Pandora's Music Box

Just discovered this site today:

www.pandora.com

Essentially, you plug in either a music act or song you like, and it'll build a "station" that plays music that they think matches what you entered. It's pretty cool--I created the following stations:

Everything But The Girl - I was expecting all Electronica, all the time. I was pleasantly surprised that there was some music there that was close to the pre-Missing EBTG. There was this French song which I kinda liked, but I forgot the title already.
Gorillaz - Depeche Mode, baby.
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Morrissey?!? Come to think of it, some of Toad's songs are pretty depressing too. Windmills. Sigh. Still reminds me of something from way back.
Gin Blossoms - .38 Special. Hey, didn't they do Sister Christian?

What's nice is that I discovered some songs from artists who I never heard about, and may explore later on. Kinda like Launchcast from Yahoo!--hey, that's where I discovered Anna Nalick and Breathe (2AM). I know, I know, I'm turning into a wuss in my dotage.

I would've tried some more stations, but I was at work, unfortunately.

Coming Up Roses, Baby

So Texas won the 2005-06 Rose Bowl over USC. Pretty thrilling game, with Vince Young running in the deciding score. Wow.

Unfortunately, the game will be marred by controversy. Just like that OSU-Miami Championship game awhile back, with the late flag towards the end.

In this case, there were two critical calls:

(1) Vince Young's knee was down when he lateraled to another Texas player for Texas' first score, so the score shouldn't have counted--however, the play wasn't reviewed; and
(2) In the drive to bring Texas to within five points, a Texas player caught the ball and was hit. The ball came loose and was recovered by USC. However, the play gets reviewed, and they said the pass was incomplete.

The first probably wouldn't have mattered, because it was early in the game and Young would've probably run the score in anyway. However, the second one could've sealed the deal for USC--the Texas defense was sucking wind, and a TD would've made it a 19 point game (I think--someone correct me if I'm wrong).

You can bet USC fans are going to be crying and whining about this--just like Miami fans were a couple of years ago. However, USC made several bonehead decisions in the last two minutes or so, and were unable to defend against Vince Young.

Congratulations to Texas for being the National Champs!

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...