April 4, 2010

  • This past night at the Gibson Amphitheater, KROQ radio's The Kevin & Bean show did their second annual "April Foolishness." This year for comedy we got returning and new stand-ups by Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, Jay Mohr, Bill Buhr, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Jeffrey Ross, and Joe Rogan. Once again "Cleto & The Cletones" were the house band for the night. I should also add that proceeds from the show benefit Boarding for Breast Cancer and Camp Laurel.

    Me trying to repeat the jokes won't do them justice, so how about just a quick highlight rundown from the show...

    After a series of Kevin & Bean related videos, Tenacious D opened the show on video and did a song

    Jimmy Kimmel - did Mo'nique's Oscar acceptance speech while singing Howard Jones' "No One Is To Blame"

    Adam Carolla - did his "week in rage" the "Easter edition." 3) Why Sunday? 2) Reese's 1) Easter Bunny

    Jay Mohr - was pretty A.D.D. with his stand-up, like when he was telling a story about Christopher Walken but kept interrupting himself by doing other stories in between that story

    Bill Buhr - had a bit about "rescuing" dogs from the pound and his pitbull story

    Aziz Ansari - talked about wasting time on the internet and did another bit about R.Kelly

    Sarah Silverman - probably had one of the most dirtiest stand-up of the night

    Jeffrey Ross - had a group of audience members come up on stage and roasted each one of them

    Joe Rogan - strip clubs at 9:30AM, Brock Smash, sex with underage kids, and watch out ladies for guys jerking off in an "aggressive" technique

    All the stand-ups were pretty offensive and very controversial with their material, but that only meant that we all had a freakin great time! Hilarious stuff, and I think this year's was even funnier than last year's show. All the comics were really great, with Jay Mohr and Joe Rogan being particularly strong.

    Besides the show, I had a pretty straightforward night getting and leaving there. Everything was pretty efficient last night, from parking, getting to the show 15 minutes before it started, got my souvenir t-shirt + DIY cardboard airplane, to leaving the venue with no hassle. The only thing that almost screwed me over was finding my seat. I was in Seat "101" in Row A, but it didn't exist! At least it looked that way. After going back and forth in that area for a few minutes, it turned out my seat was mistakenly labeled Seat "111" instead of "101." Either than that incident, everything else went by pretty smoothly.

    Until next year's April Foolishness...

    *My Photos From The Night*

    *also read KROQ's live blog from the event*

    *KROQ's Photos from the event*

  • Some of my status updates from this past week...

    - Finally got my car back from the mechanic. Yay! Also ended up only putting 9 miles to the rental car.

    - YES! Looking forward to this - RT @comingsoonnet AMC greenlights Frank Darabont's "The Walking Dead" to series - http://bit.ly/dAg6au

    - Bad Romance Lady Gaga Cover by Paramore's Hayley Williams - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBvAEDvD2w - pretty awesome

    - Well my right leg is now starting to give me some pain. I guess it's playing "catch up" to what happened to my left leg recently.

    - Small world. Saw a group photo that has 2 of my friends in it, from 2 different groups of my friends. Didn't even know they knew each other.

    - Close call. I thought I lost my tix for K&B's April Foolishness tonight. Found it ten mins later in the "EDD" envelope of all things. *phew*

    - http://twitpic.com/1d23ke - At The Gibson for Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness - woot!

    - thanks Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, Jay Mohr, Bill Buhr, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Jeffrey Ross, Joe Rogan, and K&B KROQ for a great nite

April 2, 2010

April 1, 2010

  • It's April Fools Day, but it feels like I've been April fooled for the whole year so far. I've had quite the bad luck this year in 2010, and with only three months passed, I'm a little worried what the next nine months will bring. Here are highlights from what I'm talking about, courtesy of my status updates....

    - Installed Windows 7 to my Toshiba laptop, but now the disc drive only works after a fresh reboot because of stupid driver problems. At least it works after a reboot and is not completely dead.

    - uh oh, after over 6 years with my Honda Accord, I may actually be facing an unexpected maintenance issue. I see an Oil Leak!!! Turns out my car was leaking power steering fluid. It also turns out it was my mechanics' fault, so I got it fixed for free. All good now.

    - Stupid spam e-mail. Filter, power on! - http://patrick005.xanga.com/721342778/

    - Another reason for me to not be too happy about the rain. Apparently it gave my brown dog an ear infection in both ears.

    - I'm sad. A rabbit just ran in front of my car and I did not have time to swerve away. Yes, i just accidentally killed a bunny. =(

    - *sarcasm* Oh look! A jury duty summons. That's just what I was looking for.... -_-

    - My left leg only hurts when I move it. Do I have a problem? Yes - http://patrick005.xanga.com/722420056/ - http://patrick005.xanga.com/722670520/ - http://bit.ly/9DTZaH -

    - Those of you seeing Jason Mraz at Long Beach tonight, enjoy the concert for me, 'cuz I'm not able to make it afterall. =(

    - http://twitpic.com/15zhtd - Oh look I hurt myself again! What's going on with me?

    - *accidentally* tested out the durability of my phone's case. Dropped it on the stairs. Had crab sauce on it. Was drenched in tea. Still Good

    - WTF?! Why is there a green vertical line occasionally appearing on my HDTV LCD screen? Not good.

    - A whole week not getting paid for work because of my medical leave... very disconcerting

    - uh oh, having issues with my car's sound system. Turning off by itself. Might be computer error, electrical, or something...

    - http://bit.ly/bBiYbe - So it's not enough that I hurt my leg, but now my car got damaged too? WTF is up with my bad luck?

    - ouch, my left hip was hurting when I woke up. I was lying on my left side when I went to sleep, so maybe it's time to get a new mattress?

    - Well my right leg is now starting to give me some pain. I guess it's playing "catch up" to what happened to my left leg recently.

    - Maybe I'm better off being "an island" - http://patrick005.xanga.com/724378410/item/

    Those things happened from January to March. Admittedly all of these are not end of the world material and can be seen mostly as nuisances more than anything. Most of this bad luck either worked out okay in the end or at least were averted from having more bad luck. One could argue that things could be worse, and this just proves that I actually have good luck working against the bad. Still though, I don't recall having a time when I was having this many unfortunate things happening to me in just a span of three months.

March 31, 2010

March 30, 2010

  • movies I've seen recently...

    Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)  C+

    You can add "Hot Tub Time Machine" to the list of many films that are an homage about '80s movies. The plot about a hot tub transporting four guys back to 1986 is a novel idea that could potentially bring about a lot of funny moments. Well, the answer to that is kinda a yes and no. While there are funny moments to this movie; mostly involving Rob Corddry, as well as a running gag with Crispin Glover's character, I thought "Hot Tub Time Machine" actually has too much pathos. There's a story thread about the struggling friendship between this group of friends, and how depressing their present lives really are, which I honestly would have preferred if they toned down that aspect a tad bit. The film's time travel plot also comes off some times as simply a gimmick to poke fun at the '80s, which doesn't always come off as actually funny. However when the movie cuts loose with the random and unexplained humorous things happening is when "Hot Tub Time Machine" shines. Ignore the plot holes, predictable cliche moments, overall flaws, etc, and you should have a good time with this movie.

    The Runaways (2010)  B

    As far as musical biopic films go, "The Runaways" is not the best example for that movie genre. There are tons of gaps in the time-line chronicling the Runaways, from being a fledgling rock and roll band to all of a sudden becoming the next The Beatles, that we don't really get a proper sense of who they were as a band, except for what the movie literally tells you. The reason might be that the movie is suppose to reflect the volatile, down and dirty nature of what this band represented at the time, and director Floria Sigismondi may have wanted to capture that with how she made this movie looked and felt. In that regards, she succeeded in spades. Besides the fact that Kristen Stewart plays Joan Jett relatively well, it's Dakota Fanning that really shines in this movie as lead singer Cherie Currie who loses her innocence by being in this band (the script is based of her book after all). Michael Shannon also makes an incredible scene stealing turn as musical Svengali Kim Fowley, and deserves notice for his work here. "The Runaways" isn't really for everybody to watch, but at least the soundtrack is excellent.

    Diary Of A Wimpy Kid (2010)  B-

    I should first say that I've never read the books by Jeff Kinney to which this movie is adapted from. With that in mind, I actually rather enjoyed "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid." The movie chronicles Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley, a kid going into middle school and thinks he's figured it out in advance on how to be one of the "popular" kids. As the story moves along, he learns that it's not easy to become one of the cool kids, especially when he makes stupid, groan-inducing, hilarious mistakes that slowly kills his social standing in school. Add in his dorky best friend Rowley; as played by Robert Capron, and you've got a pretty enjoyable buddy kid comedy that's fun to watch. While not entirely a unique premise for a movie, "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" had a certain charm and some creative directions that transcends it from being just another movie for kids, but one that adults can enjoy as well. Sure it has some "gross out" moments that are just for the kids, but I thought the main plot of trying to fit into school socially, and the overall theme about friendship was quite endearing.

    She's Out Of My League (2010)  B

    The premise of a nobody average guy getting the hot has-it-all girl isn't exactly a unique story, but you can get a lot of mileage with that plot in a well made romantic comedy. "She's Out Of My League" I thought successfully tackled this tried and true familiar genre, and made it a very enjoyable movie to watch. Jay Baruchel plays Kirk, the nice meek guy who was lucky enough to get the attention of the very attractive Molly, played by Alice Eve. Kirk's got the funny and over the top friends and family, while Molly's got the traditional parents and ex-boyfriend that'll love to get her back. Hilarity ensues. Written by Sean Anders & John Morris, and directed by Jim Field Smith, "She's Out of My League" was able to give us hilarious moments, mostly at the expense of Kirk's dignity as a man (a shaving scene for the ages), but was also able to amped up the charm with the strength of the romance between him and Molly which I thought was honestly quite believable. There some hanging plot threads that I would have loved to have seen played out, but as a whole the movie was pretty solid.

    Cop Out (2010)  B-

    Do you miss the buddy-cop comedy films of the '80s? Then "Cop Out" as written by Robb Cullen & Mark Cullen, and directed by Kevin Smith just might be for you. This movie is a straight homage to the '80s buddy-cop comedies (except with the added benefits of cell phones and the internet), complete with shoot-outs, chase scenes, explosions, and an incredibly authentic sounding soundtrack to match that time era. Of course the result of this direction could potentially be bad, but I'm glad to say that it actually kinda worked. Bruce Willis plays the straight man who simply wants to do right for his daughter, while Tracy Morgan plays his uncontrollable partner who sure talks a lot. Seann William Scott memorably plays the parkour capable thief that acts as both a foil and friend to the duo. This is a straight forward relatively predictable movie with some memorable moments, but Tracy Morgan and Seann William Scott were pretty enjoyable to watch for the price of admission. Here's a quick bit of trivia : "Cop Out" was originally titled "A Couple Of Dicks," which I thought was more fitting for the movie.

March 29, 2010

March 28, 2010

  • The saying goes that "no man is an island," but I'm starting to think that I might be better off being "an island." I'm just a little bit frustrated sometimes at the reality of the fact that nobody can be the same. That rule of nature reminds me too much that I personally don't have that much in common with a lot of people I know. I've always been sort of the odd one out in my family. In my marriage, I love my wife and all, but we really don't have many things in common. My close friends are my buds, but we hardly think the same way the majority of the time. Friends that I share common interests with are the ones that I don't get to see often in the first place. Most of my co-workers are from a different generational age, and that will always be sort of a dividing line in the end. I do so many things of my personal interests by myself, that I'm starting to get too used to the fact that I'm alone most of the time. Not to mention, my opinions aren't things that everybody shares either, and I've had some "epic" discussions/arguments lately, which only drives the point that I general feel alone in this world.

    I know, this blog post sounds very "emo" of me. So cue the violin, and call the waahhmbulance. Whatever.

  • Some of my status updates from this past week...

    - I left my car at the mechanic for repairs (damage from 3/17 incident) until Monday. I'm forced to rent a car for the first time in my life.

    - Christmas music always cheers me up, even when it's not Christmas

    - Paying $20 to watch UFC111 in a movie theater is not that appealing to me. A Sports Bar or Pay Per View with a group of friends is better.

    - After a very long break I'm back to watching Naruto Shippuden again thanks to http://www.crunchyroll.com - I got about 70 episodes to watch!

    - Alone at home with the dogs. Wifey's gone to visit her sister up north for a night. What am I going to do? hhmmmm

    - OMG! I actually know somebody who uses the Paris Hilton brand perfume. Didn't know they existed! WWHHAAAAAAAATT???!! =P

    - Just tried a skype to skype call (& text) using my blackberry. Works great. VOiP via a phone? YES! - http://www.skype.com/vzw

    - YES! Scott Pilgrim trailer! Scott Pilgrim trailer! Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Teaser Trailer!!!! - http://tinyurl.com/y97nlux

    - ggrrrr my left leg feels like it's a little bit on fire still. I think it really will be awhile until it's completely healed.

    - just watched this week's episode of "LOST." Wow, that was really well done. Great writing. I was moved. Kudos to Nestor Carbonell as Richard

    - ouch, my left hip was hurting when I woke up. I was lying on my left side when I went to sleep, so maybe it's time to get a new mattress?

March 26, 2010