May 4, 2010

May 3, 2010

May 2, 2010

  • I can't deny that "Foursquare" for your phone is a neat idea as a social networking tool to "give you and your friends new ways of exploring your city." It even helps businesses by rewarding users to visit a place constantly by giving them achievement titles. Social Networking + Tour Of The City + Real Life Game. Oh I forgot to add one more thing to that, plus "Personal GPS." You let an application tell the world exactly where you are and that could become a security issue. It's like willingly allowing "Big Brother" to know where to find you. A site like http://pleaserobme.com/ even brought up this issue of "over-sharing" by listing all the updates that has the phrase "left home" in their status. That's undeniably taking it too far by telling the world that you literally just left home.

    With today's social networks, there's something of a need by people to tell their friends where they are. The idea is that you are mentioning what you are doing as your status update, and often that involves saying where you are. Nowadays It's so easy to share a private information like that it's scary, even if it's only intended for the eyes of friends and family. I've been guilty of doing that myself on Twitter and Facebook, by doing a status update saying I'm at this or that event. If somebody wanted to stalk me, all they have to do is keep an eye on my status updates. Thankfully I'm not obsessive enough to say that I'm at a Starbucks in so and so, but I still realize the risks in even mentioning a general area of my location to the internet.

    It comes down to choice, share or don't share. You can also just say "I was at..." minutes to hours after the fact, but even then that's still something to track. Either way it's important to know the risks involved with over-sharing your information to the internet. Chances are, most people don't care where you are or what you are doing, but it only takes one person to take advantage of this, and turn it into a nightmare.

May 1, 2010

  • - what the?! Ticketmaster sent me somebody's SIX tickets for a Ziggy Marley concert at Harrah's Rincon Casino in July?

    - Somebody just gave me two cupcakes at work. Well here's hoping it's not laced with something... or should I hope that it is ^_^

    - CA Governor hopeful Steve Poizner must be spending A LOT of money on ads. I see them everywhere! Is this how he'll spend California's money?

    - Super Street Fighter IV in DA HOUSE! CHALLENGE! FIGHT! Oh wait, I actually can't play until later this week, kinda busy =P

    - Got new work vehicles. Took me a second, but NO power locks, windows, seats, or mirrors. Driving it old school. At least it has an AUX jack.

    - Two hours ago, I was standing outside in the rain with no rain gear / umbrella... *sniffle* maybe not the best idea *sniffle*

    - LOL another reason to own an iPhone I guess - http://bit.ly/aQY99W - Women Found More Likely To Give Their Number to a Man With an iPhone

    - http://twitpic.com/1j7x64 - do they look guilty of something to you?

    - UCSD, do you have a 95% Asian population or something. I'm just saying, not complaining, but WOW.

    - What The? Just realized that my driver's license had my Mother's maiden name as part of my first name this whole time. I need to change that

    - I thought I was losing excitement to see Iron Man 2, but after seeing the internet clips of scenes from the movie, I now say BRING IT ON!

    - Hey look I'm in San Diego again. That's twice within a week. Must be a personal record.

    - I participated with my wife's "bring your husband to work day." I got to experience what she does for 9 hours today.

    - Guess what we're gonna do to the house... http://twitpic.com/1k22lw

    http://twitter.com/albert5x5

April 30, 2010

April 29, 2010

  • This past night, me and my friend actually drove down to the University of California San Diego (about 100+ miles from where I live) for "The Loft," where "Luminance 5" was being held. In particular, we were there to see Marie Digby once again. "Luminance" was created to give Asian American musicians a stage to perform their music to an audience. This time around we got to see three youtube stars, Clara Chung, Sam Hart, with Marie Digby headlining. It was a sold out show, in a small venue, but we all pretty much had a good view of the stage.

    Me and my friend got on campus at about 7:20PM, and although we parked at the general parking structure, we were a little concerned at this 11PM limit that the signs are suggesting. Being at past Marie shows, we knew that the meet & greet after the show would most likely go past that time. Well we took that gamble and off we went (there was no problem afterward). I haven't visited the UCSD campus for probably a decade (wow there are A LOT of Asians here), so although I kinda knew where I was going, it all still felt pretty foreign to me. We got to The Loft with no problem, and there was already a decent line that formed. The doors opened around 8:15PM, and thankfully we didn't have to wait too long for the show to start.

    Clara Chung was the first one up along with Daniel Chae (?) accompanying her on guitar for the first two songs. I've never seen this artist before and I admit that I was very very impressed with her. Very personable with the crowd, lovely voice, and good original songs, plus one mash-up of a Kings Of Leon song with Colbie Cailat. By the time Clara Chung had to sing her last song, there was an obvious "aawww" from the crowd, and I agree, I definitely would have wanted to hear her sing more.

    Sam Hart was next and is another artist I'm not familiar with (not true, I've seen one of his youtube videos before). He is also another singer / songwriter and what instantly stood out are the subject matter of what he sings. Sure he has the love songs in his repertoire, but he's also got songs about his cat, super villains, and video games. I really enjoyed his lyrics. He also did a nice rendition of the theme music of the Pixar movie "Up," and his own enjoyable mash-up of songs. Sam Hart had a very fun and good set list of songs, and I was impressed.

    Marie Digby got on stage by about 9:45PM and as always she looked beautiful and friendly to the audience. She played a lot of her staple of songs, as well as a cover of Beyonce's "Sweet Dreams," and they all sounded great. At one point though, during "Sanctuary," she must have completely been in the zone listening to the piano solo that her keyboardist Stan was playing, that she completely lost track of when she was suppose to jump in and sing. The entertainer that she is, she turned that moment into something positively memorable.

    That is one of her best strength as a performer, her ability to interact well with her audience, and in turn the audience feels very comfortable with her. Marie took off her jacket after a couple of songs because she was feeling warm, but at that time when said "I'm hot," somebody in the audience immediately said "yes you are!" Can't disagree there dude. After she sang her last song, the audience was able to convince her to do one more last song. Appropriately enough it was her cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella," which was the song that helped catapult her career to where it is now. To top it off, she was able to get a group of people from the audience on stage, and it all quickly became a sort of party. What a way to top off her set though. Great job Marie! Awesome as always.

    The meet & greet afterward went by a little quick, as the performers had to leave the venue sooner than later. Before we got up for our turn, me and my friend chatted a bit with Marie's keyboardist Stan (almost got stranded in Mexico that day), her guitarist Dave, and her sister Naomi (who said she remembered me - yay). When me and my friend got our chance to meet Marie, she seemed to have recognized us from the last times; which is a nice feeling. A brief chat took place regarding the snowman necklace I gave her last time as well as the status on future tour dates (July-August she said). We took our photos, along with who we thought was her bodyguard (who he himself was a really cool dude), and as always it was a great experience meeting her.

    We also met Clara and Sam and told them that this was the first time we ever saw them, and how great they were. They were very friendly as well. We had Clara sign a poster of her for us, but Sam didn't have his own poster to sign on, so I quickly drew a make shift smiley face drawing of him on Clara's poster for him to sign next to. We took photos with them, and the group shot looked great. Clara, Sam, I hope to see you again in the near future.

    Me and my friend once again had a great experience in a Marie Digby concert, and now we can also add Clara Chung and Sam Hart to making the night even better. Thank you all for doing what you do. Until next time...

    * Click Here for the PHOTOS I took *

    * Click Here for the VIDEOS I took *

April 28, 2010

April 27, 2010

  • http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-04-26-hawking-aliens_N.htm?csp=34

    Recently, famed british astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said that we humans need to "think very carefully" about trying to contact extraterrestrial life. Although there's good intentions about trying to reach out to lifeforms in space, there's a sort of naivete in assuming we'll get a positive reaction. Hawking said that alien lifeforms could potentially be like Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas, and we humans could be like the native Americans who got screwed by his arrival. That is a rather scary thought about what could happen.

    I've always had a positive outlook at aliens in space, and always thought that they could potentially be enlightened beings that would be above evil things like war. All these years I've held that belief, but now I've got to change it, as I now share Stephen Hawking's opinion about the subject. If these aliens are so advanced technologically to be able to travel to other planets, why wouldn't they want to do whatever they can in their powers to obtain our resources? Isn't that something WE would do? These aliens could take advantage of our gullibility to think they "come in peace," and then annihilate us with their advance weaponry. Isn't that something WE would do?

    Am I being too pessimistic about this?

    Is Star Trek wrong in thinking that there's an intergalactic federation of alien planets out there, who joined forces for the betterment of preserving peace, and whose only goal is exploration to expand one's enlightenment?

    Are we just giving these aliens a sign on our planet that reads "sucker?"

    Kevin & Bean show - Stephen Hawking On Extra Terrestrials (audio)

April 26, 2010

April 25, 2010

  • Movies I've Seen Recently...

    Kick-Ass  (2010)  A-

    It's very easy to just say that "Kick-Ass" kicked ass, because it's incredibly entertaining to watch. Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr, this story is based on the idea that the reason nobody tries to be a superhero is because they would die. Enter Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, who tries to fight crime as the superhero Kick-Ass; usually via humorous attempts. His modest exploits earns him popularity via the internet, which is one of the movie's social commentary on celebrity figures. It would have been a simple gig if it wasn't for the fact he interfered with a mob's business, as well as two other superheroes entering the scene, Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy, and Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl. Moretz by far steals the movie as this 11 years old girl who is able to skillfully kill adults as well as talk with a dirty mouth. The action sequences involving Hit-Girl in particular are spectacular to watch. As a satire about the typical superhero movie, "Kick-Ass" is excellent, but it seems that Director/co-writer Matthew Vaughn wants his cake and eat it too, because by the end of the movie it turns into the typical conventional superhero movie that it was poking fun of in the first place. There are also several plot conveniences that ruins the smart attitude the movie initially has. Despite it's thematic flaws though, "Kick-Ass" is still a great movie just for the sheer fun of it all.
    * read more * - comparing the movie to the graphic novel (link)

    The Joneses  (2010)  B

    Have you ever met a family where it's easy to be envious of all the cool things they own, and makes you want to have what they have? What if it turns out that family was paid to make you feel that way, so that you can spend your money on the products they are "advertising?" That's the fascinating and interesting story of "The Joneses." This movie brings up a good social commentary on consumerism and how far corporations can go to try to get your money. Because this family has to live a false life to trick their neighbors and the people who live in that city they are "assigned to," this movie also has a theme about hiding who you really are and whether you should just be who you are suppose to be. Director / co-writer Derrick Borte has done an admirable job with this high concept story, but unfortunately the last act of the story kinda falls apart into plot conveniences that tries to give this movie some resolution. The cast in this are good, from David Duchovny, Demi Moore, and Gary Cole. "The Joneses" is overall a solid movie that's worth checking out because of it's ideas, even if I'm not satisfied with how it ended.

    Defendor  (2010)  B-

    As far as trying to make a realistic movie about regular people putting on a costume to be a superhero that fights crime, "Defendor" more or less lives up to that idea. Woody Harrelson plays a mentally challenged individual named Arthur Poppington, who believes he is a superhero at night called Defendor, trying to "rid the city of it's scum." While the character of Defendor is able to come up with inventive ideas for weapons; like marbles or angry wasps, he is still a normal human that doesn't really have the skills to properly fight crime. He befriends a prostitute played by Kat Dennings, who at least gives him some sort of help, despite the fact she initially intended to use him just for his money. "Defendor" definitely has some charm with it's lead character, thanks to Harrelson. However the obviously low production of the movie seems to have hurt it. The pacing is a little bit slow and the visuals aren't much to talk about, which I wonder if Director / Writer Peter Stebbings could have fixed with a higher budget. Either way, if you are looking for a more realistic superhero story, "Defendor" might just be for you.

    Let The Right One In  (2008)  B

    Vampire stories are usually pretty grand and exciting, which makes the Swedish movie "Let The Right One In" about a boy who befriends a young neighbor who happens to be a vampire very unusual. Sure there are scenes that involve blood and biting, death and mutilation, but overall the movie is actually rather slow in pacing. Directed by Tomas Alfredson and based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the film is visually arresting with it's simplicity of snow mixed with buildings and trees that have dark tones, but the story is very nuanced and not as straight forward as you might hope it would be. There are questions and answers that are revealed in the story, but the film assumes you are smart enough to not get spoon fed by them. I did like how subtle the movie was able to integrate myths and rules regarding the vampires of this world, which made it feel very real. Now if there's one particular reason to watch "Let The Right One In," it's for the strong performances by the young actors Kåre Hedebrant as the bullied boy Oskar, and his vampire neighbor Eli played by Lina Leandersson.