Sailing Around The World

I hate to admit it, but...

THAT was an amazing concert. I'm talking, of course, about The Wiggles concert I was moaning and groaning about last week. The songs were great (despite the fact that they sang a bunch of songs I didn't know), the ad-libbing was pretty funny ("Grease" and "Stairway To Heaven" played prominent roles), and Greg was a bit pudgy--but had such a smooth voice, I forgave him for it (the only downside was Larissa wasn't there. Caterina had to do, although Lucy was surprisingly pretty with longer hair, instead of the butch haircut she normally has).

Actually, everyone in my group (wifey, mom-in-law and sister-in-law) seemed to enjoy it far more than my kids, who were either concentrating very hard watching the show or were sleepy--they weren't reacting at all.

Oh, well, hopefully next year (if the kids still like The Wiggles, and if they haven't retired yet), the twins will show more life when we watch them again. And hopefully we'll have better seats.

Edited to add: the picture was taken by me during their April 22 concert at Gibson Ampitheater over at Universal Studios, Hollywood.

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is the latest film from Miyazaki, the genius behind Spirited Away, one of the all-time favorite films here in the daddychoy household. When the DVD arrived from Netflix we eagerly popped it into the player, and sat down to watch it. It was pretty enjoyable; while not as good as Spirited Away, it was definitely better than Castle in the Sky, and a bit better than Princess Mononoke.

Some observations:
* The opening sequence reminded me a lot of Kingdom Hearts--what with the "mud" people, the jumping, the balcony--heck, it's Traverse Town! I wonder if that was intentional.
* Interestingly enough, the film seems to suggest that dark hair=ugly, while blonde=beautiful. Look at Sofie--she's not all bad (actually, she's pretty) when we first meet her, black hair and all; yet she considers herself homely, compared to her sister, who has blonde curls. Howl himself has naturally black hair, but when we first meet him, he's blonde.
* I'm curious to read the book now. I've heard that it's quite different from the written word.

Studio Ghibli's next film is apparently Earthsea, from the series by Ursula K Le Guin. Can't wait.

Sportsfan

I was discussing some work-related stuff with my officemate today when another co-worker passed by. "Dude, that much!" he said as he sauntered past.

"What was that about?" I asked.
"Oh, he was referring to the Lakers just losing to Denver last night." my co-worker replied.

This then lead to a discussion about how much I disliked the Lakers. I mentioned that I liked Luuuuuuuuuke Walton and Rony Turiaf, but Devean George and Brian Cook were softies. We even talked about the Sacramento series from way back, when Mike Bibby "fouled" Kobe with his nose, handing the Lakers a ring.

The question remained, though, as to why I disliked the Lakers. It's actually a pretty silly reason--growing up, my sister liked the Lakers, so naturally, I gravitated towards the Celtics (mostly because of Larry Legend).

This got me thinking about the Sports Teams I liked and disliked:

PBA - Philippine Basketball Association
Liked:
Crispa - because they were Toyota's archrival
San Miguel - because they were the successor to Crispa
Northern Consolidated/Cement - because of Chip Engelland's sweet stroke

Disliked:
Toyota - because my sister loved them
Ginebra - because of Jawo, who I considered "dirty" (but was loved by millions)

NBA
Like:
Celtics - at least during the 80's, with Bird, McHale, Chief, DJ and Ainge); not so much now
Spurs - because of how self-effacing Tim Duncan is
Rockets - because of Yao Ming, the Great Asian Hope
Pacers - because of Reggie Miller

Dislike:
Lakers - because they're the Celtics' arch rival, and because they seem too smug
Knicks - because of their ugly style of play during the 90s. Loved the jawing between Spike Lee and Reggie. Now they're just pathetic.

UAAP - Pinoy College Hoops
Like:
DLSU - my alma mater. Although the recent school scandal kinda makes it hard to root for them. Still, though, the Limpot years are fondly remembered.

Dislike:
Ateneo - La Salle's archrivals. Think of this as Duke and North Carolina in the NCAA. Both considered "elitist" schools
FEU - because of the championship they won in the boardroom against DLSU. Take it to the court, folks! Talks a lot of smack against DLSU. Heck, everyone hates DLSU anyway.

NCAA College Hoops
Like:
Duke - because of a comic I read when I was a kid called Blue Devil
UCLA - because they're the local team, and a couple of my close friends are alumni

Dislike:
North Carolina - because they're Duke's archrivals. I still don't understand why Duke is almost universally loathed (kinda like DLSU), when the Tar Heels seem just as smug.
Connecticut - because they didn't try during the just concluded Tournament, despite being the best team on paper (unlike Duke, who did try, but were so obviously overmatched)

NFL
Like:
Indianapolis Colts - big fan of Peyton, despite the fact that he's probably never going to win the big one
Pittsburgh Steelers - because of Sgt Slaughter look-alike Cowher; I'm happy he won the Superbowl, but was disgusted by the officiating.
San Diego Chargers - duuuuuuude.

Dislike:
Oakland Raiders - because they try hard to maintain their "thug" image, when they're actually just pathetic. Plus their fans scare me.
NY Giants - because of Jeremy Shockey. Although I'm trying to like Eli.
New England Patriots - because they got smug after they won, and just keep beating up on Peyton (heh).

College Football
Like:
USC - because they're the local team
UCLA - ditto, although in a game between UCLA and USC I'd have to go with the Bruins
Notre Dame - because I'm Catholic by default

Dislike:
No one, really.

MLB
Like:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - because they're the local team
Seattle Mariners - because of Ichiro. Started liking them during the Griffey/A-Rod/Buhner era. Buhner looked like one mean SOB.
St Louis Cardinals - because of Mark McGwire

Dislike:
NY Yankees - because they're the Evil Empire
Boston Red Sox - the very first time I liked in the MLB, I slowly grew to dislike them after they won the World Series. Their fans just got smug.

Going over this list, I found a couple of common denominators between certain teams I disliked:
* They're usually labelled as "dirty" (Raiders, Knicks, Jaworski teams)
* They're dominant, winning several championships, and are smug about it (Lakers, Yankees, Patriots)
* I just like being opposite with my sister (Toyota, Lakers)

My preferences will evolve, though, as I grow older and crankier. Who knows, maybe at some point I'll start disliking the Colts as well (unlikely, since they'll never win the Superbowl). Heh.

Baldur's Gate II: Complete

Woo-hoo, finished this last weekend, using Yuan Chung, my monk. I'm now working on Throne of Bhaal. It's kinda difficult playing when your kids are sitting on your lap and are trying to mash the keyboards, but somehow I managed to get it done.

I'd still rank Planescape: Torment above this one, though. Finishing that was bittersweet; I managed to finish it the first week after I was laid off from my last job--i.e., when I had nothing else going on. *sigh* Oh, well, life, what can you do?