Wii For Mii!

Finally scored a Wii! Yay! There were around ten of them sitting in a cabinet over at the Target close to my work, so I gave in and bought one.

Now the buyer's remorse kicks in. I don't actually have time to play it, so...

Hey, maybe I'll get a Wii fit so that I can justify the purchase. At some point my girls can also play as well (although they'd rather watch me play "Dora and the Purple Planet").

If Melanie Marquez was Blonde...

So I'm listening to The Big Show With Mason and Ireland driving home from work, and they started discussing Miss Teen USA 2007. Apparently there was this blonde from South Carolina who answered the question "Why 1/5 of Americans can't locate the US on a map" with this little gem...



Now, she was probably nervous and all, but I can't for the life of me understand what she was saying. The hosts were making fun of her all right, but Ireland showed just how smart he was: "And yet she was in third place! She was third runner-up." Nice, Ireland. Show off that UCLA education.

Watchlist 2007

Pan's Labyrinth. This was an...interesting movie. Billed as a "fairy tale for adults", it's set in post civil-war Spain, a time when rebels were still roaming the countryside. Ofelia is a 10-year old girl who is caught up in the war when her mother marries an officer in the Spanish army situated in the countryside, assigned to flush out rebels. Her stepfather is a cold-hearted bastard, sure enough; he has no qualms over killing townsfolk who may be remotely connected to the rebels, even those who are just hunting for food.

The aforementioned Labyrinth offers Ofelia an escape from her miserable existence with her stepfather. The aforementioned "Pan" is not actually the God of the Pipes; instead, it is just a faun, much like the Tumnus the Faun in Narnia. This faun is the caretaker of the Labyrinth (thus the title, which in Spanish is literally "The Faun's Labyrinth". I guess they thought it sounded more dramatic using "Pan" for English-speaking audiences). The Faun claims to know Ofelia's destiny, and...well, you'll just have to watch the rest of it.

The movie is a gem. It's like Labyrinth (the one which introduced Jennifer Connelly) in reverse--instead of the heroine trying to escape from the labyrinth back to the real world, she is trying to get into the labyrinth--escaping from all her troubles in the real world. Instead of being light-hearted and whimsical, Pan's Labyrinth is quiet and thoughtful. It's actually a bit sad in a way. Both movies, though, have fantastical characters, and both have potential breakout stars--Connelly in one, Ivana Baquero in the other.

I highly recommend this movie. Note that it's subtitled--not that it matters. If you were able to follow the subtitles of Crouching Tiger and Amelie, you'll be able to follow this one.

Lost...in the Dark Tower?

Apparently this is old news (the date on the article reads Feb 2007), but apparently Stephen King has sold the rights to make The Dark Tower into a movie. The guys to do it? JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the fine folks who created Lost.

It's sure to make a couple of folks excited, but me? Meh. Maybe I'll get excited if/when it ever starts filming, but Book 7 left me feeling a bit cold. I'm also a bit worried as to how this will translate to film--a trilogy, perhaps? I doubt people will stick around for seven books; it doesn't have quite the universal appeal as that other seven book wonder. We'll see.

(Viggo for Roland! Although he might come across as a bit too Hidalgo-ish...)

More Than Meets The Eye

I AM
73%
JAZZTake the Transformers Quiz

Does this mean I get ripped in half by Megatron at some point?

Build Your Own Bumblebee

Remember those scale models of airplanes and cars and stuff? I could never get into those things--I was too klutzy, and I could never glue those things together properly.

If you're one of those people who are good at it, though, here's a DIY Bumblebee, from the Transformers Movie. You may need to learn Japanese, though. =)

bookoftheweek: His Majesty's Dragon

Ah, Booksale! Remember them? They used to sell books and magazines at a discount price. Stuff you couldn't find at National Bookstore you could find here. One of my prized finds from this place was Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. It was a series set in the world of Pern, a planet which dealt with the threat of "thread", mindless organisms that burrowed through living things. The "dragons" in this series were genetically engineered from flying lizards, and were mentally linked to their riders.

His Majesty's Dragon and the succeeding books (Throne of Jade, Black Powder War and Empire of Ivory) takes this basic formula and transplants it to early 19th-century England, when Napoleon was still emperor and was bent on taking over the world. Dragons were used as aerial fighting units, carrying riders and materiel. The series focuses on one dragon in particular: Temeraire, a Chinese Imperial born on a ship, and his relationship with William Laurence, a captain in the British Navy who unwillingly becomes bonded to Temeraire. As the book progresses, he becomes attached to Temeraire, and the two quickly become important parts of the Aerial Corps.

The book is quite exciting and hard to put down; there are the dragons, who are quite intelligent and quite different from, say, Dragonlance dragons. They are classified into different categories, from the lightweight couriers (think recon aircraft) to the heavyweight Regal Coppers (think bombers). Different countries have different types of dragons as well; the French probably have the coolest dragons, from the night-vision Fleur-de-Nuit to the fire-breathing Flamme-de-Gloire.

I can easily see this being made into a multimedia property--movies (already optioned by Peter Jackson--think of Master and Commander with dragons--how cool will that be?), comic books, and even tabletop/computer games (Real Time Strategy definitely; RPGs, not so sure). The last one is not surprising, as Naomi Novick helped develop the Neverwinter Nights expansion Shadows of Undrentide.

This book--heck, the entire Temeraire series--is highly recommended. Pick it up if you see it.

Cool It Now...With a Necktie

Hmm, maybe I could've used this back when I was working at Makati, in the sweltering heat and humidity...





...or maybe not. I think I would've preferred looking normal with a knotted noose vs looking stupid (and tethered to my computer--it has to be plugged in to run!). My friend Billy would've run away screaming if he saw anyone wearing this.

I never did get the appeal of clip-on ties anyway. You wear a tie, might as well learn to tie knots correctly. Thankfully, I don't need to do this now.

This might've been a bit more useful, although good personal hygiene would be important.

What's in a Name

Okay, this is carrying it too far...a New Zealand couple named their kid Superman. Fine, I think, after all, Nic Cage named his kid Kal-El. Celebs name their kids weird names all the time.

Except Superman wasn't their original choice. Noooo, they wanted to name their kid "4Real", because when they saw him in the ultrasoud they realized he was "For Real".

What's next, someone named LOL? OMG? l33t?

I feel sorry for the kid when he grows up. He doesn't even have the "protection" of having famous parents.

Monster Movie

While a bunch of us are anxiously awaiting the release of Stardust, there's another film scheduled to be released in November that was also written by Neil Gaiman: Beowulf.

The trailer looks...interesting. Great CGI, but look at their eyes: they look flat and unfeeling. Kinda like Final Fantasy: The Spirts Within or The Polar Express. I'll give this one a chance, though, since Gaiman's one of the writers. Ironically, there was another Beowulf movie called Beowulf and Grendel that was released in 2005, starring...Gerard Butler, who also starred in that other epic CGI flick released this year.

The Los Angeles...Decepticons?

Dear Lord, someone actually used Transformers as a metaphor for the NBA, as a result of the KG trade. The writer sees the three vet Celtics as the Autobots, looking for the Allspark Cube (aka the Larry O'Brien Trophy). He then goes on to compare Shaq and Kobe to...Megatron and Starscream. An excerpt:

"Could Shaq-Kobe possibly be any more similar to the Megatron-Starscream relationship? One is the dominant and powerful ruler, the other is his high flying second-in-command who looks to take over the throne at all times. When Megatron dies in the cartoon movie (or more accurately is on sabbatical while being resurrected as Galvatron), Starscream is in charge and the Deceps become a huge mess"

On one hand he kindasorta makes sense, but he kinda goes overboard don't you think?

The Greatest Gadget of All Time!

They're running a bracket over at Wired--no, not the NCAA Tournament! It's a bit late in the year for that. Remember, Wired is a geek/tech enthusiast site/magazine. The bracket is for The Greatest Gadget of All Time! (time...time...time>).

Yes, it's a bit silly. Some of the match-ups are a bit outrageous (AK-47 vs nail clippers?), but it's fun. You can fill out a bracket, and actually win an Apple iPhone (although I'm not holding my breath).

I voted for the ball-point pen myself. Simple, but useful--otherwise we'd still be writing with quills.

They're Not Just For Kids Anymore

With the recent success of the Harry Potter movies it seems like everyone's trying to come up with the next big children's movie franchise.  Recently, there's Narnia, which went on a bit too long for my taste and was often dry; and Bridge to Terabithia, which is in my Netflix queue.  I'm not sure you can count Stardust, but I'll go ahead and count it anyway.

Coming up?  The Golden Compass, which is certainly an interesting choice, given the fact the the author, Philip Pullman has been said to be the anti-CS Lewis; The Water Horse, which is basically the life story of Nessie, and then The Dark Is Rising.

Artemis Fowl has also been optioned, as well as The Bartimaeus Trilogy.

Hey, if they don't mess it up and can remain faithful to the source, more power to them.  I'm certainly looking forward to Compass, as I'm very curious as to how they'll address the whole controversy around it--if at all.  I'm not sure how they can avoid it though.

Watchlist 2007

Two "family" movies and one Denzel actioner today...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was pretty much Harry Potter all day, all the time this past weekend as we took in Harry Potter: OOTP, and I began to read Harry Potter: DH. I'm only a few chapters into the book, but already JKR is yanking my chain as to who allegedly dies.

Anyway, with regards to the movie...not bad. In fact, I'd say it's the best Harry Potter movie I've seen, certainly better than Goblet. The acting by the adults certainly helped; Dolores Umbridge in particular was spot-on. There were some unfortunate pauses during some of the dialogue with Harry, Ron and Hermione but overall the kids handled themselves well.

The best part? The fight at the Ministry of Magic, of course! Everything else was just filler.

Ratatouille. I had my doubts about this movie, especially after the so-so Cars. I was worried that Pixar had lost its touch, and had produced a clunker. A rat...as a cook? Did they run out of ideas?

Remind me never to doubt Brad Bird again. Such a simple story, brought to life by Pixar. I've read that chefs are calling it the best food movie ever made, and who I am I to disagree with them?

Definitely not a kids' movie, though...oh, sure, it's animated, and they tried to make Remy cute, but that's where it ends. The rats were lifelike, and when there are a whole mess of them in the kitchen...ew.

Deja Vu. Haven't I seen this movie before?

Wii? Not Mii...=(

For the past week I've been playing with the Wii Locator, a handy tool that scans various sites for the availability of the Nintendo Wii. I've had the chance in the past to score a Wii; I saw it at sears.com, and even saw a couple in person at my local Target. I never bit, though, figuring I wouldn't have time to play with it.

After dusting off my Playstation 2 to play Kingdom Hearts 2, however, I've been looking for something that I can play with my daughters. No problem, I thought, the Wii should be easy to find by now...Turns out I was wrong. Dead wrong. Still shortages, unfortunately. Greedy store owners are also just bundling unwanted games with the console and jacking up the price.

Maybe it's just as well...save me the $250 and have my kids play properly outdoors. Still, though, I can feel my OCD kicking in. I know I'll eventually cave and buy one (if I can find one, that is).

Jesus Phone

I finally got the chance to play with an iPhone at an Apple store today. The verdict: not bad. Solid build, glass, pretty graphics. Not sure why people are gushing about its form factor, though--it's pretty much a thin brick with rounded corners. The software is where it's at.

Interestingly, despite the fact that Apple touts simplicity in every facet of its design I had a hard time at first adjusting to the interface. I kept looking for a back button (finally figured out that the lone button on the phone took you to the Main Menu), and was a bit confused as to what "gestures" to use. After a couple of minutes, I finally got it, and was off and running. I looked at YouTube and a bunch of arctic photos. I called up Safari and started viewing sites, including Shelfari and Hotmail.

The keyboard is...interesting. Apple said to "trust it" and a lot of times trusting it did work, but using it to type in a URL was a painful experience. I liked the keyboard so much better when I was able to use it horizontally with two thumbs; I went to a restaurant website, tapped on the locator, entered a zip, called up a map, and did the "two fingers apart" gesture with my thumbs to expand the map. So much better. I guess Filipinos are genetically bred to only use thumbs when typing on a phone keyboard, virtual or otherwise.

My final impression of the iPhone: It's not really a phone, is it? I never even poked around to see how I could make a phone call, although clicking on a "Call" link on one of the websites brought up a call dialog with the number on the website (pretty slick). I can see myself using it as an iPod, and as a handy lookup whenever I need information from the web. Using it as a phone? No. As a camera? Maybe.

In other words, I wouldn't pay $600 for it, since my usage for it would be limited. Apparently some people think it's worth it; I saw three people walk out of the store with one (curiously, those three people just happened to be walking Apple stereotypes).

If someone gave me one, though, I wouldn't refuse it.

Shelfari

Ever since I saw Delicious Library mentioned in a blog (cokeycyn, I think) I've always wanted to find a corresponding version that would work on a regular PC. Of course, being the cheap guy that I am I didn't want to spend anything on it. Which meant MediaMan was out. I then resolved to write something myself, but I found myself having no time to do it--what with the kids and just sheer laziness on my part.

This past week I came across Shelfari, an on-line equivalent of Delicious Library, but limited strictly to books. It's been a fun site to play with--I've been adding books left and right, with the total numbering more than 300. It's cool to see all the covers to the books you've read, all laid out nicely in a row.

The site also allows you to "personalize" the book, adding such information as date purchased and who borrowed it; sneakily, it also allows you to buy books from Amazon. There's also a community where you can share opinions.

Not to say that there aren't any problems with the site. It gets too slow sometimes, and not all books have the covers you know and remember. It's also frustrating not to be able to edit the cover of the book in a separate window, instead of having to leave your search screen. There's also the problem of too many book listings for the same title. Not surprising, seeing as their book database seems to come directly from Amazon.

The good outweighs the bad, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the site. Here's a look at my Top 10 list:

Sellout

Transformers movie tie-ins with Burger King I understand (you have to sell toys, after all...and the ad's funny the first couple of times you see it), but...

Optimus Prime hawking Pepsi? Is Megatron gonna hawk Coke now?

I'm not kidding myself, though...that's a pretty cool toy. How much is it again?

LA Story

So the anchor of Telemundo just broke the news that the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, was having an affair. This affair caused the breakup of his twenty-year old marriage and put a serious damper on any political aspirations Villaraigosa had after his mayoral stint.

The interesting part? He was having an affair with the very same anchor who broke the story. Talk about having an inside source.

...sorry.

bookoftheweek: World War Z

When I was a kid I was unfortunate enough to catch the last ten minutes of Night of the Living Dead, when the zombies were breaking into the farmhouse. I'm still freaked out by it; needless to say, I'm not a big fan of zombie movies.

It was therefore quite surprising that I enjoyed World War Z by Max Brooks, cheesy title and all. It's the story of the Zombie War, as told by "interviewees" across the world. What starts out as a misbranded case of "African rabies" turns into a worldwide epidemic.

The storytelling approach is quite interesting, and helps in making the book extremely readable. Instead of one long narrative, you get short chunks and get an idea of just how different countries dealt with the Zombie war. It's all told in a matter-of-fact style, leaving the usual horror themes to the imagination of the reader. It could even be an account of the horrors of war, except this war is against the undead.

It's already been optioned as a movie by Brad Pitt's Production Company. I doubt I'll see the movie, though--the book already gave me nightmares (imagine zombies coming out of the ocean...I'll never go to a beach again without thinking of that).

Highly recommended. Braaaaaaaiiiiinnnnnnsssssss.