I recently spent some time with a good old friend of mine whom I haven't seen for over half a decade now. At first I wasn't sure whether we still share mutual interests to make conversation, but I'm glad to find out that it felt like things haven't changed. We traded stories about ourselves, we ate lunch, talked about comic books, went to see the Da Vinci Code, talked about movies, ate dinner, and played video games for the day. I even got to meet his girlfriend, who can actually play video games, so he's got himself a keeper as far as I'm concerned.

I really enjoyed the company and am a little saddened that he will be leaving Southern California for Seattle, Washington. Too bad we didn't catch up with each other until recently, but apparently it's because it's hard to find my real contact information online (I use an alias for online purposes). He was able to find me through friendster.com though, so we got to see each other at least once before he left. So I'm glad for that.

He is taller than I remember him though, or maybe I'm shrinking.

Movies I've seen recently...

Haute Tension (2003)  C+

Well this is a violent film. Lots of gore and blood. A splatter-horror fest through and through. "Haute Tension" ("High Tension") has that suspenseful terror situation working for it. A lot of the time you got the main heroine hiding from the killer, and it's pretty much the "will she get caught, or won't she?" The flaw that comes from that situation would be that someone will probably go "now, why the hell is she doing that?" Needless to say, just remind yourself of what movie genre this film is before holding too much judgement on some scenes. The one thing you should indeed judge the movie, is the last 15 minutes that will either make you curse the whole thing or be pleasantly surprised. Personally, I thought the ending was inspired, but opens up a lot of problems with the rest of the movie.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)  C+

Symbols, codes, conspiracies, faith, logic, history, and puzzles are at the heart of "The Da Vinci Code." From scene to scene, we are treated to a series of clues that leads the characters to the next clue, that leads them to the next clue, and so forth. The deeper they get to the whole puzzle, the more background information is revealed to further the story along. The problem I found here is that not every clue was really explained in the movie, which doesn't really give us satisfaction on what the answers are, or motivation to really follow along. Once they do slow down the pace enough to properly explain some puzzles, the movie gets a lot more interesting.

The main characters played by Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, and Ian McKellen; as well as Paul Bettany, stand out rather well on film. Particularly Ian McKellan's Sir Leigh Teabing, who was a delight to watch on screen. It's a shame that while some characters like Bishop Aringarosa, Captain Fache, and even Remy Jean played signficant roles in the story, there weren't as much effort spent on their characters for us to care too much about them. In fact several of the secondary character's motivations and backgrounds aren't
really explained that well, so what happens is that we get encounters
with said characters that ends up giving us more questions than are
actually answered.

While the screenplay by Akiva Goldsman was serviceable to a book that is rather difficult to translate into a two and a half hours film, the result feels somewhat "hollow" to the adventure of the story. The direction by Ron Howard was also just serviceable to the movie, but I did enjoy the nice visual touch that was done to the puzzles and clues, for us to properly understand what the characters are talking about. I feel that overall, the movie could have stood out on it's own worth as opposed to just a film adapted from the popular book. Unfortunately, it merely serves as simply a companion piece to the book by Dan Brown. I did enjoy it well enough though, and it proved to be a rather good diversion.

Perfect Random Situation

walk barry bonds (link)

search for spock (video)

the Lost experience (link)

how to deal with a concert stage invader (video)

turcios caricature (link)

automatic mahjong table (video)

Wii60 (pics)

PlayStation3's interface (video)

fantazy land (link)

BBC interviews "the other" Guy Kewney (video)

guitar hero trainer (link)

pendulumeca (game)

Movies I've seen recently...

Stick it (2006)  C

This is another movie from Jessica Bendinger, who was the writer of "Bring it on" which is a cult favorite of mine.  "Stick it" follows the same formula of being a little over the top, character's spewing corny lines that are quotable, and entertaining dance (in this case gymnastic) sequences. Basically a "fluff" movie. In regards to "Stick it" though, you gotta bring that formula down a notch. The movie can get a little too over the top for it's own good and the quotable lines aren't that quotable. What also surprised me about the movie is that there are "serious moments" that kinda takes you away from the fact that this should be merely a "fluff" film. I was also surprised to find that this movie is also a social commentary about the flawed system of judging in gymnastic. Despite me criticizing the movie, there were some enjoyable moments that saves it from being absolutely horrible. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the movie though, because I did it enjoy it.

Just Like Heaven (2005)  B-

As far as "chick flicks" go, my biggest problem with them is how melodramatic they can get. Going into "Just Like Heaven" though, I knew that wasn't going to be too much of a problem. Sure this movie isn't entirely original, but it works that particular lite-romantic story formula so well, that I found it quite enjoyable. It also helps that Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo are great in it, and they play off each other so entertainingly well. Despite the premise requiring you to suspend disbelief, there are a couple of loose ends that I wish were wrapped up much better. This movie gave me a smile on my face throughout, and i'm not ashamed to say that as a guy, I loved the movie very much.

The idea that video gaming has become so accepted by the general public means that it's elevated itself from being just a kid's toy and are now more like "entertainment units" like a DVD player. With E3 recently occuring; and more specifically Sony's PlayStation3 announcement, the big question that every gamer is asking themselves now is "how much are you willing to pay for a video game console?" The xbox360 already costs $400, but it seems that price point isn't too bad, as the console is still selling very well. Nintendo hasn't announced a price point for the Wii just yet, but they claim it'll definitely be less expensive than Microsoft's offering. But are you willing to pay $600 for the PlayStation3? That's the big giant question right now. Are you willing to spend that amount of money for something that was predominantly referred to as a kid's toy for the majority of the video game industry's life? Not only that, but while the xbox360 games are averaging $60 a game, it's been mentioned that the PS3 games might go for $70-$80.

It does have to be noted that the PS3 is also a blu-ray video player. But unlike when DVD hit it's stride over five years ago, how important is blu-ray for you? It also has to be said that the PS3 does have a $500 core unit, but just like how I've suggested to people that the xbox360's $300 core unit is a waste of money, I am now also suggesting the same thing for the PS3's core unit. Don't do it folks, do not buy the lower cost version just because it's cheaper, as it is simply not cost effective in the long run.

The next question that gamers should be asking themselves is, how much time do you really spend on video games to justify the amount of money put into it?  The older you get, the less hours you can dedicate to playing games. Over a decade ago, I could average as much as 25-35 hours a week. Nowadays I'll be lucky if I ever go over 5 hours in a week. Also the majority of my time now in gaming, is dedicated to offline multiplayer games with my friends, as opposed to single player experiences. This is in contrast to the fact that I hear people complaining about how the length of gameplay in games nowadays are too short (I actually open my arms to that). For somebody like me, I really cannot justify spending that much on a PS3 (unless Shenmue 3 is somehow exclusive for it).

The reality that this hobby has gotten to be really expensive finally hit everybody this E3 2006. Gamers will have to determine how dedicated they are to their favorite hobby, but at what cost?

Beverly Random Hills

unecessary censorship 17 (video)

wedding crashers montage (video)

google trends (link)

fox sports... making a difference (video)

dollar illusion (video)

orbox b (game)

dance dance evolution (video)

busted! (video)

squares-2 (game)

lazy ramadi (video)

the last ninja on earth (video)

adult swim fix (link)

I was able to go to the KROQ "Weenie Roast Y Fiesta"
this year. I was able to buy two tickets within the first 30 seconds
they were on sale, right before they were sold out. Unfortunately, my
friend was unable to go afterall and I was stuck with an extra ticket.
When I got to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, I was immediately
asked by somebody who was parked next to my car, as to whether I had an
extra ticket. Boo Yah, I got myself my money back in full, by selling
him my extra ticket.

I did not plan to go see all the bands that day, but I was able to see
"Rock Kills Kid" and "The Academy is..." at the KROQ live web telecast.
So when I got to the music festival, "Panic! At the Disco" was already
playing through half of their set. They weren't bad live and it seems
that they have a strong following by the ladies. Speaking of the KROQ
ladies, man were there a lot of hotties and cuties! Lots of tight low
riding jeans, tank tops, girls in bikinis, gyrating to the music there
in the concert. ddrroolll..

Anyways, next up was "She Wants Revenge," which is one of the bands I
really wanted to hear. The problem I found with their set is that half
of their songs didn't really work live, as opposed to the CD. They did
sound good though, and their lead singer acts really comfortable on
stage, like he is already a veteran. The audience were kinda
indifferent to them, but I thought they were okay.

"Dashboard Confessional" was up next. Didn't really care much for them,
but once again it seems they have a huge fan following by the ladies....

"Rob Zombie" was up next, and he had a killer show. I think this was
the wrong crowd for a Rob Zombie show though, and he definitely
noticed.  He started berating people who wouldn't stand up for the
seat, called them emo-poser ****, told them to get off their cellphones
and just wait until they get home to their myspace.  It was
hilarious.... because it's true.

Next up is "Angels & Airwaves," and if you've read my review of
their very first concert, then you should know that I feel that Tom
Delonge has gotten a little too pretentious with his band (he was
talking about 9/11, terrorism, death, etc). Oddly enough, even though
Tom is most known for the popular Blink182, the audience seemed to have
felt luke-warm about Angels & Airwaves. In fact at one point, Tom
Delonge asked all of us to stand up, and when many people ignored the
request, he added in a "please." It was kinda sad.  I'll say this
though, musically they sound better than they did when I saw them at
the glasshouse. But then it's possibly because Verizon Wireless
Amphitheater just had better sound systems.

Then we got "AFI," who apparently has tons of fans, because about 85%
of people actually stood up from their seats in excitement. Just like
"Dashboard..." I didn't really care too much for them.

Up next is the mystery guest.  Apparently a lot of people got the
impression that "System of a Down" was going to perform, because I did
in fact see a lot of people wearing "system shirts." Who did we get
instead? Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters / Nirvana fame) performing an
acoustic set. It was awesome.

"Matisyahu" was up next, and he did an overall good job.. What was
probably memorable about his performance is that some guy was able to
hop on stage when Matisyahu was singing "King without a crown." It took
about 7-9 security guys to get him off the stage.

"Red Hot Chili Peppers" were up next, and since they are the main
headliners, they got to play about 1 hour (instead of the 30 minutes
that everybody was getting). They were really good, played some old
songs along with several ones from their new album.

After the concert, I pretty much had to sit in my car for an hour,
because my parking spot was in a horrible location that it would have
been impossible to back out. All this is especially because the way the
parking lot is designed, it creates a huge bottle neck at the
exit.  It was gridlocked up the wazoo. If it wasn't for the
parking exit situation, things seems to have gone really well for me at
the concert.

*click here for a camera phone video capture*

I went to support my acquaintance's band "Darvoset," who had a gig at the Galaxy Theatre opening for ABC.
This was the first time I went to the Galaxy Theatre, and it's a rather
nice place. It's set up like an old fashion concert theatre, where the
seats are set up like a restaurant (so it has tables), with a "pit" at
the front of the stage. In fact, the place is set up for you to be
eating and drinking while watching the performance. Just imagine a
heavy metal act or a hip-hop performance  in front of a crowd scarfing down on some potato skins
and nachos, drinking mixed-drinks. It's kinda neat really.

My acquaintance's band was the second act right before ABC, even though
they were original scheduled to be the first opening act. That means
their band sold more tickets than the other opening band; "Smiling Face Down"
(who were mediocre - okay). That's kinda cool to know that their fans
can support them like that.

Darvoset only had a six song set for a 30 minutes performance. I
thought they did pretty good on stage, despite the fact that I think
the Galaxy's sound system didn't project the lead singer's voice loud
enough. Their lead singer has a good voice, and it's a shame that
strength wasn't shown well. That 30 minutes went by rather fast and it
made me want them to do more, but I remembered that they aren't the
main act. Oh well, maybe in the future. I did not stick around to see
ABC perform, because I had plans with my fiancee afterwards, but at
least I got to finally see my acquaintance's band live on stage. I was
also given a free pre-release copy of their second album, so that was
cool too.

Random Compliments

7 minutes of x-men : the last stand (video)

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006 (link)

soccer tackle technique (video)

disney clones (pics)

hitch hiking girls (video)

need a hot temp for work? (link)

the moustache tattoo (video)

dirty car art (pics)

Algorithm March (video)

the beer belly (link)

American nerds in Japan (video)

assasination simulator (game)