For these past ten years, there has been one woman that's the international de facto number one choice for sexy bad girl Hollywood starlet that guys wanted. You see her constantly on or near the top of the lists when it comes to "hottest women" categories, and it's never a surprise. I'm sure you guessed it already, it's Angelina Jolie. Ofcourse many hot women has vied to take her iconic spot, but never truly succeeded, from Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, Victoria's Secret fashion models, any singer, model, or actress that's the current "hot-thing." However, lately there's been a huge momentum behind one woman who really may just be the "next Angelina Jolie," and that person is Megan Fox.

Megan Fox is undeniably the hottest woman right now that guys are definitely lusting over, and it seems to be in such high fervor the likes that hasn't been seen since... well Angelina Jolie. So how can one woman whose only high profile role has been 2007's "Transformers" get to be so popular? Besides that, she's only had bit roles in TV shows and movies, and is really not yet an accomplished actress (which she admits to). She's hardly in the tabloids having scandalous trips to clubs or parties, and has been known to supposedly be a geek who likes comic books. She's clearly not a saint though, based on some of her interviews about
falling in love with a stripper and such (but I guess that's a plus for
guys). She is for sure a beautiful woman, but technically not really that much more than the hottest actresses or models out there. She's not even single and available, as she's supposedly engaged to an actor most known for being in the 1990s TV show 90210, Brian Austin Green.

So what is it about Megan Fox, that makes guys go ga-ga at the mere mention of her name? I guess it's just that je ne sais quoi that makes her so special among everybody else. I'll tell you this, although I've recognized how beautiful Angelina Jolie is, I never really had a thing for her, but Megan Fox though.. va va va voom! Now only time will tell if us guys will still see her in this light next year, two years from now, five years from now, or more than ten years from now. At the moment though, I shall use the cliche and just say that Megan Fox is sure a foxy lady.

- links -
Megan Fox @ Chickipedia
Megan Fox @ imdb
the definitive web site on Megan Fox
six reasons Megan Fox just got more interesting
youtube photo shoot videos on Megan Fox

- "the Kevin & Bean show" also loves Megan Fox -
Aug 26, 2008 - "Let's all talk about Megan Fox"
Aug 28, 2008 - "Let's all talk about Megan Fox"
Sept 09, 2008 - "Let's all talk about Megan Fox"
Sept 15, 2008 - "Let's all talk about Megan Fox"
Sept 16, 2008 - "Megan Fox GQ article"
Sept 17, 2008 - "Getting the Megan Fox GQ magazine"

Random Feeling Show

MySpace Music To Start With Major Ad Sponsors (link)

Best Buy to buy Napster for $121 million (link)

imdb streaming free videos now (link)

Mega64: Parappa The Rapper (video)

Fairytales in dominoes: Snowwhite! (video)

sliding cat (video)

Crazy Raccoon House Party (video)

dancing polar bear (video)

best adapted screenplay (video)

add more cowbell (flash)

It seems I get this issue a lot more from Asians, more so than any other ethnic group, and it boggles my mind. The issue has been brought up to me that all fast food Chinese take-out restaurants are all "bad," as in their food do not taste good. The primary reason to that logic is that "...because it's not authentic Chinese food, and they don't make them correctly." A lot of us are aware that fast food Chinese take-out food aren't
exactly authentic Chinese food, and they usually are probably being made by
people who aren't even Chinese. Now the question I ask here is does it
matter?

If the reasoning behind a food not tasting good is because it's not authentic enough, then I think that's seriously messed up. I would totally be okay with it if the reasoning is simply "I don't like the taste," but it's not that simple because apparently it doesn't taste good because of a lack of authenticity. That right there questions the validity of the person's opinion about a food not tasting good. Is it because it really doesn't taste good, or is it because it isn't authentic enough? Seriously, why does it matter?

Good tasting food is good tasting food. Bad tasting food is bad tasting food. Maybe they don't have any food that you like from the menu. Maybe you'd rather have healthier food. Those should be the true reasons behind not liking a certain restaurant, and not because it's not authentic enough. Do you know how elitist that makes the person look? Would you not go to Taco Bell, because they don't have "authentic" Mexican food? I mean c'mon now, how does that matter?

We gamers already have a video game console war with the Playstation 3 battling it out with the xbox 360 (Wii don't count!). Then there's the handheld console war with the Nintendo DS and PSP going at it. Now, are people ready for another gaming war? This time its a war of rock band music games, between Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero : World Tour, and Rock Revolution.

Rock Band 2 recently came out for the xbox 360, and it's really the fault of it's predecessor that we even have this "war." For several years now, it's been all about Guitar Hero that most people associate rock music games with (nevermind the "Bemani" games from Japan), but it focused primarily on just the guitars (lead, rhythm, bass). Harmonix; who was the original developer for Guitar Hero, left that franchise to pursue a music game that involved the drums and vocals to go along with the guitars, and so "Rock Band" was born. Activision; publisher for GH, did not like the fact that Rock Band was encroaching on Guitar Hero's dominance over the music rhythm game genre. Then enter Guitar Hero : World Tour, that now also includes drums and vocals to go with guitar. On the other end Konami is going "we really started this whole craze in the first place" and will now be releasing Rock Revolution, which has guitars and drums but no vocal portion.

Full disclosure here on my part, as I am picking a side, and that's with Rock Band 2. Biggest reason is because of the songs available for it, as well as the success on how they've handled downloading new music to the game. My combined collection of Rock Band 1 songs, downloaded music, and Rock Band 2 songs, means I currently have over 250 songs. By the end of 2008, there are suppose to be about 500 songs playable for the game, and that's pretty darn impressive. Right now, the only thing I'll give Guitar Hero : World Tour credit for is that their standard drum kit looks better than Rock Band's standard drum kit. GHWT also has a music creator mode that has potential to be really good, but it doesn't include vocal work on it, which makes me not so excited for that feature anymore. In the corner of Rock Revolution.... well let's just say that it has an uphill climb to compete with Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Competition breeds innovation right? Well yeah I suppose that's true,
but because of the one particular nature of these games; being the
licensed songs and game instruments, the question of whether the public
even wants competition is in the air. As was the case with myself, people are choosing sides, saying
that one has better songs available than the other, one has better
features, one has better instruments (moot point, due to cross
compatibility between the games' instruments), etc etc etc. Ofcourse it comes down to preference, but some people are treating this "war" too personally at times. This
wouldn't be such an issue if it wasn't for the fact that these music
rhythm games are so similar to each other, that buying more than one of
them feels like over spending.

Random Bubbly

SNL: Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton (video)

Get your Sarah Palin action figure!! (link)

New Family - Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates Ad (video)

Guitar Hero World Tour full track list (link)

Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy (video)

photos that changed the world (pix)

11 ways to kill a snowman (video)

100 things you should eat before you die (link)

awesome advertisements (pix)

caught having sex at work (audio)

This past day, me and my wife went to my dad's company beach picnic. This was at Huntington Beach, CA, and I think the last time I was near a beach was back in my Hawaiian honeymoon. It was typical for a work related party, hotdogs, lemonades, contests, bingo, and kite flying. Now there's something I really haven't done for ages; kite flying. I think the last time I did that was practically twenty years ago. At first I forgot how to put a kite together and I was stuck looking like an idiot trying to get it up in the sky. After looking at other people's kites however, I figured out that I put the strings wrong on it. As soon as I fixed the problem though, the kite immediately went up in the air, and I did not even need to move around or anything. The kite just wanted to go up, with no effort whatsoever on my part. There's something serene about just flying a kite, and it was pretty darn relaxing. Then the sky got a little too crowded with other kites, that I decided to reel it back before it gets tangled up with another kite. For those moments that I was looking at my kite up in the air, it was like I was a kid again. *sigh* nostalgia

This past night, I went to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California, for the Counting Crows and Maroon 5 concert. Both bands are doing headlining sets, with Augustana opening for them. I unfortunately did not show up early enough to see Augustana's set, so I can't say how good they were. The first thing I noticed when I did get there was that this audience wasn't the type of crowd I normally see in the many concerts I've been to. The lack of black shirts was almost shocking to me, and many women were actually dressed up more than just the t-shirt and jeans combo. It was almost like it was some kind of work related party, as opposed to the festival atmosphere that most rock concerts I go to are. By the way, I suppose it's not surprising what with Maroon 5 being there, but there were clearly more women in the audience than men. Another surprise for me, was that I did not realize it until I was heading for my seats, but I apparently purchased Orchestra tickets, and was the closest to the stage that I've ever been in this venue (17th row from the pit + stage). This was also the first time I've seen either Counting Crows or Maroon 5 live, which continues my goal of trying to see all my favorite music artists in concert.

Out of the two bands, I have more of an understanding of what to expect with Counting Crows' live performance, because of their album "New Amsterdam : Live at Heineken Music Hall." One particular thing about their live performances is that they pretty much don't always play their big hits and that they tend to alter the songs from what we are familiar with from their albums; which you can imagine makes it a little hard for us in the audience to sing along at times. Lead singer Adam Duritz is clearly the one that will get the most attention out of the whole band, and that's not surprising because he is so energetic and quite passionate when he sings, that he is easy to keep your attention to. Their set list contained some of my favorite songs from the band, like "Mr. Jones," "A Long December" or "Rain King." They also played some songs off their newest album "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings." What completely stole the night for me however, was their performance of "Round Here" that was simply epic, and was an extended version with long ad-lib verses that sounded like Adam was emotionally telling us a story. I regret not capturing that song on video, but I await the availability of the mp3 at livecountingcrows.com. Counting Crows had a freakin awesome live set, and I am definitely definitely planning on seeing them again when they are back in town.

Maroon 5 was up next and they also had a great set. Just like with Counting Crows, most eyes were directed towards the lead singer; Adam Levine. It's nice to see that he is able to sing as well as he does on the albums, but what surprised me the most was that he apparently also plays several of the guitar solos. Kudos on being talented Adam. Once again just like with Counting Crows, Maroon 5 did not completely play their songs exactly like in the albums, which does tend to make the concert experience unique to itself. At one point, they were doing a cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" before transitioning into "She Will Be Love;" their big hit from "Songs About Jane." Their performance of the night though that got the most audience interaction was surprisingly for "Won't Go Home Without You;" which is from their newest album "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" (didn't get it on video either...). For that song, Adam got the audience to raise up their cell phones, which is like he said "the new lighter" for concerts. Maroon 5 had a pretty good set overall, and while a lot of people dismiss them as just being another typical pop rock act, there are still tons of us fans who know better.

At the end of the night, I wanted to buy a Counting Crows t-shirt, but unfortunately the design I wanted was only for a girl's shirt. Then I spent about a half an hour trying to get out of the parking lot. All in all though, this was a great event.

One Fine Random Wire

Oasis' Noel Gallagher Assaulted on stage (video)

Strange Hair Club Testimonial from a Stepdaughter (video)

college football fan gets "HJ" on TV (video)

cat vs printer (video)

Robocop Vs. Terminator Vs (video)

dirty talk - NSFW? (video)

The Phelps Minute With Michael Phelps (video)

Art with Star Wars (pix)

the most alien looking place on earth (pix)

white pants - the song (audio)

Metallica's ninth studio album of original material; "Death Magnetic" is finally here, and it's really really good. The band's reputation as a metal band or as rock icons are pretty much riding on this release. Much has been scrutinized about the band and it's music, all the way back to their first slow song with "Ride The Lightning's" "Fade To Black," leaving their thrash metal roots behind with their self-titled album also known as "the Black Album," cutting their hair and embracing a more alternative sound with "Load" and "ReLoad," the napster file-sharing debacle, and ofcourse the negatively criticized 7th album "St.Anger" (which I actually liked, for what it was). Now enter Rick Rubin, who is the producer for Death Magnetic, and who replaced Metallica's previous long time producer Bob Rock. If there is one person who can make Metallica's newest album stand up against all the haters out there, it's the very eclectic and very respected Rick Rubin.

The direction that Rubin wanted to bring to Metallica was to recapture the spirit of their '80s albums and it really shows. Death Magnetic sounds heavily influenced by their 3rd and 4th album "Master of Puppets," and "...And Justice For All" respectively. This is most apparent with the song "The Day That Never Comes," with it's slow rocking first half but thrashing solo second half that was also found with "One." The '80s was also heavy on the thrash metal sound and "My Apocalypse" definitely fits that sub-genre, and in fact sounds almost like another Rick Rubin produced thrash metal band; Slayer. To completely follow the formula of their albums from that era, Death Magnetic also contains the riff heavy "Suicide & Redemption," which is Metallica's first instrumental song since "To Live Is To Die" from 1988.

Metallica's newest album isn't completely entrenched in the 1980s however, because bits of pieces from the past four albums are still present. Just look at the slowest (but still heavy) song of the album; "The Unforgiven III," which contains a piano and brass section, and connects back to their self-titled album and "ReLoad." Their previous album "St.Anger" has even left a mark in "Death Magnetic," because both albums seems to have the issue of having songs that may sound much longer than they have to be. Seven out of the ten songs go past seven minutes long, with the shortest song being five
minutes long. A song like "The End Of The Line" definitely questions why some of the songs are so lenghty, what with it's seemingly false ending that leads
to a portion that sounds like it could have been from another song.
Add this with Metallica's tendency for long intros, or sometimes having two intros to a song, and the length of the songs
becomes one of the first flaws to notice from this album. I have to admit however, that
after the third, fifth, and tenth time listening to "Death Magnetic," the
length of the songs don't seem to be much of a problem anymore, and in fact starts making sense as to why they are that long.

As for the band members themselves, James Hetfield may be past his prime as a singer, but his unique metal voice still works like a charm, capable of handling some fierce immediate sounding verses like the ones found in "That Was Just Your Life."  Lars Ulrich's drumming doesn't stray far from what can be traditionally found in
metal, but definitely great enough for mosh worthy drumming sections
like in "All Nightmare Long." Kirk Hammett is back doing solo guitar work again, with a more spontaneous sound harking back to an album like "Kill 'em All," but still with a hint of some deliberate work as demostrated in the song "The Judas Kiss." Newest Metallica bass guitar player Robert Trujillo got to contribute some of his funky and groovy musical background to the album as well, as evidence by a song like "Cyanide."

A fact that can't be ignored is the fact that these songs are going to sound really great in a live environment, especially with songs like "Broken, Beat, and Scarred" that should easily get the audience yelling "Show Your Scars!" Although I'm really loving the album (probably my most favorite of the year) what with it's catchy choruses, awesome riffs, and driving headbanging sound, it's still too early to tell whether Death Magnetic will stand the test of time as another must have classic metal album to add to all metal-heads' collections. One things for sure though, Death Magnetic definitely has more in common with Metallica's first four albums than the Black Album or any album past that ever did, and we have Rick Rubin to thank for that.

- track listing for Death Magnetic -
1) That Was Just Your Life
2) The End Of The Line
3) Broken, Beat, and Scarred
4) The Day That Never Comes
5) All Nightmare Long
6) Cyanide
7) The Unforgiven III
8) The Judas Kiss
9) Suicide & Redemption
10) My Apocalypse