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...