? Actually, Why was Chuck invited?

I'm getting nitpicky. It's still a great episode. One of the better ones. It's only going to get better. I'm especially excited for Jenny and Eric becoming friends again. Jenny's back on the good side (Did you see how she chose to stay with that designer woman, even though she had the chance to stab her back?). But, I'm hoping against all hopes for Jenny and Eric to become a couple (Gay reversal).

Rachel Lampa equals Freakin' Awesome

2008-09-02T21:12:00.004-04:00

I knew something good was going to come out of the 2008 Republican National Convention. That good thing is a girl and her name is Rachel Lampa. Did you see her performance on Tuesday night? She is gorgeous and can "sang" (You go, girl!).

My views have vacillated like everything else in my life, but what hasn't changed is my taste for hot gals. I was literally watching the RNC. So I wasn't watching anything political, but Lampa caught my attention. She was all cool with her nose ring and tan self. Plus she has a great voice (It was live, people!). My opinion of Rachel didn't even change when CNN flashed on the screen that she's a popular Christian artist. She sings about God, so what. That means she's probably a nice girl you can take home to meet your mom.

Immediately after her two songs, I raced to the computer to google her. I was wondering while I typed how she could be so pretty and be my age (You see, long story, but I've been feeling old mostly because I've been seeing all these "youngin's" who are so cute, ahem, Chelsie H.) Can you believe there are people my age? It turns out she's frickin' half Pinay (Okay, I have to represent this once!). And she has some Irish in her. I haven't listed all the things that's good about her, but she might make a run for dream girl if you ask me. Freakin' Awesome if you ask me.

Now, I won't google any more of her. I'll probably just download some songs, but damn do I really want to have a video of her performance in the RNC. I almost want to vote Republican.

Either that or I just really want some Lampa. Or lumpya.

Bristol Banged (up)

2008-09-01T12:51:00.002-04:00

It looks like someone beat me to the punch. Shucks. McCain's veep, Sarah Palin, who one sxephil cleverly calls a VPILF (you figure it out), has a daughter who is 17 and pregnant. Five months preggers to be exact. I don't blame, Bristol. She's quite the looker and it was only a matter of time. Look at the mom. Palin has 5 children of her own and I wouldn't be surprised if she knocked out a few more.

OMG, how awesome would it be if Palin became VP and got pregnant and gave birth while in office? Well, it would suck for everyone else since that would mean 4 more years of McBush.

Why is it those "values" people always have the most "un-values" of problems. A child is a gift, okay, and maybe this isn't such a problem since Bristol plans to keep the child. But, doesn't this shine a not so bright light on McCain's ticket. Here you have Palin who was supposed to bring the conservative vote to McCain that pundits say he needs, and instead, Palin brings her hot pregnant daughter. What values are we talking about again?

In a much kinder note, I wish the best for Bristol (even though I was hoping I would, you know). Let's all pray together that the media does not attack her and Palin for this. Aww, who am I kidding. This is politics. Of course she will be destroyed. Not literally though. The family is too good-looking for that.

Fringe

2008-08-30T23:34:00.005-04:00

Let's just get one thing straight: Abrams knows how to get the right lead female on his shows. If Fringe isn't the next Lost, then at least it has Olivia Dunham, played by the Brit Anna Torv. (She's British-- her name isn't Brit.) There's this one scene in the pilot that Torv has to get a little nakey-nakey and she looks sexy-sexy. Whaddaya know, she's also a blonde. On a side note, I think we can officially stop calling my infatuations with blondes just a fad, and instead realize that I find blondes attractive.

Yeah, so Anna Torv is cute. She's not dream-about-her-every-night material yet. For one thing, she's a human being so eff me for objectifying blah blah blah. Just Watch Fringe for her if you don't like Sci-Fi.

Meat And Potatoes of Fringe

Now on to my impression of the the "leaked" pilot of the new science fiction show Fringe. It's produced by J.J. "Lost" Abrams. Fringe's pilot is not of the same caliber as Lost's phenomenol first episode. While Lost keeps you on the edge and wanting more straight through its two hour premiere, Fringe starts off with a similar bang (plane fetish?), but due to the incredulity of some of the "science" in the episode, Fringe starts to taper off in the middle acts.

Also, maybe there's not enough characters yet, like in Lost, but the few faces of Fringe lack chemistry. I think Joshua Jackson's character was supposed to be witty, but he came across as annoying. When everyone else was having their own serious conversation, in this pilot, Jackson would interrupt with a "witty" remark that everyone would ignore. I think the writers were trying to make it funny. I'm hoping that he isn't just relegated to comic relief.

But just think of how beautiful Anna Torv is and you'll be fine.

There's definitely potential for the future of Fringe if it doesn't get cancelled. They strictly deal with an unknown source doing fringe science experiments on the world itself which call the phenomenon "the pattern". Sounds freaky, so me likey. It's Dunham's job to find out who is doing this and how they're all connected. There's mythology that can be explored in this series. I hope there's alot more twists and turns and mystery, though. If they can introduce better dialogue that would be a plus.

Not Like Any Pie I Know

This time last year I was super-hyped for Pushing Daisies after seeing its pilot, though I'm not raving about Fringe after seeing its pilot, I'd say it's at least better than anything that's new on TV this Fall. But that's just saying how crappy all the other new shows are. I hate my grammar.

Where Have All The Asian Girls Gone? (Borderline Racist)

2008-08-30T00:32:00.003-04:00

Let me preface this post with a little disclaimer. Yes, I will admit that my confidence and self-esteem fluctuate a lot, but I have to ask the world,

"What is up with all these Asian girls NOT dating Asian dudes?"

More specifically, it's always a the white guy who ends up with the Asian girl. Maybe this perceived problem is similar to how some black men wonder why all the black women don't date them.

Or maybe, I just answered my own question in the first line of this post? (Typical over-achieving Asian male, answering his own questions in a single karate chop.)

I know the typical answer would be that Asian guys tend to not be assertive enough. That they are too shy and do not make any moves, thus leaving the girl to any other guy. Yeah, I can see this. It's true in many cases and for any ethnicity. But come on, you're telling me that there are no Asian guys who are slightly assertive enough to get with their female counterparts? Really?

You know what, maybe we should just go for white girls. White girls have yellow fever too, don't they? Don't they?

Meh.

Obama Nomination

2008-08-28T19:28:00.002-04:00

How do I know I'm American? Whenever I hear the "I Have a Dream" speech, whenever it's played and I hear the sincerity and hope in Dr. King's voice, I always almost cry.

I think it's hard for some people to understand this. Some people think that you have to be black in America to feel the power of the words and believe in it's meaning. Well, I'm not black. I'm just American. Actually, I think anyone in the world can connect with the message that we are all brothers and sisters regardless of our many differences. Yes, we do have differences and it's a mistake to pretend like they do not exist. Color exists but that does not make us human. Gender and sexuality exist but that does not make us human.

It's probably easier for me since wherever I go, I see all types of people who are not afraid to walk on the same sidewalk with each other. We are all different, but there is something about living in America that brings out our shared experiences and our similarities.

This country is far, far, far from perfect, but if we can elect a black man to be our most highest servant, then humanity is one step closer to getting closer. Think of it as globalization but more brotherly and more celebratory of our unique qualities, minus all the forced conformity to a single ideal.

I hope I make sense.

Life, Prince, Nina Meyers

2008-08-26T23:45:00.004-04:00

You Have Video Games In My TV Soup

I think there's a word for when two things you like to do that are usually separate meet with interesting results. The summer is basically done and it's time for classes to begin once again (When will this school thing end? When I say it does.), so I have spent my time just going online and watching the tv show Life on Hulu. I'm up to the seventh episode and there's a part where the detectives have to play video games for something. Lo' and behold, they end up playing Prince of Persia, and guess what I'm using to currently feed my addiction? Prince of Persia!

Pretty neat, huh? My life is so awesome.

The interesting thing is how they totally butcher or alter the game. Prince of Persia does not have levels per se, yet in the plot of the episode, the police have to get to level ten to unlock something. Also, just throw in the usual Hollywood tactic where whenever there's video games, some plays it like they're having a manual seizure. Nobody moves there body like that. This isn't Wii Sports.

Hotties

Life is a decent show, so I might have to tune in this season. But people should definitely watch out for Fringe. It's pretty high on the buzz meter, and though I have downloaded the pilot, I have yet to find the right time to settle down and enjoy the show properly. I just may have to watch on premiere night 9-09-08.

The episode of Life I was talking about had particularly good looking women. So get ready to add more girls to the Asukal files. No, none of them blonde, but there is a red-head. There's this one chick, Sarah Shahi, who I suspect is of Persian descent. She's petite so that's definitely a plus, but she gives of a strong but sexy vibe. Yes, very sexist of me, but I'm just saying. Shahi is cute. She reminds me of Vanessa Marcil of Las Vegas fame, also from NBC. It's good that brunettes are being represented now in this Asukal post. It's a good change from the usual oh-my-god-I-think-I-have-a-blonde-proclivity posts.

Though I am still a huge, huge, Chelsie Hightower obsessed fan.

Oh, Chelsie. :)

I almost forgot! Sarah Clarke, yes Nina from 24, was in this episode. She's still hot. And interestingly enough, two things I like have intersected again: Sarah Clarke is sporting a blonde do. I don't know if she's really a blonde (I know she's hot), but does this count as another one in the I'm-a-blonde-guy-now-for-real column?

Still Waiting

2008-08-23T12:21:00.003-04:00

It's weird that the summer is coming to an end. It's even weirder that I'm still in school. This coming Fall will hopefully be my final semester in the masters in education program. But, I am actually hoping to start a second masters in biochemistry come next Spring. I figure, I might as well stack up in degrees, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The school's decision should arrive late September or October. So we'll see.

Right now though, my youngest brother just left for college the other day. I feel so old now! I'm a thousand percent positive that he'll fit in well and have the best years of his life in Binghamton. As for me, I am, of course, just a commuting grad student.

My Lolo is in the hospital, though. He's always had trouble breathing, but it's gotten bad since he recently returned from the Philippines. So when he finally got checked by the doctors after months of trying to tolerate his condition, the doctor decided that he should be left in the hospital for a while for some observations. I hope he does well and gets better because I'm sure it's hurting my Lola so bad right now. I'm not too down though. It's not like this just happened out of thin air, and I'm hopeful anyway.

So that's my life right now. A sort of purgatory in that I am technically out of college, but I'm still in school. Anyway, good luck to my bro and get better, Lolo.

Oh, Chelsie

2008-08-08T10:45:00.003-04:00

Check out my new celebrity (?) crush: Chelsie Hightower. The judges on So You Think You Can Dance call her a firecracker on stage, and who would disagree? Chelsie really destroys the competition with her Latin ballroom skills. I can't stop watching her dances on youtube. Her partner Mark definitely deserves props, even though I'm jealous that he got to dance with her. So it's no surprise I was a little bummed she didn't make it one more week for the finale.

From a purely dancing point of view, I really enjoy her dancing. All the Latin stuff is great. Part of it might have something to do with her beautiful legs (I'm not even a leg guy!). The best thing outside of the way she shakes those hips of hers (oh em gee), is her playfulness off of the dancefloor. The clips of her rehearsals really make her seem like just a chill person. I'm actually surprised that I find her so attractive since she has this tomboyish nature to her. In fact, that's what probably adds to her fireyness.

There are fans of the show who may believe that Courtney deservedly advanced to the finals over Chelsie, but Chelsie had the edge in my book. Some may say Courtney got in because she's sexier, but at least to me, Chelsie is sexy. She just exudes sexiness on the dancefloor, and more importantly, she can switch it up when she gets off the stage. That's definitely very appealing because of the great contrast. It feels like you could just hang out with her, but then she could still do the whole girly thing (but not too girly).

Marry me, Chelsie!

Wow, another blonde? I might have to do away with the whole "I'm not attracted to blondes" thing. In the mean time, I'm going to learn the Argentine tango.

Dollars and No Sense

2008-08-08T09:29:00.002-04:00

If you are interested in buying this "app" for your iPhone, but are not able to, I suggest a similar alternative which is to have the words "I am a douche" tatooed on your forehead. Best of all, it's cheaper. If you don't like cheap, then pay a homeless guy $999.99 to punch you in the face. The homeless dude can use that money to buy brass knuckles that can leave a similar imprint on your smugly mug as said phrase.

Thank you.

Family Vacation

2008-08-07T19:26:00.003-04:00

I just returned from my Myrtle Beach vacation--well, actually, my family and I came back two days ago, but who's keeping track?

I should have blogged during my time off to save my memories in the internet bottle, but I did not have adequate internet access. That, and I was lazy.

We stayed in the awesome beach house of my aunt and my first thought is how I wish I would be rich one day. Besides the warm sun that reminded me how great it was to be a teacher during the summer (too bad I'm not working anymore), the best thing about the vacation was spending time with extended family. My brothers and I were once pretty close to our cousins from West Virginia when we were younger, but after they went to boarding school and we all went through our awkward phases, we did not visit each other as much. It's not perfect now and I will always say that nothing ever is, but at least now, I have a better appreciation for family and friends. In fact, I would go so far as to say that we might be getting closer.

The way I see it, family and friends have things in common. Friends are people you can confide in and be yourself with no reservations. Finding these people is difficult and even harder to maintain relations with them. But for some reason, family is always there. The best thing though is family who can be friends. I'm hoping that this is the case not just for those cousins I was once close to, but for my cousins half way across the world, cousins just barely teens and cousins who have their own families now.

The more the merrier.

I know I haven't told any family about my little asukal blog here, but I would like to just say to them: Until the next time we share the sun together, I have your backs and you have mine and it's good to know that.

Ciao.

Lullaby

2008-07-16T12:38:00.003-04:00

I would like to present you with a quote from a terrifically queer novel I just finished reading called Lullaby by Chuck Pahlahniuk.

The best way to waste your life is by taking notes. The easiest way to avoid living is to just watch. Look for the details. Report. Don't participate. Let Big Brother do the singing and dancing for you. Be reporter. Be good witness. A grateful member of the audience.

The novel itself is just the right kind of twisted that you need to read it.

Valerie

2008-07-16T00:08:00.002-04:00

Right now, when I hear that name, I immediately think of the infectious and uber-fun song of the same name by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. It's just a really good song and I promise you it will not disappoint.

Just this past week, my family started subscribing to The Filipino Channel (TFC) because my aunt and mamay felt it was the right time. I guess they are often bored. Well, they are also fans of Wowowee, a hugely popular variety show in the Philippines. Anyway, true to the name of my blog, I would like to briefly talk about one of the lips that are like sugar on that show.

But, Blueberry, you're Filipino, so of course you'll think those girls on TFC are hot. Not true. I am an equal opportunity guy and find all sorts of girls cute. In fact, I find inanimate objects cute (sometimes the curves on the piano's legs are just too irresistable). With the exception of Heart E. (please don't hate me for being cliche), I have yet to google any of the girls on the channel to find out more about them. That was until I started watching Wowowee and saw Valerie Concepcion.

I thought she was cute so just today I did some Wikipediaing and that's when the surprises slapped me. First of all, she's only twenty years-old?! What the frack, man? I've only been watching for a week, but I would have guessed she was a couple of years older, you know, just slightly younger than me. She's even younger than one of my brothers. So after thinking about it a little longer, I come to accept that she's younger than me. In fact, that's not so bad-- that's actually a good thing. I am youthful for my age, so I imagine that I would have more in common with a youngin'.

The age problem becomes a non-issue, but then the second factoid that gets me (and this one is humongous) is that she has a child. Wait, she's twenty and has a child? That's not all. She had her daughter when she was sixteen (frack!) by a Sotto guy! Well, I immediately stop reading because that whole Sotto thing disgusts me and the fact that those cats are old and impregnate a teen.

Well, Blueberry, maybe the Sotto guy the website talks about is actually a young guy unlike Vic. Pish-posh. I refuse to read any more and have those facts destroy my image of Valerie. I'll be fine. I will pretend that Valerie's having a child has made her more selective with her love interests, thus making such an awesome guy like me an excellent suitor. I'm better than a Sotto guy, right?

Whatever, I just hope I don't become more douchey by reading more biographical data on Valerie. I'll just enjoy her on Wowowee whenever my family watches The Filipino Channel.

Arghh, Nintendo at E3

2008-07-15T13:54:00.002-04:00

I just finished watching Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference and I have rediscovered the meaning of the word "crap". That whole mess of a wreck was horrible. The only thing I found interesting was the Grand Theft Auto Chinatown game and that did not even have any screenshots or video.

Sure, Animal Crossing may be interesting in the same way that Animal Crossing is interesting to only a select few people. I am not one of those people. It looks like more of the same and the only reason I have played the DS version was because I wanted to see what the whole fuss was about.

The whole presentation just talked about how many Wii's and DS's Nintendo has sold. Big deal. The games for Wii are getting on my nerves now since there is no real substance. Do I have to wait once or twice a year for a great game like Super Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros.?

Nintendo, I don't care about your Wii Music. It's not even a game. Even Wii Sports was fun. Actually, I'll give you that Wii Sports is a decent game, but only because it was the first game to showcase the Wii's controller. Wii Music has no objective but to look stupid while pretending to play a wind or string instrument using the Wiimote. It doesn't even sound like the real instruments.

It's a good game if your're two years-old or are not a gaming enthusiast. There's nothing wrong with that except, your real fans will have to start to look to other consoles. I'm going to see what Sony and Microsoft has to offer, while you, Nintendo, sell a butt-load of Wii's that most people will never buy another game for (they can just play the Wii Sports which they think is the whole damn reason for owning a Wii).

I am angry and frustrated, because now, I have to consider spending 400 bones for a different system and I have a Wii that will collect dust perpetually.

Price Droppin' Fool

2008-07-12T17:23:00.002-04:00

The xbox 360 $50 price drop is imminent and makes purchasing an xbox almost affordable. I am seriously contemplating buying one. However, if I think about it long and hard enough (hehe) I realize that I should probably wait a few months or a year to see if Sony drops the price of their Playstation 3.

Here are my reasons why I have to try my best to NOT buy a price-dropped xbox 360:

1) First of all, look at it's library of games. Yes, there are some really good games like Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, and Mass Effect, but not a whole lot of variety. The 360 is mostly good for shooters, which though I am a fan off, can get old fast if there's not fluffy stuff to balance out all the shooting and explosions.

2) In keeping with the games theme, the many of the good games are also multi-platform. In other words, there are not many exlusive games to the xbox 360 that warrant a purchase. Halo 3? Good game, but it's another shooter and there's a whole boatload of those on othe sytems. Where are my action adventure games and RPGs?

3) Playstation 3 has better exclusives and a better variety. Just look at the Ratchet series and think about Square Enix's support. I know the Final Fantasy series is overrated as are many Japanese RPGs, but it is a change of pace. There is at least good Japanese support for the playstation.

4) This price drop also signals that Microsoft may be coming out with another configuration for the xbox and they're just trying to clear up some room for this new one.

5) More importantly, the ps3 may also have a price drop in response to the xbox's. I really hope that the 360's sell really well following price drop. This would signal to Sony, that maybe, just maybe, 400 to 500 bones for a video game machine won't cut it for many of us. Hell, I still don't have a good enough TV to enjoy high-definition or any definition for that matter. If the xbox sells well, the ps3 will have to come down in price soon. I can only hope. Then I can judge for myself what moves I should make.

Let's pray for 250 to 300 dollar price point for both systems. Let's even drop the $60 price tag for games.

Peaces.

Iran is Not Da Bomb

2008-07-12T11:14:00.003-04:00

Are you serious? Under no circumstance (at least currently or even foreseeable) should the United States even consider attacking Iran. We are still in two wars, if people forget: the hugely unpopular Iraq occupation and the less publicized Afghanistan operations.

Let Iran showboat and flaunt its photoshopping capabilities. I don't care how many missiles and nuclear plants it has, we cannot do a damn thing about it. We shouldn't even try because a three front operation is not going to happen. That's like the most unpopular kid alienating two random kids and deciding to give a third kid a wedgie (atomic wedgie? sorry). It's not good publicity much less the cost and casualties.

Mainly, the U.S. needs to let the rest of the world (Europe, ahem) deal with any supposed problems in the Middle East. Let's clean up our mess in Iraq, return to looking for Osama and Al-Qaeda, who are now most definitely in the mountain tribal regions of our "friend" Pakistan. But we should be careful about that, too. Pakistan does have nuclear capabilities.

As a matter of fact, let's just get the hell out of the Middle East all together and just strengthen our homeland security. Why not develop oil alternatives so that we don't have to step foot in the Middle East until they are an inviting enough place. Just read the Kite Runner and dream of the good parts of that book (what parts?). I'm all for travel and having a global community that celebrates the uniqueness of culture (I wish I had money to travel), but there are just some places right now where all parties are misunderstood.

Let's gallavant in Europe, instead. I hear it's great there in the summer.

Do It For Russia

2008-07-09T10:26:00.003-04:00

I am a patriotic man. I am so patriotic that I am taking up the responsibilities of all patria. One country I plan on helping is the motherland, Russia. The twelfth of September, 2008 has been declared Family Contact Day where married couples are encouraged to "engage in marital intimacy". Sounds good to me. The goal is to create boat loads of Russian babies by June 12, 2009, to combat the falling population rates of Russia.

I say, Hooray for babies, but a double Hooray for engaging in marital intimacy. I would go so far as to say that one may leave out the marital part, but I'm sure Russian officials would not be down with that.

As for me, well, I am extending a proposal (I think there's a joke to be made here) to one Ms. Hotforwords, "Let's make some magic and some Hotforwords Pinoy-Ruski-American babies."

Ciao.

Casino Royale: Take Two

2008-07-05T00:31:00.003-04:00

What's with me and watching movies for a second time through NetFlix and loving these movies even more? First, I saw Batman Begins for a second time and I was enthralled for the whole two hours and came out super excited for its sequel. This time, I rediscovered the goodness of Casino Royale.

I saw Casino Royale, probably back in 2006, on my computer so I didn't get the whole theater experience. The image quality was great, but it was on my computer and that may have affected my first impression. Since I was able to rent the DVD just recently, I was able to follow the weaving plot and more importantly, the witty, typical Bond dialogue that was heavily accented when I first saw it.

This movie is definitely along the same lines of Batman Begin's reboot of the franchise: it has refreshed double 0h seven. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Brosnan's Bond, but it was getting stale. The movies started getting too flashy. The gadgets were just too unbelievable (car controlled with a phone?) and the villains were over the top (diamond faced dude?). They weren't bad. They were good, but Casino Royale showed me that Bond could be better.

While not as gritty as Batman (can anything be, really?) Royale tweaked Bond to rely less on fancy devices and more on solid action sequences. It had parkour for crying out loud! You can feel Daniel Craig exert energy as Bond trying to achieve his mission. There was no ease of accomplishing things with the flick of a rist watch, just the use Bond's wits and doggedness. He friggin' ran after that parkour dude, and he kept up with that airplane bomber by just calling his phone.

Casino Royale has the good kind of glitz and glamour. The locales are amazing (Venice and Prague), and his suits are really sophisticated. Plus, Craig is in super good shape. It makes sense how he can do all these things.

This was and is Bond 2.0. I can't wait for the sequel Quantum of Solace. The sequel promises more of the same (good thing) and be a continuation of the plot established in Casino Royale. Plot continuation, anyone? Yes. Sign me up.

That Reminds Me Of The Time When...

2008-06-30T11:18:00.005-04:00

What is the deal with two-minute webisode content? That's episodic web content. The dude who made "Family Guy" and Google have a deal to deliver original content (a new cartoon) to websites that Google predicts are sites that Family Guy fans visit. Of course, the two-minute episodes will have product placement and your typical advertising and banners.

Is it just me, or does this smell of money money money? (I don't know what money smells like, so I couldn't find an adequate euphemism.) Maybe that's the purpose of Seth McFarlane's and Google's objective. How do you sell a product marketed to the Family Guy demographic (people who don't understand comedy and have ADD)? Well, why not create "content" (advertisements) by a popular cartoonist (unfunny bastard) that the intended demo will click. Plus, since the webisodes are two minutes long, it's practically a commercial. In fact, it's a commercial bookended and plastered with more advertising.

Genius marketing or are FG fans just stupid? Both.

Have fun watching glorified commercials, fans. I'll just wait for youtube to have the episodes so I can watch one and decide that I still don't like anything McFarlane makes.

Hair Countdown.

2008-06-29T15:53:00.002-04:00

I got my hair cut today. I can't wait until it grows back. But, for now, I will enjoy that it's not too hot anymore and I don't have to wear my hair in a vertical pony-tail while at the gym. No faux-hawk for me, though.

You Think You Know But You Have No Idea

2008-06-28T01:41:00.002-04:00

Okay, I am going to try to explain how to explain-- no, I am going to express how it feels to feel old.

There are varying degrees of old, and for the most part one can be old, or feel old, or both be and feel old. For me, I think I've always been immature or child-like in my behavior and lifestyle. In a way, I like this because it makes me feel youthful. More importantly, I think that kids enjoy life more on a basic level. They play. They are fascinated by common things.

Well, recently I feel like I just woke up suddenly one day and realized I am at the stage of my life that young'uns look forward to. It's the point between adolescence and adulthood. Yeah, I know that adolescence varies between individuals and maybe I'm not exactly at the point anymore, but instead past it. But it's just weird that when I look all around me, people are still growing and have their whole future ahead of them, while I am in my future. Maybe it' s not exactly the future I was planning, but it is a future.

A year from now, I will see if my new plans have come to fruition. Hopefully, with a little more do and a little less reliance on lady luck, I will be in a position to do what I want to do.

Letter To Coldplay

2008-06-25T02:04:00.003-04:00

Dear Coldplay,

I am so angry that I did not get free tickets to the MSG concert. This is a problem and will be for quite a while. You see, Madison Square Garden is the most accessible venue that you played in for your Viva La Vida tour. Now, I have no chance to see you live. I have never seen you guys live! Since I am also budgeting my money for future education expenses (hopefully, more grad school), I cannot afford to buy tickets to your shows. More importantly, I am the only one I know who digs Coldplay. My friends are a little "meh" about you guys, and the ones who are fans live in another state so going to a concert with them is out of the question.

If you guys could play another gig or two in New York, that would be balls to the walls great.

Yours Truly,
Blueberry

P.S. I love the new album. At first I couldn't get into it, but since I am such a huge fan, I eventually found a way to dig it. But I cannot emphasize how much I want to see you guys live before I die. Ciao.

Taste my Adobo, Bitches

2008-06-25T00:54:00.002-04:00

Surprise. I am not upset about what the President said about Filipino-Americans. First of all, of all the things that I could be upset about Bush's presidency, this remark is a non-issue. I can't even figure out how to make it an ignorant remark. The chef of the White House is Filipino and he was just saying that when he eats his food he is reminded of the talents of such Filipino-Americans. In no way can that be interpreted as an implication that Bush thinks Filipinos are just cooks. He may think that, which I don't believe he does, but his comments did not reflect that.

So, relax bloggers. Nothing to see here. In the mean time, while we all wait for the end of this administration, as a fellow Filipino-American, I offer you some lumpia.

I used to rule the world

2008-06-20T14:30:00.002-04:00

Go to Wordle.net to create your own awesome. Can you guess what's on my mind?

Coldplay First Listen - Part Two

2008-06-20T13:14:00.003-04:00

I have actually listened through the whole Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends album and have come away with a positive feeling. Once again, remember that I am a huge Coldplay fan. If you are not a fan, listening to a random song on this album may not persuade you. On the other hand, this album has a different vibe than their past efforts, specifically X&Y.

Coldplay has thrown out the formula with this album so even huge fans like myself may have had trouble listening though it for the first time. There are definitely the standout and possible radio-friendly hits like Viva La Vida and Violet Hill. But, radio-friendly is relative in this case since most of today's pop hits are hip-hop infused or sugar pop. There's nothing wrong with those types of music, but Coldplay's music won't get much air time with those stations in the first place.

The album has an overall string and acoustic vibe. Some may feel the glossiness of the album through first listen, but it's just Coldplay's style. I have to say, though, the acoustic versions are equal to if not better than their full counterparts (Lost? and Strawberry Swing). The full version of Lost? has a great clapping beat that would work extremely well in a huge concert setting. It also helps that it's a catchy and uplifting song. The marching beat is matched with great background vocals.

This brings me to the other feeling Viva gives you: it feels like the album takes place in a cathedral or a huge building. There are organs and the secondary vocals are choir-like.

If you are a Coldplay fan who only like songs like Clocks and Speed of Sound, then you might be slightly disappointed that there aren't many piano based "trance" songs. But there are songs that have a driving force and percussive nature to them like Viva La Vida that you can convluse your body to in classic Coldplay style. Some songs are in the album are just begging to be full tracks rather than just appended to the end of other songs. For example, Life in Technicolor does have that old Coldplay feel but is too short (a little over 2 minutes).

Be prepared to fall in love with tracks like Lovers in Japan and Strawberry Swing. Lovers has great percussion and a bouncing piano line with an ever so tiny layer of gloss. I keep saying gloss, but maybe it's something else on this track. You definitely need to listen to this track.

In the end, Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends will satisfy Coldplay fans but may not necessarilly convert naysayers even though the album is more different than any other that Coldplay has created.

Coldplay First Listen - Part One

2008-06-19T21:29:00.002-04:00

Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - First Listen

I am blogging my reactions to my first listen of Coldplay's new album. Be forewarned, I am a huge fan so you have to take that into consideration. Let's get started.

Lost? - Nice intro beat. So, far lives up to the acoustic version I've been listening to for a while. I'm still digging the acoustic version by a smidgen, but I'm sure I'll come around. I can really feel the cathedral/open echoing vibe this new album is sporting. It's new Coldplay. I think I'll have to get used to it.

42 - Another slow song (But, Blueberry, isn't Coldplay just all slow songs?). Okay, it's picked up the pace a little bit. I haven't gotten a "love this" moment yet for this song. The bridge in the middle is what throws me off. Actually, after the bridge, when Chris starts singing again it's not bad. It feels like Coldplay has went back to their Parachute routes more than their glossy X&Y, though I really like X&Y.

Lovers in Japan - Sick! Now I can tell I'm going to love this song-- just listen to the percussive piano. I think I may have my first "love this" moment. This is Coldplay at it's best, not too glossy, but definitely emphatic in it's driving nature. You can bob to this rock music. I'm still a questioning the layer of organ (?) or some sound that makes it feel X&Yish (think Speed of Sound-- I love Speed of Sound but this song doesn't need that background).

Reign of Love - Actually, this song is attached to Lovers. Decent. Better as a change of pace from Lovers' piano force. But what is that airy background vibe again? I never felt this from Violet Hill or Viva La Vida, so I don't know what's going on. Maybe I have it on too loud with my ear phones on. Okay it's getting better, I don't really feel it to much, or I've just been desensitized.

Yes! - The track is actually called Yes! I wasn't just sceaming in excitement. There's more acoustic guitar than the previous tracks. Wow! What instruments did I just hear? It's strings, but I'm not really good at identifying them. The strings part remind me of middle eastern sounds. It's definitely different. There it goes again. I like that part, actually. It's a nice reprieve. This album is going to take a few listens for me to love it.

Wait, the end of Yes has another song. It's upbeat and the vocals are airy and backgroundish. You can't really make out the words, but that's good in this case. It's a nice track. Also has that driving force but this time with electric guitar. Okay, I really like this track. Why couldn't this be a separate track? It's almost vocal-less, and purely instrumental. Good stuff.

This is a good chance to take a break. The title track is on (Viva La Vida) and you already know I love this track to death. It's probably my favorite of this album (so far) and of any Coldplay song probably ever. Probably.

Also, I have to go watch some awesome dancing in America's Best Dance Crew. So, holla.

Adventures on El Tren

2008-06-17T16:25:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the first day I might have possibly bought into the whole superstition deal that bad things come in threes.

It was Monday and I had just finished my only class for the day. It's some geometry crap that relies heavily on proofs, but anyway it was boring as usual. The first bad thing was the weather. Yes, it was hot because it's summer, but then all of a sudden, while I was trying to sleep in class, the thunder roll and the lightning strike. It started raining. It was pouring heavily and it was getting a little chilly. So when class ended I had to walk in the rain without an umbrella (ella eh eh).

Then, when I get to the subway station mildly soaking wet, I was thinking that at least I'm underground now. Well I waited for fifteen minutes and then I heard an announcement that the D train was going really slow and was at 59th street. It wasn't too bad, I was at 145th street maybe it'll get to me on time. Well after another fifteen minutes, there was another announcement that the train was still going slow and was still at 59th street.

I wonder what their definition of "going slow" is?

So I decided to suck it up and go back above ground and take the more expensive route using the metro-north railroad. I'm really cheap only because I have no job right now and as a student, I'd rather save my money for more fun endeavors like beer or movies or video games, not a train train ride.

As I get to the metro-north train station, I see that I have one minute to get on to the train that I needed. I thought to myself, wow, things are looking up, usually I have to wait a while, but at least if I run fast enough I can get on my train. So I jet across the steps probably scaring the old guy walking leisurely on the steps and as I open the door the train that I need is just about ready to close its doors. Wait! I don't even need to yell because I zoom past everyone and jump in the closest car.

Yes, I made it into my train. Bad things don't really come in threes. Except that wasn't my train. It was an express train going all the way to Connecticut passing by my dear old city just north of NYC. Sonofabitch! I had wished I would have missed the train like all those other times, but instead I make it in time for the wrong train, you ass. Anyway, I take the 40 minute ride to Stanford, and then wait another hour at the train station, all the while I am hungry because I missed dinner seeing as how my commute would now take me three hours.

I eventually take the local train back home from Standford. The thing that kept me going and focused through the hunger and waiting was I could not wait to get home at eat some lumpia. I resisted myself from buying any food at the train station. Plus, the food was just donuts because it was late at night and everyone eats donuts at night.

Finally, when I get home at 11 pm, I collapse mentally because the lumpia was not cooked and my motivation to survive the day was all for not.

Mid-Summer Movie Madness

2008-06-16T10:56:00.004-04:00

This summer is shaping up to be a great summer for movies. Here is a list of the movies I am looking forward to starting with releases in June 20.

June 20.

Get Smart - Steve Carrell is always hilarious and the premise of him being a secret agent is too hilarious. I can't stop laughing at the trailer when Carell gets burned by lasers. Dwayne "the rock" Johnson also is a strong action-comedy guy. And, of course, Anne Hathaway is beautiful eye-candy.

June 27.

Wall-E - I shouldn't have to explain why this is on the list. In fact, Wall-E should be a list on its own. It's a Pixar movie and that should suffice. Plus it's about a cute robot in space looking for love.

July 11.

(Yes, I am skipping Hancock. I'm a huge Will Smith fan, but this superhero thing looks tired.)

Hellboy 2 - I was not excited for the first Hellboy, but it turned out to be a decent popcorn movie. The second outing looks to improve with the director of Pan's Labyrinth on the helm. You can see the great visuals and atmosphere with all the monsters and demons that Guillermo adds to the mix.

July 18.

The Dark Knight - The sequel to possibly the greatest comic book (and just plain films in general) film, Batman Begins. Need I say more. Well, I will. It's a good thing that Wall E and The Dark Knight don't premiere on the same weekend or else I would be torn.

August 1.

The Mummy 3 - People can say what they want about sequels, but the mummy franchise has always been a solid popcorn flick. This time the setting has changed to China, which mixes it up a bit. I'm surpised that I'm a little bit excited for this one.

August 8.

The Pineapple Express - This is another Judd Apatow movie. I really liked Walk Hard despite it's poor reception, so I am actually looking forward to more of his stuff. Also, James Franco is actually a hilarious guy (see his Apatow-directed skits on Funny or Die (dot) com).

August 15.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - It's Star Wars but completely in computer graphics. Looks like a fun diversion, but I would watch it for the action and possibly great visuals. Plus it's Star Wars, whether it's good or not, you have to see it.

Tropic Thunder - I seriously cannot wait for this movie. All you have to know is that a bunch of actors, who think they're in a movie, are put in a jungle in the middle of the war. Robert Downey, Jr. (Go, Iron Man!) who plays a white actor who gets surgery to look like a black guy for the "movie". Hilarity will ensue.

So those are my picks for this summer. For a more condensed list, I would recommend The Dark Knight, Wall E, and maybe even Tropic Thunder. Happy movie watching.

Yes It Was That Awesome

2008-06-15T23:39:00.006-04:00

The Happening was a blast. I just saw it tonight and it has to be one of the funnier movies I've seen this year. The whole theater could not stop laughing. Who knew that Mark Wahlberg could have such vibrant delivery. I mean, when he yells out "What? No!", I wonder to myself if M. Night really is a brilliant playwright. The way Marky Mark pretends to be pretending scared was awesome. He plays a character who is actually pretending to be scared of this happening. In reality you can see he has no emotion whatsoever. I also loved the whole theme of this movie. In some movies you have to guess until the end what the message or twist is. In The Happening, you don't need to guess, because your first instincts are correct. You already know what is happening, even if it seems ludicrous, even if the characters on screen mention the causes but it sounds so unbelievable that you think to yourself that it can't be that obvious. No. The Happening is beautifully simple. In fact, M. Night was able to protract a sub-15 minute short movie into a huge comedy blockbuster. He could have made an impact with a short vignette, but he literally went the extra hundred miles of the USA east coast and gave you an unbelievable adventure through miles of green pastures. Gone is the boring suspense of Night's previous efforts. No work required here, guys. If you don't believe your first guess, then The Happening sort of wraps it up with a newsreel explaining the whole event with the final verdict that no one really knows how it's all happening.

I cannot wait to see the sequel titled The What-The-Fuck-Was-That-Piece-Of-Shit.

I love you, Zooey Deschanel. Please don't hate me forever.

June Blerg

2008-06-13T18:00:00.003-04:00

After years of waiting, R. Kelly has been acquitted of 14 counts of child pornography. There was supposedly a sex tape of Kelly and a 13 year-old girl. At first, I'm a little pissed that another celebrity gets away with things that "normal" people cannot, but then I read that the family of the girl on the video never testified. So, if it doesn't bother the victim, then I'll hold my tongue and tears.

Plus, even as much as I think R. Kelly is a douche, you have to put the case into perspective. Here, the victims won't even testify so it's understandable that Kelly walks. Whereas when an unarmed man gets fired upon with 50 bullets, the police who did the shooting walk.

Balance?

On a more personal and non sequitor note, I am so frickin' lazy. I'm actually not scared of this lazy summer because it has been a lazy and depressing 2008 for me. All I ever feel now is meh.

Psychology of a Haircut

2008-06-12T23:10:00.002-04:00

I always thought that Asian hair was non dissimilar to your Caucasian/white folks hair until I started caring about how I wore my hair and realized how varied hair can be. According to many websites, and most people I know, one with a round and youthful face such as myself looks best with short hair. Ever since college, though I may not have yet to full discover who I am as a person, I at least know that I like to rock the long hair look more often than not. When I say long hair, I mean any style that's not your typical clean cut look that is close to your head.

Why not just wear my hair the way most people say I look good with? Yes, I have worn my hair short recently (last summer), but I like my hair to express how I am feeling. With a short hairstyle I feel that gives off the message of "Hey, let's hang. What-up?!" I feel that it is a more of in your face style. It gives off the vibe that you are open to being read. Nothing really wrong with that cut. I actually agree that I look better with short hair, and I enjoyed wearing it in the summer of last year. But, sometimes I don't feel that way.

I like long hair because, to me, it let's me take a back seat and hide if I am not feeling down to hang. I use it as a protection to blend in. Now my hair isn't long like a girl's but it's really shaggy. More puffy, actually. Asian cats don't really have hair that's feathery naturally. Mine grows thick and full. It can possibly be interpreted as unattractive, but I believe that gives me a better edge personality wise. If I can impress folks with me just being myself, then I can have any frickin' hairstyle I want. Basically, I hope to use substance over style.

Plus, I like to rock out with my hair all disheveled-like. But I foresee that even before the Fall semester begins, I may have to get into the clean cut look. The short hair does actually look even better as it grows out. I can just gel it up and get the same laissez faire vibe. Ultimately, that's the message I want to give out. Lower expectations, but when someone gets to know me, and if I let myself get closer, they will appreciate moi por moi.

Now if I can just find a salon that can give me that shag haircut on a consistent basis, then I'll be so happy.

Too Hot

2008-06-10T15:15:00.003-04:00

It is too frickin' hot here in the Northeast. I don't know how the West and the South do it, but this 97 degrees (F) plus weather is killing me. As a matter of fact, it has made me lazier than usual, if that's even possible. I do not want to leave the house because it's too hot and my skin burns easily since I'm so pasty white.

But the world believes I should go out more.

Just for health purposes, people need the sun to get their vitamin D. But what about all the skin cancer and skin damage? I could just eat more oily fish and take supplements. But I hate taking pills. I can take vitamins, but I won't enjoy it. With this burning weather I'd swallow a whole bottle not to have to go outside.

Thank god I am only taking one class this summer in the evenings. I won't have to dilly-dally all around the city in the afternoons. While that was so much fun last summer, I was employed back then and enjoying the benefits of teaching. Now I'm in a purgatory of uncertainty with the the only thing getting bigger is probably my weight.

Ella A A

2008-06-05T19:10:00.002-04:00

I'm late to the party (or am I early?), but I just found out about the singer/song writer Marie' Digby. She pronounces her name marie-ey. She's known for her acoustic interpretation of Rihanna's Umbrella. I'm not a huge fan of Umbrella, Rihanna did an okay job but the acoustic version Digby does gives it an edge. The hip-hop/pop/rnb vibe that the original obviously puts out is filtered in the acoustic version, but not to a point where it's not danceable or recognizable. It's great how all the beats and production of the original is still somewhat present in Marie's version.

Big ups to Marie Digby and of course Rihanna.

On a more Asukal note, how cute is Ms. Digby. Of course, once again, a half white and half Asian girl is attractive. Big surprise. Now I did hear Umbrella before I saw who actually sang it so I'm not too douchey.

Cool Hough Kids

2008-05-25T18:31:00.002-04:00

It's a Sunday evening and I'm listening to The Cool Kids. I just found out about them, of course via what some may think are questionable means: iTunes free tracks.

It's very much in the same vein as Lupe Fiasco. People say it's a throwback to the Hip Hop of the 80s. Whatever it resembles, me likey. As long as it's not like the crap that I hear blasted through cars all over the place today. I'm not a hip hop fan--it's fun to dance to when you're out and about, but to listen to everyday? Not so much. But The Cool Kids are something I can listen to. It's not tolerable, it's actually enjoyable.

On to another topic: dancing. Specifically, that Dancing with the Stars has some really hot girls. Of course, Cheryl Burke is cute. I've known that for the past few seasons, but I only found out about Julianne Hough today. I can't believe there's another blonde I can add to my mental cutie list. She is really something. I guess that dancing does your body good. It looks fun what with all the dancing shows that have sprouted recently.

If Cheryl wasn't a reason enough to watch DWTS, then Julianne shaking it will force me. Just maybe.

Proxy

2008-05-25T03:09:00.003-04:00

Do we live proxy lives? Well, think about what you do and what you get. Do you do something that will immediately or directly get you what you need or want?

I've never really thought about this, but I say we do live disconnected lives. If you're working, you go to work to make money. The immediate result of working is receiving money. This money then is used to get you things like food or fun. In a life that is not a proxy life, one would do something where the act of doing is the goal or its immediate outcome is the goal. Proteanview compared it to tribes who go hunt or gather to get the food that they need. Or if you wanted to have fun, you would actually do the act of having fun like dancing.

I would say that the proxy life is what allows us to have complex and sometimes fulfilling lives if conducted correctly. But this is also a broad generalization. Maybe there are people who like working for a company and actually work for the goal of helping that company. Maybe some people don't pay for their fun. Maybe some people do gather their food at the end of they day.

For those who live the proxy life, the use of money and trade has allowed us to get material wealth and satisfaction. I like my video games, and for the most part, I worked to get money to get them.

Of course, there's always more to life than this proxy and daily grind. I think those who do the proxy thing really well, make loads of money so they can do loads of things. In those cases, the proxy life works.

For me, if money didn't matter, if I felt invincible, if I didn't need to worry about the future, I think I could enjoy myself more.

But that's when I ruled the world

2008-05-25T02:07:00.003-04:00

I can't think off the top of my head a Coldplay song that featured violins so prominently as the driving rhythm as they do in their single Viva La Vida. Of course I am a little biased since I am such a huge Coldplay fan, but I really love this song. So far, they're two for two. I really liked Violet Hill, and I think Viva La Vida really complements it. Viva La Vida has a driving beat like many Coldplay songs, but I get a laid back feeling from this single. Whereas Violet Hill is a little more determined and serious like a marching band, Viva La Vida is just a genuine enjoyable feel-good song. It's like opening a box and a gust of wind hits you and you smile and listen to to the violins playing. I'm not trying to analyze the lyrics, but I like that they gave a shout-out to Roman Catholic choirs. I can just picture a choir full of singers in the black and white church frocks on a grassy hill and everyone having a good time in the summer. Except not to hot like an American summer, but what I imagine a European trip to a field would be like.

I really don't care that Viva La Vida is played in the iTunes commercial. I'm past judging when bands sell-out. If it weren't for "selling out" I would never have heard of Coldplay back in the day. One of their songs ("In My Place") was played on Smallville, when Smallville was still bearable and interesting. Since then, I never looked back.

But, I have yet to experience them live. I'm upset, thought that in their Norther American tour, they won't be selling tickets to a New York City showing. You have to win it, so I'm hoping I have good luck.

Violet Hill and Viva La Vida feel like Coldplay's newest effort will be really fresh. They seemed more relaxed and I'm hoping that each track spawns the same desire from me to listen to them on a loop.

M. Night's "The Happening"

2008-05-19T22:10:00.003-04:00

M. Night Shyamlan's new movie The Happening comes out this summer. Check out the trailer first then decide. So far, I'm very "meh" about this movie. It's definitely not because it's by M. Night. I've already come to terms that The Sixth Sense will be his best movie, but I am not a serial M. Night hater. You just need to realize how good his first movie was and then tone it a tad bit down for the rest, but I actually really liked Signs and I liked The Village (but not too much).

People and animals, I think, are dying all around the world. People are scared and panicking. No one know what's happening. It sounds like a good suspenseful premise. I feel like it could be a J.J. Abrams type of Lost thing, but quieter and creepy. But it's just the damn trailer and makes it look horrible. Rumor has it that there's no real resolution in the movie. It might end in a cut-to-black or the actual "happening" is invisible or imagined. Actually, as I am writing this I am starting to feel a little hyped for this movie. I just hope that the resolution is satisfying or at least I can syphon some deeper meaning whilst everyone else hurrah-hurrah's for the stupid Hulk movie. (I'm still going to see the Hulk. But not in theaters necessarily.)

I guess you shouldn't watch the trailer. That way, the whole suspense and atmosphere of the movie won't be spoiled. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, but I won't be holding my breath. (Lady in the Water just hurt me too much.)

Oil

2008-05-17T20:47:00.003-04:00

Did you know Brazil can function well even without foreign oil? They have cars that can run on sugarcane ethanol. If there were a situation that prevented the import of any oil, like, oh say, we run out of this "unlimited" fossil fuel, Brazil would not flinch. I'm calling the U.S. out on this. Why? Why can't we develop technology that will make our economy and security that much stronger. We will be independent and keep the earth healthy. We won't have to unnecessarily kiss the middle east's ass.

Oil is not unlimited. The world will run out soon enough. Maybe that will be the only thing that keeps people from driving. Also, we could just stop using plastic bags in supermarkets. It takes oil just to make those bags that people throw away after they buy their grocery. Switch to cloth bags that you can reuse again and again.

Lost Predickshuns

2008-05-15T11:54:00.002-04:00

What the fuck is up with Lost? Seriously. I just saw the episode in the fourth season (current) that has Locke asking a dude in the cabin how to save the island from the boat guys. This show is constantly throwing me motha-effing questions. I seriously feel like I'm being jerked around. The Lost writers are having field days where they sit around in a circle, probably on the grass in the forest, while they smoke some herbs and shrooms, and they decide to put the most unbelievable things on the show. Not too unbelievable, but just crazy enough that you think what the fuck just happen in the last hour.

You name it they have put it in the show. You thought polar bears were nuts. You thought smoke monsters were insane. Try having time traveling and flashbacks that combine with flashforwards and an island that seems to have no rules. I think that the show ends with the island just having some goddam underground railroad system that supplies the insula with all the freaky shit ever. ("Hey, let's put a polar bear and some dharma cereal on this thing and send it to the island. We got nothing else to do".)

Now Christian, Jack's supposedly dead father, and just last week, also Claire's father, is actually on the damn island. And not just on the island like where-the-fuck-am-I, but inside the cabin with friggin' Claire. Claire is not even freaked out. She has even let her infant son go. What kind of fracked up shiznit is this bowl of honkey doo?

Stop jerking me, Lost writers! It's episodes like this when I just want to shoot myself and switch back to being a Heroes fan. Sure, Heroes is Lost lite, but that's because when they give you questions they answer it.

Let's make a bet, we'll see someone get shot on the island but mysteriously reappear later on. No,not crazy enough. He'll reappear as a girl. And he'll actually be Jack from the future. She'll be Jack from the future who had a sex change because that's the only way the island would let Jack back on the island.

And then someone will discover that if you stick an iguana in your bum, the smoke monster will appear in a pinkish hue and the theme song from Charles In Charge will announce its arrival every time. That way you have a head start.

Let's see. What else will Lost come up with. Okay, Locke will learn magic during an extended stay in the cabin. Not Harry Potter magic, but stupid parlor tricks. Let's make that one singular trick. He can turn a flower into a dove. And that dove craps green meteor rocks that people can eat just in case there's no helicopter drop-off. Of course Hurley will have a ball with this dove. Not because he's fat. But because instead of a regular dove face. The dove will have the face of Libby. Yeah, motherf@#$ing Libby.

Fringe and Dollhouse

2008-05-12T23:58:00.003-04:00

Fox has a history for being a trash hole for reality television and crappo vision in general. They do get good shows once in a while, but they don't know how to market or handle it and Fox ends up canceling it (e.g. Firefly and Arrested Development). Recently, Fox has picked up orders for two shows that have great potential for next year's television run: Fringe and Dollhouse.

What makes Fringe and Dollhouse Asukal fodder? They're made by the Lost/Cloverfield guy (J.J. Abrams) and by the Firefly/Serenity dude (Joss Whedon) respectively. Lost and Firefly are two of my favorite things. That and kittens. Plus had Iron Man not been so hot, I would say that Cloverfield is the best movie I've seen in theaters this 2008.

Of course, Fox will fuck it all up, so I'll probably end up just adding a box set of seven episodes for each show next-next season. Fringe is about a government group that studies paranormal events. From the little I've read, it sounds like an X-files show. I actually never watched X-files when I was younger, so I'm actually not really looking forward to Fringe its content; rather, I'm just riding the J.J. hype train. (He made Lost and Cloverfield, so Fringe might be good.)

I'm more excited for Whedon's Dollhouse. The last thing of Joss that I was into was Firefly/Serenity, and since that's dead, I've been lacking in the Whed department. Firefly was the bomb. But even without Whedon's name on the show, the concept sounds loads more interesting than Fringe. It's also about a government group, but it's a group of people that can have memories or personalities downloaded and use that to solve cases. It's a secret group, I am guessing, but the drama and excitement comes from the question of whether it's ethical to do such things and whether the dolls have true identities themselves. There's a lot that can be played around there. It will of course have the wit that comes with Whedon's writing. Just think of Asukal but the exact opposite.

We shall see. Hopefully there will be more box sets of Dollhouse than of Firefly at the end of its run. Oh, and Tahmoh Penikett of Battlestar Galactica will be in it alongside Eliza Dushku. Penikett deserves more screen time as he was one of the better actors on BSG. Go, Helo!

Check Out My Stimulus Package

2008-05-09T01:39:00.004-04:00

What would I do with my stimulus check? Let's see: I'm unemployed because I quit my job months ago. I'm still in grad school part-time for a degree that will get me back into the same job that I quit. I'm living at home and living-- err, I mean, mooching off of mama and papa (emphasis on the second syllables). And, I am slowly chipping away from my savings. Actually, it's not slow, I am blowing it.

Most people are going to save it. They're the smart ones. They're the ones with discipline and jobs. They have the foresight to look to their retirements. But what can I say? I'm in my mid-20s (almost wrote 'early', arghh!) and I think I should focus on enjoying myself. About a year ago, when I was enjoying work (summer is awesome, not just for students, but for teachers) I was thinking of saving up to go travel for this summer. I wanted to save up enough to so I could pay for my brothers also. But of course, plans change. Now I'm taking it slow.

I still want to enjoy myself. So I'll feed my second addiction, which is video games! Depending on how much I get, I plan on saving it temporarily and earmarking it for a nice Playstation 3. Grand Theft Auto IV is begging to be played, but I want that PS3 bundle that comes with Metal Gear Solid IV. I may have to spend more than the stimulus, but this is a great excuse to blow several hundreds of dollars. What was I gonna save for anyway? A car? Well, maybe that would make more sense, but I have the urge to splurge on gaming. Plus, you know my Wii is horrible for anything but Smash Bros.

I dont' know. Maybe I should wait until the price of a Playstation 3 is more manageable, like around $200 to $300. Who knows if I'll even get a check.

EDIT: On second thought, I don't even have an HD tv to enjoy this sucka.

Go, Batman. Go, Batman, Go!

2008-05-06T12:47:00.003-04:00

Just to show you how much I love Batman Begins: I came home last night tired and allergic to everything, but I still popped in BB from NetFlix, and I still was able to stay up (3 am end time).

I couldn't watch it in the family's pseudo home theater/den because my bro was studying in there, but I was not easily prevented from enjoying god bat fun. I pulled up my lappy (that's laptop for you laymen), grabbed my bed sheets and jumped on to the uber-comfy leather sofa. It wasn't an ideal set up since I had to use headphones and I had to tilt my head to see the screen, but the softness of the couch alleviated some of the problem. Hey, it was better than sitting on a chair with the laptop on a table as if I were studying. Paper!

I was actually surprised that I enjoyed Batman Begins so much on the second time. Well, I was more surprised that I hardly remembered each scene. It was as if I were watching it for the first time. Still an unbelievable movie. The ironic thing is that the realism and plausibility of the movie is what made it so good.

Batman has always been that type of hero: relatable and human. You believed this rich man is so angry at life that he became this vigilante. You believed that he was inspired by his good parents to make things better in Gotham by seeking justice and turning away from his angry vengeance. Most origin super-hero movies are like that. It's great to see how Batman came to be. Literally, it was great to see how he learned to work in the shadows, where did he get the inspiration for his special gloves and his symbol. It was great to see how he acquired his gadgets and how his bat signal came about. So good.

I was also really impressed by the star power of the movie. Most movie stars stay away from comic book roles and roles that have them play limited parts in general. Cain and Freeman, two of some of the best actors around, had little screen time compared to Bats and action, especially Freeman, but that didn't stop them from playing their characters well. It's great to see that they're not too stuck up to be in comic book movies.

One may also argue that Batman Begins stands on its own outside of the comic book genre. I actually feel that Batman Begins can be a good movie by itself unlike movies like Spider-man and Iron Man. (Absolutely, under no circumstances, am I dissing Spidey and the tin can. Awesome and almost stands with Batman Begins in the best movie category. Actually, those three movies may switch places alot in my book.)

This post is already too long. I was going to argue against the naysayers who say nay to what they think was an unexplosive movie. Maybe later.

McDonald's Paper

2008-05-05T18:28:00.002-04:00

Right now, I am sitting in a McDonald's on Broadway and 138th-ish. It's not everyday I get to "blog" outside of, what now feels like, a permanent hole. So enjoy this little bit Asukal fans.

I woke up this morning and I finally went to school to begin my research for my paper. I'm not writing anything heavy, it's just for my thesis in education. It's probably going to be a load of bull-donkey-doo, but most papers from my experience are. Did I get much work done? Not really. But I did navigate my school's worthless digital library system so that I could download pertinent journals. If I had been just a little bit more lazy, I'd have just stayed at home and trudged through google scholar. I got at least 10 articles or so-- that should be enough. I still have to "read" them and THEN start typing the paper. I only have to have the review-of-literature and methods section for this semester, but I heard from a birdie that the literature part is the hardest. I have to look at the past work that giants have done so that I can stand on their shoulders and see farther than them. That's not going to happen.

I'll probably just wrap a portion of the giant-- the toe, maybe, and color over the wrapping paper with my own two-cents and style. It should be good enough for class.

When did I become this diminutive pretender? Was it right after 8th grade? Did I really peak ten or so odd years ago? What the frick kind of peak was that?

I hope that the next real world post is much more lively, because that crispy BLT I scarfed down is making me depressed. Or, it's the allergies-- allergies to pollen and pollo.

It's time for class now. Peace, I'm out!

Taglog Pangako Or Not

2008-05-04T02:13:00.003-04:00

I am so jealous of this little girl I found on youtube who can speak Tagalog better than me. That's not such a huge feat, but if you take into account that I'm in my 20s and she's in her fours, it is a little embarrassing. What's even cooler is that she's a Ukrainian-Canadian baby who was adopted by a Filipino family in Canada. So take that, me!

But, oh how she's just the cutest thing in the world. She reminds me of how much I miss my little cousin when she was four. My cousin had the cutest voice with a slight lisp which made her so cute (I'm oozing cute thoughts right now). She would call me Kuya (0f course) and one time started calling her own mother Tita because she heard me and my bros call her that. Then my tita would be all "Anak, don't call me tita. Call me Mommy".

Good times.

Anyway, I realized a couple of things from this video. Even though I'm relatively young to be thinking of having my own family, I realized that I'd be perfectly happy with adoption. Color doesn't matter. I know I can genuinely have feelings for a child who's not my own blood. Plus, blood is overrated.

Secondly, I think I'm going to start speaking Tagalog at home. Sure, my family speaks English to each other, but my mamay (grandpa, but in reality great-grandpa) does not. He's really old and it would be great if I can tel my mamay to stop dancing or tell him a joke or ask how he hid from the Japanese during the second world war. I see it all the time-- Americans who can communicate with their older relatives. Why can't I?

The first thing though, is I have to get over how stupid I may sound sometimes. I can sound decent when I say things like "Na saan sila Daddy?" or " Give me the remote. Tumotulog ka lang." Basically, it's pidgin Taglish. But I think I'm going to start trying to form sentences, regardless of how much of a manok I sound like. If I combine that with English Tagalog dictionaries, I think I'll be fine.

We'll see what happens. I have made so may promises like this before. Plus, I would like to be able to talk to relatives in the Philippines who live in the bukid/country-side. Some live in Manila, and they speak English, but I would love to joke around and be relaxed in the bukid.

Ciao. (God, I can't stop watching this cute little girl speak Tagalog!)

Iron Man One and a Half

2008-05-03T17:16:00.002-04:00

This is not really a second look at Iron Man. I do want to see it for a second time (only other movie I saw twice in theaters was Spider-man 2), but I just want to nitpick the movie some more. Now that I've had more time to think about it, Iron Man ranks up there with Spider-man 2. It doesn't surpass it for a couple of reasons.

The biggest reason is that the commercials, trailers, and advertisements pretty much spoiled all the scenes of the movie. Granted, it made Iron Man's trailers that much incredible, but at the expense of some wow factors during the actual. Yes, I was wowed a couple of times during the movie, but if the trailers and commercials would just have left some things out, I know this movie would have leap-frogged right over my favorites. Excellent trailers, though. It really made me hyped for this movie.

Another reason Iron Movie does not surpass Spider-man 2, is the fight scenes. I'm not going to spoil anything, but towards the end of the movie, I was hoping Iron Man would fight the baddies with excellent fight scenes. Look at SP 2, all those high flying acrobatics and hand to hand combat with Doc Ock were incredible. I could not believe my eyes, and this was with 2004 technology. Iron Man did impress with the graphics, but he didn't really fight much. Sure he used his repulsors and missiles here and there, but there was no build up. He should have charged up his cannons at one point and deliver a final blow to his enemy. Watch the movie and you'll see what I mean.

Iron Man is still the incredible summer movie to beat this year. I highly recommend it. If the sequel, which hopefully still focuses on Stark, has more combat and his demon-in-a-bottle struggles, I can see Iron Man 2 surpassing Spider-man 2.

Kudos.

Iron Man

2008-05-02T00:38:00.004-04:00

I just saw a night-before showing of Iron Man (Woot, Woot!). As you can tell by my wooting, I really enjoyed the movie. Either that, or I just enjoyed going to see movies the night they are released. I actually didn't know they show movies the night before-- this wasn't a midnight screening like Spider-man 3, which by the way, I saw a year to this weekend before (Maybe, I'll make a habit of this every year).

Before I give a quick review of Iron Man, I just want to give everyone a heads up: I saw this movie by myself. There were other people in the theater, but I went to it alone. Judge me if you want to, but I just don't have the call-up-and-hang-out relationship going with peeps. Most of those peeps are either broke, working, or hundreds of miles away. So you see why I had to go "dolo". Also, I would like to apologize to any English majors and my brother, if they find my use of conjunctions to begin sentences appalling. It's a bad habit. But, what are you going to do? (On purpose, I did that.)

Iron Man has marked the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. Definitely kills Spider-man 3, but if you think about it, that's not too hard to accomplish. It had all the elements of a great popcorn flick: action, boy and girl flirting, uber effects, and of course comic relief. What you won't find are corny-ass one-liners (How many hyphens have I used so far?). Thank God, for that. Nothing ruins a movie more than those stupid quips. Just watch Catwoman. Actually, the sad thing is the puns in that movie were the least of its problems.

Robert Downey, Jr plays the billionaire playboy very well. He's a fast talker and should definitely give props to the writers. Kudos. It's good to see Ms. Paltrow in something that's not by Billy Shakespeare. She's back on my good list. Right next to Chris and the band.

Iron Man is just a comic book fan's dream come true. There are nice hints here and there that reference things in the comics (War-machine, anyone? That has to be one of my favorite scenes). You should wait until the end of the credits to get a nice bonus scene. In response to that, I hope they just make some sequels focusing on Stark/Iron Man, instead of adding more heroes and villains. Take a book from Spider-man 3: You CAN actually overdose on super-heroes and villains.

This movie is for everyone. Iron Man brings back the super-hero movie in a sea full of wannabes. It deserves a seat right next to Spider-man 1 and 2 and Batman Begins.

Next Stop: The Dark Knight.

Violet Hill

2008-04-30T03:34:00.002-04:00

Coldplay has been one of my all-time favorite bands, and they're coming out with a new album this year. Hurrah! But, they have a lot to prove to me this time around. My tastes are changing with the advent of online radio and albums available on torrent sites. I'm falling asleep as I write this (4 in the morning, anyone?) so I'll keep it short. I just downloaded (legally! via their website) they're latest single and it's been on repeat for a about the sixth time. Maybe it's because I miss Coldplay, but so far so good. My first impression is that Violet Hill sounds like a marching anthem. I'm not listening to the words, just the melody and the thump of the drums. I really enjoy this marching feeling and the guitar riffs are un-Coldplay-like. Great change of pace. If it weren't for Chris's voice, I would never have recognized this as a Coldplay track.

March on. For reasons unknown, march on.

It's the Colors, Duke, the colors!

2008-04-26T23:21:00.002-04:00

I'm going on record to say that Speed Racer is wack. How can the whole selling point of a movie (based on commercials and advertisements) be that no other movie has looked like or moved like it? Really? You're going to tell me I should watch this piece of crap because it's so sparkly and no other turd will shine as bright? The movie looks pretty-- I'll give you that. But the visiuals look hardly ground-breaking. I know the Wachowski brothers did some new photography technique, but it's not translating through my television. Maybe in the IMAX theaters I can see a possible difference, but I hardly doubt regular theaters can convey this supposed awesomeness. First of all, I feel like throwing up. You can't put all those colors on the screen and not expect us to get sick. It's a damn racing movie. Look at Pixar's Cars. Arguably the worst Pixar movie ever, and it was about cars. Coincidence? 300 was a great movie to experience through IMAX. It was very stylized, but Speed Racer force feeds us all this visual stimulation. 300 was highly stylized. The color pallet was highly varied. Beautiful. Maybe Speed Racer will prove me wrong, and I hope so. I hope the story elevates the visuals to kick my butt so hard.

Until then, my bets are on The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Indiana Jones.

Extended Vacation

2008-04-25T16:32:00.002-04:00

Actor Gary Coleman is getting a divorce. I'm not here to make fun of him. So he's short, big deal. Well, maybe big is not the correct term. I'm pretty sure he has a condition, so we'll leave it at that. Plus, who am I to make short jokes.

The thing I want to point out to you is the fact that he states that he has no friends. In fact, his wife says that that is one of the problems she has with him-- that he has no friends. How is this a reason you can bring up in divorce court? You married the dude, and now you realize he has no friends? I'm a little scared now for Coleman (no pun intended, though it's quite funny). How can you have no friends? Even if you change the definition of friend to a broad term meaning acquaintance, you should have at least one. I think I'm scared because I feel like this could easily be me. I know I at least have one friend. Check out my facebook page! (Note: Social Networking sites are not really a good indication of how many friends you have.) I know I have at least one friend, because he or she is the one I can hang out with with no strings attached. I can feel comfortable around him or her.

But I don't think I confide in my friends. Hell, I don't even confide much to my brothers. Don't get me wrong, we can do fun things together like when the family goes on vacation, or we can play video games. But we don't have deep conversations that talk about our personal lives. Why? I dunno. Maybe I was raised to repress emotion? No, that's bullshit. How can I be a coward and blame my upbringing. Bottom line is I keep to myself a lot. I can hang out and do this and that, but I'm not killing myself over the fact that I'm not going out this or that weekend. I can enjoy myself perfectly fine during those perceived droughts.

Maybe when I move out (or If?!) I will be forced to be more social or open. But I think I might actually just be more of a loner then.

Well, I just need to get my priorities straight right now, which is finishing up the teacher program, so I can get back into the classroom. And this time, when I get back to teaching, I hope against all hopes that I won't chicken out and quit. You're allowed to quit once, right? The second time, I'll just have to work on improving or figure out a way to distract from the stress. Maybe I'll just save up enough and put it all in a high yield savings so that I can retire early. Why am I thinking about retiring early?

My "passion" for the sciences will have to "temporarily" be put on hold. (Heh, and what exactly has it been doing the past two years? Hmm?)

No End In Sight

2008-04-23T13:41:00.004-04:00

One of the biggest mistakes in this Iraq war (besides the obvious reason for it, planning, and execution) was the disbanding of the Iraqi military. I just finished watching No End In Sight, a documentary about the quagmire that is the Iraq war. I am not an expert and I definitely do not know everything about this subject, but from watching this film I can honestly say that we, the U.S., first of all, had no business being there. Unless of course you are talking about Oil.

Why do I think the disbanding of the Iraq military was a huge mistake? If you think about it, the film makes sense, the people in the Iraqi military have no other form of livelihood than being int he army. That's where they make there money. Getting rid of this just pissed them off and made them run to their hidden weapons cache. Not able to provide for their family, fueled fundamentalist ideology. There was already no order, look at all the looting and property damage. Just imagine the libraries and museums with priceless artifacts of, not just Iraqi history, but of human history.

Weirdest thing was that some Iraqi generals-- those who had command over their soldiers, thousands of them, offered to US officials their help to secure the country. God knows we needed their help. This was their country. They knew their people. They could communicate with them, and they understood what they wanted. But we pissed them off and instead of giving "democracy" took away their chance to participate in the rebuilding process.

We didn't even have a rebuilding plan.

Well, this is just a rant. I'll admit I was in support of the war at the very beginning. I guess you can say I was like Senator Clinton. I actually bought the whole nonsense of the Iraqi regime's link to 9/11. I remember arguing with my friend "what about the weapons of mass destruction! Saddam is going to use them!" I was just a pawn in the Bush Administration's war machine. I guess they wanted oil. His whole administration is just fucking up.

So what happens when Iran or North Korea goes nuts? Where will I be? Will I stick around for the draft? I am now fully anti-war. I can't live with making the mistake of backing a "preemptive" strike. The enemy has to literally be on our shores, or else I will always have some doubt. There needs to be diplomacy first.

End Rant.

And private security contractors are evil. Just watch the documentary.

Am I a Girl?

2008-04-22T21:25:00.002-04:00

I just saw the return of new episodes of Gossip Girl. It was very "meh" in the beginning, but I really like how they're defiling (not defining) innocent Jenny. Don't get me wrong, I would never want someone so sweet to turn to the dark side, but this makes for good television. It's great to see Jenny and Blair go at it. Towards the end I actually thought Jenny and Nate were going to start developing a romantic relationship, but it turns out Jenny likes to use people. I wonder if Nate sees it that way. So big ups to the Jenny versus Blair wars.

When is Eric coming out of the closet?

I actually have an idea of who "G" is going to be, just because of my trolling through television blogs. This could definitely be interesting to see if "G" could bring the dark side out of "S". Wow, Gossip Girl is sort of like Star Wars where anyone can go over to any side. Let me see. Jenny is Anakin and Blair is or was her mentor, Obi Wan. Now they're against each other. Ooh, and the force can be considered sex appeal, which everyone uses to get what they want, except if you're on the light side. Then you just stay monogamous and nice and lovey dovey like "S" and Dan. Gross!

By the way, I think this show is making me gay.

Live Blog: American Idol

2008-04-16T21:50:00.003-04:00

9:50 pm: Bullshit on Jason Castro being safe for another week. I can't believe how huge a fan base he has that he has survived this long. I don't think he can sing or perform even remotely well. I really, really don't like him. If you switch Kristy with that douche, then I think you have the correct safe foursome. We'll se in a couple of minutes.

9:53: Back from commercial break. Who is out?

9:54: WTF!? Syesha is safe?! If Kristy is out tonight, then that's a whole boat of irony. The first time that I actually enjoyed Kristy, that she might leave.

9:55: Damn. Irony. Kristy did great last night. When is Jason Castro going? Please. I think Kristy will do well in the country genre. Hey, she's pretty and can sort of hold a decent note. If she doesn't become mildly successful, then "oh, well".

9:58: Simon Cowell is so gay. How can he sit there and look weirded out when Kristy is singing to you. Just at least sit still and pretend to enjoy it. No weird eye rolling, please.

9:59: They cut her off. I'll give her props though-- she didn't fall apart tonight when singing out. I'm surprised to say this, but I'll miss Kristy. It seems like I'm liking all the people I hated on before. But I will never ever like Jason Castro.

10:02: I need to know how to actually "live blog".

Always Be My Baby

2008-04-16T13:01:00.002-04:00

You need to hear and see this. Unbelievable, that I can see this for the second time and get goosebumps. The arrangement is perfect. David Cook impresses vocally, but more importantly, there is real emotion in the performance. I would have never thought in a million years that a male performer could pull off Always Be My Baby. This definitely needs to be a single because I want it now. Amazing arrangement of an already great song.

That's a Number One Hit

2008-04-15T20:56:00.003-04:00

Wow. I take back all the horrible things I've said about David Cook. Out of everything I've heard on Idol, his version of Always Be My Baby is making me seriously consider getting it on iTunes. It was so good. The violins and everything just made the song soar. I can imagine listening this to this on repeat on iTunes. You have to understand: I really didn't like his other performances that much. Sure, Billie Jean was pretty good, but I just really didn't get him. That's fine. But, this performance was spot on. I hate to say it, but I agree with Paula that this song could be on a motion picture soundtrack. To add to that, I loved this song when I was in 6th grade or so, and to have it be remade and still love it says a lot about what David Cook did.

Of course, I definitely have to put Mariah Carey on legend status for being such a phenomenal song-writer. To have all her songs stand up today and even be rearranged shows her legacy.

If David hadn't blown me away, I would have made this post about how Kristy Lee Cook really impressed me. Seriously. She is definitely moving up on my book. I don't know the name of the song she performed, but I agree with Mariah, it gave me goosebumps. I didn't think Kristy could genuinely make me enjoy one of her performances with no strings attached. No flags and no country ho downs.

David Cook was far and away the number one tonight. I can see why some may say he has the number one spot locked. Kristy was number two for a sweet and genuinely enjoyable performance. I'm almost not angry that Malubay is gone. But if you think about it, I don't think Ramiele would have added anything to a Mariah song. But I still love Malubay.

I'm actually surprised that my favorite going into tonight, Carly Smithson, was not even in the top three for me tonight. I hope she's still here next week, because she has some chops and her other performances should be evidence enough to keep her on top.

Bottom Three: Syesha, Jason, Brooke White.

I'm hoping either Jason or Syesha are voted off. But with Michael Johns having left, it's always a toss-up.

Ghetto Hospital

2008-04-12T00:12:00.004-04:00

I had the funniest thing that's happened in a while happen. My brother is going to school to become a nurse and he has a test tomorrow. Part of the test involves doing some testing on a live patient. So he needed to practice on someone and I was available so I was sort of coerced into being his guinea pig.

He started with checking my breathing and my spine for I don't know what. I had to hunch over with my shirt off while he poked at my spine. I couldn't sit still for the first ten minutes because I'm not used to being touched at the back. I guess I'm very ticklish. So I had to figure out a way to suck it up. My mom came down and told me to just put my own hands on my back so that it would make it easier. Now I'm sitting down with my shirt off and my hands trying to reach for my back, still slightly jittery every time my spine was poked.

My bro couldn't get it right. So him and mom started yelling at each other. She came over with her own cold hands and started prodding me. They're both prodding. Surprisingly my mom is quite strong and I think I almost fainted because she was jabbing me at certain pressure points. I guess all Asians do know some form of Karate.

Then my brother had to check my blood pressure with that contraption that everyone is familiar with. So no big deal, right? Well he checks my right arm. Gets a reading. But has to check my left arm to make sure (It's in the manual). But he accidentally punches me in the face when taking off the thing-a-ma-bob. Then when he does my reading for the left arm, he wonders why my blood pressure reading is different from my left arm.

Then there's more poking. And then he has to use tape to mark parts of my back. He uses some tape, but I'm so pasty white that he has to use extra tape so that it stands out. He tried scotch tape and then some band aids and what not. So he leaves this on me for an hour because he had to take a break to review the textbook. But then he almost forgets that I have tape on my back.

Let me tell you, it's the anticipation of pulling off the tape that was more painful.

Are nurses suppose to curse out patients? Visa Versa?

Catching Up: BSG season 3 episode 11

2008-04-11T14:29:00.002-04:00

I think I hate Laura Roselin. I sympathize with Baltar's situation. Sure, he was a sucky president on New Caprica even before the Cylon occupation, but what was he to do when the Cylons approached him-- approached the entire human race? In my eyes, he only had two options: defy the Cylons and die on spot, all for what? Or, he could have worked with the Cylons, which he did. It kept him alive and possibly all the other humans. Seriously, if he just defied the Cylons, sure the humans would have had more respect for him, but for what cause? The Cylons would have just become the rulers or placed a different dummy president instead of Baltar.

Lose-lose situation. I don't think Baltar should be blamed.

I have a similar argument for Jammer. He was trying to work peacefully with the Cylons. But I guess he did have a choice. He didn't have to join the security force. So maybe I don't feel too bad that he was sent out the airlock.

And to the situation of this particular episode. Four base stars could have easily taken down Galactica. No question. I don't think Galactica should have had any say on the situation. I guess the Cylons are just dumb machines after all. ("Oh, wow. Galactica's going to shoot all of its nuclear warheads?" The Cylons should have the same number-- times four!)

Roses

2008-04-11T03:12:00.002-04:00

I guess it's about an hour later. I seriously nursed that drink. Doesn't matter. It was okay. I have a small buzz . . . at least, I think I do. I nursed it while I uncharacteristically perused my Facebook page. I really hate it, but recently my shut-in status has forced me to keep "in touch" digitally with various acquaintances.

Don't you find it weird that there's an ebb and flow to the status of your relationships with people. One minute you think you're friends and then the next you're barely even strangers. I'm not saying something bad goes down between you and them, but just that you can never keep them close. Maybe it's just me. Never good with any sort of relationship.

It's also weird how Green Apple flavored vodka makes you a tad insightful. Or it could be because I'm listening to Meg & Dia with a buzz. I used to be able to drink a bit before I became this introspective.

No Matter.

Maybe I really should have gone to that M & D concert. Well, it was an Angels & Airwaves concert with Meg & Dia as openers? Guests? I just didn't have anyone to go with. Next time. Next band, I will definitely go regardless of my companion situation.

I will still rock as hard in the crowd. Here's hoping that I follow through with this new decision.

Out.

The Best Day of 2008

2008-04-11T02:12:00.002-04:00

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Today was definitely the first beautiful day of 2008. I can feel the depression of the prolonged winter starting to fade away. It's about damn time. Only the spring/summer can get make me feel better (what with the being unemployed and unsure about almost everything in my life).

Right before I sat down to write this post (0214 hours on Friday), I spied my parents' Smirnoff Green Apple. It says it's a vodka (of course?) with a touch of green apple. I only know green apple from those lollipops and jolly ranchers. I like it on those items, but oh my god this drink tastes like crap. I thought I was so cool mixing it with orange juice to make a screw driver, but the green apple was too strong. I think if I didn't taste the green apple then that would be the perfect taste. I can't stress enough how crappy this drink tastes. If you're a non-drinker, just trying this will turn you off from any drink. Some people say that beer tastes like crap. I say you just gotta try different beers and build your tolerance. You will find your niche-beer. You can go your working man route or go for your imports-- many choices. But vodka shouldn't taste like crap. That's why I just mixed in another part of orange juice. It actually tastes acceptable, now.

Or maybe I'm just so light weight that I'm feeling a buzz. Hmmm?

I miss being social. I do enjoy my alone time and I don't know any other way, but I do have good times when I'm around "friends" and friends, so in a way, I miss those days. Maybe it had to do with me being employed and having expendable income. But more importantly, I was in contact with more people. Now I'm just a shut in. That's why I'm hoping the summer makes things a little better. It can at least make it feel as if everything is gonna be okay.

It's almost as if I'm just a wandering zombie. I don't feel any highs any more. The lows I was feeling when I first left my job have become so commonplace that I've even become numb to them.

I will never say that I regret quitting/resigning. It has given me some perspective to what I need to do (i.e. get back to work). I at least know that I took a chance at leaving my job and I know how it feels to be at home and unemployed while the rest of the world passes by. I think I can endure the crap I got from work better now. Hopefully, I find a better school and I can grow as a teacher and not let the kids get to me. It's either that or be this bum-zombie I am now.

That's why I think the sun and warmth can help me. Summer in the city is the best. I can get lost in the crowd and just wander and enjoy what the city has to offer.

Whatever. Just needed to vent. I don't regret. I just have to look forward.

And maybe stop being so damn lazy as my parents say. True.

...oh, and American Idol sucked hard tonight. I can't believe Michael Johns is gone. Inconceivable. Everyone else, with the exception of Carly Smithson, pales in comparison. I will definitely be looking forward to Michael's future work.

My Hand Says "Give Back".

2008-04-08T22:06:00.002-04:00

I can't believe how corny David Cook's performance was tonight. I'm talking about how at the end of the song he shows his hand to the camera and on it he has the words "give back" written-- you know, in the spirit of American Idol Gives Back week. So corny, that I almost felt bad for him. I'm not particularly a fan of David Cook, and it's nice to see that he is human and can have bad performance. I guess his smug style got to him and his performance suffered. Really. He could have just let the writing on the hand thing go. However, I actually didn't hate his song choice. It finally took some guts to pick something out of the blue. I think in his mind, David thought he would hit one out of the park with this performance. He probably thought that the idol gives back theme, combined with what he thought was a good song, topped off with his corny hand would create this cataclysmic performance that would continue is dominance week after week.

Ironically, I'm gonna start toning down my David Cook haterating (not a spelling mistake). When someone does something embarrassing (and corny), you can only let him go and just be. David Cook is off my shit list.

But, the other David (Archuleta) is still on. I really, really, don't understand how he can just coast through and be so frackin' popular. He has had bad performances people! Why can't you see that?

Jason Castro is temporarily off my list this week since his Somewhere Over the Rainbow was not entirely horrible. God, I hate it when the performers I don't like week after week finally make a good song choice and perform it well. That's why Kristy Lee Cook is still in it. She's milking America's natural resource of flag-lovers and Evangelical Christians. Maybe those two groups are the same? And once again, I actually liked Kristy's performance. It was one of her best. (No, that American song she sang last week with the flag in the background wasn't hot. It just struck a chord with certain peeps.)

So Kristy gets a reprieve this week from my list. So then who is on my list if the top two shit-listers have a break this week? My apologies go to Syeisha and possibly Brooke. Can I put David Archuleta in my list, please America? Well, if Arch refuses to be in the bottom, then Syeisha and Brooke will have to do. Syeisha because she seems to have this I'm-a-diva attitude about her. It's as if no one likes her. She only got along with Ramiele. But she's on my list mostly because of her boring performances. She is a very good singer, mind you. But she always chooses the songs of phenomenal vocalists. I mean, who can do Whitney Houston justice? If you perform that and a Fantasia song, you have to be awesome.

Brooke White was my favorite once. I really, really liked her. I don't NOT like her. I just think she's getting boring and possibly annoying. She always seems to be nearly in tears with each of her performances. The thing is, most of her performances aren't really tear-jerkers. They've just gotten boring. She has an oldie voice. Sorry, Brooke. I know it's probably who you are, but I don't think you're cut out for this business.

If anything, please keep Michael Johns and Carly Smithson on American Idol, America. Sure, Carly might have had a rare off night. She has always been on point every week, but her performance really did come off as angry.

Fox News Alert

2008-04-08T14:56:00.002-04:00

I always hear about the right-wing bias that Fox News has, but I never really witnessed it firsthand. Well, I don't know if you can consider what I am witnessing right now as evidence, but it still says something. There are three major cable news networks here: MSNBC, CNN, and of course, Fox News. Right now, around 2:50 pm (EST), General Petraeus is facing congress. He's supposed to talk about the progress of the surge of the US army in Iraq and whether there should be a pull-out once the surge is over. You know the deal about the US occupation/war in Iraq. It's important to hear firsthand from the general what's going on and what's in store for the future.

Well, I flip to CNN, the hearing is on. I flip to MSNBC, it's also on. But when I flip to Fox News, I see that dude from the VH1 show Best Week Ever talking about how The Simpsons is banned from Venezuela. Interesting choice for counter-programming. What happened, Fox News? The Iraq War not important enough to talk about? I know all new sources have their bias, but can Fox News at least pretend to not be.

April 5

2008-04-05T20:55:00.003-04:00

The premiere for the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica passed last night. I was not able to finish the third season in time. I decided to take my sweet time. It's hard to find good television and I'd rather not bum rush through the whole season (I'm around the 7th episode).

I did see Enchanted last night. I liked it alot. Sure, it was meant for kids, but Amy Adams sure wasn't hehe. I haven't seen a prettier girl on the movie screen in a while. I hope I see more of her in the movies, but I don't know if I'd like her in more mature rolls. If she stuck to strictly PG-13 affairs, then that would be great. The music was great. I've always been proud of Alan Menken because he represents for my hometown alma mater. But of course, Once had to win the Oscar for best original music. And I fully support that decision, though Enchanted did have good music too.

I seriously can't wait for the weather here to get better. I'm tired of the clouds and the cold wind. Once I get my feet on the ground, I should consider moving to the South or to the west coast. I was thinking of San Fransisco. My cousin moved there and she loves it. Though, I've heard the weather there is temperate and not the always-summer that other parts of California gets.

My writing has been suffering. :)

NBC 2008-2009

2008-04-04T01:31:00.002-04:00

NBC, you know, the channel, revealed its plans for the 2008-2009 television season. Why is Knight Rider in it? Did anyone watch the remake/movie this spring? Wasn't Bionic Woman a big enough flop? I feel like vomiting.

Heroes is coming back of course. You know how I feel about Heroes. Maybe I can cleanse my palette with Battlestar Goodness before I force myself to watch Hiro Nakamura teleport to the wild, wild west and fall in love with a cowboy.

What does look interesting is the description of the drama titled Kings. It's described as a modern day version of the story of David. I like good versus evil stuff.

Malubye bye (I'm sorry but I had to do it)

2008-04-02T22:02:00.003-04:00

There were some bad song choices, but she has a strong voice. But Castro and Kristy were also on similar paths. Jason just phones in every goddam' performance with his goofy-ass guitar playing whispering style. Bottom line is it's getting tired and your number shoulda been called tonight. His corny performances were only corned-out by Kristy Lee Cook. All I have to do is remind you guys of that rodeo-infused performance of 8 Days a Week. All that performance needed was some clowns.

Here's to Ramiele Malubay. My Tita says you'll be the bomb in the Philippines, but that's not the same as being on American Idol. Plus, my aunt falls asleep watching AI so what does she know?

I'm sad to see Ramiele go. I thought the "Pinoy People Power" would've kept her on for a little higher than 9th place. At least now I can hate Castro a little longer.