Dragonlance: The Trailer

Ugh, another crappy book adaptation. Why couldn't they animate this like Beowulf? I mean, this looks just like the animation from the old X-Men series on Fox Kids. And those CG dragons? Yuck.




I hope this is just a rough cut, because otherwise...man, times like this I really wish Flight of Dragons was on DVD.

Black Friday

This is probably first time I ever woke up early to brave the crowds on Black Friday. Think of Black Friday as Midnight Madness at Glorietta, only with better deals. I managed to get up at 4:30, leaving the house by around 5:10. I had the following targets in mind:

Toys R Us:
* Millennium Falcon Transformers (Han Solo and Chewie) for 19.99 (reg 39.99)
* Optimus Prime Voyager Class Movie Figure for 19.99 (reg 39.99)
* Whatever Lego Set I could find

Best Buy
* 300 2-DVD set for 6.98
* King Kong DVD for 2.99

Target
* K'Nex 15th Anniversary Tub for 9.99 (reg 19.99)
* Polly Pocket Wheels for 1.50 (reg 2.99)

As you could see, majority of what I was looking for was toys. I had been tasked by PJ to buy toys for the boys in our list, and all of them wanted either Transformers or Lego sets.

What happened? Well, Toys R Us was a madhouse. I must've missed the last Millennium Falcon by 10 minutes. Best Buy was a riot as well, with lines snaking around the store (I figured King Kong just wasn't worth it even at three bucks). Finally, I went to Target. Score! Not only were they giving away a Target Bullseye dog stuffed toy at the door, there were also a ton of registers open. So, I managed to score the two deals I wanted, and then did the rest of my Christmas shopping (even at regular price). Instead of the Millennium Falcon I wound up with the Anakin Skywalker Transformer and the Luke Skywalker X-Wing Transformer, each one being 14.99.

Then I went to a second Target to get another Bullseye, then straggled in to work at...7:30am. Not bad for a morning's work.

Happy Thanksgiving!

...if you celebrate the holiday, that is. The most memorable Thanksgiving I had was a road trip from San Francisco to Portland. We figured there would be restaurants open, but there was nothing. At first we thought we were going to starve, but thankfully we found a Burger King that was open. The other Thanksgivings I've had since then have been fairly mundane--dinner with relatives who know how to put together a real Thanksgiving dinner.

Today was just myself, PJ and the kids at home. I made some tomato basil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches that went over quite well. The kids, picky eaters that they are, didn't quite go for the spinach chicken nuggets I made (based on Jessica Seinfeld's book). I think I messed things up somewhere--PJ suggested I try using sweet potato puree next time, so that it'll look more natural instead of....well, green.

One Laptop (Design) Per Child

Remember when we were kids, and we would pretend to build a TV out of pieces of paper? We would cut out television "knobs", and then we'd cut out the screen, and then use different pieces of paper for different "shows". No? I did. It was pretty neat back then.

Nowadays kids are creating pretend laptops out of paper. The "Laptop Club" is an afterschool club formed by 7-to-9 year old kids, and they design laptops using construction paper. The laptop designs are cute, with keyboards in alphabetical order (instead of your usual QWERTY sequence), numeric keypads going up to 10, and dedicated buttons for shopping, games, hamsters, "imediet buy" and in one particular instance, bringing up an iPod and an iPhone.

Pretty neat stuff. One day one of these kids might be the next Jonathan Ive.

The Morning News, via Gizmodo

Watchlist 2007

Bee Movie. I didn't expect to like this movie. Not a big fan of Seinfeld. However, this movie was pretty charming. The kids sure loved it--it's the first time they sat still in the theater and watched the entire movie. They sure didn't sit still for Ratatouille (a superior flick in my mind). Bee Movie's jokes were fast and furious, starting with the Dreamworks opening logo. A couple fell flat, but most evoked laughter from the packed audience (about half were kids). There was something for everyone--from physical comedy for the young 'uns to clever double entendres for the adults. Recommended.

Superman: Doomsday. Based on The Death of Superman storyline, although it diverges quite a bit right after Supes dies. Lots of violence in this one, and surprisingly, a lot of sexual innuendos. A strong (no pun intended) entry in the DC Animated Universe; this is the movie Superman Returns should've been, instead of the chick flick we got. Highly Recommended.

Spiderman 3. Not so highly recommended. Sure, it was fun seeing Venom and Sandman appear on-screen, but the movie itself is a bit hokey and could've used a better editor. It was a bit long, with some pointless scenes (like the homage to Saturday Night Live). Honestly, this franchise is getting a bit tired; it probably requires some new blood.

Ocean's 13. Another franchise that's getting old. This one dragged, with a lot of scenery chewing by the different actors. They act like they know the script sucks, but they're enjoying playing off against one another. Ellen Barkin is still pretty hot, despite her face looking a bit too stretched out. Bonus points for having a character named Roman, however.

Next. Next. Okay, that was snarky. Not one of Nicolas Cage's better movies. I like Cage because he's so hammy and his movies so cheesy that they're actually guilty pleasures. This one though, wasn't that good. He does cast good-looking leading women, though--Eva Mendez in Ghost Rider, now Jessica Biel.

Welcome to the Pet Hotel California

Craci, on of my sister-in-law's Shih Tzus

We just accompanied my sister-in-law to the grand opening of the Pet Hotel over at the PetSmart in Rancho. I've always marveled at how much people her pamper their pets, what with all sorts of accessories and heck, even a doggie stroller.

This Pet Hotel was no exception. It had all the "amenities" of a hotel, including "suites" which included a TV (not that Fido watches, but the sounds coming from the set are supposedly comforting to the dog), a "Bone Booth" (where owners can call the pet hotel, and the handlers would bring the dog over to the phone so the owner can hear him bark), and a toilet.

Yes, a toilet. It's in a room where dogs go to pee and poo after a refreshing 30-minute walk. At first I had visions of a dog sitting down and doing its thing (much like Bruce Almighty), but it turned out that the handlers scoop the poo from the room and dump it down the toilet. Much more sanitary that way.