Pimpin' Ain't Easy

One of my favorite webcomics is Sinfest, a kind of what-if-Calvin-was-a-pimp strip by Tatsuya Ishida. It's well-drawn, and the humor is a bit adult (there's four-letter words and tons of sexual innuendo--not that I mind). The main characters are Slick (the aforementioned Calvin-as-a-pimp) and Monique (I guess you could call her his best friend...in a When Harry Met Sally kinda way). Slick has the hots for Monique, but she always shoots him down.

Until now.

It looks like Slick is gonna score--except I know somehow, he'll screw it up.

Poor guy.

A Very Rebel Christmas

Nose to nose with Chucky

Mrs. Claus got me the Canon Digital Rebel XT for Christmas this year. Yay! After reading the blogs of Vic and Calai, I've been thinking about getting a digital SLR of my very own. I've been debating between the Rebel and the 20D, and while I now have the Rebel, the debate really hasn't been settled yet.

The wifey prefers the 20D; being a bit more budget minded, I've been leaning towards the Rebel. But the wife is right; I might get buyer's remorse later on if I didn't get the 20D (as I did when I got my Olympus camera, which I then pawned off to my dad to get my Nikon CoolPix, which I then pawned off to my sister-in-law to get my current camera, the Canon S410). So, I'll probably wind up returning the Rebel to go with the 20D.

I still love my little ELPH, though. It's compact, and takes great pics. It's slow sometimes, though, missing some oh-so-precious shots of the kids (although it was able to take the picture of the twins with Chucky). Hopefully the upgrade is worth the money...

Narnia!

So, I finally got to see The Chronicles of Narnia (or, as I like to say it, The Lion, the Witch, and the Place Where My Friend Refuses to Come Out From) this past weekend. My impressions?

It wasn't Lord of the Rings, but it was okay. It lacked the epic scope that the LOTR trilogy had; probably because the book itself was meant as a children's story. Not that children's stories can't be epic (see: Potter, Harry), but there's a certain feeling of trying to make sure that it doesn't scare the kids too much (seeing the cute cuddly furry beavers bite it would've caused a lot of nightmares).

A couple of random impressions (might be spoilers--oh, heck, everyone's read it):

* Tilda Swinton was perfect as Jadis, the White Witch. She had a cold beauty which was menacing, but still quite attractive. She had a great neckline and shoulders, very swanlike (the hair was pretty cool, too). Plus, she was badass towards the end. Anyone remember Tilda as Gabriel in the otherwise forgetful Constantine?
* Peter looks a lot like a young Heath Ledger. Oh, and Tumnus looks like Edward Norton.
* I've read a couple of opinions that the movie was laying on the religious imagery a bit thick, to the point that some folks were offended. Well, duh. Imagine the outcry from Narnia fans if the story was changed, just to be PC.
* That centaur (Peter's lieutenant) was pretty bad-ass too. Gotta have bad-asses. Unfortunately, Aslan himself wasn't as impressive as I would've thought.
* Some parts were missing--some reviews I've read are complaining about the length, but as one who preferred the EE versions of the LOTR trilogy I say: bring on the extra bits!

Overall, I'd give the movie a pretty solid B+, creeping into A- territory.

A Feast for Crows

I hate George R. R. Martin.

Not only did he make me wait five, five years for the next book in his A Song of Ice and Fire saga, he leaves me hanging at the end of the book.

What's worse is knowing that the next book (which is tentatively scheduled for next year) will not resolve the cliffhanger, since it's actually Part 2 of the same book as A Feast for Crows. Meaning, different POVs, same timeline.

Argh.

Of Races and Families

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

Nice to see wee Carissa again. She's such a cutie. I guess the Weavers aren't as bad as portrayed; after all, one of the Weaver daughters (I guess she was the one who babysat the Gaghan kids) was the first one she went and hugged.

All in all, the Race was okay. Not as great as "My ox is BROKEN!", but serviceable.

The Nerds in TAR 9 are looking good, though.

Who dat band?

This is a cool site from the Virgin store--the object of the game is to identify 74 musical acts (solo/group) based on the picture. So, for example, a picture of several nude women would be Barenaked Ladies. So far I've identified around 48 acts correctly, out of around 62 I thought were correct.

Here's the link: Virgin, baby.

and the actual contest.

Now, if I can only figure out what that mannequin is...

Edited to add: er...the first link cuts off some stuff at the left. You should probably visit the contest site for a complete picture...(12/03/2005)

Political Correctness gone amok...again

So apparently, some cities have decided to remove the word "Christmas" from their Christmas Trees. The reason, they said, was because the word "Christmas" excluded people of other faiths.

They've decided to call them "Holiday" trees instead.

To which I say: Bullshit.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. It's bad enough that the meaning of Christmas (at least here in the US) is now about shopping for just the right gift (of which I am guilty of as well); now the PC police want to take away the term as well. It's even spread subtly to such stores as Target, where you'll be hard-pressed to find the word "Christmas".

I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about this. I'm not overly religious (well, I was born and raised Catholic, and I go to Mass once in a while); I think the Theory of Evolution holds water, and believe that everyone should have an open mind. I guess I'm just sick of people trying to ram their beliefs down other people's throats--be they religious or atheists.

*sigh* Oh well. Here's to a Happy Holiday season.

Pinoy Towtrucks

Did you hear about the fighter plane that had mechanical difficulties and was forced to land at the Ninoy Aquino airport in the Philippines? You'd expect firetrucks, ambulances, the works, right? Nope.

"I guess AAA couldn't make it" (photo from www.inq7.net)

Read Today, Read Tomorrow

Throughout my recent bout with the flu I've been fortunate enough to have a load of books that I could read. It all started with Knife of Dreams, the latest installment from Robert Jordan. It's a decent read; more exciting than Crossroads of Twilight, where all you read about were weevils.

Then the library told me that Olympos, the sequel to Ilium was ready for me to pick up. These two are by Dan Simmons, who wrote the excellent Hyperion series (if I ever needed a killing machine, I'll give the Shrike a call). I re-read Ilium, which is loosely based on Homer's Iliad...except it doesn't quite go according to script. More like an alterna-history for Achilles, Hector (who I still see as Eric Bana) and the boys; with a couple of intelligent Asimovian robots thrown in for good measure.

Ilium was a great page-turner, and the battle scenes are stupendous. It really appealed to the seven-year old boy in me; so, when I finished Ilium and started in on Olympos, I was stoked.

In a way, it doesn't quite live up to Ilium; oh, the battle scenes were still there, and Achilles was a bad-ass as usual (Achilles vs. The Shrike. Hmm). However, Olympos seemed to be a bit more tongue-in-cheek, and there was a lot of sex. The kind that's written by horny D&D kids living in their mom's basement. In one instance, the only way to wake an important character up...was to have sex with her. Shades of Ghostbusters--the "Keymaster" and the "Gatekeeper".

Then Feast For Crows, the latest installment of A Song of Ice and Fire, arrived from Amazon just as I was in the middle of Olympos. Then the library told me that Anansi Boys was available for pickup; while there, I picked up Jasper Fforde's latest as well.

So many books, so little time...

Reflections on a funeral

This past week the whole family had to fly to New Mexico to attend a funeral. PJ's uncle had passed away, and we all had to scramble to get tickets at the last minute.

It was a bit sad for me to be there, but I wasn't really close to the uncle, so my tears were minimal. I got misty-eyed watching the reactions of his family, though, especially my mom-in-law and my grandmother-in-law. I especially felt for Grandma; it must be so difficult, burying your children. That hit home with me, because of the twins. I'm hoping I never have to live through that.

When we got home from the funeral, the family just sat around at the dinner table, talking, laughing, remembering him and his happy-go-lucky nature. Also scaring some of the sisters with stories about how he made his presence "felt".

Interestingly, when we got home on Friday night, one of the patio lights was on--and I distinctly remembered making sure all the lights were off before we left. Just his way of saying goodbye, I guess.

The NBA: Nuggets-Lakers

I was watching the Nuggets-Lakers game last night, and one thing that struck me was that Denver has got to have the wimpiest uniforms this side of UCLA. I mean, baby-blue? With gold trim? Doesn't intimidate anyone (e.g. the Spurs with their black-and-silver garb), and isn't classy either (e.g. the Lakers with their "Royalty" colors, purple-and-gold). Kinda funny seeing K-Mart and Marcus Camby, trying to look tough while wearing baby blue.

Oh, and the Nuggets lost because of a last-second shot by Kobe. However, there were two things which led to this loss:

(1) 'Melo throwing up a brick with 9 seconds to go, instead of having Miller and Camby run the alley-oop, which the Lakers had been helpless against; and
(2) "Knick" Bavetta calling a foul on Camby, when he was a foot away from Kobe, and it was Kobe that threw the elbow. Instead, Camby fouls out, and Najera comes in and does nothing.

'Melo is pressing. He's been eclipsed by King James AND Dwyane Wade, so he desperately wants to prove something. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for him during the game.

Anyway, it's only the first game in an 82-game season. I'm not really that fond of the NBA anymore, but it's fun to watch during the last five minutes, especially if it's a tight ball game.

TAR: FE, ep.6

So, the luck of the Weeeeeeeeeeeevils continues (props to SD). I mean, come on! "We were raised not to trust anyone"? "We're above anyone else because we're Christian"? Way to go Weavers. Not surprising that the rest of the teams hate them; they come across as smug, arrogant people who give Christians a bad name.

The Paolos are starting to grow on me; kinda like Rob and Amber from last season (of course, I liked Romber from Day 1 onwards; Rob was a pretty funny guy, and Amber was good eye candy. I hated Lyn and Alex instead). While they still whine a lot, they finish strong, and they play nice with the other teams. Props to Papa Paolo too with his mad skillz in lugging those bananas around. The kids were suitably impressed.

Meanwhile, the Weavers make fun of the Papa Paolo's garbage truck. Um, folks? Those mad skillz helped his family win first place, and get to pick a Segway. All this while your Mom has a near nervous breakdown trying to get out of the mud. So much about being "above anyone else".

Unfortunately for one of the teams, they run into Lena-and-Christie territory with a needle-in-a-haystack task.

Ghost Stories

I've always been fascinated by stories about strange and unexplained; I remember a book I borrowed from somewhere once (some Reader's Digest anthology) which had a story about Springheel Jack, among other things. It was a deliciously creepy book, and I often found myself nervously looking around while I was reading it (late at night, of course). However, I never actually heard or saw anything spooky myself (I dreamt of my grandmother standing on top of the stairs the day after she died, but never actually saw anything); I've smelled flowers, but that could've been anything.

My parents, however, have told me that we've actually lived in a couple of haunted houses. A couple stick out:

* There was one house which we rented from one of my aunts. According to my folks they could hear the sound of a golf ball being bounced continuously against one of the walls. Our house was at the corner, and there was a big backyard between the house and the neighbor, so they never could explain what that was (rats, maybe?). Oh, and our housekeeper (who was also my sister's nanny for twelve years) began acting strangely in that house--she started carrying a knife, because she claimed "they" were out to get her. What might explain the strange goings-on in that house was a punso in the backyard, which in Filipino folklore was the residence of a duende, which is kinda like a dwarf (not like Gimli, though!) This dwarf is more like a spirit of the woods.

We lived there for a couple of years, but I never saw anything.

* Another house we lived in (also rented) was allegedly the scene of an armed robbery/murder. It was also a stone's throw away from our church, and was across the street from an abandoned pelota court. We actually lived there twice; the second time around, one of the security guards (it was a "gated" community, so to speak) told us that he was surprised that we were living there; apparently, one of the caretakers went insane while he was watching the house.

I never saw anything there either; not sure if my parents did.

Even my condo here in CA apparently had an old-timer ghost (probably the previous owner). My wife saw/heard him descend the steps; she thought it was my dad, who was visiting at the time, but he said he was asleep.

In a way, I'm happy that I haven't seen anything (the closest I've come was in Amsterdam, where my wife and I saw a figure hovering over my sister-in-law. We assumed it was her boyfriend; he said that he was beside her, sleeping, at that time). I don't know how I'd react. Scream like a little girl? Faint? Either way, it'll probably be embarrassing.

TAR: FE, ep. 5

So the luck of the eeeeevil is really holding this episode. The racers take a trip to Panama, and we see that the cute li'l Gaghans are having transportation issues (man, talk about bad luck). The Weavers are looking scarier and scarier (with the exception of the boy, who seems cool), and seem to have alienated the rest of the pack.

The Gaghans are cute, but a bit, shall we say, challenged in the mental faculties. They should've left the Fast Forward immediately once they were beaten out. But since they're physical specimens, they managed to make it all the way to second-to-last place. Again.

Interesting TV Guide article about the Schroeders: apparently, they were victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Rogers family was nice enough to put them up when they evacuated, and all the Racer families helped out in some form or fashion except for one family. Apparently they're too busy spazzing out. That, or praying for map-reading skillz.

It Ain't Pretty

So I just saw the video of Pretty Vegas on VH1.com.

My word. INXS looks old.

JD himself looked all right (lotsa squees from the teenage female set, what with the shirt off). But INXS. Gah. What's up with Kirk's facial hair? And what's with all the black leather? It looked like they were trying to match up with Batshit's youth, but it wasn't pretty.

Jon looked embarrassed to be there.

But hey, it's at #37 on Billboard, so the kiddies are liking it. I guess that's why they chose JD.

Wanting to scrub my eyes out, I went and watched the videos of Spin, by Lifehouse; All These Things That I've Done, by The Killers (which was interesting--had some nice-looking babes. It felt like a Western Faster Pussycat, Kill!. I especially liked the "Killersluts" sign. Heh); and Feel Good, Inc. by Gorillaz.

I then watched some vintage INXS, Bitter Tears. *sigh*. Now that was good stuff. I'm just an old curmudgeon now, I guess.

Lost episode 4

Have you ever lost something that you could've sworn you put just there? Of course you have. Heck, I've lost my keys a lot of times; same with my ID badge (which is split in half, but that's another story). The best one was when I couldn't find my cell phone; of course, I tried calling it, and I heard it ring, but it was muffled.

Turns out Amelie had thrown it into our recycle bin.

And that was the theme of today's episode of Lost. As Locke said, you find something when you're not looking for it.

Plus, we get to see the Others! Or parts of them, at least.

Three weeks until the next episode. Ugh.

TAR: FE, ep. 4

I was all set to say something snarky about the episode, and then boom! They go to New Orleans, pre-Katrina. How sad. Kinda like last time, when they went to Sri Lanka, pre-tsunami. Wonder if they feel unlucky.

Anyway, on to

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

* Lots of jiggle time today. Not complaining, mind you.
* "Moon River!" I like it when one of the Linz boys raised his top, and yelled "YOUR TURN!" to the Bransen girls. Nice that Papa Bransen is taking it in stride.
* "The World's Largest Office Chair"? Man, that's a mighty uncomfortable looking chair. OSHA would be in fits.
* Once again the Gaghan kids are useless, but damn those parents are good, superhuman almost. Essentially it's a regular TAR team, bringing along their kids.
* Wonder if they were supposed to be race cars at Talladega, but the producers changed it at the last minute? Poor Papa Paolo, he thought his dream of driving a race car would come true.
* You just knew that they were playing with the editing with the regards to the Amazing Bathmat, you just knew it.
* Heaven help me, but I'm beginning to be more tolerant of the Paolos. The Weavers are just icking me out, though...

Angels Baseball and Lost, episode 4

This was the first time I've ever been pissed off at a baseball game. I've been depressed (such as when Vinateri kicked that winning field goal against the Rams), nervous (the entire series against the Yanks), and happy (the 2002 World Series), but today....damn.

Blown call by the ump. Big time. Thoughts of "Black Sox" all over again (unfair as it may seem). What happened? Well, Pierzynski swung at an Escobar pitch, and missed. Strike 3, right? 'cept the home plate ump thinks it hit the ground. After Paul, the catcher, had rolled the ball, and all the Angels were walking back to the dugout! He couldn't blow the call immediately; no, he had to wait. So of course, Pierzynski made it to first base and Escobar, obviously shaken by the whole thing, gives up a game-winning double to Crede.

*sigh* So now the series is tied, 1-1. How does this affect the Angels? We'll see...

Anyway, Lost! Totally Hurley-centric episode. Even the ep. title "Everybody Hates Hugo" reflects this. Some random thoughts:

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

* Sawyer gets hit by a girl. Again. Heh. Seems like he's moved on from Kate, though...hmmm.
* Nice dream sequence for Hurley with Daniel Dae Kim speaking English. Oh, wait, it's Hurley speaking Korean!
* Kate, Kate, Kate. Jack walks in on you showering, and you stand there and flirt, and "drop" your bra. Riiiight.
* Locke sure knows his way around assault rifles.
* Chernobyl? So maybe something melts down if they don't push the button?
* Poor Sun. I wanted to yell at the TV to tell her that Jin is still alive.
* No real progress. Except it appears that the tail section people are already dying off...

TAR: FE, ep.3

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

Random thoughts about today's edition of The Amazing Race:

* Loved the "Gaghan" dance at the very start. These two kids are cute without being too annoying. The parents are pretty cool too.
* Looks like the Team Everybody Hates (see: The Guidos, Romber) has already been set.
* Funny how everyone refers to each other as "The {insert state here} Family"
* "Here comes the Cleaver family". Hee! Irony, anyone?
* What was up with that crazy-stalker-stare by one of the Linzes?
* Once again what was thought of as the "adult" Detour turned out to be child-friendly.
* Phil on the G-Force machine: "You may notice that I'm under the influence of gravity"
* The Weaver mommy is starting to really creep me out. Actually, the entire family is. The boy seems like he can go off at any moment.

Good episode, but kinda short on the drama. The Roadblock at the end was waaaay too easy.

Daddychoy: Mechanic?

I've always had two left thumbs when it comes to projects. Hammer a nail? It'll come out crooked. Paint a wall? You'll see the drippings at the bottom.

That's why when my driver-side headlight on my Civic went out, I had a quandary. Normally, I just bring the car into the shop, but after Googling "fix Civic headlights", it seemed like it would be an easy job. Pull the old bulb out, put the new bulb in, and it's all done! Simple, right? So I go ahead and buy the bulb at Walmart, pull the owner's manual out, and pop the hood.

'cept there's the Power Steering reservoir in the way.

Back to Google, and people said just pull the reservoir straight up.

Tried again, and I got the reservoir out, but it seemed like I would pop a hose, forever damaging the car and requiring even more money to fix.

So I returned the reservoir, closed the hood, and decided to wait and get home before it was dark. This was two months ago, when it was still light at 8:00pm.

It's October now, and it's getting dark by 6:30pm. So, no choice but to go to the shop and get it fixed. Due to my stubborness, though, I decided to try one last time today.

Fixed it! I got over my fear of breaking anything, and just pulled the reservoir out of the way. There were a few tense moments, but after 30 minutes of work, I was successful.

Yay me!

I won't be changing the oil any time though...

Book Signings: Thud!

So I borrow Thud! from the library (the latest Discworld book), and while the librarian checks it out for me, she casually mentions that Terry Pratchett was in Pasadena just two weeks ago. Twisting the knife deeper in the wound, she says "oh, and Neil Gaiman was there last week!"

Argh. How come I never find out about these things? I could've had my copy of Going Postal and Marvel 1602 signed.

Granted, I was in Arizona two weeks ago, but still! I could've planned my time...convinced the wife-unit to "stroll" around Pasadena while I listen to my inner geek and line up.

Great. Kathy and Calai still have a leg up on me in terms of meeting Gaiman. At least I still have that signed copy of Crossroads of Twilight to tide me over. Oh, wait, that's worthless.

Giving Pinoys a good name abroad

I had a thread about Pinoys making it big in the Sports and Entertainment world a couple of months ago; recently, MiG (from Rockstar: INXS) and Melody (from So You Think You Can Dance) have made the news for finishing in the top 4. Not in a major way--maybe an item or two in the entertainment section of some news sites.

Now this guy comes along, making us all proud! At one point, he was frontpage on the US edition of cnn.com (only to be displaced by the terror threat against NY subways).

Gotta love it. *sigh*

Lost, episode 3

For whatever reason, the twins are a lot noisier on Wednesdays. It's like they know that Lost is showing, and they go out of the way to make sure we miss vital plot points! Anyway, another fine episode. We get to find out more about what the island is, but at the same time, more questions pop up.

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

* Kate really lights up the screen when she smiles. She's so adorable! Awwwww...
* I had a minor geek moment when I saw "Jack Bender" next to Katie Segal during the first flashback. Katie voices Leela, who hangs out with Bender the robot in Futurama
* Sawyer calling the dude who dragged him around Shaft. Heh.
* Sawyer gets punched out by a girl. That must rankle.
* Come on, Michelle Rodriguez was too obviously faking her story!
* That "Orientation" film was creepy. Ooh, look, polar bears!
* Laugh out moment when Hurley spots the food.
* Shifts? So there will be a full team there now? No wonder Desmond went crazy, having to wake up every 107 minutes.

Really looking forward to next week!

TAR: FE, ep.2

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

Hmm, that was a pretty cool episode! Random thoughts:

* Well, Mr-I'm-the-Father-So-I-Must-Be-Right: Way to go on the directions! Oh, and your boy? Will hate you forever. Quite the contrast from Mr. Black.
* This was one of the cooler, if cheesy, episodes. I like how they had the "spy" thing going on in DC, as well as the civil war re-enactment.
* Read your clues carefully, people!
* Again, little Gaghan was too cute for words. "Carissa explains it all". Heh.
* The Pink sisters are too lucky for words
* Hey, the Bransen sisters are actually cute! Too bad the dad's gonna have a heart attack though.
* Mommy NASCAR is CREEPY.
* Dammit, how come the Paolos are still in this?
* So I guess the siblings are from Cincinatti, given the Bengals jersey? And one of them is a Michigan Wolverine, given the Perry jersey?
* Still getting used to the yellow-and-silver markers.

On to next week!

Serenity

Saw Serenity with my workmates the other day. I was aware of Firefly, but I never watched an actual episode (since Fox buried the show, and SciFi channel showed it before I got home from work and I kept forgetting to set the DVR). I did know three things going in, though:

(1) It was written by Joss Whedon, who also did Angel, one of my favorite series;
(2) It was a cowboy space-opera
(3) The plot from the trailer was that there was this girl who was a human weapon that was being hunted down, and the Serenity crew had to protect her.

After watching the movie, I wanted to hunt the Firefly DVDs down. It was really, really, really good. A bit cheesy, but in a good way (you know how Angel and Buffy had cheap laughs sometimes). Throughout the movie I was thinking "Damn, George Lucas should've hired Joss to write and direct his prequels, and we may have gotten something decent".

And the girl who played Inara, Morena Baccarin? Wow. Heard she wants to play Wonder Woman (she also plays Black Canary in Justice League Unlimited. Hey, she gets my vote.

*** SPOILERS HO! (no pun intended, given Inara's *ahem* job) ***

I guess it's true: Relationship + Joss = Doomed. Damn you Joss Whedon! (oh, and please make a sequel. Thanks).

Certainly in my top ten movies watched this year. Hmm, that's a future post right there...

Lost, episode 2

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

Hey, didn't I just talk about this? It's Wednesday again?

Random thoughts on the second episode of Lost, arguably the best show on TV today (well, other than Battlestar Galactica):

* Kate, in the vent shaft: wow.
* Michael was giving Walt...a polar bear. "He's not afraid of bears, is he?"
* Looks like Charlie is gonna give in to temptation some time soon.
* At first I thought that they killed Jin off, since he was nowhere to be found; then his name was on the credits (Daniel Dae Kim), so I guess not. This guy's been in three of my favorite TV shows (Angel, 24 and Lost)
* Kate, in the vent shaft: wow.
* Tip of the hat to people saying the show has "jumped the shark": they killed the shark instead.
* So Desmond has a ba-gua badge? Hmm...wonder what that means.
* I have to bet those numbers for the Mega Lotto.
* Kate and the candy bars. Heh. Have to check what those were.
* Have I mentioned Kate in the vent shaft?

Next week: The Others! braaaaaaaaainnnnns

ETA: Just read on The Straight Dope that the shark (or whatever creature it was) had the same ba-gua symbol on its body. Curiouser and curiouser!

The Amazing Race: Family Edition

*** SPOILERS HO! ***

Caught the two-hour premiere of TAR: FE tonight. It was pretty entertaining. Some random thoughts:

* I'm betting Jesse Jackson was going to have a coronary when Phil said..."The Black Family". Then you realize, oh, their last name IS "Black". Duh.
* Looks like they're casting the Paolo family as the dysfunctional team. And yeah, someone shut those two brats up.
* I was all prepared to hate the adorable Gaghan kids (especially Carissa, who's too cute for words), but they're surprisingly likable.
* I sure wish I can be even half the dad Mr. Reggie Black is.
* The Linz siblings? Cocky, but cool. "Dude, you're out of your league!" (paraphrased, when one of the brothers wanted to hit on one of the Pink sisters)
* Kevin and Drew, baby! Are we gonna see Romber? Flo? Jonathan (please, no) in future episodes? More Emily, please!
* Kinda creepy when that buggy ran over one of the Weavers, considering how their dad died
* One of the Pink sisters was...um...cold. Turn off the headlights, girl!
* 20,000 bucks! I was expecting $40,000

Can't wait until next week!

Songs When You're Lost

Stuff I thought about while trying to keep awake driving to Arizona at 11pm, with over 200 miles to go, Part I:

Ever play the "Five CDs I would take if I were marooned on an island" game? That's what I was trying to figure out. Two rules: (1) No "Greatest Hits" albums. So, no Best of U2 1980-1990 or whatever; (2) Only one album per artist.

Here's mine:

New Miserable Experience, Gin Blossoms. Every song was a home run (in my opinion). Memorized every.single.line of every.single.song. Too bad they broke up soon after.

Dream of the Blue Turtles, Sting. Classic. Loved Moon Over Bourbon Street--but was he a werewolf (with the howl at the end and the title, duh) or a vampire ("you'll never see my shade" and "face of a sinner, hands of a priest")?

The Joshua Tree, U2. Running to Stand Still and Exit. I hated U2 before this album; after I heard it, I bought the entire back catalog. So thanks, JC, for lending me your U2 tapes.

Amplified Heart, Everything But The Girl. Reminds me of the time I lived in San Francisco. Lovely, angsty, depressing stuff, quite the contrast from Idlewild, which was happy pop.

and finally...

Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette. A lot of the songs here depicted events in my life circa 1995-96. From being a boonie in Chicago (Hand in My Pocket) to a messy friendship/relationship (Ironic and You Learn) to meeting the woman I married (Head Over Feet). Plus some of the best lyrics I've ever heard:

It was a slap in the face
How quickly I was replaced
Are you thinking of me
When you fuck her

and

You took me out to wine dine 69 me
But didn't hear a damn word I said

Heh. I guess she really hated Full House. So, she gets engaged to Van Wilder ten years later. Wonder what she'll write if he screws her over?

A couple that barely missed the cut:

Dulcinea, Toad the Wet Sprocket
Songs About Jane, Maroon 5
Compus Mentus, Cutting Crew (hey...it was good!)
Waterfront, Waterfront (featuring the Chester anthem Cry)
Kick, INXS, pre-Asshat
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, Tears For Fears
Tango in the Night, Fleetwood Mac
Under the Table and Dreaming, Dave Matthews Band

Lost once again: Season Two begins

Wow.

So we find out what was in the hatch. Just...wow.

Some other points:
(1) Something was wrong with the tape, at least from what I was watching (on an old 32" Trinitron). The blacks were all wrong--it's not my TV or the signal, because the commercials were clear.
(2) Man, what a rug on (flashback) Jack Shepherd.
(3) So Jack has really assumed leader status, huh? What happened to Sayid? I guess he's too wrapped up in Shannon...although Locke, of course, challenged him. And of course Kate just had to know what was going on (and probably wanted to find an escape route in case the cavalry arrived).
(4) Man, what a rug on (flashback) Jack Shepherd.
(5) Totally called what was in the hatch halfway thru. Actually, it was more like "Wouldn't it be cool if..."
(6) Hulk Hogan's writing the dialogue!

Loved it. Although the kids were noisy throughout the show, and my MIL kept getting phone calls. So, the impact was a bit diluted. Still, though...wow.

INXS 2.0

HA! Totally called it. Well, I haven't bought any INXS albums since X--and I'm not about to buy the new one. Oh, I just bought their back catalog (The Swing, Kick, and X), since I lost my old CDs; but JD does nothing for me.

Wonder if he'll still be around next year.

Looking forward to...(the Fall edition)

It's almost fall, and there are a couple of things that I'm looking forward to:

* Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman (September 20). The first book I read by Neil Gaiman was his collaboration with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens. I was impressed, so I bought Stardust and Neverwhere. Overall I liked Stardust better, but that's because I'm a romantic at heart.

American Gods was okay. I liked the character of Shadow, and the whole "the gods live among us" concept, but at times the book seemed too Stephen King-ish to me. I also read the novella in Legends II, which was a riff on Beowulf.

Anyway, I'll give Anansi Boys a go.

* Thud!, by Terry Pratchett (out). Discworld! Vimes! The Watch! 'nuff said.

* Knife of Dreams, by Robert Jordan (October 11). The next volume in the Wheel of Time. At this point I'm just reading it out of sheer stubborness, hoping that something happens. Where oh where is the person who wrote the ending of Lord of Chaos?

* Feast for Crows, by George R. R. Martin (November 8). Five years later...I just hope Martin doesn't die on us before this is over. It's like...Rowling kicking it before finishing Harry Potter. *knock on wood*

* Final Fantasy: Advent Children (November 29) Sephiroth, baby. The coolest, most badass (even more badass than Randy--heh, sorry, MiG fans) villain ever created. And he's not even a villain, he's just misunderstood. Took me almost a day to beat him at Kingdom Hearts, which leads me to...

* Kingdom Hearts 2 (December 15). Do we see Sephiroth? How about hearing David Boreanaz play Leon again? Kingdom Hearts was one of the best games I've played. Pretty dark for a Disney production; and, in true anime fashion, a heartbreaking ending.

* Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire (November). The movies just keep getting better and better.

* The Chronicles of Narnia (December). Something to replace LOTR during Christmas. Aslan looked waycool.

* King Kong (December). Speaking of LOTR...Peter Jackson goodness. Have you seen him recently?

* Lost, Alias, Justice League Unlimited and The Amazing Race (September). Thank God for DVRs.

and finally, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (October). Gorgeous three-volume leather-bound set. Unfortunately, I already have pretty much every book written by Bill Watterson. *sigh* Anyone have a hundred bucks I can borrow?

Cool it now

Finally figured out the CPU overheating problem on my box--it was a combo of the thermal compound and the HSF not being set correctly. What I did:

(1) Bought a new third party fan (Thermaltake Jungle 512)
(2) Bought Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound
(3) Bought Arcticlean thermal compound cleaner
(4) Removed the heatsink and cleaned the silicone goop off
(5) Removed the CPU (!) and cleaned the surface
(6) Put back the CPU (at first I restarted the machine--didn't work. Panic. Then I realize I didn't close the load plate correctly. Whew!)
(7) Reset the HSF and pushed down FIRMLY. I was always delicate with it because I was worried about cracking the motherboard, but the shop said push it in firmly, so I did.

BAM, temps are now hovering at 45C. Yay!

Rockstar: INXS: JD fans

Q: What's the difference between Apple Zealots and JD fans?
A: JD fans' tool of choice wears an asshat.

(hmm. that made sense when I thought of it earlier this morning.)

of course, he'll still win. cos' he's roit for OB:INXS

Rockstar: INXS: Almost there

Ever since Saint Jordis (tm Leperpop) was booted off this show, I'm not really that much into this anymore. I'm not partial to any of the final four, except maybe for MiG, and only because he's Pinoy (I don't really like his voice, it's too high).

I don't like Marty because he screams and is off-key 15% of the time.

I don't like JD because he's an asshat and he reminds me of my ex-BIL.

I don't like Suzie because she's boring.

I don't like MiG because his voice is too high and he's too self-conscious.

Alas, poor Jordis. Granted, her nerves got to her, but she was amazing. Yes, I even liked her performance of Layla (although I hid when she sang Dream On) and I think Try Not is better and more complex than Pretty Vegas or Trees. And yes, I'm buying her album if it ever comes out.

So who's roit for OB:INXS? Even though I detest him (and I find his fans too-funny and too-willing to justify anything he does, and how dare you say anything even remotely bad about him), I think it's JD. Boy can put on a show. He may be annoying (to me), but he connects to people, and inspires feeling (be it positive or negative). And I think OB:INXS needs that to survive today.

I just won't be buying their album if that's the case.

*batteries not included

Yay! Found this forgotten gem at Sams Club yesterday. It was a small "Presented By Steven Spielberg" flick--kinda in the vein of Short Circuit. Largely overlooked. Interestingly, it was co-written by Brad Bird, the genius behind The Iron Giant and The Incredibles!

edited 'coz i can't spell.

Are You Hot or Not?

Well, I went ahead and got a third party CPU HSF (Thermaltake Jungle512) from Fry's. First time actually installing one; other than the fact that I'm bummed about this machine (after plopping down money for it), it's actually quite exciting tinkering around with the guts of the PC.

Did it work? Somewhat...the fan has more RPM than the previous one, and I think the heatsink is better built...so now the temp hovers around 83 degrees celsius...still hot, but at least it doesn't crank up to 110 degrees C...all the time. I might try adding arctic silver or another thermal compound later on.

I'm typing this on the box as we speak. It's half-naked right now--for better circulation (I'll take the risk on the dust part).

Wondering now if the temp sensor is defective or not. This IS a new motherboard after all. Oh, well, the shop should respond by tomorrow.

Fan's a bit loud though. The stock fan was much quieter.

Hothothot!

Just got my computer back from the shop, and I think they screwed something up...maybe gave me a defective heatsink? Because the hardware monitor is reporting that my CPU is running at...on average...

95 FRICKIN DEGREES CELSIUS! ALMOST BOILING POINT!

It even reaches 110 DEGREES CELSIUS before it shuts itself down.

Geez. It was just a simple power supply/motherboard problem at first; they've replaced the power supply as well as the motherboard, but they may have bolted the heatsink inocrrectly. It wasn't like this before.

Unless the BIOS is wrong and is reporting inflated temperatures. Because the case itself doesn't feel hot (unless the chip is too small that I can't feel it).

Le sigh. And I thought I got my rig back. Oh, well.

Sail away, sail away, sail away

Just got back from a one week vacation on the Navigator of the Seas with the wife and kids. Lucked out in that we missed Katrina by that much--when we landed in Miami, it was a bit windy and a bit rainy--and there was no power in our hotel. Oy. Flashback to my Manila days when there was no power, and it would be impossible to sleep because of the heat. Bad times.

Once we got on the ship, though, everything was okay. Huge ship, the Navigator. The kids enjoyed it, especially running down the hallways and screaming their heads off. I'm sure the people in the staterooms were pretty happy about that. They were pretty noisy in our stateroom too--which, unfortunately, was just above the bridge. We even got a phone call from them, asking us to keep it down, and to close our drapes. Whoops.

Magen's Bay was our favorite beach. No waves, water was clear, sand was white...the twins loved it. Unfortunately, our tour bus left us cos we were late. Hey, try getting the kids to leave the water and then changing them.

The Atlantis resort was frakkin' cool. I'm sorry, I just had to say that. The big-ass aquarium was a hoot, seeing those sting rays, those manta rays, giant groupers, tarpon, barracuda, sharks, and even a good ol' sawfish. I'd like to stay there at some point in my life; however, I won't be staying in the bridge suites, which according to the tour guide is $25,000 a night, with a minimum 7-night stay. Ouch!

I did feel a bit guilty seeing what was happening to New Orleans because of Katrina...but life goes on. We'll see about helping out in some form or fashion.

Comics Life

*sigh* How come Apple gets the cool toys?

Comic Life

Reviewed over at applematters.com.

Quick glance-over at the FAQs indicate that a Windows version is being considered. Seeing as I can't justify a Mac Mini purchase at the moment, I'll have to wait.

New hobby: Chuckling over Apple Fanboys

I don't own a Mac. I've flirted with getting a Mac (an iMac G5) this January, when I was looking to get a desktop to be my video editing workstation. I even visited the Apple store in Costa Mesa several times, and was all but ready to make the switch.

However, my wife needed a PC in case she ever needed to VPN to work. So, boom, case closed, got a new P4 instead. And so far the machine's worked like a dream. No viruses, no adware, nothing. Virtually no maintenance either--just Zone Alarm and AVG at their basic settings. But dang, the iLife suite sure was tempting.

Then I started reading some Apple fansites like www.applematters.com. Hoo-boy, those fanboys make my head explode. I'm amused and a bit creeped out by these folks who defend everything Steve Jobs does.

Case in point: the one-button mouse. Never knew this was such a hot topic. I've used multi-button mice all my life, and Microsoft mice are, in my opinion, the best. But these guys? Here's a couple I've seen from various sites (applematters, mdn, slashdot):

"A one-button mouse is more ergonomically sound than a two button mouse, because you you can avoid repetitive stress syndrome with your fingers. Heck, you can use your palm to do the clicking." (maybe, but my hand hurt after ten minutes playing with the iMac G5. can't beat the shape of the Intellimouse and its brethren, IMHO)

"People with disabilities can use the one-button mouse with their feet" (huh?)

"Apple has done a lot of usability studies and focus groups and have determined that the one-button mouse is the best" (somebody replied that Microsoft and Logitech probably have their own studies and focus groups as well. this is true. of course these companies will only publish comments flattering to them. what, apple is going to say "our mice suck, get another mouse immediately upon buying one"?)

"Your average person gets confused by the right button" (might've been true waaaay back, but now? oh, i forgot--Apple "focus groups" say they get confused)

"Why do you need the right button? Just use the keyboard" (wait, i thought things should be simpler...)

"The one-button mouse forces developers to keep things simple" (i've got nothin')

Now, there are some saner heads out there who make the valid point that it's all about choice--pick one you like. If the one-button works for you, fine. If not, buy something else. OSX does plug-and-play (or whatever it's called in Apple world).

But the 1% who come up with these kind of comments? Comedy gold. Wonder what their spin would be if/when Jobs decides to get rid of the one-button mouse and bundle a multi-button mouse instead. I think a lot of them are whimpering right now with Apple switching to Intel chips after trumpeting that PPC beats the crap out of Pentium chips--either that, or trying to come up with the latest excuse/revisionist history.

Hey, I might still get a Mac Mini one day (and my friend might disown me forever), since I'm curious about OS X. I won't become a full-fledged "switcher", but I might take a dip and see. I'll have to make sure I take my anti-RDF pills too.

And to those people who'll ignore my last paragraph and say "well, you've never used a Mac, so you can't comment on it!"? Yeah, go ahead and drive away folks curious about the Mac and OSX. Morons.

Not that anyone else reads this blog anyway, other than my friend who's a Linux geek. And if I ever use a Mac, he'll stop reading it too. =)

Spurs Win!

Spurs win game 7. Hmm...I'm happy, but not deliriously happy (like last year, when the Pistons took down the Lakers). It just seemed too pat. Redemption stories everywhere. Take Game 5: 'Sheed blows the game. Maybe Larry begged Stern to let 'Sheed take over Game 6, so as not to destroy 'Sheed's psyche?

Then Games 5&6: Duncan chokes. Game 7: The Redemption of Timmah! Game over.

Gotta get rid of my tinfoil hat. *sigh*

Next year: figuring out how to get either the Lakers or Yao to the Championship game. Or maybe getting Yao to the Lakers? Heh. Stern will just love that...

Game 7!

Yup, called it.

Close game...going to the road team. Almost laughable, how the script went:

Game 1: Close, but home team pulls away in the end
Game 2: Blowout early, home team wins
Game 3: Close, but home team pulls away in the end
Game 4: Blowout early, home team wins
Game 5: Close game, road team wins
Game 6: Close game, road team wins

Now it's for all the marbles...Game 7.

I don't think the NBA fixes the games, it just makes it "easier" for one team to win by having certain...conditions. It's up to the other team to take advantage of that. Spurs nearly blew the script in Game 5; however, if the Spurs had lost that, I'd bet anything that they would've won Game 6.

And you wonder why 'Sheed had WWE-style belts made?

Who wins? My gut says Pistons. *sigh*

"This is how your heart breaks": the NBA Finals

Wow, Will Smith did it again.

Geez.

You think they would've learned to cover Horry by now.

Spurs should've won in regulation, but Timmy flubbed it. He's hating himself right now; kinda like when he flubbed that game in Seattle (guarded by freakin' Potapenko! Potapenko!). Horry bailed them out, though.

I'd like to think I coined "Big-Shot Rob (Bob?)", since I used it way back when he killed the Kings with that last second shot (of course, millions of journalists probably had the same brainwave at the same time). I never liked the Lakers (gimme Larry Legend any day), but I always respected Horry.

Oh, and there was still time on the clock when 'Sheed called that timeout, but they chose to ignore it. So the Spurs actually should've won it three times: Timmy's flubbed free throws, Timmy's missed follow-up, and a technical from 'Sheed.

So, what happens Game 6? Well, depends if you believe the conspiracy theorists...

(a) if you do, then there's a Game 7. Essentially they're all just following a script: blowouts in the each of the first two games at home, followed by a close Game 5, then another close Game 6
(b) It's over.

Me? I call Game 7! In reality, there's only ONE game that matters--the other 6 are just scripted. Game 7, they just let them play.

Zen state

I got myself a Creative Zen Micro (in black--matches my rig) two weeks ago. Gotta say, it's worth every penny.


My rig, with the Zen. Yeah, my desk is a mess.

I've loaded just about every song I care to put in there (all U2 and EBTG albums, most of Toad, Gin Blossoms, plus some 80s stuff) and I still have around 2.5GB left.

Top 3 reasons why I got a Zen Micro instead of an iPod:

(1) Replaceable battery!
(2) Has the black finish and a cool blue backlight which matches my rig
(3) It's not an iPod

Top 3 reasons why I didn't get an iPod

(1) Price
(2) Everyone else has it
(3) It's an iPod (okay, that was low. I have nothing against Apple...I do hate fanboys who think that if a DAP isn't an iPod, it sucks. All hail their iCon, Steve Jobs)

Okay, I was tempted by the Silver 6GB iPod (plus I could get it engraved). I thought about getting a silver Zen Micro, but it didn't look silver at all.

Anyway, I'm happy with the purchase. I nearly got a Rio Carbon, which was $50 cheaper...but I knew I would get buyers remorse for "settling". The iRiver H10 was a bit more than I was willing to pay for...

Star Wars! (Spoilers ho!)

Finally got around to seeing Revenge of The Sith last night. Overall good, despite lousy "dialogue" by Lucas whenever Anakin and Padme were on screen. But the effects were great, and Yoda kicked ass. Unfortunately, Clone Wars (the animated series) was sooooo much better. General Grievous? Sucked in this one. He was kinda like one of the Predator dudes, hunting Jedi in Clone Wars. He was watered down in RoTS. Nuts.
Same with Mace Windu.

But overall it was good; lightsaber battles were pretty cool, and it was Godfather-like in a particular sequence (you'll understand it when you see it).

Overall, I'd say it ranks...oh, #2 on the list:

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Revenge of the Sith
3. Star Wars: A New Hope
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Attack of the Clones
6. The Phantom Menace

Made me want to watch the original trilogy again, though...

The NBA: It's Faaaantastic!

Well, playoffs are on in the NBA. Elite eight time--Miami-Washington, Phoenix-Dallas, Indiana-Detroit, and San Antonio-Seattle. I really don't have a horse in these playoffs; haven't had one since Bird-era Boston Celtics. Heck, the only reason I paid attention before was that I wanted the Lakers to LOSE. So it was anyone-but-the-Lakers for what, five or so years?

But I do have some teams I like: San Antonio and Indiana. I did like Houston before because of Yao Ming (gotta support the Asian folks), but they choked away a 2-0 lead.

I don't really like Miami because...um, maybe Shaq hangover? Although Dwyane Wade is terrific. Still, it's kinda hard to root for a team coached by Ron Jeremy.

I don't like Seattle because Ray Allen is a whiny git. Yeah, Jesus whines too much 'bout being defended by Bowen. He started getting the calls, though, and it just seemed to me that the officials starteed calling more ticky-tack fouls against SA during Game 3, while SEA got away with mugging Manu. And that last shot Ray Allen missed? Did you catch his F-bomb to Bruce Bowen as Bowen taunted him? Although Allen got the last laugh, because SEA got the W.

Dallas? Meh. Phoenix? OK, entertaining, but I can't get into them (and all that controversy about Nash getting the MVP coz he's white...meh! He deserved it. Oh, and Wade's actually more valuable than Shaq, as evidenced by the playoffs). Detroit? Love Larry Brown, but they're going against Reggie. It would be cool if Reggie won the championship as a farewell gift; realistically, it won't happen.


So, picks?

final four:
MIA d DET
SA d PHX

finals:
MIA v SA

Ugh.

Neverwinter Nights OC: Done!

Just finished the Neverwinter Nights: Original Campaign! Woo-hoo! A bit anti-climactic, after that big battle with the red. The last one wasn't too difficult--maybe because I've pretty much "seen it all" in terms of CRPGS? Then again, I never finished Baldur's Gate (never had the time).

Name: Piotr Thornhill
Class: 14th Level Paladin/2nd Level Champion of Torm

On to the expansion modules!

Hello, Sailor! bookoftheweek: Starship Titanic

Remember Zork? Yes, the original text adventure game? The one where you tried and tried to find that last treasure, but couldn't seem to? Where is that darned songbird anyway? And that stupid thief keeps taking your stuff...

Remember Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy? The four-book trilogy by the late great Douglas Adams? They made a text adventure game out of that too, right?

Well, I just finished reading Starship Titanic, by Terry Jones. Originally, it was supposed to be written by Adams, as a companion piece to his work of Interactive Fiction entitled, well, Starship Titanic. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to write it, so he passed it off to Terry Jones, a part of Monty Python who apparently likes doing things in the buff.

*scrubs brain for a second*

The novel (I would actually call it a "novella") is a quick, light pageturner that unfortunately reads like...well, an Invisiclues(tm) hint booklet. Only it's not in "invisible" ink, and it's not Infocom. But it is funny in bits (like Invisiclues), and does seem like it provides solutions to some of the puzzles in the game (not that I've played the game). Overall, though, I'm not reading it as a clue booklet--I want it to have an actual structure.

Not that any of the HHTTG books have any structure, really, but they do hang together. This book just comes across as a sad wannabe.

Pity Adams is dead and gone and wasn't able to write the fifth book in the Guide trilogy. Oh, and the Guide movie's coming out in a couple of weeks--from what I've seen (they call Marvin the Paranoid Android a...a...robot!and Zaphod's heads seem to be wrong) I am afraid. Very, very afraid.

bookoftheweek: The Battle Of Evernight

Boy, that sucked. Oh, it was good in some parts, but it was mostly an exercise of just finishing the darned book.

Pope John Paul II

Well, the Pope died today. Being a Catholic, I'm kinda sad, seeing as he was a decent Pope...and who could forget The Popemobile! nananananananananana

Humor makes everything seem more acceptable. Thanks.

booksoftheweek: The Mysteries/The Ill-Made Mute

I'm all fairied out.

I just read two books back-to-back that dealt with fairies: The Mysteries, by Susan Tuttle, and The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton.

The Mysteries is about a private detective who specializes in finding lost people. It all started when his dad disappeared, and he "accidentally" discovered where he went. He fantasized about the dad just suddenly disappearing, but the truth was a bit more mundane than that. Then he gets recruited to find a girl who has disappeared--and may have been taken by the king of fairies...

The Ill-Made Mute is the first book in a traditional fantasy trilogy, set in a world much like Ireland. The world, called Erith, is populated by both seelie (harmless) and unseelie (evil) wights, living alongside humans. The Ill-Made Mute is actually a person called Imrhien, who is dreadfully ugly. The person, because of that ugliness, is scorned by other people, and is miserable as a drudge. The person manages to leave the town in order to search for the truth...

Each novel is sprinkled liberally with stories about fairies. In fact, a couple of the stories actually appear in both novels--the one about the midwife who is taken to the land of faerie to birth a child, for example--that I'm beginning to get all fairied out. The last book I reviewed, Shadowmarch, also dealt with fairies invading the land of humans.

So, anyway, back to the books: The Mysteries was a pretty compelling book. It was fun seeing the detective's efforts in finding the missing girl--the snippets about other people becoming missing throughout the years was very interesting. The ending was the most frustrating part--because it leaves you hanging. ARGH! I guess it's a good thing, that I got so invested in the characters that I wanted to find out what happens in the end.

Similarly, the best parts in The Ill-Made Mute dealt with the stories about the different types fairies. The parts where the main characters go through the land of faerie was also very interesting and proved quite a fast read. One thing spoiled it for me, though: the book jacket reveals the "twist" with Imrhien. Of course, you could see it coming from a mile away.

One unfortunate thing about The Ill-Made Mute: it becomes a Mills and Boone novel at some point. Ick.

Anyway, I'm working through the other two books in the trilogy. Stay tuned.

(off to watch Fairly Oddparents now!)

ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH

OKSTATE LOST! CURSES!

Well, so long bracket.

Bracket Busted - for others

Hey, there's hope after all: Wake Forest lost! So now I'm on even footing with the others--three teams left standing in the final four.

Let's see what today brings...

Bracket Busted!

Argh. Gonzaga lost. And I had them in my Final Four!

And Illinois won too. Ugh.

Not good. *sigh*

Kobe: Best evah?!? Um...nope.

Ever hear of Mychael Thompson? Out here in LA he's one of the folks at the Loose Cannons on XTRA 570. He's also the color commentator for Lakers games on the radio, and a member of the Showtime Lakers in the 80s.

He also said that Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA right now. Because Kobe made the winning shot with under a second to go against Charlotte. Let that sink in. Against freakin' Charlotte, a team with only 12 wins!

Yo, a great player won't even let it get down to that final shot. He would've gotten his teammates to blow the last place NBA team out of the water. Yes, Kobe's good. Heck, he's very good. But the best player right now? Hey, I don't hear people talking about him as MVP.

Let's see...in my admittedly "uneducated" opinion (since I only have a passing interest in the NBA), I can think of several people who might be as good as Kobe is:

Lebron James
Dwyane Wade
Tracy McGrady (yeah, as a pure shooter...allegedly can't defend, but I don't watch enough)
Manu Ginobili
AI
and the bigs: Shaq, Duncan, KG, Amare Stoudamire, Dirk (apples to oranges, though)
...and li'l Stevie Nash, who, if life is fair, is the MVP of the league

Mr. Thompson was even saying Kobe might be better than Jerry West just because Kobe's made that last second shot against Charlotte. Jerry West! The Logo! Now, I won't deny that you probably want Kobe taking the last shot in the game, and I admire his guts in wanting the ball, but heck, Mike Bibby also likes taking the last shot. Larry Legend he's not, though...

Then again, what should I expect? After all, he is biased, being a former Laker and one of their play-by-play announcers. It's just sad hearing such ignorance from him.

Bah, humbug to the NBA. It's March Madness!

It's March Madness!

Yup, it's that time of the year again. 64 teams, only one of which can be the top dawg. Of course, I'm in a pool. Now, I've never won a pool or a fantasy league in my life, so maybe this is a good place to start (doubt it, though).

Anyway, my final four as of today (subject to change!):

Oklahoma St
Gonzaga
North Carolina
Kentucky

and Oklahoma St takes it all vs North Carolina! Eddie Sutton wins, denying Roy Williams yet again!

Um...Illinois not there? Duke (one of my favorites, but sadly, no depth whatsoever)?

So, that's my initial-close-your-eyes-pick.

Yikes.

bookoftheweek: Shadowmarch

The latest bookoftheweek is Shadowmarch, by Tad Williams. Now, the only other work I had read was the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, which was good, but dragged sometimes. I look back fondly at that series, though, so I decided to give Shadowmarch a chance.

How do I describe Shadowmarch? Well, I think of it as Song of Ice and Fire meets Dragonlance Legends. Song of Ice and Fire because, well, there's the nobility, there's the imminent threat of the China/Japan "other race" (think the Horselords in ASoIaF), you have a woman who is suspiciously like Daenerys, being wed to a powerful man kinda like Drogo (although more powerful and more eeeeeeeeeevil). She's also on a collision course with the Western kingdoms (although without dragons...unless bees can be considered dragons). And then there's the Shadowline creatures (the names escapes me at the moment), who are eerily similar to the Others (those fine folk beyond the Wall). Legends because, well, two of the main protagonists are twins, with one being strong (Briony) and the other weak (Barrick), but somehow has "mysterious" powers. The added twist is that Briony is a girl!

It's an okay read (although it took me nearly two weeks to get through...not as gripping as Covenant), but you can sense that he was really trying to channel George R. R. Martin. Kinda like Martin-lite, but not really succeeding in doing so. Gregory Keyes (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone) did a better job at this, in my opinion.

There are some interesting characters, though, and the story picks up at the end, but it doesn't stack up to the world building of Tolkien, Martin, Donaldson or Jordan (or even Glen Cook). I'll finish the series to find out what happened, though.

Raaaaace!

I admit it. I'm a Romber fan. The latest installment of The Amazing Race is a lot better than the previous one with * and Victoria; all the teams are distinct from each other, and everyone just seems to be enjoying the thing. Unlike last season, when you couldn't tell all the models apart, and everything just seemed painful.

A lot of people are hating on Rob and Amber, though, because of how they were in Survivor. Gotta admit, I hated Rob the first time I saw him (I didn't watch All Stars, though). But I always thought Amber was kinda cute, although she was just Jeri's sidekick at the time.

They're great in TAR, though! They're extremely competent (so far...), and even Rob's "evil" machinations are just funny. They weren't as irritating as Colin, or *.

So, I'm rooting for them to win. Just because. I also like The Braff brothers (those Zach lookalikes), and Team Redneck (alas, they are gone)...in general, though, nobody really "evil" to hate. Better than last season, though, when I only began to like Jon & Kris towards the end...

Pinoys in Sports and Entertainment, Part II

Okay, I think these are the most famous ones I know or have found through Google:

• Roman Gabriel, Rams QB
• Lea Salonga, Kim in Miss Saigon
• Tedy Brushci, Pats LB
• Tia Carrere, Actress
• Lou Diamond Phillips, Actor
• Rob Schneider, Actor
• Tetchie Agbayani, Actress
• Jennifer Rosales, Golfer
• Dorothy Delasin, Golfer
• Jocelyn Enriquez, Singer
• Pancho Villa, Boxer
• Apl.de.Ap, of Black-Eyed Peas
• Phoebe Cates, Actress

Not so famous, but worth a mention

• Benny Agbayani, MLB (don't know what team he's on now)
  
• Jasmine Trias, American Idol contestant
  
• Camille Velasquez, American Idol contestant
• Nia Peeples, Actress
• Shannyn Sossamon, Actress (First Knight)
  

Then there are the TV personalities/actors (Lexa Doig of Andromeda, Dante Basco of Hook, and others) that I'm not too familiar with. Apologies.

Then there's Prince, the Purple one. Is he or isn't he? Not quite sure...

Making it Big: Pinoys in Sports and Entertainment

I was born and raised in the Philippines, and even though I live in the US now, I still get a little thrill of excitement each time I see a Pinoy making it "big" (even a B-lister!) in sports and entertainment. Heck, I even liked Camille Velasco (and, okay, I was rooting for Jasmine just a teeny bit).

Imagine my surprise when I saw that Tedy Bruschi of the New England Patriots was half Filipino. I mean, wow! Gave me some newfound respect for the Pats, and almost made me start liking them (okay, so I won several bets with the Pats, but I just got tired of them winning all the time, you know?). Curious, I've decided to look for more Pinoys who've made it big.

Right now I know Tedy Bruschi. Roman Gabriel (my namesake!), who was a QB (with the Rams? have to confirm) was also a Pinoy. The aforementioned Camille and Jasmine. Lea Salonga (of course). Stay tuned...

flu season: or, daddychoy is out o' commission

I have the flu. Sucks. Seems like I get sick at least once every year. I blame it all on my weak respiratory system (I had asthma when I was a kid). I'm still able to get on the computer and blog away, though; yesterday was the lowest point--I think I must've slept 18 hours (then Amelie kept me awake by kicking me--sheesh).

Hope things get better for me tomorrow. Lots of errands to do *groan*

The Gates of Choy

Still shopping for gates to block off the top and bottom of our stairs. The choy-choys are very active right now, crawling up a storm. And man, they just move fast. I'm considering the KidCo Safety Gates (G20), because they come in black, and our stair railings are black wrought-iron (and of course, mommy choy hath decreed that everything has to match).

Unfortunately, the BM stores of Babies R Us and RightStart only carry white. So I have to order on-line. I'm dreading the day they actually arrive and I have to install 'em, since I'm basically all thumbs when it comes to handyman stuff. Gimme anything related to computers and I'll fix it for ya. Gimme a hammer and I'm liable to nail my hand to the wall.

*sigh* Oh well.

bookoftheweek: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

When I was a 'tweener, I got a copy of The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant for Christmas at a Booksale store (remember those? Not really used books, but cheap publisher overruns. I got the complete set of Dragonriders of Pern from there as well). My first thought was: boy, is this depressing or what?

Three days later, I had finished the entire series. A bit disappointed with the ending (hey, seeing as I was a comics geek as well I wanted action! with Covenant wielding his ring like Green Lantern), but wow--the trilogy rivalled Tolkien in scope (unlike the Shannara series, which started with a complete rip-off of LOTR--but I digress), and had memorable characters (you're so Vain....). I then started reading everything by Stephen Donaldson, including the Daughter of Regals and The Mirror of Her Dreams. Then my interest in him waned. I didn't even get into The Gap Cycle.

Then I saw Runes of The Earth.

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

Wha-?

So I borrowed it from the library and began reading it. Normally I would've plowed through it in a day, but the choy-choy twins demanded a lot of attention, so it took me a week to finish.

Not bad--the first part was a bit slow (get to the Land already!) but then things started picking up. Linden's back--but the title doesn't say The Chronicles of Linden Avery, does it now? So you figure Tommy's gonna show up at some point.

I won't spoil whether he does or not (duh), but when Linden gets to the Land, everything's changed (of course). Seems like they've lost the Staff of Law. Oh, and Lord Foul's back, baby!
No nasty Sunbane to mutate things (that was so cool), but something called Kevin's Dirt.

The rest of the book then details Linden's quest to find the Staff of Law and figure out just what the heck's going on. She meets familiar races, but not familiar faces. She also finds out the fate of one of her companions from the previous series. This leads to one of the coolest fight scenes I've ever read. Of course, it ends in a semi-cliffhanger.

So, did I like the first book in this series? Yes and no. Yes, because I'm a Covenant fan. Unfortunately, it's doesn't quite measure up to either of the previous series. It just didn't feel as...well, creative to me. Some parts felt like he was pulling old themes from the previous books and then rehashing them. And the Land just doesn't grab you the way the previous books did. For example, the Sunbane felt real to me; I used to pretend that I had to step on rocks to avoid its debilitating effects. Kevin's Dirt? meh. At least the Haruchai are still kickass.

The story still draws you in, though--I wouldn't have finished the book that quickly if it didn't--but it pales in comparison to the previous two series. I'm giving it a chance, though. Despite all the small complaints, you still want to find out what happens.

Formication. Heh, heh. Yup. Donaldson still likes 'em thesauruses...

Just Another Blog

...short for daddy bachoy, a term coined by my sister-in-law. Proud father of twins, who are as cute and as round and as chubby as can be. We call Amelie choy-choy, an affectionate term meaning chubby; Camille, who used to be "slim", has caught up. Now they're both baby choys.

Seeing as I'm no Slim Shady myself, I am now daddy choy, while wife-unit is mommy choy.

*sigh* I live up to my nickname, unfortunately.

On to bloggerhood, I suppose.