Random Islands on the Coast

On The Jury (link)

Man Tries to Vote for Bush (video)

The New Girl + Facebook (video)

Friends with Benefits Wedding (video)

Baby's First Rejection (video)

Feature films coming to YouTube (link)

Take Off Your T-Shirt... NSFW? (video)

cat flushing toilet (video)

Under The Bridge: Literal Video Version (video)

Captain Compete Saves USC Football (video)

Movies I've seen recently...

Zack & Miri Make a Porno  (2008)  A-

It should be no surprise that "Zack & Miri Make a Porno" is geared mostly towards the huge fanbase of writer / director Kevin Smith. The reason I say that is because as with other Kevin Smith movies, the dialog is expectedly filled with tons of vulgarity from sex jokes to potty humor, which may not sit well with some movie goers out there. Considering the title of the movie is pretty straight forward, there are simulated sex and nudity in this, which will undoubtedly turn away some people from the film. If those issues aren't an issue, what you'll find here in this movie is a surprisingly charming, hilarious, and very entertaining story about two best friends who strive hard to make a porn, so that they can pay their rent. The plot may sound unique, but the progression of the story is actually pretty straight forward and more or less predicatable. I also could have done without the slower pacing at the last third of the movie though, which is primarily when the romantic part of the story kicks into gear. Overall though, I greatly enjoyed Zack & Miri, from the discussions about changing popular movie titles into porn titles, to that one very memorable scene towards the end of the movie that will either get you rolling on the floor laughing or get you running out of your seat in disgust.

Rock n Rolla  (2008)  B

One thing that director Guy Ritchie is really good at, is make movies about the world of gangsters, and humanize them into people that we ordinary folks can easily relate to. "Rock n Rolla" is another one of those movies, complete with a huge cast of characters, and a pretty dense story that requires you to really pay attention throughout the movie to avoid getting confused on what's going on. One of the strengths of this movie are the dialog and the interactions between the characters, with strong performances by Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, and Toby Kebbell. The comedy and action sequences are also a treat to watch, from a scene about how to properly slap an insubordinate's face, to a robbery that becomes one of the most entertaining chase sequences around. Rock n Rolla is quite the fun movie to watch, with some twists and turns that'll only further keep you glued to the screen.

Halloween  (2007)  B-

Remaking John Carpenter's "Halloween," the 1978 horror classic that jump started the teenage slasher films, requires a fresh take and yet still retain a semblance of what already worked. Director Rob Zombie's angle in his re imagined "Halloween" is to give Michael Myers a more in depth background to how he became to be. By giving the killing machine more of a personality and history, Rob Zombie ended up making Michael Myers a little more sympathetic of a character than he probably should be. The movie in turn became less about the scares and the suspense of his lurking around before the kill, and really became more about the drama on what's going to happen to Micheal Myers. This direction definitely will not work for every fan of the horror genre, but I personally appreciated Rob Zombie's attempt to flesh out and ground this iconic character for a new generation.

This was all told to me second hand, but I thought I'd share... My brown dog and the new "ninja" dog got into an argument. Well, a doggie argument I guess, involving growling and teeth and all. Apparently, my white dog saw them "arguing," defends the brown one, and physically attacks the ninja dog. According to what I was told, whitey manhandles the new one something fierce, or as my wife puts it "the ninja dog got owned." For a day or two, the ninja dog made sure to stay clear of the other two dogs, and wouldn't hang out with them anymore. Considering that ninja dog and white one were pretty cozy with each other for quite a while now, this is a significant change for this pack of house dogs. As I write this, the three dogs are starting to get along really well again, but I could tell that ninja knows her place in the hierarchy a little bit more than before. *sigh* Sibling rivalries.

Random Lam on the Lam (In the Random City)

In quotes: US election reaction (link)

2008 Election Maps (pix)

Van to Stoppie (video)

"Don't" PSA - NSFW language (video)

Freddy Krueger: Registered Offender (video)

HOT guitar moves by Grace Kim (video)

SELMA BLAIR CRAZY PAPARAZZI VIDEO! (video)

mambo no.5 robot (video)

10 Hottest Moments In Megan Fox History... so far (video)

I Want My MTV (link)

Post election reactions are in full effect now, and it looks like a lot of McCain supporters aren't very good at hiding how bitter and disappointed they are that Obama won. People at work I did not even know were Republicans are now voicing their opinion about the outcome, creating debates, and causing arguments on how the country is going to go all wrong or how Obama only won because he was black. Seriously? It sounds like McCain supporters are overreacting, and acting angrier than they should. Some people are even starting to show some of the racism in them, and I could only imagine how those proud racist people out there are taking the news that they are going to have a black president. Chill people.

On the other spectrum, voices are being heard about the results for California Proposition 8, which banned gay marriages. The people who supported it are now starting to sound all high and mighty about their stance on gay marriage and homosexuals in general, which to me honestly makes them just sound like bigots or religious zealots if they don't tone it down a bit. I stand by my position that Prop 8 is simply discrimination and a civil rights issue. Homosexuals today are like what African-Americans were over 40 years ago. It's something to think about when we recently gave a right to animals (Prop 2), but took a right away from gay human beings.

Emotions are running high at the moment, but I'm hopeful it'll die down soon before things get really ugly.

p.s. South Park already has a parody episode on the results of the election (man, they move fast). Check it out..
http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/207897/

I'm repeating what you should already know by now.

Barrack Obama won the election.

President-elect Obama.

We are actually going to have a black United States President. Imagine that.

The General Specific Random

If you vote, Starbucks buys your coffee (video)

Synchronized Presidential Debating (video)

Sarah Palin got pranked (video)

John McCain on Saturday Night Live (video)

Barack Obama and Sarah Palin in Mercenaries 2 (video)

Wassup 2008 (video)

Joe Six Pack hates Joe the Plumber (video)

Rock Band gets the Beatles (link)

Metacritic faces credibility blow (link)

AC/DC excel music video (download)

I'm back home from Las Vegas, and it's always such a good feeling to return from a vacation trip. The drive back did get a bit tiring towards the end, especially since I was driving late at night, when all I could see on the road were the reflectors leading to total blackness. The past day itself was great though, with two very notable things happening.

I finally got the opportunity to visit "The Gun Store," and took advantage of their gun range by renting some guns. I never used a gun before, let alone a machine gun, so this was an experience to remember. Entering the store was a little bit intimidating, because all the employees there acted pretty darn serious, and you know they don't take to people goofing off there. After signing a waiver form, I chose one of their package deals, which included a 12gauge Shotgun, H&K MP5 SMG 9mm, and an AK47 rifle (plus we get a free shirt). They gave me three target sheets, and then I picked up my eyes & ears protections. Once they had room, I entered the gun range.

Before I got a chance to shoot any of the guns, they asked me if I was right handed, showed me how to hold the gun, and how to aim and fire. First gun I got to shoot was the Shotgun, and it was freakin awesome. Out of all the guns I shot, that was probably my favorite, and it also was the loudest. Second gun I shot was the MP5 SMG, which wasn't too bad at all. Lastly was the AK47 rifle, which I honestly thought was just okay but got too unwieldly to aim well. I was able to get head shots on my targets, so I surprised myself on how well I did as a beginner. From this experience, I gotta say that you really don't know how a gun recoil feels like and what a difference it makes, until you actually shoot a gun. Oh, did I mention how much I really like the shotty? BOOM!!

One of my best friends finally got married, and I was really happy for him. The wedding was over at the Rainbow Gardens in Las Vegas, and it was a nice looking venue. I was one of the groomsmen, but besides standing by the altar and walking down the aisle, I did not really get to do too much. He had a pastor who spoke in english and Japanese for the wedding, which worked great because my friend is Japanese marrying a white American woman. It was a straight forward wedding, but for once I'm attending one that had an open bar, which figures because I was a designated driver. Coffee. Water. Coffee. Water. The rented tux that I was using were from Las Vegas itself, and I had to change out of it into my regular clothes by the end of the wedding. There was no real changing room for us, so it was something else getting out of my clothes in both the parking lot and later at the mens restroom. I did that because I had to leave the tux with my friend, so that it can be returned in Las Vegas, which is good since I'm already in SoCal as I'm typing this.

I wish the best for my buddy and his new wife. Congratulations!

As I mentioned on a previous blog, I went to Las Vegas for Halloween weekend. What I may not have said was that it was for my friend's wedding. Some quick thoughts...

- Although I only got 3 hours of sleep, I was able to drive the 245 miles without stopping, and was still quite awake.
- I actually beat my car's GPS' estimate of a 4 hours drive, by getting there 35 minutes earlier.
- MGM Grand is a nice hotel
- Went to pick up the tuxes, and it turned out that the jacket's sleeves and the pant's inseam were too short for me! Luckily they had back ups that fit.
- Rehearsal was late in starting, but quick in finishing.
- Met some heavy traffic on Las Vegas Blvd, so we decided to walk back to the hotel for a couple of blocks.
- Ate at Wolfgang Puck, which had decently good food, but quite expensive.
- Got on the Las Vegas monorail for the first time!
- Bought a souvenir Eiffel tower drink container, and the strawberry margarita that came with it, actually gave me a good buzz.
- Buzz took over the rest of the night, making me act a whole lot more sillier. I wasn't drunk, but my wife would say that she disagrees.
- Got a couple more drinks at one of the bars at the MGM Grand.
- As the night went by, I saw a lot more people in costume for the Halloween spirit.
- The majority of the ones in costumes should not be in a costume, but hey it's all for fun I guess.
- Funniest costumes I saw was a full body penis suit and a Sarah Pallin lookalike that was pushing us to vote for Obama.
- Awesome day to close off October, 2008.