Star Wars Episode III theatrical trailer (video) or try here

Steak & BJ Day (link)

another copier accident (video)

magic cube 4D game (java)

Microsoft showcases robots to watch kids (link)

low ratings? will this help? (video)

drive & dodge (flash game)

get your funny FAT t-shirts (link)

bear climbs electric pole (video)

test your reaction speed (flash game)

a collection of end-of-world scenarios (link)

tarping (video)

what is this creature? (link)

the sex I.D. mind test (link)

Moonpools & Caterpillars - Lucky Dumpling
is actually one of the best alternative rock albums that came out in
the '90s.  It's definitely one of my favorite albums. The lead
singer "Kimi" has a distinct voice that can be comparable a little bit
to Gwen Stefani of No Doubt,
and is not afraid to crack a note once in a while, as well as go crazy
with non-sensical words.  The vocals is definitely the first thing
you'll notice about the band.  The rest of the band itself (Pinoys
representing!!!) are good musicians and works well together. Lucky
Dumpling has that sound that blends itself well to the summer, because
of it's pretty laid back but upbeat sound with some great catchy pop
sensibilities.  Definitely an overlooked gem and is highly
recommended!

I love ALL the tracks and it was hard to choose just these as the stand outs...
1) Hear
2) Ren
3) Soon
5) Colossal Youth
8) Sundays
11) Koo Koo Koo
13) Crazy Old World
----------------------

Static-X - Wisconsin Death Trip
is one of my favorite albums.  It's just a pure head banging,
industrial thrashing, sonic assualt. Excellent work for their debut
album. The lyics can be nonsensical at times, but that's beside the
point for this kind of music. Although, curiously enough this is
suppose to be a concept album of a real life occurence. The songs can
also sound very similar to each other, which while normally would be a
mark against an album, this time it actually works for it. 
Definitely one that works best when listened as a whole, than it's
individual parts.

But speaking of individual parts, these are my highlights...
1) Push It
2) I'm With Stupid
3) Bled for Days
5) I Am
8) Sweat of the Bud
10) Wisconsin Death Trip
----------------------

Static-X - Machine
is their second album, and it's a decently strong follow-up. You can
tell that they are working on more melody and more variety in their
song structures.  The results are more songs standing out on their
own, but it also resulted in a less volatile sound compared to their
first offering.  It still has some of that head banging thrashing
madness that came from Wisconsin Death Trip, but now accompanied with
some slower grinding sounds.

Stand out tracks for me are...
2) Get To The Gone
3) Permanence
4) Black And White
5) This Is Not
8) Structural Defect
--------------------

About people and alcoholic drinks.  Through my time and experience
with the subject, there's one thing that's been on my mind... Do people
drink alcoholic drinks because they like it, or because they feel like
they need to? Yeah, I know I sound like I'm harping about peer pressure
and such, but then you wouldn't exactly be wrong either.

Alcoholic drinks have always been seen as an "adult" beverage. 
When people are young, usually they have a need to grow up fast, and
alcohol is one thing that they turn to.  But when you are legally
allowed to drink, how do you see alcohol? Do you treat it as just
another drink, or has it become a symbol that solidifies your status as
an adult?  I ask this because I believe that people still trap
themselves under pressure to drink, even when they are of legal
age.  It's as if just because you are an adult, you HAVE to drink
alcohol.  If you are for example a 25 year old who doesn't want to
drink alcohol, you're some wussy or something. It's like just because
there's alcoholic drinks in a restaurant's menu, you HAVE to order one.

Ofcourse there are people who legitimately like the taste of alcohol,
and there are those who like to try the different variety that comes
with alcoholic drinks.  My small commentary doesn't really apply
to everybody, but maybe what I said will make you consider thinking about why you
drink alcohol when you do.

Well, been going through two days of being back in a 40 hour work
week.  So far, it feels like I've never left, which in itself is
kinda sad to say. Part of me is glad to be back in action, while the
other part of me wishes I was still on vacation.

Man, I'm starting to really notice my speech go haywire again lately.
Being Pinoy in the U.S., it's no surprise that I have an accent
here.  Actually, back in the Philippines, I was considered to have
an accent there too, but I digress. It actually takes me a little bit
of effort to speak "normal," be it in english or tagalog.  If I
don't control myself, my speech comes off really fast and
uncomprehensible. Then there's times when I'm just so fatigued that I
can't help myself of the matter. *sigh* it's not a big deal really, as I'm usually in control.  But there are times when even I can't understand what I'm saying.

On another note, it looks like that photo that was supposed to be
e-mailed to me from the BuzzLightYear ride, actually came thru. 
The picture's a bit misleading though, because the scores don't seem to
be on there (I got something like 1,150,000 points).

check out this Star Wars episode III trailer (video)

create your own art (flash) 
...like this from yours truly...

the top 100 gadgets of all time (link)

super monkey ball advertisements (videos)

the in-action heroes (videos)

blog related firings (link)

the complete Calvin & Hobbes collection (pics)

helicopter (flash game)

asians burn the midnight oil (link)

watch it SHRED (videos)

bombs away (flash game)

America's 10 most powerful women (link)

Hentai dictionary (link)

try explaining this to mom (link)

well, last day of vacation and what do we do? Absolutely nothing really. Well, not nothing entirely, but nothing that exciting.
I played some matches of SF Third Strike on xbox live, but there was a
lot of network lag that the game was somewhat unplayable for me. 
It was probably because it's in the middle of the day and there's too
much code being spread out or something technical like that. So far,
I've been getting the best connections early in the morning or late at
night.
Then me and the rest of the gang; sans sleepyhead Peter, ended up at
the Cheesecake factory.  For whatever reason, we all could not
finish our meal.  So six boxes to go!
Afterwards, we were suppose to either go play miniature golf, or go to
the movies, or play same '90s trivial pursuit, or something... but
alas, we undecisive people could not decide on something.
Oh well, day of rest I guess, before I go back to a 40 hour work week.  
It's been a great vacation.

So, we ended up going to Disneyland
afterall, despite the warning of rain.  In fact, since it was
raining in the morning, my friends thought we were going to
cancel.  I was optimistic that it was only going to rain in the
morning, so we pursued with the plan.  Sure enough, it never
really rained much more for the rest of the day.

We went to Disney's California Adventure
first and went straight to the Tower of Terror. It was fun and we even
got ourselves a souvenier picture of us in it.  We then went and
played around with the Beast's Library at Disney Animation Studio,
where we were told what Disney characters best represent us (I got
Cogsworth).  Afterwards, we wanted to get on the water ride that
is Grizzly River Run, but it was shut down for the day.  The
Maliboomer was next on the list, and that went by really quick. We
ended DCA with Soarin Over California, which is always a nice relaxing
ride to get on. Then it was off to Disneyland.

oh, before I move on here, I thought I'd mention that ever since we
lined up to enter DCA, there was a party of five that had an asian
chick with short shorts with "thunder" thighs.  Throughout our
experience in DCA all the way to our standing in line to enter
Disneyland Park, we've seen them several several times. It was almost
like we were in the same agenda for the day, and in fact that picture of us at
the Tower of Terror has them in it too. So everytime we see that party,
we go "hey, it's Thunder thighs again." Admitedly, the "thunder thighs
chick" wasn't the prettiest of the party, but she stood out the most,
so was billed with the nickname for the group.

Also of note.  There must have been some kind of Cheerleader
competition or some gathering of sorts, because there were a lot of
nubile ladies out there in force.  They were all using their
Cheerleader jumpsuits or at least their school colors. If I was ten
years younger, I would probably have been in heaven.

So, when we got to Disneyland park
we went to check out to see if by some chance one of it's new rides;
Buzz
Lightyear's Astro Blaster, was actually open for guests to get
on.  Well, as soon as I saw a long line outside the attraction, I
knew that we got lucky enough for the chance to ride it; especially
since my friend will be
going back to Korea soon.  The ride wasn't bad at all, as it's an
interactive experience where you ride on a "buggy" with laser guns on
them.  You use the guns to shoot objects in the attraction, and
you get points for that along the way.  At the end, you get to see
a picture of yourself in action, as well as the opportunity to send it
out through e-mail (which I don't think works).  I scored 1,150,000 or something like that,
which makes me a "space scout." Good stuff.  As for the rest of
the
park, we got on Star Tours, Pirates of the Carribean, and Big Thunder
Trail.  We ofcourse ended it off with ice cream from main street.

We got a good amount of time at the Disneyland Resort, then went to
Denny's, got home to play some xbox, and that was it for the night.

One more full day of my vacation and it's back to work again.

Batman Begins on IMAX (link)

10 years of Yahoo! (link)

the Apache Gattling Gun (video)

spam filters may lead scientists to AIDS vaccine (link)

breast size determines personality (link)

early computer ads (pics)

celebriducks (link)

Segways with more power and attitude (link)

R2D2 + dog = ??? (pic)

inflatable clothing that can double as a personal tent (link)

need a World Of Warcraft hitman? (link)

origami VIP (pics)

music artists rally support behind P2P (link)

need a freeware file manager for Win2K/XP? (link)

woah, I almost forgot to do a blog entry for today.  I can't break my streak now.

Well, I'm in my last stretch for my vacation, and I can honestly say
that it has moved at a good steady pace.  Not too fast, but not
slow enough.  Still, it feels like an actual vacation from work,
and that's a good thing. Still got Disneyland and possibly some
miniature golfing, along with another possible Tennis session coming
up. Too bad we couldn't find time for Las Vegas though.

The past day, we went to play Bowling, which I haven't done for several
months now.  So far, it looks like my skills haven't decreased or
increased since last I played.  It reminds me of how I am on
Street Fighter, I've peaked with no signs of improving anymore. 
But on the bright side, out of three team games, my team lost the first
one, but won the last two.  It was a good match up too, as the
teams were pretty well balanced.

We then went to our "usual" restaurant; "Carrows,"
that we've been going to for years, back in high school and
college.  Lately, we've stopped going to Carrows since our friend
left for the army, and it's been almost a year since we were last there
together.  The thing is that within the past year, they've changed
the menu we knew and loved.  Going back to Carrows again, it's
just not the same with the new menu.  In fact, it's sooo not the
same, I put it in my "banned list" of restaurants that I won't go
to.  It's a shame really.

We then watched the movie SAW
on DVD. Out of all the hype that I've heard about how good this movie
is, I was greatly disappointed with it. It had un-memorable characters
and in fact, they were all idiotic.  The Director was too obsessed
with the "dark and gritty" atmosphere that it was way overdone. The
over use of flashbacks totally killed the pacing of the movie, and as a
result, came off a lot more boring than it probably should have
been.  For the most part, I ended up just making fun of the movie,
which I'm sure wasn't the intended reaction from the director. I have
to admit that the general premise of the movie is
intriguing, but it was executed so poorly, that I can't give it
anything higher than a "C-"

While we are on the subject of movies, I thought I'd recap what I've
seen for the month of February. Looks like I did my desired minimum of
movies seen on the big screen, while I was short on DVDs for that.

- on the big screen -
1) Finding Neverland = A
2) Hotel Rwanda = A-
3) Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior = B-
4) Constantine = B

- on DVD -
1) Cellular = B
2) The Hole = C+
3) Get Shorty = B

So the Oscars has pass and Million Dollar Baby won the "big"
awards.  I personally was rooting for the Aviator, but with all
the momentum that M$B has been getting just weeks into the Oscars, I suppose it
isn't surprising for this to have happened. Congrats to the marketing
team there.

Chris Rock, while underused, did a decent enough job as
host of the show. Billy Crystal still does the better job I would
think, but Chris Rock's jokes were funny although sometimes odd for the
show he is in. I definitely could live without all the political jokes he put in too.

In doing a followup to what I wrote about the apparent negativity towards the Oscars,
the reactions coming from people, internet message boards, and even
radio talk shows, is that they do not like the Academy Awards for
certain reasons. These are the reasons that those people feel about the
Oscars...

1) They want the Oscars to cut out the technical awards (or the "small"
awards), because they do not want to see somebody up there they don't
know - how shallow a reaction is that? You mean to tell me that you
only want to see celebrities up there on stage? You have to realize
that the people behind the scenes deserve just as much recognition for
their hard work, and the Oscars is a chance for them to get their
spotlight for once.

2) The Oscars is long and boring - I suppose if they cut out all the small awards, then it will be short enough and more lively? Give me
a break.

3) The people doesn't vote for the awards, so who cares? - and if the people got the chance to vote for the awards, we would get something like "White Chicks" going for best movie of the year, or "Hilary Duff"
for best actress. That would be sooo wrong. As flawed as the Academy
are in their choices at times, they are still more educated and more
qualified to vote about movies than the common joe. That's why The People's Choice Awards exist folks, but for some reason you guys aren't watching that are you?

4) Nobody's seen the best picture nominations, why should we care?
- Well, people should go to the theaters and check out why these movies
were nominated.  Maybe it was because they deserved to have gotten
nominated? I've personally seen at least four out of five of those best movie nominations and I can see
why they were nominated. Why is it that people think that only the big
blockbuster
movies should be qualified for recognition? Once again, just shallow of
them to think so.

5) We already have a big TV event in the Superbowl, why do we need the Oscars to draw in big numbers too?
- First off, the Superbowl gets the biggest numbers in TV audiences
every year, and it's so big that no other show can get near it. 
The Oscars this year; while getting it's largest numbers of TV audience
in five years, doesn't come close to Superbowl numbers. Are Football
fans the only people that gets a big show to watch on TV? How
incredibly shallow and greedy is that?

Once again, the Oscars were created for the movie industry and the
movie enthusiasts.  If you're not one of those two, then I can
understand not being interested with the Academy Awards, but don't toss
in negative reasons as to why everybody shouldn't watch the show.