The Random Sinner In Me

Travis Pastrana X Games XII Double Backflip (video)

funny soccer toy (video)

personal helicopter (link)

the Sony Mylo (video)

hammerhead attacks a tarpon (video)

upside down ternet (link)

Girl takes pic of herself every day for three years (video)

Superman retires (video)

a classic dance by hamsters (link)

I am Satan (video)

a drink with your coworkers (video)

mouse party (flash)

movies I've seen recently...

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby  (2006)  A-

"Talladega Nights" is probably the best Will Ferrell movie I've seen so far. Every scene had a joke or a punchline in it, and I was laughing practically throughout the whole movie. Just like what director/writer Adam McKay did with "Anchorman," the ensemble cast, the dialogue, and the crazy scenarios are what gives the movie a lot of charm, despite the seemingly overall cliche plot. Will Farrell not only made yet another memorable comedic role in Ricky Bobby, but he also helped out in the writing, which cements him as one of the best success stories from the Saturday Night Live alumni. The racing scenes also hold their own really well, and are much more entertaining than I originally would have imagined (especially coming after "Cars"). This is definitely one of the best comedies I've seen this year, and will most definitely be a future classic (especially if you like Farrell's brand of humor).

Chasing Amy  (1997)  A+

Out of all the Kevin Smith films I've ever seen, "Chasing Amy" is my absolute favorite of his work. Out of all the movies I've ever seen in my life, "Chasing Amy" ranks very high on my list, and could even possibly be my overall favorite. High praise? Sure, but I honestly feel it deserves it as one of the best comedic dramas I've ever seen. I'm completely in love with the characters, dialogue, and the very unconventional romantic plot. Speaking of the dialogue, this movie does not shy away from any taboo material and is most definitely not for kids, but it works so well for a mature and open minded audience. I recently got a chance to rewatch this personal classic of mine, and I was once again captivated by it. Kevin Smith, I thank you for this movie, and for giving Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee roles that will forever resonate in my life.

A Scanner Darkly  (2006)  B-

Well this was a surreal film. First you got the funky rotoscope animation, the eccentric characters, the bizarre yet fascinating dialogue and plot. Wierd for sure, but there's a bit of dryness to the tone of the movie. There's no main coherence to the story, and while the premise is definitely interesting, it's still not necessarily exciting. What this movie does do though, is make you feel just as lost the characters are, which works really well. There are scenes like when they argue about how many gears they have in a bike, that totally feels like a good representation at the meaningless conversations you might have in a drug induced state. "A Scanner Darkly" is definitely not for everyone, because it'll either keep you wide awake fascinated, or bored enough to sleep.

bleah, problems with my webhost for my website (http://patrick005.com). It seemed that my webmaster service is put on hold; or "inactive" as they call it, because there is a problem with my billing. The credit card that was connected with my account was apparently the one that I had to cancel due to some hacker doing some fraudulent charges with it. I can still access my website through it's base "free" URL with ads and all (http://patrick005.tripod.com), but my main concern now is the domain name that I've had all these years is also inactive at this point. I don't know if my webhost is holding it until I clear up the billing, or whether they let it go for somebody else to take. I hope I didn't lose my domain name, because as I'm writing this right now, my account still hasn't been fully reactivated yet.

*update* - all fixed

Random Suffer Well

the first music videos played on MTV 25 years ago (link)

tiger attack (video)

human space invaders (video)

the most expensive coffee (link)

Darth Vader being a smartass (video)

potato cannon (video)

funny e-cards (link)

don't mess with the printer (video)

ok go : here it goes again (video)

fun movie quiz 3 (link)

real life Japanese mech warrior? (video)

neon (game)

This came off as a big surprise for me, but the new reality show : "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" is entertaining as heck. The premise of the show is kind of geeky, but it doesn't stop it from being a rather fun show to watch. There's also a lot of dynamics to the "heroes" in this show, how they perceive themselves as a superhero, and as a person. There isn't as much drama as you would get in a typical reality TV show, but the challenges are quite unique and fascinating all the same. Worth a watch guys. My pick is on Major Victory to go all the way to the end.

This past week, something shocking and huge affected gamers and the gaming industry. It was announced by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) that E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) as we knew it for the past 12 years is done. Finish. Kaput. No more. The big trade show that showcased huge booths displaying games, early game footages / demos, and the oh so popular booth babes, that were all available for tens of thousands of people to enjoy are now a thing of the past. Next year, the event is going to be held in conferrence rooms in a couple of Los Angeles hotels, and will only be open to invited guests of about 5,000. That's a far cry from the 60,000+ people who are normally in attendance each year. This pretty much means that my visit to E3 this past May 2006, was most likely the last one I ever got to attend.

I dunno how I feel about this. I do think this industry needs one big
event that covers everybody, and E3 the way it's been is that. Even though I actually commented that "I was bored" at this year's E3, it still doesn't mean that it wasn't worthwhile as a whole. I suppose I am disappointed that this happened, but at the same time, I can live with the knowledge that we all as gamers will still be treated with exciting news and events throughout the year. Except it'll be nothing like a huge week's worth of news and events anymore. As gamers, we've lost our huge celebration on why we love gaming, and that will be missed.

some links to read about this...

- ESA announces huge changes for E3
- Ten reason's for E3's collapse
- E3 gets new name, date, and capacity
- What comes next after E3?

John The Random Revelator

Batman sequel details (link)

art of the saber (video)

the Superhero database (link)

star wars on a banjo (video)

I humped your hummer (video)

big gulp (flash)

rollerblader go ow (video)

Excavator Unloading (video)

da breakup song (flash)

myspace video comment (video)

the Amazing screw-on head (video)

3Dtris (game)

Going to see the "Bloc Party" tonight at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. This will be a first for me in seeing the band live, and going to the Greek. I'll re-edit this post and update later after the concert.

...and here we are...

Alright, so as I said, this is the first time for me to see "Bloc Party" live. This is also the first time I've ever been to a concert at "the Greek Theatre" in Los Angeles.

Before going to the Greek, I noticed on their website they said that they use "stacked parking." I'm not familiar with that term and I was thinking that I hope it isn't exactly like it sounds. Unfortunately, it IS as it sounds. The way they do it is that they group all the cars line by line, but with only about a foot apart from each other (front, sides, and rear). At this point you are probably thinking, "how the hell would you get out?" That's the thing I guess, you exit out as a group, line by line, from the front to the back. Ofcourse unless you are at the front, sides, or back of the group which gives you at least the option to move out on your own choice. Fortunately when I was being parked, I was at the very back line, which means I can just pull a reverse and escape. After parking, I was thinking that exiting later will be a pain.

The Greek Theatre as it's been described to me by friends, is like having a concert at somebody's backyard. It's true, it really does feel like that, and it's kinda cool. It's like the stage is the back of the house, the yard is lined with rows of seats, and you are surrounded by trees all around. The sound system isn't bad either, so that's a plus right there for this venue.

There were two opening bands before the Bloc Party.

"Mew" was the first opening act, and they were playing to an audience that was 70% empty still. Even so, I did notice several of their fans in the crowd enjoying what must have been a very intimate experience, especially considering that this is their first U.S. tour. Their sound is very much in the progressive rock genre, and they played what seemed like two 15 minute songs, that used up all their given 30 minute set. They weren't bad at all, but not necessarily my thing.

"Broken Social Scene" was the second one up and they actually had a lot of their fans in the audience (15% empty at that point). Also in the progressive rock genre, but their songs aren't as long as Mew's. This band is huge, in the sense that they have as much as ten members on stage, with two drummers, four guitarists, one violinist, one additional female vocalists, two all purpose members that used different types of instruments depending on the song (they had marraccas at one point). Big sound from a big band, and they definitely weren't bad. Still, not my thing though, and I started wondering how they fit in with Bloc Party fans. They played a little over 40 minutes, because they were compelled to do an encore (which doesn't usually happen for an opening act).

Bloc Party was finally up and they rocked the house! Being that they only really have one full length album out, they pretty much played the CD with one new song from the upcoming album (or was that two new songs?). The reason I even got into the Bloc Party was because I saw a live performance of theirs on cable TV, and seeing them live in person now was pretty darn cool. Being that their songs are also kinda danceable, you got several couples dancing in the aisle and in their seats.

It bears mentioning that the whole crowd for the Bloc Party were all 20 somethings. "Socially conscious intellectual college crowd" is how I would describe them. It was like hanging out on a college campus, and sure enough there were tons of fine looking women in the audience (lots of hot asian girls too, which actually surprised me). Speaking once again about people, in one of the songs the lead singer gets one audience member from the pit to jump on stage and dance with him. A second person gets up, then a third, then a fourth, until it got to what I think was 30+ people from the audience on stage. Normally, the bouncers would not have let that happen, but I guess Bloc Party allowed it. It was an awesome sight though, and it was humorous when one of those audience members got on the mic and yelled "give it up for Bloc Party!"

After a little over an hour, they played the last song. Bloc Party was still on stage at that point thanking the audience, but then I remembered how the cars are in a "stacked parking" formation, so I immediately jammed out through the exit. I even got to my group of stacked parked cars first before anybody else showed up, which goes to show how fast I was moving. I got in my car, put it on reverse, and high tailed it out of the Greek Theatre before the rest of the crowd got a chance to cause heavy traffic. I didn't even give myself time to reflect on the fact somebody stole my "Transformers" magnetic display I put on my hood, I just wanted to get out of there (especially after past experiences of leaving concerts).

All in all, it was a pretty good concert. I loved the venue, and the
sound systems, but I hate the parking situation. While the parking this
night wasn't a hassle to me at all, I can imagine how bad it is in the
future, which makes me almost not want to come back to the Greek
Theatre.