Best of 2010-2019 | Worst of 2010-2019 | |
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Year | 2010 | 2016 |
Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
Honorable mention: "A Quiet Place" (2018) |
Dishonorable mention: "3 from Hell" (2019) |
Acting performances |
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Songs |
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Music video | "Style" Taylor Swift | "Came Back Haunted" Nine Inch Nails |
TV series |
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Commercial | Android commercial where rock, paper, and scissors come together. | Offensive Miracle Mattress commercial where the spokespeople spoof 9/11. |
Movie trailer | "The Tree of Life" (2011) | "The Woods" (2016) |
Director | Christopher Nolan | Michael Bay |
Best of 2019 | Worst of 2019 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
Honorable mention: My favorite taqueria for chili verde reopening. |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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TV series | (tie) "Game of Thrones" and "Mr. Robot" | "Survivor: Island of the Idols" |
Commercial | Google Assistant commercial where Google Assistant solves problems in famous movies. | Peloton Bike commercial where a wife spends a year soppily gushing over a surprise Christmas gift from her husband: an exercise bike she doesn't need. |
Movie trailer | (tie) "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and "Uncut Gems" and "Wonder Woman 1984" | (tie) "Sonic the Hedgehog" (first trailer) and "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar" |
The "Mr. Robot" series finale left me with mixed feelings. I was about to proclaim it one of the worst finales in TV history, but then was relieved that the ending managed to right the ship. I'm still unhappy that this whole time, we've been watching Darlene bond with a fake brother...but the show could've ended so much worse.
I watched the IMAX-exclusive prologue of "Tenet". Didn't know was going on, but I already think this will be my favorite movie of 2020. :)
Man, when that last "Survivor: Island of the Idols" tribal council unexpectedly went to commercial--then afterward showed Jeff Probst somberly approaching camp--I seriously thought someone had died. What a relief to hear the producers finally got rid of Dan, who to my dismay was STILL touching women even after the producers warned him. Too bad they didn't do this before he ruined the entire season. It's also lame to me that the show just dropped this major bombshell with as little information as possible, then tried to pivot into the finale like that's the more important thing to care about.
In other TV news, I'm really enjoying this final season of "Mr. Robot". It's like watching a modern-day Ender and Valentine Wiggin synergize as one. I hope the upcoming two-part series finale doesn't disappoint. I'm also curious how this final "Supernatural" season will end, as the mid-season finale finally confirmed the earlier canon that the universe cannot survive without God. I like how the show has been bringing back previously recurring characters like the deaf hunter Eileen and the Winchesters' half-brother Adam.
The CW recently began airing a 5-episode crossover of all their DC superhero shows, titled "Crisis on Infinite Earths". I've actually been watching it to see what became of characters from other DC multiverses, such as Burt Ward's Robin, Clark & Lois Kent from "Smallville", Brandon Routh's Superman from the "Superman Returns" movie, Huntress from the "Birds of Prey" TV series, Tom Ellis' Lucifer Morningstar, and John Wesley Shipp's Flash. Amusingly, Brandon Routh also plays the Ray Palmer character--so the episode had to use split screen when they met each other. I also didn't realize that Erica Durance was playing both Supergirl's mother and Smallville's Lois Kent. P.S. Why do both Supergirl and Superman bother to disguise themselves with glasses among characters who already know their secret identity?
Ugly, ugly merge episode of "Survivor: Island of the Idols" last night. It's inexcusable how Dan kept touching women. I distinctly remember Kellee asking him to stop earlier this season. Then for both Missy and Elizabeth to exploit this and embellish their own stories about how Dan inappropriately touched them, with Missy even coaching Elizabeth on how to manipulate Janet into believing them? Then afterward lying that Janet made it all up?! Irredeemable! I also never liked Aaron, but his uninformed attack on Janet hit a new low. And finally on a more minor note, I'm not happy with Dean for secretly voting against the real-life friend who saved him last tribal council. So yeah, I fully expect to have no one left to root for by the end of the season.
Big Game of Thrones shake-ups. The showrunners pulled out of the next Star Wars trilogy citing scheduling conflicts. Rumor has it that either Marvel Studios or Last Jedi director Rian Johnson will replace them. HBO also canceled the Game of Thrones prequel starring Naomi Watts, despite already shooting a full pilot episode. Instead, HBO has ordered 10 episodes of "House of the Dragon", a GoT prequel about the Targaryen civil war within the Seven Kingdoms. Although my favorite GoT director Miguel Sapochnik will be a co-showrunner and direct the pilot, I can't bring myself to care about Targaryens right now.
In other news, I was amused to read about the Hollywood outrage over a speed-binge feature that Netflix began testing. This new mobile feature can vary the speed at which subscribers watch the shows, from 50 percent slower to 50 percent faster. And filmmakers hate the thought of their characters sounding like chipmunks. Apparently, most podcast and audiobook apps already use this feature so that listeners can speed read or slow down difficult text.
Despite a forewarning from my apartment complex that the PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff would shutdown my electricity on October 9 (due to high wind and wildfire risk in northern California), nothing happened. All the waiting, delays in the scheduled time, and uncertainty felt like mild psychological torture. Didn't help that the PG&E web site was down all the time either. But I guess I should be thankful my neighborhood's electricity stayed on while regions north, south, east, and west of us lost power (potentially for seven days). Regions that weren't even windy.
In other news, I noticed heightened security at my "Joker" screening: two security guards at the auditorium entrance, and I had to show my ticket and ID to enter. Then as I sat inside, I heard shouting and saw security escort out a handful of guys. As compensation for the disturbance, everyone in the screening received an AMC guest pass good for one free movie.
I was planning to see "Gemini Man" because Ang Lee directed it, but now I'm planning to skip it. Apparently, Ang Lee used 3D+ in HFR (High Frame Rate) technology, and that's the only format available for the 3-D screenings in my area. So to see this poorly-reviewed movie as the filmmaker intended, I have to give myself a headache. :(
Recently, I've been enjoying a new reality show on MTV titled "Ghosted: Love Gone Missing". In each episode, the two investigators help a stumped person solve why their friend or lover suddenly cut off all contact with them. It's like a cross between "Searching" (where the investigators look for leads on social media) and "Law & Order" (where the investigators interview people of interest). The investigators brainstorm theories, cross them off based on the clues they find, and sometimes even suspect the stumped person of hiding something. I like how the first few episodes yielded bombshell twists (this latest episode, not so much). Is the show exploitative? I would say yes. But the people seem all too happy to appear on TV, and the show does seem to mend friendships and help people heal.
Well, Serena Williams now has a second consecutive US Open finals loss to compliment her second consecutive Wimbledon finals loss. You would think that according to the law of averages, she would have one at least one. But for her last four Grand Slam finals, she couldn't win a single set. I mostly blame her first serve for this slump. Same goes for Roger Federer in the quarterfinals match he lost. Once these two they can't get their first serves in anymore, it's game over.
Congratulations to Rafael Nadal on his 19th Grand Slam title. Now he's just one French Open away from tying Federer's career total. I've never seen anyone grind and scrap for every point like Nadal does, and I never thought his body would hold up this long. If he does surpass Federer's Grand Slam record, he definitely earned it.
I finally screened my first movie (the third installment in the Fallen film series) in Dolby Cinema at my local AMC theatre. The auditorium features laser projection, bone-rattling audio, and tiered rows of black leather recliners. Suspicious how the film was only available in this format. A marketing ploy by AMC, perhaps, to spoil customers and hook them on this more expensive premium offering? Thing is, AMC Stubs A-List members like me already get this offering for free.
Recently I've been looking through old episodes of "The Incredible Hulk", searching for the best "hulk out" where Bill Bixby's eyes turn greenish-gray and he metamorphosizes into Lou Ferrigno. I finally found the three that really stuck out in my memory as a kid:
I concluded my favorite "hulk out" was still the one where he awoke with the greenish-gray eyes right next to his newlywed wife, triggered by a nightmare where she boarded a bus driven by the Grim Reaper. This also used to be my favorite episode, until I re-watched it and discovered offensive banter where they mocked Chinese accents. So my new favorite episode became "Homecoming", where David Banner's family learned about his condition (this episode also had a "hulk out" triggered by a nightmare).
Another delay for the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Now it won't open until some time after the Oscars ceremony on February 9, 2020. Which is weird because I just recently saw another preshow about it, hyping the exhibits.
Also while waiting for my movie to start, I was excited to see a teaser for the new Christopher Nolan film releasing in July 2020. I couldn't tell what John David Washington was doing in the clips, but it was enough for me to declare "Tenet" as the movie I most want to see next year.
Looks like the people who made one of my favorite movies of the decade, "searching", will make a sequel to it with different characters and a new story. Other new movies in development I'm looking forward to:
The AMC Theatres web site implemented an interesting new feature: now when I sign in, a pop-up asks me to rate the movie I just saw. I can also like or dislike each trailer that preceded the film. Unfortunately, my answers disappear into whatever black hole collects their customer feedback metrics, but wouldn't that be cool if I could review this historic data whenever I wanted. It would be like a record book for cinephiles.
Well, Regal Entertainment finally announced their own subscription program to rival AMC Stubs A-List, named Regal Unlimited. For $18 per month + tax, subscribers can watch as many standard format movies as they want, whenever they want. The catch? Insulting extra fees. A $0.50 convenience fee to reserve tickets online. An extra surcharge for IMAX, RPX, or 3D. An extra $3 per month for the three Regal theatres in the Santa Maria area. An extra $5.50 per month for the closest Regal theatre to me in the Bay Area, 45 minutes away. And they even require a photo of me to prevent fraud. So, yeah...PASS.
Worst Wimbledon ever. First Serena Williams got massacred by Simona Halep, an opponent whom Serena literally beat 9 out of 10 times in their head-to-head. Now Serena has lost three straight Grand Slam finals for the first time in her career, and who knows how many more chances she'll get to tie Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. I guess on the bright side, Serena continues to reach Grand Slam finals while the other WTA players enter and exit these tournaments like a revolving door.
The Gentlemen's Singles final proved far more gut-wrenching. Roger Federer had the match won, ahead 8-7 in the fifth set and serving for the match at 40-15. DOUBLE MATCH POINT and he blew it! Novak Djokovic went on to win the tiebreaker at 12-12 in the fifth set. I can't think of a tennis loss more painful to me than this one.
Congratulations to the USWNT for successfully defending their Women's World Cup title, extending the FIFA record for most all-time Women's World Cup victories to four, and earning another ticker tape parade in New York City! Not as thrilling as the earlier semi-final against England (I blame the Netherlands team for playing defensively to make that whole first half scoreless), but I'll take it. I guess it paid off for coach Jill Ellis to start Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle despite their hamstring injuries, as they ended up scoring the only two goals of the game (I can watch replays of that awesome Rose Lavelle goal all day). I also developed a love-hate relationship with the video review system after it favored the U.S. this time around, catching a hard foul on Alex Morgan in the penalty area.
In other news, an earthquake hit southern California and wobbled the mall I was eating in. I just shrugged it off, but to my surprise people began panicking and dashing towards the exits. I guess for people who aren't used to earthquakes, the experience can be alarming.
I'm back from rural Sisters, Oregon after my niece got married in a beautiful outdoors wedding backdropped with stark, snowy mountains. Amazingly, the weather cooperated with hot sun during the ceremony and then lightning storms during the indoor reception. For me, the rehearsal dinner highlighted the whole trip because of all the funny and tear-jerking toasts.
Also tried ginger pills for the first time after my sister scared me with warnings of her nightmare roller coaster flight into Oregon. Though I have no idea whether the pills worked or not, as my flights went relatively smoothly.
Now that the Golden State Warriors have ended an era with their loss of Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is the latest tournament wrecking my nerves now with the U.S. narrowly defeating England in the semi-finals. A 2-2 score and overtime seemed like a forgone conclusion when the referee--following a headshakingly lame video review--gifted England with a penalty kick in the waning minutes of regulation. That's when the USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who worried me ever since her bad blunder against Spain, made the save of her life. Man what a rush--my heart wouldn't stop racing afterward.
I'm rooting against Sweden in the other semi-final because I'm still sore about the 2016 Summer Olympics, when Sweden broke the USWNT's undefeated quarterfinal streak in major tournaments. That loss also led to legendary albeit controversial goalkeeper Hope Solo getting kicked off the team.
Using my AMC Stubs A-List membership, I watched the "Avengers: Endgame" re-release with the following new post-credits bonus content:
Disappointing, if you ask me.
Steph Curry summed up my reaction to Game 6 of the NBA Finals when he threw the ball on the ground and sat dejected on the court right after Klay Thompson injured his knee. I'm convinced that the Golden State Warriors would've absolutely won that game had Klay not gone down. It just blows my mind how many important Warriors players dropped like flies this postseason. It's like they couldn't catch a break.
As a result, I had no interest in watching Game 7 without Klay there to keep it competitive. So I wasn't even mad that Steph Curry missed the game-winning shot in Game 6. (I was mad when he missed the game-winning shot in Game 7 vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, but nobody seems to remember that.) If anything, I blame the Warriors players who couldn't make free throws if their lives depended on it. It's like, just watch how Curry shoots them and copy his form.
Well, congratulations to Rafael Nadal on winning his 12th French Open, making him the only player (male or female) in tennis history to win 12 titles at a single Grand Slam. And he's probably not done either.
The emotional roller coaster ride continues with the Golden State Warriors surviving a Game 5 elimination from the NBA Finals by one point, but re-losing Kevin Durant to a soul-crushing Achilles' injury in the second quarter. (Unfortunately I was one of the Warriors fans that wanted to expedite his return for whatever percent he could give, even if it meant just standing in the corner shooting threes.) I was ready to be a good sport and congratulate the Toronto Raptors on their first-ever NBA championship for Canada, but that all changed when I saw how Raptors fans cheered and taunted Durant's injury. Now I want them disgraced and humiliated.
In other news, I finally unsubscribed to HBO, and even received a $30 partial refund from the cable person as compensation for how badly "Game of Thrones" ended--even though I told him I thought the show ended fine. I definitely wouldn't rank it down there with the series finales for "How I Met Your Mother", "Lost", and my least favorite of all-time: "Dexter".
I read that the "Game of Thrones" showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, will take over the next Star Wars trilogy slated to release in 2022, 2024, and 2026. I wonder if the narrative will span different parts of the galaxy like that animated map of Westeros. In any case, I hope they get Miguel Sapochnik to direct the battles (and maybe Ramin Djawadi for the music). P.S. It's still unknown when the Star Wars trilogy from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson will release.
I haven't gotten around to canceling my HBO subscription yet. On Sunday, I actually sat through HBO's two-hour documentary that went behind-the-scenes of the final season of "Game of Thrones". Amazing how much time and effort went into making scenes for each of the six episodes, from constructing gigantic sets to preparing all of the extras to filming at night for 55 days to overworked production crew in over their heads. It retrospect, it made that fan petition for HBO to re-make the final season look really disrespectful.
Incidentally, "Game of Thrones" now sits atop my countdown of top 10 favorite TVs shows of all time. It knocked off "Twin Peaks", a show that I can no longer defend after that exasperating third season. Admittedly, "Game of Thrones" had its own missteps, but so did the other nine shows in my top ten. :P
Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors for eliminating the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, in quite possibly my favorite basketball game of all-time. Even better than the NBA Finals games where they won the NBA championship! Why, you ask? For starters, I wanted so badly for the Warriors to shut the Rockets up. I lost respect for the Rockets when a) they audited Game 7 of last year's Western Conference finals (the one where they missed 27 straight 3-pointers) and actually tried to convince league officials that the referees cost them an NBA championship, and when b) James Harden whined about wanting a "fair chance" from the refs because he expected favorable foul calls for jumping into defenders. Not to mention c) Chris Paul's flopping and complaining, and this whole conceit that the Rockets would have won last year's Western Conference finals had he not injured his hamstring at the end of Game 5.
Secondly, I fully expected the Warriors to lose to the Rockets barring some kind of magical alignment of the stars. After that devastating sight of Kevin Durant limping off the court, I pictured a Charlie Brown-like baseball team with Steph Curry missing more point-blank shots, Klay Thompson missing in action, and the Warriors bench embarrassing themselves. But to my amazement, everybody on the team shined, even Steph Curry after all signs, i.e., scoring zero points in the entire first half (!!) pointed to him blowing another game for the Warriors.
What an epic weekend to be alive: box-office-shattering "Avengers: Endgame" on Saturday and the mother of all "Game of Thrones" battles on Sunday. Both exceeded my expectations, and I successfully avoided all spoilers.
Today marks my 20th anniversary at IBM. The secret to my longevity here? Cynicism. :) I haven't decided yet when and where I'll use my five extra vacation days. Maybe when this Academy Museum of Motion Pictures finally opens.
What kind of "Supernatural" season finale was that. Is my favorite character on this show, God, a villain now?? I have no idea how the upcoming final season will end.
My web site is back online at www.saoki.org. I lost my Google search rankings since I have no way of redirecting from the old location, but all things considered I can't complain.
I quit PayPal for good. To my chagrin, they denied the case I opened regarding the money I sent for my web site last month. Seeing as I had paid someone who unbeknownst to me, had been deceased since December, I thought I had a good argument for a refund. Now I'm wondering whether PayPal gets to keep that money. In any case, they're on my "blacklist" now (even though I rarely used them anyway) along with JetBlue Airways for that time they casually changed my flight date.
I'm also annoyed with Regal Crown Club. I redeemed thousands of credits for one free movie ticket, and the cashier charged me an extra $1.50 because it was still the first week the film had been released. I literally bought hundreds of dollars worth of movie tickets from them, and they have the gall to attach strings to their paltry little loyalty program. The program's a joke compared to AMC Stubs A-List. Even though AMC is raising the membership's monthly rate to $23.95, that's still an enormous bargain.
Congratulations to Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan for easily the best, most emotional match of WrestleMania 35. A cathartic end to a classic Cinderella storyline. Plus it happened early enough in the card when the crowd still had energy. By the time the historic women's main event rolled around, the crowd had been sitting there for around seven hours (and nothing ruins a match like a dead crowd).
I've lost a lot of interest in WrestleMania now that the Undertaker no longer seems to be one of its attractions. The main show's ridiculously long now (almost five and a half hours, even without the lengthy Undertaker entrance in it). It needs to have less matches and less Triple H (both match time and entrance time). And cut out all musical acts, backstage vignettes, and promos.
My web site at saoki.site0.com went down. When I e-mailed my friend who maintains the server and it bounced back, I googled him and was shocked to discover that he had fatally shot his newlywed wife and then turned the gun on himself...exactly three months after their wedding. The whole time we were roommates in college, I never noticed any warning signs. I did notice that he and his wife were very private. When I had dinner with them about three years ago, neither of them mentioned that his mother and brother had been murdered by his father just three months prior. (I didn't learn about it until I attended their wedding.)
The long-awaited final season of "Game of Thrones" is almost upon us, and it's only six episodes so I hope they fit in everything I've longed to see.
SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my current thoughts on the "Game of Thrones" series after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll down until after you have watched SEASON SEVEN of "Game of Thrones"!
Maybe this is just wish fulfillment, but I'll be sorely disappointed if the series ends without the following payoffs:
P.S. Hopefully the YouTube reaction videos for this final season won't nitpick the pacing and complain about why Bran doesn't know everything. That annoyed me last season.
SEASON 8 SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my thoughts on each season 8 episode after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll past the titles of episodes that you haven't watched yet!
Update 4/30/2019 ("The Long Night" spoiler alert): Director Miguel Sapochnik and musical genius Ramin Djawadi crafted another masterpiece episode. It didn't just have me on the edge of my seat, it had me standing up and hovering anxiously in front of the TV (I watched it in HD from inside a dark hotel room, so I had no issues with the episode lighting). During that climactic curveball of an assassination, I felt overcome with astonishment, relief, and gratitude. It managed to catch me off guard even though I had predicted Arya as the third or fourth most likely character to kill the Night King (and all of the scenarios I predicted involved Jon preoccupying the Night King, not running around on some kind of fool's errand). The scene reminded me fondly of my favorite Lord of the Rings twist when Gollum saved Middle-earth instead of Frodo. I was also legitimately concerned that the episode would end in a cliffhanger where the Night King triumphs. P.S. The main characters who died went out so heroically that I didn't even feel sad for them.
Update 5/7/2019 ("The Last of the Starks" spoiler alert): To tell you the truth, I've never really been a fan of Sansa and Daenerys. But after Sansa "so-called" Stark broke her promise to Jon this episode (and also betrayed Daenerys after everything she sacrificed for Winterfell), I'm done with her. Interestingly, I actually like Daenerys a lot more now. She lost a dragon and half of her armies fighting for Winterfell, and in return got a broken heart, a lack of appreciation and loyalty from the North, and a weaker claim to the Iron Throne thanks to a much more beloved heir. This would make for an intriguing ending if she betrayed the Starks, e.g., exiled Jon to beyond the Wall, and/or ruled the Seven Kingdoms as a tyrant. I feel like it's futile trying to predict the ending. The show can go happy (Jon and Daenerys rule together and maybe she turns out to be pregnant), bittersweet (one of them dies), tragic (both die and Tyrion takes the Iron Throne), or ideological (do away with the Iron Throne altogether).
Update 5/14/2019 ("The Bells" spoiler alert): Welp, the streak is over. Miguel Sapochnik finally directed an episode that I hated. Now I know why Jon couldn't say goodbye to Ghost--the show must have wasted their CGI budget on scene after scene of senseless genocide (including peril scenes of Arya just running around doing nothing like Jon). I mostly blame the writers though, for irrevocably assassinating Daenerys' character and throwing away eight seasons of her development. I've never been a fan of hers--and she's always had glimmers of "mad queen"--but she deserved so much better than leaping from beloved war hero to genocidal madwoman in just two episodes. The writers actually had her hunting and incinerating every civilian she could, completely ignoring Cersei who ultimately received a humanized, romantic death! P.S. Tickets went on sale for the next "Game Of Thrones Live Concert Experience", but last time I went they played Targaryen music which is probably going to sicken me now. :P
Update 5/21/2019 ("The Iron Throne" spoiler alert): I liked the series finale, particularly when Tyrion flung his Hand of the Queen brooch on the ground and when the Starks got their own montage. Initially, I felt utter dismay and outrage that Bran the tree became king instead of rightful heir Jon. But then after stewing on it for a couple of days, I concluded that Bran would actually make the best king. I've always maintained that the Iron Throne was beneath Jon, and I've always liked the thought of Jon roaming north of the Wall with Ghost and the Wildlings he shepherded. I also loved Arya's dream of venturing west of Westeros ever since she mentioned it two seasons ago. The way I look at it, the Starks won the "game of thrones" and all of my favorite characters got happy endings. I even liked Jaime's ending--he always did long for deeds to be proud of in The Book of Brothers, and I never felt his character deserved a "happily ever after". So for me, the only character that the show mucked up was Daenerys. The writers just seemed hell-bent on demonizing her character beyond recognition (even giving her Lucifer wings to that effect, and having Arya call her a killer as if we still needed more convincing after last episode's holocaust). At least the finale wrote off Daenerys in a tasteful, dignified way--and I did grow to like this whole notion of Drogon melting the true villain in this entire series, the Iron Throne itself. So in conclusion, I actually liked the final season (except for one episode) and won't be signing that online petition for HBO to re-make it. :)
What a macabre episode of "The Walking Dead". I give it points for audacity, but also found it in bad taste and disrespectful to long-time cast members. At first I thought the show was resorting to shock value to help its declining ratings, but then I found out later that they were actually reenacting a landmark scene from the comic book (and that comic book fans were dreading it). The show even changed the identities to swerve all of the comic book fans. I tell you man, that comic book is messed up.
To my relief, WWE officially announced that the Raw Women’s Championship Match featuring Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch will headline WrestleMania 35. Women will finally headline WrestleMania for the first time in history, and I won't have to suffer another Roman Reigns main event! It's also the only match of interest to me out of the other 13 or so underwhelming matches on the card. :P
AMC sure has a good thing going with this Stubs A-List program. When I first joined the membership almost nine months ago, I averaged more than 10 free movies a month. Naturally, this pace was too difficult to sustain. Today, I've only screened two free movies in the entire month of March. So for $19.95, I only watched $32.88 worth of free movies. Still a bargain, but it doesn't count the money I spent on concessions. I've also become spoiled with reserving my seat online, skipping the ticket purchase line, and printing my ticket straight from a kiosk. It's become too big of a convenience for me to entertain giving up.
I don't think I'm alone either. I read that other members have been seeing movies more than once, and even bringing along friends and family members who don't have memberships.
AMC announced development of a third Walking Dead series, in addition to "The Walking Dead" and "Fear the Walking Dead". Pass.
A lot of movies coming out that I'm not interested in either. Examples:
On the plus side, it appears that at long last, I'm free from having to suffer through any more Transformers or Sharknado sequels.
That's really good news that Roman Reigns' leukemia went into remission. Having said that, the WWE better not book him into the WrestleMania main event for a fifth time in a row. I really started liking this idea of women main-evening WrestleMania for the first time ever.
I'm strongly considering buying a Nintendo Switch after I found out that Capcom will release two of the best survivor horror games of all time, "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil 4", on May 21 of this year. (Capcom is releasing "Resident Evil Zero" as well, but I found this game so awful I never finished it.) I'm mostly interested in "Super Mario Maker 2" though--especially the types of troll levels I can create. :)
Looks like video gaming changed since I've been away (I stopped after Sony Playstation 2 and Nintendo Game Cube)--apparently instead of cartridges or discs, I can just buy and download digital games straight to the Nintendo console now.
I would easily call that heart-wrenching 300th episode of "Supernatural" the best of the whole series. Jeffrey Dean Morgan returned as John Winchester, and made me forget all about his genocidal, irredeemable character on "The Walking Dead".
Here's some news that I'm following closely: an Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is going to open this year in Los Angeles with a Hayao Miyazaki exhibition, the first major U.S. exhibition of his work. The museum will feature a state-of-the-art 1000-seat David Geffen Theater inside a spherical building, and a 288-seat Ted Mann Theater. Count me in.
Also found out (to the delight of Mario Maker streamers everywhere) that "Super Mario Maker 2" is coming out for the Nintendo Switch this June. "Super Mario Maker" first came out in 2015, and I'm still impressed by the vast subculture it spawned in the video gaming community.
Thanks to an oversight I made during my data migration to a new laptop, I permanently lost all of my archived e-mails prior to 2010. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how little I missed any of these e-mails. So out of all of my early contenders for "worst of the year" list, this won't be one of them. :) (I might shortlist Super Bowl LIII though. Quite possibly the worst football game I've ever seen.)
In other news, now that Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA, here are my Oscar predictions for 2018:
I also compiled a new list of coming attractions that piqued my interest:
I expected a hard time predicting the Academy Award for Best Picture this year after "Green Book" won the PGA. But now that both "Green Book" and "A Star Is Born" got snubbed for Best Director nominations, I think "Roma" has Best Picture in the bag.
Here's how I rated the 2018 Best Picture nominees from favorite to least favorite:
I happened to catch the end of that NFC wild-card playoff game where the Chicago Bears lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, when Cody Parkey's field goal kick bounced off both the upright and crossbar. Afterward on my car radio, people called in to share their biggest sports disappointments. Mine would have to be once-in-a-lifetime losses that blemished my favorite players' historic careers and might bother me for the rest of my life:
Actually, I don't know why that last one still gets under my skin even after Team USA redeemed itself multiple times over. Somehow those images of Alicia Sacramone falling just trying to mount the balance beam, then flipping onto her back during the floor exercise just burned into my brain. :P
In tennis news, I guess this was Andy Murray's last Australian Open. Due to a lingering hip injury, he announced he will retire this year.
Best of 2018 | Worst of 2018 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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Music video | "This Is America" Childish Gambino | "My My My!" Troye Sivan |
TV series | n/a | (tie) "The X-Files" and "Fear the Walking Dead" |
Commercial | Espresso Snickers commercial that shows anyone can get irritable when they're hungry, even grandmas | (tie) Zelle commercial where Daveed Diggs rhymes about Zelle around town, and a Diet Coke commercial where Gillian Jacobs tells me to drink a Diet Coke "because I can" |
Movie trailer | (tie) "Happy Death Day 2U" and "Us" | "UglyDolls" |
'Tis the season where I start finalizing my blog for best and worst of the year. My movie lists will be easy because so far I only rated 13 movies a 7 or higher, and 11 movies a 4 or lower. My top TV show will be hard without a new "Game of Thrones" season to rave about yet. Surprisingly, all five of my favorite songs of 2018 will be rap. Nothing in the other music genres stood out for me. It's also been a banner year for bad songs.
For my best and worst events of 2018, we have contenders like my brand-new car (especially when I first bought it and didn't have to worry about car problems anymore) and the Camp Fire here in northern California. I can tell you one thing: that AMC Stubs A-List membership won't make #1. Although it's single-handedly saved me hundreds of dollars, it's turned me into my penny-counting Dad and made me obsess over trying to hit that movie quota every week. All in all, I think it'll all come down to my neuroses. For instance, it's been bugging me all year that Serena Williams still hasn't drawn even with Margaret Court's record for all-time Grand Slam singles titles, despite reaching the last two Grand Slam finals. And by coming short of that seventh US Open title, she missed the perfect opportunity to draw even with her seven Australian Open titles and seven Wimbledon titles. Roger Federer, on the other hand, successfully evened out his total Grand Slam singles titles to a milestone 20 this January. Had he gotten stuck at 19, I'm certain that would have bugged the hell out of me all year long and beyond.
What a welcome relief to get rain here in California, and many thanks to the firefighters who contained the Camp Fire that kept polluting the air I breathe to unhealthy levels. I actually had to resist the urge to cough because my ear canal started getting sore.
R.I.P. Stan Lee.
All last week, I enjoyed watching though some YouTube videos of Mario Masters Colosseum, an annual charity event where famous Mario Maker streamers compete against each other in video games and party games.
On Halloween, they played an entertaining party game I never heard of called "Werewolf", about a town of villagers who must sleuth whom among them are secretly werewolves. Each "night", the werewolves secretly kill one villager; and each "day", the villagers must deliberate and vote on one player to execute. The villagers win if they can execute all of the werewolves; the werewolves win if they can outnumber the villagers. One villager got to play the Seer who could peek at a single player's identity card each night; one villager played the Witch who could save or poison a single player; and one villager played the Hunter who could take another player with them whenever they die (all of them had to bide their time to avoid exposing themselves too early to the werewolves).
It was amusing to me watching the villagers suspect each other and throw out accusations. At one point they started persecuting all of the quiet people. :D I'd probably struggle at playing a werewolf in this game, as I'd have to lie, feign emotion, earn the trust of villagers, and not be afraid to betray fellow werewolves (the werewolves in the first round blew their cover by defending/not voting for one another). When I think about it, the best strategy for the werewolves might just be to target the most talkative people. :)
Still feels surreal that the WWE's number one guy, Roman Reigns, relinquished the Universal Title and left the WWE to undergo treatment for leukemia. Just came outta nowhere and kinda made me feel guilty for all the times I complained about him.
Needless to say, the WWE removed him from its Crown Jewel main event, which takes place at...someplace the WWE no longer mentions, due to all the bad publicity over the murdered journalist. I might be biased, but the WWE should just cancel the event and bring it here to California. :P
R.I.P. Scott Wilson, who played my favorite character on "The Walking Dead".
Satisfying ending to "The Walking Dead" season 9 premiere. I'm so sick of how scumbags on both this show and "Fear the Walking Dead" have been literally getting away with murder. In fact, I'm done watching "Fear the Walking Dead" (even though the season 4 finale wasn't bad). The show's just gotten too boring and annoying for me.
In WWE news, Shawn Michaels is coming out of retirement for a dream match at WWE Crown Jewel: D-Generation X vs. the Brothers of Destruction! Too bad I won't be attending live, given it's all the way in Saudi Arabia. My only hope is they have a rematch at either Survivor Series or WWE TLC here in California. If they go with the rumored Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker match instead, I'm not interested (unless it has an intriguing stipulation). Nothing can top their previous two WrestleMania matches which I attended live.
I'm worried that WWE already pulled the trigger (twice) on AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan. It makes me question whether Daniel Bryan will finally win a long-deserved Royal Rumble Match victory.
I've now attended two weddings in a row where the bride and groom wrote their own vows, and on both occasions that's been my favorite part of the ceremony. They add a unique form of suspense, drama, and personality to the proceedings.
I'm still curious why this bride and groom chose to marry at a chateau next to an airport runaway. Admittedly, this gave the ceremony some suspenseful cliffhangers whenever somebody had to pause before a key part of their speech.
Well, that 2018 US Open women's final ruined my day. Serena Williams was already losing by a set and a break, but then the chair umpire--who had been singling out Serena with nitpicky code violations all set long--decided the outcome of the match for himself with a game penalty against Serena so rare I've never even heard of it! Clearly, this umpire had no respect for the enormity of the occasion, and hopefully he'll go down in tennis history as the lamest chair umpire ever.
At the same time, I was disappointed in Serena for inviting this disaster in the first place, when she destroyed her racket and then kept demanding an apology from the chair umpire for the first code violation. After the 2009 US Open and 2011 US Open, Serena should know better than anyone that nothing good ever comes out of her lashing out at officials. She had been doing so well too, controlling her temper the last few years. When I saw it flaring back up at such a critical time, I cringed and felt powerless.
So all in all, this year's US Open sucked. In addition to two other chair umpire controversies, the muggy weather and lack of air circulation pretty much took out Federer. The one highlight was a thrilling five-set quarter-final match between Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem, which vindicated the US Open's decision to enforce final-set tiebreakers.
In other news, using my AMC Stubs A-List membership, I screened $175.69 worth of movies in the month of August--a total of 11 free movies for a total savings of $155.74. So despite seeing zero films during my vacation in Hawaii, I managed to milk even more savings in August than I did in July. One could argue that I'm only saving this much money because I've been intentionally watching more movies than I normally would. To that, I have no retort.
Man, so expensive parking and lodging at a hotel in downtown San Francisco. I stayed overnight near the Metreon shopping center so I could screen three movies in the area. I actually got to re-watch "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "The Dark Knight" for free on the AMC Metreon 16 theatre's tall IMAX screen thanks to my AMC Stubs A-List membership.
Torturously muggy weather in Honolulu, Hawaii, and our Airbnb rental there had no air conditioning (just fans). No air conditioning at all those open-air buildings either, for example, the Ala Moana mall. As a result, I almost skipped my family's picnic at Bellows Beach--but I'm glad I was talked into it. Never been so close to such beautiful turquoise water before (though unfortunately, a jellyfish stung my niece when she went in).
Fortunately, my nephew's wedding was indoors. The whole event felt storybook, with TV-quality speeches from the heart and self-written vows. Come to think of it, I can't recall ever attending a wedding where the bride and groom wrote their own vows. Pretty brave of them.
All in all, I'm glad to have finally visited Hawaii and would consider it a highlight for the year.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm intrigued by the Oscars announcement about a new Academy Award for achievement in popular film. Maybe now they can stop snubbing outstanding movies that mainstream audiences have actually heard of, like "Interstellar", "Marvel's The Avengers", "The Hunger Games", and "Wonder Woman". Though admittedly, I was pleasantly surprised that they nominated "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Get Out" for Best Picture.
Ever since I joined the AMC Stubs A-List on July 1, I've managed to screen 11 total movies with it in the month of July. Meaning, I watched $169.09 worth of movies for $19.95, a total savings of $149.14. That's a heckuva bargain.
Admittedly, I need a small break from watching movies. Despite me seeing certain movies more than once, it was too difficult using up all three of my free movies each week (I only managed it twice). Mostly because it's atypical for three new releases of interest to come out in the same week.
Sigh. So both of my favorite tennis players, Serena Williams and Roger Federer, fell short of the 2018 Wimbledon title. Although Serena has really improved since she first returned from pregnancy, I knew Angelique Kerber would be a struggle. After all, Serena made it to the final without being tested by any of the top ten seeds (none of them lasted past the fourth round, which was unprecedented). But I think it all goes to show that Wimbledon and the upcoming US Open made the right call to seed her.
Federer's loss stung in particular, because he had match point and then went on to lose the next three sets. I just have to remind myself how greedy it is to expect continual dominance from both he and Serena, considering that they've already reached the pinnacle of their sport.
Now I gotta talk about these marathon Wimbledon fifth sets. With the exception of that thrilling semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, I generally find marathon Grand Slam final sets boring as hell. Especially the ones where big servers like John Isner and Kevin Anderson just hold each service game easily (I actually sat through a replay of Isner's 70-68 set against Mahut, by the way). The US Open enforces a final-set tiebreaker, which to me makes every point suspenseful and dramatic.
I also welcome the news that the 2018 US Open will start displaying a 25-second shot clock. Of course this would likely hurt Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who in my opinion get away with way too many time violations when they serve. So hopefully, the clock won't lead to disrespectful fans loudly counting the time down.
Well, AMC Theatres finally came up with a movie subscription service too good to pass up. For $19.95 a month, the AMC Stubs A-List membership lets me reserve up to three screenings per week in any premium format including IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 3D, and D-BOX. Given that an IMAX 2D screening costs $19.19, the membership already pays for itself on the first IMAX movie! In contrast, MoviePass only permits standard 2D movies, prohibits more than one screening of the same movie, and can't pre-reserve seats. I also never trusted MoviePass. :)
IMDb did an interesting segment where Natalie Dormer listed five movies that best spoke to each of her five senses. I attempted a list of my own:
My runners-up for sight and sound would be "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003) and "Les Misérables" (2012), respectively.
Congratulations to...
In other sports news, no more triple-triple for Usain Bolt. The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed his relay teammate's appeal against a ruling that disqualified their Olympic gold medal victory in the 4x100m relay at Beijing 2008.
In TV news, I had to wait for "Talking Dead" again to confirm that yet another major "Fear the Walking Dead" character had been killed off last night. At least this death felt dignified, but after all those hours of wasted character development I feel like this show is more pointless than ever now. And given the news about another major cast member leaving "The Walking Dead", I think AMC should consider ending both shows. :P
I'm also sick of this new trend in both TV and movies where murdered fan favorites don't receive the justice they deserve. Instead, the fan favorite's loved ones just let bygones be bygones and/or even make friends with the killer! I would cite examples (like from this most recent "Fear the Walking Dead" midseason finale), but don't want to spoil anything.
Well, the Seaside repair shop fixed the power supply in my HDD/DVD recorder, and I verified that all of my recordings survived. Das cool. Even my timer schedule of programs to record survived, so maybe that's stored in the hard drive.
Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors for winning their fourth consecutive Western Conference championship! I tuned into their last two elimination games reluctantly, as it ruins my whole day whenever they sloppily blow a close playoff game. I still can't reconcile how they can start the first half so badly, then absolutely crush it in the third quarter. Is it strategy? Playing possum? Lulling the opponent into a false sense of security? Conserving energy? Or maybe the Houston Rockets kept pushing themselves too hard in the first half, and didn't have any legs left to make jump shots (that might explain their record-breaking streak of 27 missed 3-pointers in Game 7).
Tried chicken and waffles for the first time (at my workplace's new cafeteria). I didn't like it. I still need to arrive early enough to the cafeteria to try their corned beef hash. I used to hate whenever my Mom served it for breakfast, but now it's one of my favorite foods.
I miss the chili verde that the old cafeteria used to serve. I've yet to see it at the new cafeteria. I think my favorite chili verde right now comes from "Taqueria El Pastor" in the Northridge mall, where the pork they use just melts in my mouth.
In other news, thanks to another blackout at my apartment complex, my HDD/DVD recorder went completely dead. The clock wouldn't even power on. (Oddly, the other electronic devices in that same surge protector survived just fine.) Fortunately, the Seaside repair shop I patronized nearly a decade ago was still in business.
I still had hours of recordings on the hard drive. Roughly once a year, I curate my favorite TV highlights and archive them onto a DVD. The curated highlights still sitting on my hard drive included:
With my recorder in the repair shop, I wasn't able to tape the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Oh well.
Ironically, I can't think of a single time I've ever gone back and watched one of the DVDs I made. Despite the DVDs' skinny compact size, they've only added to my "material baggage".
Still haven't gotten around to changing the name of my blog, "Room 237", after that Shining documentary hijacked the name and attached crackpot theories to it. I originally chose the name because of my fascination with coincidences, superstition, and seclusion (and that cool video game "Silent Hill 4: The Room"). What were the odds that my old apartment complex--following the fire that temporarily freed me from material baggage--would relocate me to Apt. 237, the same number for that mysterious forbidden hotel room from "The Shining"? I also liked the whole idea of a peaceful reclusive space, walled off from the world.
Maybe I can keep the "237" and synthesize a new name from the passions in my life like curation, cinema, and cynicism. For my original blog name, I actually toyed with "cynic critic"--but scrapped it due to the remote possibility that someday my cynicism could fade. Well...fast-forward several years to today, and I'm more cynical than ever.
I found the Walking Dead season 8 finale unsatisfying, and was glad I passed on watching in a movie theater. What an anticlimactic end to the Saviors storyline. To me, Negan committed horrible atrocities and deserved death more than any character Rick has ever killed. Heck, just a couple of episodes prior, Rick and Morgan cold-bloodedly executed the Saviors who untied them--now all of a sudden these two are pacifists again! I'm so tired of how the main characters on this show keep flip-flopping in this eternally pretentious moral struggle. I don't like it when they stupidly kill off main characters, either. Finally, what kind of idiot keeps exhausting all of their bullets on a hiding person with no gun and then walks straight into their ambush??
Haha, nice swerve by Jeff Probst during the Survivor: Ghost Island vote read. He started out revealing a streak of Desiree votes (presumably from the minority alliance), switched to Michael votes as if he had received the remainder of them, and then swerved back to the Desiree votes. I don't think fans truly appreciate what an art it is, to order tribal council votes in the most dramatic possible way. If you can google the interview where Jeff Probst explained it, it's an entertaining read.
Was Desiree surprised that her lies didn't work, even when she swore to God (cringe)? I certainly wasn't. What kind of innocent person would just dismiss an accusation that major instead of denying it with every fiber of their being? If an alliance had falsely accused me, I'd have been absolutely livid at them. Admittedly, it'd be difficult for a liar to fake this kind of outrage. At least she didn't pull a Dreamz and go on ad nauseam about setting a good example for her son.
To my surprise, Ronda Rousey's Mixed Tag Team Match ended up being my favorite match of WrestleMania 34. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and managed to convince me that the WWE might actually job her to Stephanie McMahon. Herein lies the secret to the top wrestling matches, in my opinion: build them up with must-win stakes (like a streak or some kind of MacGuffin) to make the fans really care about the outcome.
The crowd in attendance can sure make or break a wrestling match. That WrestleMania 34 crowd managed to ruin AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns II for me. But thanks to the inordinate length of WrestleMania nowadays, who can blame them. Admittedly, what dumb booking to have Roman Reigns kick out of Brock Lesnar's finisher five times. Now the move doesn't feel special anymore.
If you ask me, "The X-Files" season 11 finale tarnished the whole series and may have killed whatever interest I had left in the show--even if all these unceremoniously stupid deaths turn out to be fake outs. The scene that dismayed me the most: when Scully just shrugged off William's apparent death after entire seasons of her obsessing over him!
In other news, the WWE officially cleared Daniel Bryan for in-ring competition! Das cool. My wish list: book him to finally win a Royal Rumble Match, and go on to face either Shinsuke Nakamura or AJ Styles at WrestleMania. Side note: I find these promos where Shinsuke Nakamura pauses to have a seizure entertaining. :D
R.I.P. Stephen Hawking.
Can't say I'm excited about WrestleMania 34, not even about the prospect of John Cena vs. an apparently non-retired Undertaker. I do anticipate one match to blow the roof off: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. If the WWE had any sense, they would let this one main event last. That Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match might turn into the biggest disaster since Lesnar's WrestleMania XX fiasco. Especially with Lesnar expected to leave again, and this whole "no show" build-up (kind of like how Goldberg didn't show up for the WrestleMania XX build-up).
I feel like WWE got the booking wrong for Ronda Rousey. Are we supposed to believe that Stephanie McMahon stands any kind of chance against her? Maybe the encounter will only last a few seconds. Personally, I would've pit Rousey against Asuka's undefeated streak--the story writes itself. Unless maybe they're planning to keep that streak alive until the next WrestleMania?
I'll try to keep an open mind about Braun Strowman's WrestleMania storyline. Right now I feel like they're wasting this great character. I guess Bray Wyatt already has WrestleMania plans?
Finally, if the WWE Hall of Fame 2018 Induction Ceremony follows the same pattern as the previous ones, Kid Rock is going to get booed out of the building.
Foiled again on my Best Picture prediction. On the plus side, I find it cool that Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu all have directing Oscars now.
Looks like my celebrity counterpart, DJ Steve Aoki, tried weightlessness for himself at a zero-gravity dance party. Coincidence?
Just like Winter Olympics past, these PyeongChang 2018 Olympics have given me highs and lows. Case in point: after I watched Mikaela Shiffrin unexpectedly win a gold medal in the giant slalom, she inexplicably placed fourth in her signature slalom event on the very next day! That same night, I had to watch Lindsey Jacobellis fade to fourth place in the snowboard cross final after she led the majority of the race (at least she made the final this time), and had to watch Nathan Chen skate to a disastrous 17th place in the men's figure skating short program (I do enjoy the commentary from Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir at least).
Congratulations to Shaun White on becoming the first snowboarder ever to win three Olympic gold medals! Talk about a clutch performance--instead of his usual victory lap, he had to nail the very last run of the snowboard halfpipe final to avoid second place. I've never seen him scream that loud and cry that hard before. I was also impressed by gold medalist Chloe Kim on the previous day's halfpipe. For some reason, I found it amusing watching each competitor either hug or snub the first snowboarder to finish, Arielle Gold, as she waited and waited at the bottom in bronze medal position.
In other sporting news, 36-year-old Roger Federer successfully became the oldest man to ever top the world tennis rankings, surpassing Andre Agassi who held the record at age 33-years-old. Das impressive.
Update 2/22/2018: What an ending to the women’s ice hockey gold medal match. I'm glad NBC chose to televise it. That's the first time I've watched a penalty shootout, and to me it was way more thrilling than regulation/overtime where I can't even tell where the puck is. :) I felt vested in this match because I still remember my bitterness from the last Olympic hockey final when the U.S. women managed to blow a 2-0 lead against Canada in the final minutes of regulation.
Update 2/24/2018: Never thought I'd be watching live curling again after I walked out on it at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, but I couldn't resist tuning in to team USA's historic gold medal match. Congratulations to Team Shuster on winning America's first-ever gold medal in Olympic curling! Talk about an improbable victory. Hollywood should make a movie about this.
Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles on their first-ever Super Bowl victory! Say what you will about the New England Patriots, their Super Bowl games never fail to entertain.
I'm not a fan of the TV show "This Is Us", but I did tune in to their big post-Super Bowl episode. Hopefully now instead of blaming harmless Crock-Pots, viewers will blame the parents' negligence for letting all of their smoke alarm batteries expire. I also found it unconscionably stupid for Jack to enter a burning house to save a dog and a sack of replaceable material possessions. And I found his complete lack of smoke inhalation symptoms hard to believe. But otherwise, good episode. I can definitely identify with that family, even though it's weird to me that they still have hang-ups over this incident 20 years later.
Now that all the precursor guild awards concluded, here are my Oscar predictions for 2017:
This time, I refuse to trust a PGA winner without a SAG nomination no matter how favorable the odds get.
Congratulations to Roger Federer on a milestone 20th Grand Slam title! I got alarmed when he suddenly faded in the fourth set, but to my relief he held tough in the fifth to secure his sixth Australian Open title. That Marin Cilic, man--he still bugs me; the time he wastes between serves and the way he kept fussing over his unopened rackets. I'm so glad Federer closed it out (on another harrowing HawkEye challenge, no less). Plus it was cool (and uncharacteristic) to see Federer so emotional at the trophy presentation.
In another feel-good moment, Caroline Wozniacki FINALLY won her first Grand Slam title! Quite the final given that among the active WTA roster, I had regarded both her and opponent Simona Halep as the two best players to never win a Grand Slam tournament. I used to be one of the haters who felt that Caroline Wozniacki didn't deserve the #1 WTA ranking, but nowadays I'm impressed with her level of play and feel like she truly earned the spot.
By the way, that semifinal between Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber might go down as the most epic women’s tennis match I've ever watched. Haymakers back-and-forth; suspenseful HawkEye challenges; both players trying to gut through exhaustion and mental demons. First Kerber rallied back from double match point; then Halep rallied back from double match point. An amazing match.
At long last, WWE booked a Royal Rumble Match right. I also liked the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match and its nostalgic slew of surprise entrants who helped build the division. And I liked that they had to all go over the top rope, even though I noticed they had to keep finding creative ways to keep the eliminations safe. To my recollection, WWE's previous women's battle royales never instituted this deceptively dangerous rule.
Man, that Ronda Rousey needs better entrance music. Like for example, the entrance music of Samoa Joe or Brock Lesnar.
To my confusion, "Phantom Thread" snagged a Best Picture nomination over four other more probable Oscar contenders. It had such slim odds that I had just written it off. As a result, I had to go watch it before I could finish ranking all of the 2017 Best Picture nominees:
The Golden Globes, PGA, and SAG awards took place so early this year that I've pretty much finalized all of my Academy Award predictions already, except for Best Director.
"The X-Files" quietly started airing season 11, and already I hate it. :P They're seriously just retconning the whole series now. Either that, or they're trying to convey the futility of finding truth in a world so polluted with disinformation. The examples that irritated me the most:
Also, I still can't reconcile how the Cigarette-Smoking Man survived getting blown to smithereens in the series finale. While I'm at it, I can't remember how Mulder and Scully were allowed to return to the FBI.
I finished tabulating the music video rankings for 2017. I had to apply two tiebreakers to determine the #30 song: "Formation" or "Trampoline".
Well, I finally bought a brand-new car: a 2018 Toyota Corolla LE sedan. Why does my new car match the exact same make, model, and color of my last two cars, you might ask? Because I like trilogies. :)
I'm somewhat fascinated with this new car's automated safety features. It's supposed to automatically brake when it detects a collision, automatically course-correct when it detects lane departure, automatically dim high beams when it detects oncoming cars, and automatically adjust the cruise control to steadily follow the car ahead of me. Interestingly, during my drive back to San Jose, the car's AI warned me to put my hands back on the steering wheel (I was experimenting with the course-correction feature); then about two hours into the trip asked me if I need a break.
I traded in my old 2004 Corolla for a whopping $100. To my irritation, the salesman rationalized that because its odometer froze at 299,999 miles, they couldn't really trust my own personal estimate. So basically, they exploited their own manufacturing defect as an excuse to lowball me. I didn't really mind though, as I doubt the engine would've lasted much longer given how fast (and loudly) it was burning through oil. My oil kept running low less than 3000 miles after my oil changes, even though the car had no leaks anywhere.
I actually felt a pang of sadness when I spotted my 2004 Corolla on my way out of the dealership lot. Nowhere near as sad as my Mom when she said goodbye to the family station wagon, but sentimental nonetheless. I guess because for those 14+ years and 364,000+ miles, that 2004 Corolla never really let me down. It was like a good luck charm in that I never once suffered a traffic accident in it.
Best of 2017 | Worst of 2017 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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TV series | "Game of Thrones" | "Fear the Walking Dead" |
Commercial | (tie) Foot Locker commercial where DeMarcus Cousins and Ndamukong Suh "make an impression", and a GEICO Insurance commercial about a talking raccoon's cooking show | Toyota commercial where identical hitchhikers steal a samaritan's car in a roundabout |
Movie trailer | (tie) "Thor: Ragnarok" and "The Disaster Artist" and "Isle of Dogs" | "Power Rangers" |
Cinemark unveiled some kind of Movie Club where once a month, members can pay a discounted $8.99 instead of $12.75 for one ticket. Huh? This is supposed to compete against MoviePass, where for $9.95 a month the subscribers can get one free movie ticket a day? That MoviePass pays for itself after just one movie! Admittedly, I never trusted MoviePass because it seems too good to be true--well, that and I can't use it without an iPhone or Android phone. :)
It's been awhile, but I finally drove to San Francisco to see a limited release movie. I just couldn't wait to screen the James Franco biopic about Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero. :)
I'm glad I experimented with driving on US 101 the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend rather than Sunday (or Saturday). No gridlock at all this time, and it only cost me one extra vacation day. This will become my new routine going forward.
Looks like the "Talking Dead" purposely spoiled who will cross over from "The Walking Dead" to "Fear the Walking Dead". I don't get it. Texas isn't exactly close to the East Coast--did this character just go on some zombie apocalypse road trip? And with the filming location so far away, I assume this character will have to be written off "The Walking Dead" somehow. I don't like it.
Congratulations to the Houston Astros on their first World Series championship. Not the best World Series IMHO, given how anticlimactic Game 7 was against the Dodgers, but at least they had an epic Game 5. (Personally, I can't imagine any baseball game ever topping the awesomeness of those previous two World Series Game 7's!)
My pictures from New York finally got developed, so I uploaded them to my blog. It takes about two weeks to ship and process the film. I used a disposable camera, so most of the photos I snapped in dim lighting, e.g., my 9/11 museum snapshots, came out too dark. I do own a camera with a magnificent flash, but I've been saving it for special occasions (like WWE events) because stores stopped selling film rolls for it. Once my stock of film rolls run out, I'll probably have to go digital. :)
Gross. On Sunday, I counted 24 dead quails in the plaza of my workplace. Looked like some kind of animal attack. Then that night I gave my first ever 0 star rating to "The Simpsons" in the show's 27-year history--to that sickening Halloween story where Homer cannibalized himself.
"The Walking Dead" season 8 premiere was ok. Better than this most recent "Fear the Walking Dead" season. Once again, "Fear the Walking Dead" managed to think up another dumb death for a major character. I'm not even curious about which mystery character will cross over between the two shows some time in 2018. (I assume we can rule out an appearance by comatose Rick.) The top theory appears to be Abraham given that he once lived at a grocery store in Houston, the same city that the Proctors plan to sail toward. Personally, I'd find it much more interesting if one of the "Fear the Walking Dead" characters journeyed all the way from Mexico to the East Coast, thereby setting up a flash-forward.
I decided to look for famous paintings at the Museum of Modern Art (admission is free after 4pm on Friday). I saw The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh and Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth. I like that latter painting. It was hung in plain sight between an elevator and an escalator with nary any people around it, so I almost overlooked it! I couldn't find The Persistence of Memory and Campbell's Soup Cans (even though they had other Andy Warhol art pieces), so maybe they weren't on display. :(
Tried an original hot dog at the original Nathan's Famous of Coney Island. It was tasty, but not worth the $4.90 I paid. :P
The Coney Island amusement area (Luna Park) was closed for a couple of days, and the Riegelmann Boardwalk didn't have many people. I enjoyed a $6 funnel cake from Ruby's Bar & Grill.
Brooklyn's Totonno Pizzeria Napolitano was within walking distance. My brother and I split a large pepperoni (coal fired) pizza, and it was thin and delicious. I noticed it had a slightly burnt crust just like the other Totonno's I ate at a long while back.
I really like the New York subway system, and it's sure convenient having a subway entrance so close to our hotel.
Finally got to enter the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center for the first time. Admission cost $24, but I assume it went to a good cause. The exhibitions of the wreckage grew repetitive, particularly when I started seeing everyday office debris like papers. For me, the historical exhibition area had the most interesting exhibits, e.g., the front pages of global newspapers about 9/11, pre-9/11 newspaper headlines, a 1971 presentation model of the WTC towers, and airport security footage of the terrorists’ screenings. I had mixed feelings about the real-life voice messages and the slideshow of falling victims though.
Also made sure to photograph the Survivor Tree this time. Interestingly, the twin memorial pools are now out in the open without any fencing.
Afterward, my brother and I split a pastrami sandwich on rye at Katz’s Delicatessen (where Harry met Sally). It tasted good, but not worth the $21.45 we paid for it. :) Also, the place was congested with customers even with seven cutters on duty.
Here in New York, I finally screened a movie in 4DX (Absolute Cinema Experience) for the first time. To my amusement, water squirted right in my face a couple of times. Other times, water drizzled down when it rained onscreen. (The movie was the Blade Runner sequel so unsurprisingly, it rained the entire film.) Heh, the rain left droplets on my 3-D lenses. I also felt wind from the large fans and deliberately timed shots of air. The seat even jabbed my back during fight scenes!
Haha, what a dramatic Family Feud bonus round (goal is to score 200 points). That's the most suspenseful Fast Money I've ever seen.
Lionsgate is bringing a Saw-themed escape room to the New York Comic Con from October 5 to October 8, called "Jigsaw: Survive the Trap". Comic Con badge holders enter in pairs and must work together to escape before time runs out. (Hopefully they won't have to amputate anything.) As fate would have it, I'll actually be in New York on October 8. I don't think anything could ever convince me to explore this attraction though. I like the Saw movies, but would never want to BE in one!
To my chagrin, my car's alternator went bad again after only six months. (The battery light kept coming on every time I started the car.) I ended up just paying for a new one because I didn't want to risk losing power again on a drive back to Salinas.
Well, I feel like "Fear the Walking Dead" finally had a good episode. Just when I started souring on one of the characters because of his habitual lying, he finally showed some honesty. I also admired how his friend had the credibility to be believed when she spoke in earnest. Maybe it's just the times--or leftover inspiration from that epic speech I heard in the "Game of Thrones" season finale--but I'm really starting to treasure truthful characters in TV and movies now.
It's a girl for Serena Williams! Congratulations! Meanwhile, four American women made it to the final four of the US Open (first time since 1981)! They managed to outlast all of the top seeds in the women's bracket. Das impressive.
That curse that prevents Roger Federer from ever meeting Rafael Nadal at a US Open struck again, this time jinxing Federer into mishitting easy winners on the most crucial of points. I wasn't too upset though, as Federer never seemed 100% this tournament and I wouldn't want such a historic meeting to suck. Plus they should meet in the final, not a semifinal. I still blame Andy Murray for withdrawing late and denying Federer entry into the easy side of the draw. :P
It does kind of bother me that Federer could not capitalize on the remainder of a tennis season now bereft of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Kei Nishikori, but this year's two Grand Slam titles pleasantly exceeded my expectations so I can't really complain.
Well, the "Twin Peaks: The Return" finale ended bizarrely without any closure on the Audrey Horne, Sarah Palmer, and Judy storylines--so maybe David Lynch intends to continue the series? It was exasperating how the show just dragged along most of the time, but every now and then sprinkled in some captivating scenes. I enjoyed seeing my two favorite characters team up in the finale episode, but what's going on? Did they successfully alter the past and intersect in an alternate reality? Did they fail to alter the past and intersect in an alternate universe? (I'm hoping for the latter because I didn't like the show tampering with sacred canon like that.) Is it all just a dream?
Still processing that "Game of Thrones" season 7 finale. :P Guess I'll have plenty of time as I heard it might be a couple of years until the next (and final) season. If the series ends well, it could wind up becoming my favorite TV show of all time. In contrast, "Twin Peaks" could fall off my top 10 list entirely if this upcoming season finale makes me irate enough.
Speaking of irritating, why did Andy Murray wait until RIGHT AFTER the draw to withdraw from the US Open? It took away the tantalizing possibility of a first-ever Federer vs. Nadal final there. Not that the final had much chance of happening anyway given how badly Federer (who I suspect has a back injury) struggled through these first two rounds (requiring five sets both times), but still...
Ehh, that new Taylor Swift single "Look What You Made Me Do" sounds just like "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred.
Another "Game of Thrones" episode got leaked, and this time because HBO accidentally leaked it. So now I'm avoiding YouTube altogether because of possible spoilers in the thumbnails. I assume YouTube keeps displaying "Game of Thrones" videos because of all the reaction videos I've been watching for it. I guess there's an art to reaction videos, because I hate the ones where the fans overreact, underreact, complain, troll, speak uninsightfully, act aloof during emotional scenes, seem oblivious during bombshell moments, or look at the camera. I mostly just like the videos where the fans genuinely enjoy the show. I lost interest in "Twin Peaks: The Return" reaction videos, because they mostly just show fans looking confused.
Recently, I've been enjoying "Super Mario Maker" videos where expert players curate and commentate on interesting levels. I actually enjoy the troll levels the most, where the designers purposely think up creative booby traps to infuriate the player. Makes me want to create my own. :)
Why are theaters starting Thursday's screenings of "The Dark Tower" at 7:19pm? I would google it, but the answer might contain spoilers. Lately I've been surfing the Internet cautiously, especially after the HBO hack. I've even been avoiding this season's episode titles for "Game of Thrones", lest they spoil something.
I'm souring on "Twin Peaks: The Return" just like I soured on "Fear the Walking Dead". The final straw might have been last Sunday's episode where Audrey Horne finally appeared but just got squandered in a stupid storyline that had nothing to do with anything. And just like so many of the female characters in this show who act either mean or shallow, I found her disappointingly unlikeable. Though come to think of it, I can't think of very many male characters I like in this show either.
Congratulations to Roger Federer on a record-breaking eighth Wimbledon title and a record-extending 19th Grand Slam title! I already called him the greatest tennis player of all-time, but I guess now I can finally call him the best grass-court player in tennis history too. Ever since his previous 2012 Wimbledon victory, I can't remember all the times I rued that "he might have blown his last best chance" to win another Grand Slam title. I dreaded the possibility he could blow this chance too, so when Marin Cilic had all that bizarre drama (with rainclouds approaching), I wanted Federer to show no mercy. I don't care if fans wanted a more thrilling final.
Anticlimactic ending to Venus Williams' 2017 Wimbledon run. Not sure what happened in that second set bagel. Mental and physical fatigue probably, triggered by those two blown set points. Still impressive that she even made it to that final at 37-years-old, her second final this season.
Venus' "U can't see me" gesture (every time she wanted a towel) kept bugging me. Not as much as Cilic's incessant ball-bouncing before each serve though.
I guess now Karolina Pliskova has the No. 1 ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam title. This used to bother me greatly in the past, but now that I understand how the point system works (they expire in a year), it makes a lot more sense. Though I'm still perplexed that Federer didn't leapfrog directly to No. 1 after winning two Grand Slam titles.
Awesome "Game of Thrones" season 7 premiere. It feels so satisfying to see major characters finally starting to fulfill their dreams. Pretty much every storyline interests me now.
I'm losing patience with "Twin Peaks: The Return". Over halfway through the season, and still nary anything happened! I'm also growing disturbed with the inordinate amount of violence toward women, and how the villains just get away with it with complete impunity. I keep waiting for something to happen to redeem the season.
My mind's still blown right now that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both lost their Wimbledon quarterfinals today. Murray couldn't move well during his match because of a hip problem, and Djokovic retired from his match in the second set because of an arm injury. And with Rafael Nadal already eliminated when he lost that marathon match on Monday, it means Roger Federer won't have to play any of them! I'm still concerned that the remaining players all serve big and could give Federer problems, but nowhere near as concerned as I would've been had he faced Djokovic in the next round.
Disturbing listening to Bethanie Mattek-Sands scream "HELP MEEE!!!" over and over after she mangled her knee on the Wimbledon court. Reminded me of that time I fell over my ankle during a tennis exercise and tore a ligament. It hurt so badly I couldn't even speak. Fortunately the people watching me caught on I needed medical attention, presumably from my body language. :)
Ugh, I noticed the AMC Theatres in my area now serve alcoholic beverages from a bar near the concession stands. I also had to reserve my IMAX seat. At least they stopped raiding auditoriums to check ticket stubs. Unless maybe they only do that to catch minors who sneak into R-rated films?
Congratulations to Rafael Nadal on a monumental tenth French Open title! Unquestionably the best clay-court player in tennis history. Nerves of steel, too. According to the commentary, he's never once smashed a racket on the court in frustration. I can believe it, as the only times I remember him getting mad on court were towards the chair umpire. Even Roger Federer smashed his racket one time (hard to believe, but I found the clip on YouTube).
To my relief, the Golden State Warriors managed to close out the NBA Finals over the Cleveland Cavaliers to avoid a repeat of last year. I would have panicked had the Warriors lost game 5 at Oracle Arena again (I got really nervous when they fell behind at the start of the game). Kevin Durant totally deserved the Finals MVP, and congrats to him for finally winning an overdue NBA championship ring.
My Comcast On Demand service finally works again after I upgraded my cable box. The clerk seemed surprised that I had such an old model. Guess that explains why it kept freezing on the newer videos I tried to play.
I also discovered that my microwave still works. I started carrying it en route to the e-waste facility, and on a whim decided to plug it into an outlet by the floor. To my surprise, it powered on--meaning that the real problem had to be the two kitchen outlets that I originally used following the power outages. Both outlets must have shorted out. I guess now I just need an extension cord to use my microwave again.
I'm losing interest in "Fear the Walking Dead". That dumbfoundingly lame death in the season 3 two-hour premiere might mark a jumping of the shark. Months of character development wasted in one instant.
Meanwhile...these "Twin Peaks: The Return" episodes continue to crawl at a snail's pace, and yet I keep wanting more. I guess it's refreshing watching a series where I can't predict what will happen next. The only theory I got right so far was "Diane"--she indeed appeared and just like I had secretly hoped, she is being played by Kyle MacLachlan's "Blue Velvet" co-star Laura Dern. I really hate that hair though.
Had to tow my 2004 Corolla again. This time the starter had to be replaced. I guess I should think about a new car, but I feel like I still need to get my money's worth out of that expensive new catalytic converter I bought. I replaced it in 2011, but then had to buy another one in 2014 to comply with a smog check technicality. $900+ for the second one.
What kind of "Supernatural" season 12 finale was that?? Will all these dead characters get resurrected next season? I wouldn't put it past this "soap opera" of a series.
In movie news, the ABBA "Mamma Mia!" film is getting a sequel titled "Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!" Please don't tell me Pierce Brosnan is going to sing again.
In tennis news, Roger Federer withdrew from the 2017 French Open. Which is fine with me if that extends his career and improves his chances at Wimbledon. Given how dominant nine-time champion Rafael Nadal has been on clay this season, it seems like his tournament to lose.
I'm not sure who to root for on the women's side going forward. I feel like Serena Williams's maternity leave created a huge vacuum in the WTA. I'm not very excited about Maria Sharapova's comeback, even though I found her 15-month doping ban for meldonium kind of overblown (since meldonium used to be legal). I guess I'll just root for likeable players who never won a Grand Slam tournament, i.e., Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska. Ironic because I never really cared for counterpunchers in tennis, particularly that time when Caroline Wozniacki somehow stayed No. 1 with that style of play.
Update 5/30/2017: Wouldn't it be cool if we finally got to see "Diane" for the first time? I guess every "Twin Peaks" episode is going to end with a different musical band. My favorite scene of season three is still the one where Chromatics performed. It spoke volumes to me how positive the two returning characters seemed, considering the pain they went through.
Well, I ordered Showtime in preparation for the "Twin Peaks: The Return" premiere on May 21, 2017, and I still don't know what to expect (other than the likelihood that the show will take place in Twin Peaks). Showtime's promos have just shown cryptic clips, and the TV synopsis for the premiere simply states: "The stars turn and a time presents itself." This makes me think the Black Lodge will reopen and Agent Cooper will return, presumably to resolve that bonkers cliffhanger from 1991.
Apparently, WWE decided to name one of their new pay-per-views WWE Great Balls Of Fire. What. That sounds even worse than December to Dismember, which was not only the worst WWE PPV I ever attended but quite possibly the worst WWE PPV of all-time.
I compiled a new list of coming attractions that piqued my interest:
I'm also keeping an eye out on some other film projects in limbo:
Serena Williams pregnant! This news actually bummed me out because at her age, it could spell the end of her brilliant tennis career. I was hoping she could break the records for all-time Grand Slam titles and for weeks at No. 1--but since she won't play again in 2017, it'll be a steep climb returning to No. 1. Though if anyone can do it, it's her (just look at how Roger Federer's long break rejuvenated him). Side note: Apparently she won this year's Australian Open when she was eight-to-nine weeks pregnant!
One of my favorite Saturday morning childhood cartoons, The Smurfs, got rebooted as a computer-animated movie (I totally skipped those live-action ones). Its premise struck me as a really big deal, because it always puzzled me how the Smurf population could be so male.
I actually can't remember most of the Smurfs cartoon episodes, but there's three of them that I never forgot:
If that depressing WrestleMania 33 main event goes down as The Undertaker's last match, then he retired at a good time. His limited movement made me cringe, and the match lacked most of his "vintage" moves. Plus he already lost his WrestleMania Streak, so what does one more loss matter. My main gripe was that WWE couldn't come up with anyone better than Roman Reigns to "pass the torch" to. For reasons that I never understood, the WWE continues to push boring Roman Reigns as their top guy.
That's cool that John Cena proposed to Nikki Bella on the show, but I hate this "Reality Era" in WWE where I can't tell what's real and what's kayfabe anymore.
Saw a dead turkey outside a first floor window at my workplace. Feathers everywhere. I didn't see any wounds at first, but afterward I noticed some animal had been feasting on it. It was a big turkey too, so I wonder which animal did it.
My changsha chicken caught fire in the microwave. Or to put it more accurately, the Chinese take-out box it was in caught fire. I could see the flames through the microwave window, and when I opened the door smoke billowed out. So I shut the door and tried to air out the room before my smoke detector could beep. Note to self: in the future, look inside of take-out boxes before microwaving them. Because when I looked inside this particular take-out box (after it had burnt to a crisp), I discovered the chicken was still wrapped in the same aluminum foil that the waiter had served it in. Interestingly, both the foil and chicken were still cold to the touch!
Anyway, I still ate the chicken (I reheated it on a paper plate), but noticed some of it tasted like smoke. :P
Note to self: never ignore that battery warning light on my car's dashboard ever again. (Apparently it means that the battery stopped charging and will die soon!) I was driving north on US 101 when my digital clock started to dim. I made it past Gonzales before my dashboard alerted me that my air bag will no longer deploy. Then the instruments on my dashboard began to fail, repeatedly powering on and off! The final straw was when my gas pedal stopped working. That convinced me to pull over and call emergency road assistance for a tow. Good thing the mechanic was open on a Sunday. Turns out that the alternator was bad, not the battery. But since I had that battery for almost seven years (about the same age as my previous battery when it died), it made sense to replace that too.
Man, the road to my workplace flooded again and the wind knocked some trees down. I'm convinced the California drought is over.
I'm glad I waited for the Oscars to finish before changing the channel to my Walking Dead DVR, because man what a crazy ending. First I got impatient with Warren Beatty because I thought he had gone all scatterbrain again. He took really long with that envelope. Then as the producers of "La La Land" were giving their emotional speeches, I sensed some kind of commotion and spotted people running behind them. My first thought was that someone had rushed the stage off-camera. Then I spotted Warren Beatty and thought maybe he had caused a disturbance. Finally when the producer announced the mistake, it still didn't sink in for me until he held up the Best Picture card that read "Moonlight" (again I immediately thought Warren Beatty was responsible). Geez it took long for the accountants to correct that gaffe. How embarrassing for the "La La Land" producers and what a dampener on the "Moonlight" folks' victory celebration.
CBS announced the cast for "Survivor: Game Changers". After reviewing each returning castaway and noting the omission of Russell Hantz, I concluded that the title Game Changers must refer to the season they played in, not the game of Survivor as a whole (if we're talking Survivor as a whole, then the dubious resume-padder Ciera Eastin is the only one on here who fits!). Even then, I can't figure out what some of these players did to "change the game".
I was happy to see Brad Culpepper on the list, as I credit him with the tactic of tormenting the returning players by voting out their loved ones. :)
In other news, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) announced that it will disable its message boards on February 20, 2017. Good riddance. :)
Although I rooted against the New England Patriots winning Super Bowl LI, after their historic fourth quarter comeback I'm forced to concede that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. What a cosmic performance. The way I saw it, one tiny little mistake like a fumble, an interception, a failed 2-point conversion, or allowing a field goal would have sealed their doom.
In other news, here are my Oscar predictions for 2016:
Congratulations to Roger Federer on finally winning his 18th Grand Slam title after over four years of struggling to break his own record! And he did it by narrowly outlasting his greatest adversary, Rafael Nadal, the tenacious legend who tormented him all his career. Hands down the greatest tennis match I have ever seen. I kept cussing at the TV when Nadal broke Federer's serve in game 1 of the fifth set and Federer kept failing to break him back. But Federer kept fighting and fighting and finally did it twice--only to flounder trying to serve out the final game. The final point came down to a HawkEye replay of whether Federer's last shot landed in or out. An epic tennis match for the ages! It basically decided who would go down in history as the greatest tennis player of all time.
Congratulations to Serena Williams on finally winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, at last breaking Steffi Graf’s Open era record! And how perfect that Serena had to do it against her greatest rival, big sister Venus. I realized that prior to this Australian Open final, I've never actually watched them play against each other (was always too uncomfortable to tune in)! Pretty eye-opening experience as it felt like Serena vs. Serena the way she kept getting aced and outhit. I'm always used to seeing her dominate. A lot of awkward silence too--the crowd stayed quiet and instead of Serena unleashing any primal screams, she kept turning away from Venus to hide the fist pumps. Even Serena's match victory felt really muted and unsatisfying.
I guess the last remaining Grand Slam record now is Margaret Court with 24--but since most of her titles predated the Open era (it wasn't until 1968 when professional tennis players were allowed to compete in these tournaments), I feel that Serena has already proven she's the greatest of all time.
What a glorious tennis tournament, this 2017 Australian Open. It felt like 2008 all over again, but this time with the biggest stakes in the history of tennis.
In other sports news, no more triple-triple for Usain Bolt. The IOC stripped him of the Olympic gold medal that the Jamaican sprint team won in the 4x100m relay at Beijing 2008. One of the team members tested positive for doping during a re-analysis of the Beijing samples. I figure now that the perfect symmetry of Bolt's Olympic record is ruined, he should reconsider his retirement from Olympic competition. :)
Didn't get much sleep last night. Couldn't stop watching Roger Federer's successful run into the semifinals of the Australian Open. With both #1 Andy Murray and #2 Novak Djokovic losing shockingly early in the tournament, this might be #17 Federer's last best chance for another Grand Slam title (would be crazy if he faced #9 Rafael Nadal in the finals). Serena Williams will have a chance to make history too if she can win the next two matches (would be crazy if she faced #13 Venus Williams in the finals) following the shockingly quick eliminations of #1 Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza by unseeded American Coco Vandeweghe.
Then I woke up around 5:30am to watch the Oscar nominations live (I found this year's pre-recorded presentation kind of lame though). I didn't see any major snubs except maybe for Amy Adams. I found this year's nominees much more diverse.
I'd rank the 2016 Best Picture nominees as follows:
Well, I finished tabulating the music video results for 2016, and for the first time ever we got a unanimous consensus on the #30 video.
Man, it rained so hard in San Jose that the road outside of my workplace flooded and I couldn't drive to work one day. Cars (including a police car) even got stranded on that road (local news sites had footage of it). The good news: I read that thanks to these rainstorms in Northern California, 42% of the state is no longer in a drought!
I might have to restrategize my annual holiday movie marathon. Thanks to all that L.A. gridlock, the distance to each theater, and my reluctance to leave any luggage alone in my car, I only had time for three total movies in L.A. Next time, I might just book separate hotels next to the theaters I'm most likely to patronize.
Best of 2016 | Worst of 2016 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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Music video | "Upside Down & Inside Out" OK Go | "Famous" Kanye West |
TV series | "Game of Thrones" | "The X-Files" (revival) |
Commercial | Android commercial where rock, paper, and scissors come together | Offensive Miracle
Mattress commercial where the spokespeople spoof 9/11 Dishonorable mentions: Yoplait commercial where a family of four MMMs to Yoplait yogurt; a maddening Schick and Skintimate commercial where "The Emojis" sing "Ready, Shave, Shine"; and a Yahoo Fantasy Football commercial where a player flies in his rival's high school crush to gloat |
Movie trailer | (tie) "Don't Breathe" and "Phantasm: Ravager" | "The Woods" |
Someone finally invented a word for people who spend too much time on their smartphone: phubbing (a fusion of "phone" and "snubbing"). I'm happy to say I've never had this problem, since I've never owned a smartphone. I also do not have a trolling problem thanks to my avoidance of social media.
I finally disposed of my broken mini-fridge for $10 at a recycling site. Best Buy wanted to charge me $100 to dispose of it, and then later--to my chagrin--one of Santa Clara County's household hazardous waste facilities (where I scheduled an appointment) turned my car away on the grounds that the mini-fridge wasn't hazardous waste. They said it wasn't e-waste either, and even called my empty bluff of tossing it in a dumpster.
To my surprise, both "Hacksaw Ridge" and its director Mel Gibson received Golden Globe nominations--obligating me to go out and screen the movie after I had downplayed its Oscar chances. I was surprised to see a Golden Globe nomination for "Hell or High Water" too, making me speculate whether a Trump presidency gave this film more socioeconomic weight.
Recently I saw a movie poster that asked, "What's your favorite thing about Earth?" My answer: the Internet. :) Unfortunately, I think it's grown polluted with some ugly problems though. I'm particularly disturbed how cyberattacks, privacy leaks, and fake news (and other disinformation) poisoned the U.S. presidential election. I also feel like trolling and cyberbulling have become normalized now--how do you "not feed the trolls" when our own President-elect does it and the media dignifies each inflammatory or unsubstantiated tweet with a national headline?
Speaking of the Internet, I'm still wrestling with how to deal with spoilers. After I screened "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", I watched an Internet video to confirm what I already remembered about a certain side character in the Harry Potter canon. But the video was so thorough that it might have spoiled big plot points from the next four Fantastic Beasts sequels. On the other hand, this might be ok since I think prequels generally assume you're up to speed on the entire series.
I do regret detailing to my friends what the Mockingjay movies cut out of Haymitch's backstory. At the time, I had no idea that Lionsgate would consider a prequel series that could very well cover Haymitch's Quarter Quell.
After Brexit and Trump, I wonder whether I should be seriously worried about Calexit? I think that instead of seceding from the United States, California should just pull a reverse "North Carolina bathroom bill" and legislate state laws that annoy conservatives. :) I also wonder whether I should seriously worry about Kanye West 2020. :(
Remove the Electoral College by 2020? I'm still open to the idea. At a minimum, I think we need to outlaw "faithless electors". Because what an affront to democracy that a presidential elector could just ignore the people's votes from their state and defect from either Clinton or Trump. This also goes to why I've never been a fan of the delegate system (especially in regards to caucuses and winner-take-all).
Remove all pundits, predictors, and pollsters from the media? Now that's an intriguing thought. I've always hated sensationalism in the news (especially their overemphasis on negative stories), and I feel like all these on-air partisans do nothing but sensationalize and rile up both liberals and conservatives alike.
Remove fake news from Google and Facebook? Best idea I've heard all year. I'm still embarrassed over the fake articles I believed, like Donald Trump calling Republicans the "dumbest group of voters in the country".
This might be the most cynical I've felt about America in my entire lifetime. The liberal side of me has always tried to sympathize with working class people, e.g., using my taxes to improve their lives with services like unemployment and affordable health care. But after they overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump, who openly plans to make the rich richer, my liberal-guilt has all but vanished. Similarly, I can't reconcile how Trump overperformed with women and the very minorities he degraded! It just makes social justice feel so hopeless to me right now.
This FBI Director James Comey, man. Suddenly drops a second congressional letter clearing Clinton after her campaign suffered nine days of rampant speculation from his first letter. WTF?! I guess on the bright side, Comey has now achieved bipartisanship by getting both Democrats and Republicans to hate him.
Here's a couple of distractions while you're waiting for the election day results to come in today:
Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs for finally winning the World Series! I think that psychological rollercoaster of a Game 7 will go down as the best baseball game I've ever watched, edging out even that thrilling Game 7 my home team won two years ago. Mostly because to me, the Cubs' 108-year drought made the stakes more epic than quite possibly any professional sports game ever played.
All the backstory livened up the game's narrative as well. In addition to pitchers on both teams coming back on short rest (leading to some coaching decisions that left me dismayed), the Cubs have always seemed jinxed by a "Billy Goat curse" that dooms them to blow a big game no matter how well they play. Last time it was the Steve Bartman incident; this time it was the Cubs blowing their big lead with only four outs left! Every mishap from the wild pitch to the defensive slips made me more and more superstitious.
This FBI Director James Comey, man. Drops a bombshell of a letter on Congress regarding new e-mails related to the Clinton investigation, and then leaves us all hanging without another word. WTF?! Nothing can affect my vote since I already cast my ballot early, but what's America coming to when even the FBI starts dropping October surprises. This has got to be some kind of record.
That was a dark season 7 premiere, Walking Dead.
...and am looking forward to this long national nightmare ending.
Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs for advancing to the World Series. How historic would that be, if this team finally breaks its 108-year championship drought in the same year that America elects its first female President?
Well, "The Walking Dead" finally resolves that Lucille cliffhanger in tomorrow's season 7 premiere. And thanks to my months of vigilance against spoilers, I still don't know who it is. I might just avoid the Internet altogether tomorrow, just in case.
I've been disappointed with this "Supernatural" season so far, the biggest anticlimax being how casually Mary Winchester reacted to finally meeting an angel. Since her younger self appeared in both of my favorite "Supernatural" episodes, I guess I had high expectations.
Pretty remarkable how sharply the U.S. Presidential race turned since I last blogged. Donald Trump went from nearly tied before the first debate to plummeting into a tailspin. Will these leaked hot mic comments finally sink him for good? He's survived so many offensive comments this election season, that I'm not even certain.
In other news, the kids in that turkey family outside of my workplace look all grown up now. I think the mother turkey left them because now I only count eight. To their credit, they still remain close and call out to each other when they get separated for too long (might have been my imagination, but one time their incessant chirping seemed to annoy the stray cat that was trying to sleep).
This U.S. Presidential election is stressing me out. I keep checking the latest polls online and going into denial about how close the race is. When I distracted myself with a movie like Sully, I even felt a pang of anxiety during the scene when people banded together to rescue the passengers. And this third Ender book I've been reading keeps reminding me of the election too, thanks to all the rude, close-minded, and xenophobic characters in it that I just want to give up on.
So Donald Trump finally admitted the whole Birther Movement was a sham, and now he just thinks bygones will be bygones? There actually used to be a time when I admired Donald Trump. I even sided with him against Rosie O'Donnell. But as soon as he helmed that vile Birther Movement, I never forgave him. You can also cross Rudy Giuliani off the list of people I respect. That guy is dead to me.
To my surprise at the US Open men's final, Stan Wawrinka upset Novak Djokovic once again to win a grand slam title! But sigh...Serena Williams lost her second straight US Open semi-final and as a result, lost her WTA No. 1 ranking just one week shy of breaking Steffi Graf's streak of 186-consecutive weeks. Though I guess I should look on the bright side, and be thankful that Serena was able to even tie the record after coming so close to losing that No. 1 spot to Angelique Kerber mere days before this US Open started. Ironically, the relatively unknown player (Karolina Pliskova) who beat Kerber to deny her the No. 1 spot ended up being the very same player who beat Serena in the US Open to award Kerber the No. 1 spot!
I was also surprised to learn that San Jose's Camera 12 Downtown theater closed down. Something about losing revenue and too much maintenance cost for the aging building. This was my theater of choice for D-BOX Motion Effects Seating and Barco Escape, so I guess I'll have to find someplace else for these gimmicks. Though in all honesty, when I tried "Star Trek Beyond" in Barco Escape it really bugged me how the footage kept alternating between one screen and all three screens. Just keep all three screens on.
I read about a new gimmick called 4DX that's going to expand to theaters across the U.S. During a movie, the environmental effects blow air in your face, rain water or snow down on you, generate fog or bubbles, move your chair, tickle your lower back or legs, flash strobe lights, and unleash scents.
I bought tickets to next year's Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience at the SAP Center in San Jose. Also finally got around to writing my review of TV season 6, which will go down as my favorite season of the entire Game of Thrones series until I see one better.
SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my current thoughts on the "Game of Thrones" series after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll down until after you have watched SEASON SIX of "Game of Thrones"!
Outstanding season of "Game of Thrones". The emotion-packed episodes made me realize how much I care about a lot of the characters still left on the show.
That Jon Snow is one lucky bastard. How many other Starks died because they followed their heart instead of their head? But despite his charging headlong into a trap at the Battle of the Bastards, I still proclaim him my favorite character on the show (even over Tyrion), and would defend him against any cynic who'd dare criticize him. Mostly because I credit Jon Snow with the greatest humanitarian mission in the show's history, something I can't picture any other character risking much less accomplishing. (This also goes to why "Hardhome" is my favorite Game of Thrones episode of all time.)
And what a powerful story for Jon Snow, to suffer his entire life stigmatized as a "mistake" and ashamed of who he is; completely unaware of his regal birthright. (Side question: now that R+L=J, does that still make Jon a bastard?) What irony that the character with the best claim to the Iron Throne probably has the least interest in it.
I feel like I have to start memorizing the sigils on this show. When the knights of the Vale rode in to save Jon Snow at the Battle of the Bastards, I didn't recognize their banner. I did notice that in the opening credits of the finale, House Stark's direwolf replaced House Bolton's flayed man on Winterfell. Makes me wonder whether House Lannister's lion will replace House Baratheon's stag on King's Landing?
Speaking of the fallen House Baratheon, I really hate Cersei now as I felt that Tommen and Margaery would have made a perfectly fine King and Queen had Cersei not meddled. I know fans hated how Tommen outlawed Trial by Combat, but when I thought about it that tradition really is stupid and would have let Cersei escape the punishment she deserved. I also liked Margaery and was disgusted that "Mad Queen" Cersei murdered her and at least 700 other innocent bystanders in that wildfire explosion. If I had my way, Jaime would go from Kingslayer to Queenslayer. :)
I have a really long memory when it comes to the GoT characters I hate. Although I finally forgave Jaime for crippling Bran (when Jaime rescued Tyrion from King's Landing), I still can't bring myself to forgive Littlefinger (for secretly starting the War of the Five Kings), Melisandre (for burning Shireen at the stake), and The Hound (for killing Arya's childhood friend).
I think out of all the GoT characters who made it to the finale, I hated Walder Frey's guts the most (even more than Ramsay Bolton). I kept worrying he would die of old age before somebody killed him. And if it disturbed you what Arya did to him and his sons, go watch the Red Wedding massacre again.
In conclusion, all the emotion in that season finale impressed me: Arya avenging the Red Wedding, Davos confronting Melisandre about Shireen, Daenerys naming Tyrion the Hand of the Queen, the show finally revealing the truth about Jon Snow's birth, Lyanna Mormont and other Lords rallying behind him, and even the minor (yet major) moment when Sansa informed Jon that "winter is here".
Delta Air Lines sent me a bonus miles voucher in response to the "inconveniences I may have experienced" during my trip to Rio de Janeiro, i.e., getting me there about two days late so that I couldn't make Michael Phelps' 100-meter butterfly race. I did feel like flaming them on the surveys they e-mailed me, but then I reasoned that their only failing was that one delayed flight that made me miss a connection I should have buffered more time for anyway. Since the subsequent flights were crowded, I have to admit they did a good job getting me to my destination. Plus as fate would have it, I was thankful to have missed that race.
Having said that, I'm not going to mark "satisfied" on anything they send me either. :) I decided to just delete the surveys.
On a related note, I hate these special treatment programs like "Delta Sky Priority" that let the rich cut in line at the boarding gate. Makes a penny-pincher like me feel like a second-class citizen. :P If that wasn't bad enough, AMC Theatres now has an "AMC Stubs Premiere" program that lets its members cut in line for both the ticket and concession counters. It sparked some unrest on one particular occasion when my line grew longer and longer as the Stubs members kept cutting in front of us.
Well, I finally posted pictures from my Brazil vacation in my blog entries after waiting over a week for them to develop. All in all, I considered the trip a success despite my anxiety about the language barrier (it was the first time I ever vacationed in a country that didn't speak English), and was happy I stepped out of my comfort zone.
No more Olympics for me for awhile. The next three will take place in South Korea, Tokyo, and China.
Congratulations to Usain Bolt on accomplishing an unprecedented "triple-triple" a.k.a. nine out of nine Olympic gold medals! I actually rooted for the Jamaican men to win the 4x100-meter relay over USA, as this doping stuff really soured me.
Congratulations to the U.S. women's 4x100-meter relay team on winning the gold medal after their successful appeal when Allyson Felix dropped the baton in the preliminary heat. The Brazilian TV coverage kept replaying the drop, but it wasn't until I saw the American coverage that I found out about the appeal.
Finally, congratulations to Brazil for winning their first Olympic soccer gold medal vs. Germany in a suspenseful penalty shootout. What a fairy tale ending for Brazil: avenging their humiliating 1-7 loss to Germany in the World Cup, Neymar kicking the winning penalty, and the Brazilian team being able to celebrate in front of their ecstatic home crowd at the Maracana stadium.
Well, I'm settling back in here in California. The drugstore estimated two weeks for my photo rolls to get developed, so don't expect them on my blog anytime soon. :P
Now that I leave Brazil tomorrow, I thought I'd reflect on my vacation. First of all, now I know how illiterate people must feel because I couldn't comprehend Brazilian Portuguese at all. My pocket dictionary was completely useless. I couldn't read signs or menus, I couldn't understand the taxi drivers or Olympic workers, and I struggled with the public transportation. Even when Brazilians used their smartphone or Google to translate, I'd often get gibberish like "What impo?".
Second, my fears felt kind of stupid in hindsight. I saw so many crowds in Rio that it Zika were as contagious as Americans feared, then Rio would be in a full-on epidemic right now. I also saw a lot of soldiers with AK-47s, which would make it foolish for terrorists to attack Rio instead of someplace less protected. I still worried about muggers and thieves though. I avoided Copacabana beaches even though one was literally outside my hotel window. I also kept my cell phone in the hotel safe, which was fine because it didn't work in Brazil anyway.
Oh, and I did avoid drinking tap water the entire time, e.g., brushing my teeth with bottled water and abstaining from both ice cubes and fountain drinks.
Today I completed another goal on my list, the Itaipu Dam. The Special Tour took me through the interior of the hydroelectric plant (I've never seen such long hallways) and outside to a couple of panoramic views. As the only English speaker in the tour group, I felt self-conscious when the guide had to talk to me one-on-one in English while the other 11 tourists waited.
Interestingly, the plant is split between Brazil and Paraguay so there's one room with Portuguese signs on one end and Spanish signs on the other end. Apparently in addition to dividing the electricity, the employees are divided up too between Brazilian and Parguayan technicians.
It was cool how my hotel shuttled me to the visitors' center and back. I'm glad I got to the visitors' center early, because they wouldn't let me through without a passport (the poor driver had to rush me back to the hotel to grab it). I also had to leave my camera bag in the shuttle, as even small bags are prohibited.
Well, tomorrow is the free day that I inserted in my travel itinerary. I really could have used a free day after the Athletics when I was dead tired, but I wanted to buffer an extra day after the Itaipu Dam tour in case anything went wrong (like a cancellation).
Penstocks that vibrate from the water
Load Dispatching Room for the dam's energy transmission system
Turbine shaft
Generators Hall
Panoramic view of the dam including the Olympic relay torch
The dam's spillway was closed
I couldn't blog yesterday because the hotel I relocated to had no Internet. In fact, that hotel stay might go down as the worst I ever had. First, the taxi driver couldn't find it and ended up charging me ~200 reals without any deduction for the time he wasted wandering around lost. Then the hotel clerk spoke zero English, and wouldn't even call me a taxi to get to the Olympic Stadium. She also wouldn't let me leave the hotel holding the room keys, and when I returned the new clerk (who also spoke zero English) eyed me suspiciously when I asked for them back. The room itself had no clock, TV remote, or safe--things I can live without--but the malfunctioning bedroom lights wouldn't turn off and every 10 minutes or so a train would rattle the room. PLUS I kept hearing loud party music. But since I was so dead tired, I actually slept through all of it. The dealbreaker was the run-down, graffiti-covered ghetto outside. I've never felt so unsafe walking alone at night. (No on-duty taxis so I had to walk/run a few blocks from the train stop to the hotel.) I can see why protesters would hate the Olympics, because man what a dump to have an Olympic stadium in.
Despite this lowlight, I had a good day and managed to fit in BOTH the Christ the Redeemer tour and the Olympic cauldron.
Today I flew into Foz do Iguacu, so nothing much happening on Day 4. To my relief, this Viale Tower Hotel is leaps and bounds better.
Women's 1500m Semifinal
Men's 400m Final
The main event
Usain Bolt sprinting in the Men's 100m Final
Usain Bolt celebrating his third straight Olympic gold medal in the Men's 100m!
Usain Bolt, #1 all day every day
The pose
I'm glad I decided to attend the Olympics tennis event, which took place in the same Olympic park as the Olympic swimming. After catching the tail-end of a boring-looking semifinal match between Andy Murray vs. Kei Nishikori, I got to watch one helluva semifinal between Rafael Nadal vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (man that guy has a wicked surprise super-forehand). The crowd sounded like soccer fans, chanting and booing despite the umpire's admonishment to respect BOTH players. In the deciding set, Delpo just had to serve out the game to win but Nadal broke back. Then in the very next game, Delpo had triple break point but blew it! The final tiebreaker went 7-5.
The women's gold medal match between Monica Puig vs. Angelique Kerber came after, but I skipped it. Looks like I falsely predicted that the latter would win. :P
Later that evening at the Olympic Aquatics stadium's last day of swimming races, I got to watch the greatest Olympian who ever lived, Michael Phelps, win his 23rd gold medal in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay. If he never swims again, then it means I witnessed his retirement race. I'm still skeptic about that though. :)
I got to watch the U.S. women win their 4 x 100-meter medley relay too.
I signed up for a van to pick me up for a 4-hour Christ the Redeemer tour tomorrow morning. I'll see if I can fit the Olympic cauldron in too before the track & field. Busy, busy day tomorrow.
Andy Murray wins Olympics Tennis Semifinal Match #1
Olympics Tennis Semifinal Match #2
Rafael Nadal
Juan Martin Del Potro
Women's Gold Medal Match
Michael Phelps in the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Gold medalists for the Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Gold medalists for the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
23rd Olympic gold medal for Michael Phelps!
I finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro today about two days late thanks to Delta re-routing me through Buenos Aires. As a result, I missed Friday's Olympic swimming event...which actually turned out for the best once I saw that Michael Phelps tied for second place in the 100-meter butterfly (I would've been dejected had I witnessed this from the stands).
I kind of felt like Ender in the book I read on my way to Rio, i.e., how time speeds by anytime he takes a relativistic space flight. Here's what happened while I was jumping from airport to airport:
Looks like I don't have enough time to hike to Christ the Redeemer anymore, so I might just settle for a faraway picture.
Update: In addition to a sink, toilet, and shower, my hotel bathroom has some kind of three-knobbed sink on the floor--and I can't figure out what it is. It also took me a long time to realize that none of the lights or TV in my room work until I leave my room keycard in a slot on the wall. Power conservation?
These Delta computer problems sure came at a bad time for me...although they didn't cancel my flight, my plane to Atlanta got delayed so long that I completely missed my connection to Rio de Janeiro. Consequently, they set me up at a hotel and put me on standby for the next flight.
On paper, I'll still be able to make the first Olympic event--but having lost a whole day, I might have to decide which tourist attraction to put on my "only if time permits" list: the Olympic cauldron or Christ the Redeemer. (I'm actually thinking the latter.)
Why do I get that feeling that Brock Lesnar will get booed by the New York crowd at this year's WWE SummerSlam? Not only did he fail two doping tests before his UFC 200 fight, but the WWE completely exempted him from their wellness policy even though this is precisely what the wellness policy is supposed to discipline against! (Just when I was starting to respect the policy too after top WWE star Roman Reigns got suspended.) As far as I'm concerned, Brock Lesnar's mystique is gone for me. I feel like all of his WWE accomplishments--like defeating the Undertaker at WrestleMania--should have an asterisk now (even though I know full well they were staged).
Can't believe this Rio Olympics trip I've been planning for over a year has finally come. It'll be great not having to avoid Olympics spoilers all the time. :) I won't be taking a laptop with me, so hopefully my hotel has an Internet terminal I can blog from.
Congratulations to the "Final Five" and Michael Phelps on their hard-fought gold medals! That makes 21 total gold medals for Phelps and he's still not done! It actually felt sort of cathartic watching him win the 200-meter butterfly. I was in the stands when he lost that race during the London Olympics. I may not have reacted with a #PhelpsFace, but I was pretty dejected.
Sigh. No Olympic gold medal defense for Serena Williams--she lost the third round to a 21-year-old. Given that Serena managed to double fault five times in one game (!), my speculation is either fatigue or some kind of injury. It's a bummer, but the silver lining is that now I can skip the tennis medal matches altogether and easily make the swimming event on time. One exception: I might still attend the bronze medal match if Rafael Nadal plays in it.
P.S. I'm also still shocked that the men's #1 Novak Djokovic lost in the first round!
Following this recent DNC e-mail leak, I'm convinced that the primaries for both the Democrats and Republicans might need more transparency going forward. I'm almost thinking the entire delegate system of both parties should be replaced by a straight popular vote. (Heck, I'm even open to replacing the Electoral College too.) I especially think that caucuses and winner-take-all should be scrapped. I've also yet to see the merit of superdelegates given that historically, they've always sided (more or less) with the popular vote. Why even have them then, when they keep inviting accusations of a rigged system?
Roger Federer announced that he will miss the Rio 2016 Olympics and the rest of season due to a knee injury. :( Sigh, I was hoping he could finally win that one trophy that has always eluded him.
Well, I now have a clear frontrunner for least favorite music video of the year: "Famous" by Kanye West. If you ask me, the celebrities who were depicted nude in that video without their permission should sue. Taylor Swift, in particular, should totally sue Kim Kardashian for leaking that private phone conversation about the lyrics. Moreover, I found the lyrics themselves incredibly offensive, and it further proves that Kanye West wasn't really sorry for rudely interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs! Someone please explain to me why this shameless jerk is still relevant.
Huge congratulations to Serena Williams for finally winning that elusive 22nd Grand Slam title! I once scoffed at the notion of Serena tying Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era. It was after Serena turned 30-years-old and had just won (if I'm remembering this correctly) her 14th Grand Slam title at the 2012 Wimbledon. A tennis commentator remarked (I think half-seriously) that maybe she could win another eight to tie Steffi and I was like, yeah right. Maybe, just maybe, she could tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova at 18, was my thinking. Little did I know that after her struggles to finally reach that milestone, that she would go on to win the next three Grand Slam tournaments after that too!
I'll probably skip the Gentlemen's Wimbledon Final tomorrow morning as I don't really care who wins between Andy Murray and Milos Raonic. I'm still bitterly disappointed that Roger Federer might have blown his last best chance to win an 18th Grand Slam title following Novak Djokovic's rare upset on his side of the draw.
Well, my Rio Olympic tickets arrived in the mail. I have tickets to Michael Phelps' final two events, Usain Bolt's 100m dash (assuming he recovers from his hamstring injury in time), and the women's singles gold medal match for tennis (maybe I'll get to see Serena). Also got my travel vaccinations (sure a lot of diseases in Brazil), currency, and renewed passport. Unfortunately, no vaccine exists for Zika though.
Not sure how to feel yet about Kevin Durant joining the Warriors, as I've seen so many cases where top players joined the Lakers to no avail. But just like I never faulted LeBron James for defecting to the Miami Heat, I think Kevin Durant needs to do whatever he can to get at least one NBA championship ring in his lifetime.
That narrow Golden State Warriors loss in game 7 sure stung, but my congratulations to LeBron James for finally leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA title. I was pleased to see how emotional they got.
I never realized that Brexit (United Kingdom leaving the European Union) would turn into such a big deal. I still remember how when I vacationed in London, not a single vendor accepted my euro coin. Even when I hid it in the loose change, they always picked it out.
I guess these NBA Finals have proved more intriguing than I originally thought. In Game 7, either LeBron James will finally win an NBA title for Cleveland (in the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history) or the Golden State Warriors will punctuate the greatest season in NBA history. Which leads me to wonder--am I a bandwagon fan for rooting for the Warriors, having previously been a Lakers fan? In the past, I had always shrugged the Warriors off as an Oakland team (like the A's and the Raiders) and didn't even root for them in the NBA Finals last year. I only found myself rooting for them when they had a chance to make history with the season record (using their entertaining small ball style).
To my fascination, a wild turkey family (one mother with 8-9 poults) has been wandering around outside of my workplace. (Also to my surprise, they all can flap their wings and fly.) I read that male turkeys don't help raise their own children--instead, they seek out other females to mate with. And also, once the children grow up, they all leave the mother and go their own separate ways. Seems sad, but perhaps they're actually the normal ones and we humans are the strange ones. :)
Man, AMC Theatres really seem to be cracking down on patrons sneaking into movies. At a hallway in the AMC Mercado, an employee saw me loitering by the film posters, asked to look at my ticket, and then ordered me to leave the building upon checking that the movie on my ticket had ended. Pretty draconian considering that I was just standing in the hallway--if I had actually been sneaking into an auditorium, then I would understand. Then just recently at the AMC Eastridge, an employee walked in during the trailers (before my R-rated film) and announced a random ticket check. Though judging by the droves of patrons who suddenly left the auditorium, I'm thinking this particular measure made sense.
Well, congratulations to Novak Djokovic for finally winning that elusive French Open, thus completing a non-calendar year Grand Slam which hasn't been done since Rod Laver in 1969. I'm dejected that Serena Williams lost her second straight Grand Slam final though. Admittedly, that Garbine Muguruza's pretty good.
I'm still impressed with those Golden State Warriors, after their thrilling comeback victory in the Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder wrecked my nerves. So far, the NBA Finals seem kind of dull by comparison.
Given that my home team the San Jose Sharks finally made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I made an effort to watch some of it. But alas, I just can't stand hockey.
Wow, I actually cried during Sunday's "Game of Thrones" episode. What an emotional haymaker; an even bigger wallop than the previous episode. To me, Hodor was like the Giving Tree...always there for Bran. Afterward, I went for a drive instead of watching the Simpsons season finale. I just wasn't in the mood to laugh.
Update 5/31/2016: Another thing that made me break down during that final scene: the dignified Stark music that played as Hodor held the door. When I reflect on how profoundly Bran ruined the poor guy's life, I can't think of anybody who's sacrificed more for House Stark than Hodor.
Man, maybe I should start carrying a camera phone. While walking through the lobby of my hotel, I actually spotted Tai from this current season of Survivor checking in at the front desk! I did a double-take because I'm so used to seeing him on a remote island every week. What would he be doing here in my hometown? I didn't approach him though--generally I don't like bothering celebrities unless they're at a public event.
In other TV news, I subscribed to HBO just to watch the latest episodes of Game of Thrones. I've become a big fan of the show, and have been getting excited about where the current season is heading. Sometimes I go on YouTube to watch real-time fan reactions to certain scenes from the show. Don't hold your breath for any YouTube clips of my own reactions, though. Most of the time I just watch TV stoically. Even when my favorite characters die (like on Game of Thrones or Walking Dead), I just gape at the screen with a blank, dumbfounded expression.
I've also starting getting into that TV series "Supernatural" recently. After various seasons of demons, angels, and even Lucifer assuming human form, the show finally revealed that one of the recurring characters is actually God--leading to a lot of interesting conversations and ironies, plus some perplexing scenes like God eating chow mein and watching...curling.
I've been chomping at the bit to vote in the California Presidential Primary...and now that I've finally received my voter information in the mail, both races are pretty much over. Why does California hold its primary so late? I guess I'll have to just cast an emphatic symbolic vote.
Wow, that "Survivor: Kaoh Rong" tribal council ended with one of the coldest blindsides I've ever seen. For someone as nice (and non-confrontational) as Tai to look into his closest ally's eyes and shake his head "no" instead of having his back...messed up. I should start calling him "Tai"-senberg. :)
For the first time ever, I finally got to screen a movie at an Alamo Drafthouse theater (a new one opened up in San Francisco). Each seat comes with a mini-table where you can fill out food and drink orders (including alcohol) that get served to you during the film. I ordered a burger and fries. They also strictly enforce a no talking/no texting policy. Pretty cool all in all, but I'm still smarting from the prices ($16 for the burger and $13.50 for parking!).
As for the movie itself, I think I enjoyed the preshow of ironically humorous shorts more, such as the manners tutorial and a doomsday infomercial segment.
Speaking of the Alamo Drafthouse chain, its founder/CEO rebutted AMC's idea to allow texting in theaters to attract more millenials. I actually don't care about lit phone screens in an auditorium, but the notion of more selfie-obsessed teenagers in my theater...ugh.
In other news, I read that "Game of Thrones" might end with 13 episodes (a.k.a. two shortened seasons) following the finale of season 6. I suspect it's because George R.R. Martin didn't provide enough material. Well if you ask me, the creators should just load up the final two seasons with wish fulfillment and send the fans home happy. Part of me always wondered whether George R.R. Martin meant "All men must die" as a Buddhist message. Because when I think about it, so many of Daenerys' enemies and the people on Arya's kill list have died without them having to do anything.
Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors on successfully finishing their season 73-9, breaking the record for best season in NBA history! And congratulations to Steph Curry on breezing through the eight 3-point shots he needed to reach an unprecedented 400 3-pointers in one NBA season! Needless to say, I was impressed. I'm glad the team prevailed because in order to watch them, I had to miss Kobe Bryant's wild 60-point retirement game.
I wound up watching TV for about eight and a half hours on Sunday. Mostly because WrestleMania 32 lasted nearly five hours (six if you count the kickoff on the USA network). I could've sworn last year's show went less than four. Contrary to a lot of vocal wrestling snobs out there, I enjoyed this year's show. Though admittedly, I agree with critics of Roman Reigns (I changed the channel during his headline match to watch "The Simpsons"), and agree that Shane McMahon needs to stop risking his life on these scary stunts (could've sworn I heard the crowd chanting "Please don't die!" when he climbed to the top of the cell, which has gotten even taller after Mick Foley's famous fall). Secret crash mat or no, so many things could've gone wrong.
Minor spoiler alert for "The Walking Dead" season 6 finale: the TV series finally enacted the Lucille scene I've been dreading for much of the season, ever since the Internet spoiled for me exactly how that scene went down in the comic book. Pretty clever of the TV series to switch to first person POV like that--because the original artwork really sickened me and I couldn't imagine how such gruesome cruelty could be shown on TV. Although I was dismayed by the cliffhanger, I'm like 80-90% sure that the TV victim will match the comic book victim. Even though I verified that hardly any of the comic book characters' fates matched their TV counterparts', lately the TV series has been following the comic book so faithfully that I'm skeptic the show would just suddenly fork away from this important of a plot point.
Japan is releasing the ultimate J-Horror crossover this June, titled "Sadako vs. Kayako". It will feature Sadako from The Ring vs. Kayako from The Grudge. There's a trailer out and everything.
Yeesh. Following the box office success of Dawn of Justice, it looks like DC will be going forward with at least 10 more superhero movies:
While I was at it, I checked on the next phase of superhero movies from Marvel Studios:
We also have another four Transformers movies to look forward to (that was sarcasm):
What a crazy Presidential election. I usually don't blog much about politics and religion, but come November I do plan to blog either euphoric relief or unadulterated disgust.
In related news, I'm really disappointed by how partisan the Supreme Court has become. My political science professor once lectured that the SCOTUS is supposed to decide what is right, not what is popular. That's why I hate it when Senators say "the people should decide" Scalia's replacement. To me, that's a slippery slope.
I did smile at the rhetoric from one of Ted Cruz's ads: "Life, marriage, religious liberty, the Second Amendment. We're just one Supreme Court justice away from losing them all." Thing is, the SCOTUS already legalized abortion and gay marriage even before Scalia died.
I actually liked that they titled the last two Divergent films Allegiant and Ascendant instead of Allegiant - Part 1 and Allegiant - Part 2 (presumably to camouflage that moneymaking stigma of splitting the final novel into two parts). I came up with my own suggestions on how the final installments of previous young adult series could have been titled:
To my misery, I think I caught both a head cold and hay fever allergies at the same time last week. Kept sneezing from a tickle in my sinus and coughing from a sore throat. Guess I can't really complain though, given what's going on at my company (again!).
Google released an app where Morgan Freeman voices GPS directions! Now das cool. I can't believe no one thought of this before. Dude, they should make one for James Earl Jones and Jeffrey Wright. And for female voices, Alex Morgan.
Speaking of Morgan Freeman, his Best Picture announcement and Mark Rylance's shock win managed to ruin my Oscar predictions three-peat.
Jeez, what kind of Valentine's Day episode was that for "The Walking Dead". The deaths came so unexpectedly that my brain mistook them for a dream sequence or someone's imagination. Is this really happening?! I gaped. This show, man--develops characters to get you invested and then just kills them off without warning.
Was Monday's X-Files episode about the Islamic terrorists supposed to be a comedy? Because it wasn't funny. Total waste of a Lone Gunmen cameo too.
I'm also starting to lose interest in that new show "Lucifer" following Monday's episode where the female detective went back to disbelieving that the title character is Satan. I don't really like how shallow he is. I thought the show would be like "Dexter", but the Lucifer character seems completely unashamed of who he is, and doesn't really take much seriously.
Ugh, not happy to be reading about that Zika virus outbreak in Brazil. But I already bought the plane tickets so no turning back now. :P
Well...without further ado, here are my Oscar predictions for 2015:
Best Picture seems like a complete toss-up this year given that each major Guild Award went to a different film. So I'm just going with the PGA on this one, given that it uses the same preferential ballot system as the Academy.
To my chagrin, Serena Williams (uncharacteristically) lost the Australian Open final and is still one shy of the Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Just when I overcame my superstitions too. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic won his third Grand Slam singles title in a row and is now one shy of a "Djoker Slam".
Sadly, nothing really comes to mind when I try to come up with my favorite tennis match of all-time. That's because the most riveting matches I can remember got ruined by the wrong player winning. :) I might just have to go with that suspenseful 2012 US Open women's final, where Serena came two points from losing.
Man. While watching the 2016 Royal Rumble Match, I missed a huge elimination because my eyes had momentarily wandered away from the TV. (By the time my eyes darted back, the entrant whom I had predicted as the winner was lying outside the ring.) The match was ok, I guess. Brock Lesnar disappointed me by not making more of a splash. I also don't like it when the crowd gets "smarky" and tries to ruin the match for everybody.
Haha, I read an amusing article that questioned why Royal Rumble entrants don't try harder to exploit the no DQ loopholes in the rules. Specifically, in this most recent match:
Maybe it's time for the WWE to enforce some oversight on their Royal Rumble Match similar to how the Academy overhauled their Oscar rules to promote diversity. :)
In other Sunday programming, the premiere of that X-Files revival seemed to completely ignore what happened in the series finale. Specifically, the fate of the Cigarette-Smoking Man and the colonization by aliens on December 22, 2012. Unless maybe we're supposed to infer that those were just hoaxes, which exemplifies the exact kind of convoluted storytelling that made me sick and tired of this show.
That movie "Creed" reminded me of how much I love the philly cheese steaks in Philadelphia. Maybe it's just me, i.e., some kind of "placebo effect", but the philly cheese steaks here in California don't taste nearly as good. (P.S. Still annoys me that things like soup cans and paint splatters are considered art, but not the Rocky statue.)
Similarly, the best Starbucks coffee I ever had was at its birthplace first store in the Pike Place Market.
It wasn't the best coffee I ever tasted, though. That honor goes to the very first mocha I ever ordered from Seattle's Best Coffee, from a cafe located at Yosemite National Park.
As for the best pie I ever tasted, that distinction still belongs to the warm slice of cherry pie I ordered at Twede's Cafe (filming location for the Double R Diner in "Twin Peaks"). Again, this might be a "placebo effect".
My aunt who lived alone in San Francisco died, which is probably how I'll die too should I make it past 94. I never really understood the big deal about dying alone though. Maybe someday I will. Anyway, the memorial service will be next month in her hometown (not San Francisco where she lived most of her life) which makes me wonder whether she specified any burial wishes.
Looks like "Carol", Ridley Scott, and Idris Elba got snubbed from the Oscar nominations. I'm glad that "Room" made it in though, as that was one of my favorite movies of the year and it dismayed me when pundits started counting it out.
I'd rank the 2015 Best Picture nominees as follows (notice which director's film ended up last on my list for the second consecutive year):
Also looks like "Terminator Genisys" got snubbed...from the Razzie Award nominations. I agree with the other nominations except I actually liked "Jupiter Ascending" (even though I called it "gobbledygook").
I hate L.A. traffic.
Best of 2015 | Worst of 2015 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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Music video | "Style" Taylor Swift | "Photograph" Ed Sheeran |
TV series | "Game of Thrones" | "The Simpsons" |
Commercial | GEICO Insurance cat commercial where if you're a cat, you ignore people because it's what you do | Chevys Fresh Mex "Guactoberfest" commercial where annoying customers chant for guacamole |
Movie trailer | (tie) 2oolander and The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Jem and the Holograms |
Unsurprisingly, Star Wars 7 obliterated the box office records for opening weekend in the U.S. (and worldwide). I ended up screening it opening weekend because I didn't want to accidentally stumble onto a spoiler. To the Internet's credit, I surfed for spoilers afterwards and didn't spot any overt ones until I clicked on certain articles or read certain comment threads. I noticed Twitter's a really bad place for spoilers.
Haha, bad publicity for the ArcLight Hollywood. First, Quentin Tarantino blasted them for breaking their commitment to show "The Hateful Eight" at their Cinerama Dome (which also affects me as I had hoped to screen it there); then one of their projectors broke down during Star Wars 7 and restarted too far ahead. That actually happened to me during the second Lord of the Rings movie and to this day, I still don't know what happened in the scenes I missed. At least nowadays, everything's digital so the projectionist can just jog to the right spot (assuming they know where it is).
I'm still not quite sure what makes someone a cinephile, but I'm convinced that I qualify given the habits I've developed over the last few years. Specifically, I've made it a point to...
Consequently, I guess I'll try to attend one of the limited screenings for the 70mm roadshow release of "The Hateful Eight" starting on Christmas Day. Or at a minimum, I'll try to see it in its original "Glorious Ultra Panavision 70" format (which requires a much wider screen and specially equipped cinemas).
Well, I guess the Hunger Games franchise finally concluded...or has it? I heard rumors that Lionsgate wants to keep it alive somehow, possibly in the form of a prequel or a sequel. Personally, I wouldn't mind movies that cover past Hunger Games. I couldn't help noticing that Haymitch's backstory never came up during any of the films, even though book Katniss reviewed his Hunger Games (a historically significant Quarter Quell) and discovered what originally made him an alcoholic.
I felt Johanna Mason had an interesting Hunger Games too, which the movies never touched upon.
Still shaking my head that Holly Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey to win the UFC bantamweight championship in one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. I'm convinced that Rousey tried to outbox her instead of relying on her effective armbar submission. It was like "Rocky III" in that I feel like fame got to Rousey's ego--in the news I kept seeing bravado like retiring undefeated, winning world championships in other combat sports, beating Mayweather in a fight, filming a movie about herself, wanting to wrestle in WWE, and disrespecting her opponent with nary any provocation. On the plus side, I do feel like this loss added credibility to women's MMA as now people can't complain that Rousey only won against unworthy challengers.
Speaking of which, I had Ronda Rousey on my personal shortlist for 2015 Sportsman of the Year...but not anymore. :P I also ruled out both Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams due to their unfortunate failures in capturing the calendar Grand Slam. So I've actually narrowed down my shortlist to two contenders: Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and Golden Ball winner Carli Lloyd. I'm actually leaning toward Carli Lloyd because of her unprecedented performance at that World Cup tournament and that mind-blowing half-field goal in the final. Although American Pharoah did end a 37-year Triple Crown drought, that Triple Crown is something 11 other racehorses have already accomplished.
I also might be biased because if I had to choose just one feel-good victory this year at the cost of all others, I would've picked the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Speaking of broken undefeated streaks...as part of the celebration of 25 years of Undertaker, WWE posted a video about the end of his Streak at WrestleMania XXX. I spotted myself at the end of the video, but it's deceptive in that I never attended WrestleMania XXX (that clip was from WrestleMania XXVIII). When the Undertaker's Streak ended, I was sitting at home watching my TV in dumbfounded disbelief wondering whether the referee had miscounted. Then unadulterated dismay when I saw the "21-1" graphic.
Looks like a player I originally endorsed finally got voted out of Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance: Andrew Savage. Admittedly, he had some kind of air about him that was rubbing me the wrong way. Like he would be cold enough to scheme a blindside of Spencer, but then get self-righteous toward other players who would dare to make their own plots.
I was greatly puzzled by his parting words that no one foresaw Kelley Wentworth playing an immunity idol. Surely this possibility must have crossed their mind, given that they had just got done splitting their votes against Kass in the previous tribal council! If it truly did not cross his mind, then he deserved to go home.
Hopefully the next episode will explain why NINE different players saw it necessary to vote for Kelley. Because it was even safer to split the votes this tribal council (6-3 would have sufficed) than the last one where the alliances sought a 7-6 majority! Maybe they feared Joe would follow through on his sub-alliance with the bottom three girls?
P.S. Anyone see the irony of Kelley teaming with Ciera? :)
Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals for winning the World Series this time. I was impressed by how many times they came from behind in the late innings. (I rooted for them because I felt bad about how Madison Bumgarner crushed their dream last year.)
In other news, my photos from the WWE event finally developed. :)
Well, still waiting for my WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 photos to develop (takes over a week now). Because I still use 35mm film, the photo department had to ship the rolls to Arizona to process. They won't even send back negatives with the prints--only a photo CD. So it looks like once my film rolls run out, I'll need to shop for a digital camera. :)
Regarding the event, I finally got to see a post-UFC Brock Lesnar match. Even saw blood which is banned by WWE's PG rating, requiring a ringside doctor to interrupt the match, glue the wound shut, and wipe away the blood to a chorus of boos. In what I considered the highlight of the night, Brock finally shoved that doctor onto the mat to a chorus of cheers (and rumor has it this was unscripted!).
The other Hell in a Cell Match between Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt turned out pretty good as well.
The Dudley Boyz match disappointed me the most in that they performed none of their vintage table spots and didn't even execute their finishing move. Bah.
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
Stairs
To my confusion, the TitanTron remained off most of the time. I guess that forces the TV audience to stay focused on the ring instead of looking off to the side.
In the spirit of Back to the Future Day, i.e., October 21, 2015 (the date Marty and Doc Brown travelled forward to in Back to the Future Part II), I re-watched the first two Back to the Future films on demand. I loved the first movie as a kid and I find I still love it today.
The second film feels dated to me now given how it depicted fashion, levitation, and flying cars (looks like it got the Chicago Cubs World Series prediction wrong too). To my amusement, Marty and Doc Brown arrived at Jimmy Kimmel Live where he updated them on current events such as cronuts, selfies, and Donald Trump.
I do think it's mind-blowing how far personal computing has come since the Apple //e I programmed on in the 1980's, e.g., Internet, social media, e-mail, texting, video streaming, smart phones, GPS.
After over two years of abstention from both airline flights and WWE events, I finally decided to attend an upcoming WWE pay-per-view event here in California. I couldn't resist the "final chapter" Hell in a Cell Match between Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar.
I would actually rather that the Undertaker win this one. If you ask me, the WWE has built Brock Lesnar into such a superbeast that nobody on the active roster can credibly challenge him anymore. Plus Brock already got such a monumental win over the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX that I question whether these past two matches will even be remembered (case in point: does anyone remember that Ladder Rematch between Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon at SummerSlam 1995?).
Can't say I'm looking forward to the Hell in a Cell Match between Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt. Both of these wrestlers bore me. I literally change the channel when Roman Reigns talks on the mic, and rarely ever understand Bray Wyatt's promos (I never cared for The Ultimate Warrior's incomprehensible rants either).
I was hoping to see a Tables Match between The Dudley Boyz vs. The New Day, but I guess WWE is saving that for TLC?
I think in total, I've only regretted missing three WWE events since the last one I attended:
Thanks to some food poisoning I self-diagnosed a couple of weeks ago, I began avoiding cucumbers, tacos, and the food trucks that visit my workplace. Unfortunately, since the symptoms didn't hit me until the middle of the night, I still don't know which food made me sick. The chill in my nerve endings got so bad I finally had to take an Advil to get to sleep.
I also came really close to throwing up and losing that 29-year streak of mine, but the streak endures. :) The two other closest times my streak came under jeopardy: that time I got space sick during the zero gravity flight, and that time I got airsick on a plane and had to smell the vomit from the kid in front of me.
In the spirit of At the Movies, I made movie recommendations to my friends and then sought film clips on YouTube to help tease each movie:
Loved that hidden immunity idol twist in the Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance premiere. Ordinarily I get bored during the tribal challenges (and tend to fast-forward through them if I DVR'd the episode), but this particular tribal challenge gripped me like some kind of Hitchcockian thriller. Man that was suspenseful, waiting and waiting for Kelley to build up the nerve to snatch that idol while no one was looking! It reminded me fondly of that final tribal challenge in Heroes vs. Villains tribal challenge where the Heroes smuggled an idol to Russell.
Really hated that twist where the tribe suddenly had to vote someone out before they were ready. In general, I hate it when twists, rocks, or unfair advantages decide the outcome of a Survivor season (just like I hate it when referees decide the outcome of a soccer game). Moreover, I see this twist scaring future Survivor players into forging more of those "flash alliances" that bore me so much.
Finally, I don't understand why the editors kept cutting to Jeff Varner talking about how disoriented he is. I would have rather heard more about what Shirin and Spencer were plotting, but oh well.
Update 10/1/2015: Messed up what happened to Shirin and Spencer, but it made for some great drama. Next week, another twist where the two tribes split into three? If it ends up saving Spencer, I approve (but knowing his Charlie Brown luck he'll end up with Kass, Woo, and Abi or maybe even a second "Brains" tribe, hahaha). I'm rooting for "new school" as I fear that "old school" could make this season boring.
Well, Novak Djokovic now has 10 Grand Slam titles thanks to that latest depressing win over Roger Federer (despite his cool SABR attacks). Now that Djokovic has reached double-digits while Andy Murray is still at two (tied with Stan Wawrinka), I think the media needs to retcon this notion of a "Big Four". It's never been more than a "Big Three", people. :) While I'm at it, I get annoyed by that term "Golden Slam" (when a player coincidentally wins the Olympic gold medal plus all four Grand Slam tournaments within the same calendar year), and still think that the term "Grand Slam" should just mean winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in a row.
I saw articles speculating on why the US Open crowd blatantly cheered against Djokovic. My guess is that like me, they really wanted Federer to capture that elusive 18th Grand Slam title. Federer just seems like the nicest guy, while his top competitors act like babies when they don't get their way.
An unseeded semi-finalist spoiled Serena Williams' bid for a Calendar Grand Slam and I'm still sick about it. It never once crossed my mind that this particular player could pull off the upset. Man that's so depressing. My brain came up with the following rationalizations to help me cope:
The Internet is really starting to alarm me. One misspoken sentence (even if said in private) can now spark outrage and cyberbullying all across the Web. And nowadays it's like there's no shame to what some people post, from nude photo leaks to videotaped murders. It's also easy to snark at that Ashley Madison hack, but to me if a company that dedicated to privacy could get hacked, what chance do the rest of the business sites on the Internet have?
On a side note, that new Google Autocomplete prediction feature can be messed up sometimes, when I'm typing celebrity names and the most popular search queries about them automatically display underneath the field. Fortunately my name always brings up the music artist, but for other people I've seen a lot of unflattering predictions come up. Interestingly, I read in the Google help that you can ask that your personal information (like bank account numbers or nude photo leaks) be removed from the search results.
I liked the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar match at SummerSlam, and have no complaints about it (other than my wish that this had been the Streak match instead of that WrestleMania debacle). The Undertaker--despite his age--looked like a credible opponent for Brock, and even took some suplexes. As far as I'm concerned, the WWE can go ahead and close this chapter...and start planting seeds for Undertaker vs. Sting.
I got bored watching the "Fear the Walking Dead" pilot. Mostly because all that family drama seemed so mind-numbingly trivial in lieu of the zombie apocalypse to come. But I still look forward to seeing what we missed while Rick Grimes was in that coma. :)
Update 9/1/2015: I keep forgetting that these Fear the Walking Dead characters don't know zombies that well. What folly watching the main character trying to reason with one, and watching a student futilely stabbing it with a tiny knife!
I read some interesting rumors about who might sing the next James Bond opening:
Sam Smith, Florence + the Machine, and Ellie Goulding all strike me as too high-pitched for a Bond opening. Radiohead would be interesting, to say the least. I also got to thinking that Muse would be an intriguing choice too.
Haha, another quick win by undefeated UFC champ Ronda Rousey. I watched a couple of Rousey's previous MMA fights for free on my cable box, and cringed when one of her opponents refused to tap out to her armbar submission. Basically if the opponent won't tap out, then Rousey has to snap the arm!
Haha, not sure if I can ever bring myself to erase the USWNT's 2015 FIFA World Cup semi-final and final from my DVR. I still re-watch the clips from time to time, and particularly enjoy the players' visceral slow-motion reactions. To my disappointment, the broadcast barely showed any reaction shots to the mind-blowing goal where Carli Lloyd chipped the goalkeeper from the midstripe. Too bad the technology's not there yet for a TV viewer to be able to shuttle back to that moment in time and see the look on everyone's faces. At least two players called that moment their favorite of the tournament (I saw a couple of pictures where Hope Solo looked uncharacteristically overcome with emotion), and I myself found that goal so surreal that I just stared at the TV with my mouth open.
As for the USMNT's loss to Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final...facepalm.
Regarding this whole Hulk Hogan scandal, I'm actually trying to ignore it due to my contempt for people's private conversations being recorded without their consent and released to the public. If he had ranted this stuff while running for President or licking donuts in a public place, that'd be different.
Well, Roger Federer lost again to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final despite one of the craziest tiebreaker comebacks in recent memory. Although the result disappointed me, his woes could be much worse when I think about it. Unlike Djokovic, Federer has won a French Open. And unlike all of the other tennis players on tour, Federer has won 17 Grand Slam titles.
Congratulations to Serena Williams on winning Wimbledon to complete her second Serena Slam, i.e., winning all four Grand Slam titles consecutively! Which if you ask me, is just as good as the Grand Slam where all four of the same titles are won in the same calendar year. But she now has a big opportunity for that exceedingly rare accolade too!
To put that mountain in perspective, a racehorse only needs to win three major races for the Triple Crown. For a Grand Slam, the tennis player has to win a perfect 28 of 28 total Grand Slam matches, against a wide variety of hungry opponents (many of whom she came so close to losing to, especially during that period in the French Open when she got horribly ill). Even in this last Wimbledon final, she looked close to cracking (and almost seemed manic after the victory, inexplicably balancing the Venus Rosewater Dish on her head and what not). But I've come to know this mental roller coaster as her M.O.: her game starts tanking in the second set, and then at some point in the third set she goes Super Saiyan and completely obliterates her opponent.
Anyway, to reiterate what I blogged before, if Serena wins the US Open again (or any other future Grand Slam title for that matter) to tie Steffi Graf for most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, then I will proclaim Serena the greatest female tennis player of all-time.
Speaking of great female athletes, I'm still starstruck by this United States women's national soccer team and have been monitoring their Twitter accounts for celebration updates. Quite a whirlwind: a phone call from Obama inviting them to the White House, a ticker tape parade in New York (plus keys to the city), a concert appearance onstage with Taylor Swift, and each player (plus the coach) appearing in their own individual Sports Illustrated cover! Looking back, it's funny how four years ago both my Dad and I rooted for this U.S. women's team and had absolutely zero allegiance to Japan. Personally, I hate how the Japan team likes to starve their opponents by hogging the ball--to me that's about as dull as watching Mayweather box. :)
So proud of team USA for winning the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the most memorable, insane soccer match I've ever had the privilege of witnessing. The U.S. women basically burst out of the gates guns blazing (could've sworn I heard war drums in the background a la the 300 sequel). First Carli Lloyd scored two goals inside the first five minutes! Then later my mind got blown again when she lobbed the ball from halfway up the field and it narrowly brushed over the retreating Japan goalkeeper's fingertips to score a hat-trick! Four USA goals in 16 minutes! Unreal.
I never bought into that forecast that team USA had a "67% chance" of winning. I felt like that percentage overlooked intangibles like how hungry the core U.S. players would be for the one trophy that eluded their grasp. I also felt that deep down they thirsted for sweet revenge...and man they got that in spades.
I guess my only minor disappointment was that Carli Lloyd narrowly lost the tiebreaker for Golden Boot. It actually had me in suspense whether she'd win the Golden Ball for best player in the tournament--but I don't know why I even worried--that conclusion was about as foregone as it gets. :) Also congrats to Hope Solo on the Golden Glove (say what you will about her personal life--as a U.S. goalkeeper, I consider her indispensable).
This might very well be recency bias, but within the past few months I feel like I've witnessed the best baseball game (Game 7 of the 2014 World Series), the best football game (Super Bowl XLIX), the best horse race (American Pharoah's Triple Crown victory), and now the best soccer match of my entire life.
Still can't believe England lost to Japan in the closing minutes of a tied World Cup semi-final because one of the star English defenders accidentally kicked the ball into her own goal! For whatever reason, the soccer gods must want USA vs. Japan III. USA will want to avenge their finals loss to Japan in the last World Cup and Japan will want to avenge their finals loss to USA in the last Olympics. Man, I might fall into a depression if USA loses the World Cup final to Japan again. But I'm confident that the U.S. team will fight like never before to avoid that outcome.
Thrilling semi-final showdown between No. 2 USA and No. 1 Germany at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that team Germany's best scorer would extend their perfect World Cup record for penalty kicks...but to my astonishment, she missed! Then later Carli Lloyd (the MVP of this tournament, IMHO) netted a clutch penalty kick and assisted in another goal.
I'll be so happy if I finally get to watch the U.S. women win one of these things. I was dejected when they lost the finals four years ago.
In other news, to the dismay of me and my family members, our Mom's memoriam tree has disappeared from Adam park. Granted, it never seemed to grow in all the years I've visited it--but man, we sprinkled our Dad's ashes all around that tree and now the tree is gone.
I'm still dismayed by a couple of occurrences on Sunday. First was the "Game of Thrones" season 5 finale. So much cruelty. And what kind of ending was that?? I refuse to accept that we've seen the last of that character. :P (On the plus side, for the first time in my life I'm all caught up on Game of Thrones and don't have to worry about spoilers!)
Second, I found out that "Jurassic World" edged out both "Marvel's The Avengers" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" on Sunday for the highest-grossing box office opening weekend ever (U.S. and international, respectively)! Whaaaat. Clearly I underestimated how much people like dinosaurs.
In sports news, congratulations to the Golden State Warriors on their first NBA Championship in 40 years. Could've sworn I heard fans in the audience chanting "War-ri-orrsss" just like in the movie, hehe.
Congratulations to American Pharoah [sic] for winning the Triple Crown after a 37-year drought where 13 other racehorses tried and failed! Someone give that horse a party or whatever it is horses like to do because that is most impressive. When California Chrome fell short last year, I didn't expect its jockey Victor Espinoza to get another shot so soon. And apparently that horse trainer Bob Baffert failed to win the Triple Crown three previous times. Side note: What's the deal with that Burger King mascot (first Mayweather's entourage and now here)?
Congratulations to Serena Williams for winning her 20th Grand Slam title at the French Open! Struggled with sickness too, just like in the Australian Open. I got freaked out when she blew a commanding lead in the second set and trailed 0-2 in the final set. But then she went on to steamroll the next six games (which included a dramatic on-air expletive that got her an obscenity warning from the chair umpire). If she can win Wimbledon next, she'll have another non-calendar year Grand Slam. If she wins the US Open too, then she'll have both a calendar year Grand Slam and my endorsement as greatest female tennis player of all-time.
Too bad about Novak Djokovic coming up short on the Career Grand Slam again. He finally dethroned the King of Clay Rafael Nadal only to lose the French Open final to Stanislas Wawrinka. Now that Nadal's stranglehold on the French Open might be over for good, we could be witnessing the end of the Big Three era (I call it a Big Three, not a Big Four).
How's this for irony: my 2004 Toyota Corolla has never had a malfunction bad enough to make me want a new car...until just recently, when the odometer froze at 299,999 miles! I researched that it could cost over $500 to fix even though this is a known defect. Sure smells like a scam, that a digital odometer would freeze at 299,999 instead of 999,999. The thing is, I'm actually thinking of paying for the fix because what a nuisance to re-calculate the actual miles using the smaller odometer.
In other news, I finally tried Sprite LeBron's Mix (the aluminum can offering). Tasted like orange soda.
I've been growing more and more amused by the audaciously terse headlines on CNN.com. The big breaking stories now use large blockbuster phrases as the headline, for example, SUSPENDED, 106 MPH, and DEATH. Makes me want to follow suit in my blog entry titles. :)
This California drought is starting to depress me. At my workplace, they mulched a bunch of trees and are now uprooting bushes and grass. I also read a bleak outlook that someday California (particularly the southern region) could turn into a desert.
To a much fewer--I mean lesser--degree, last night's "Game of Thrones" depressed me as well. I'm just so incredulous that Sansa consented to this marriage at Winterfell, and that Queen Margaery could be arrested by homophobes! I never thought I would say this, but ever since the Night's Watch earned my respect in that special season 4 episode about them, they actually interest me more now than most of the other storylines in season 5.
Well, next year's vacation to Rio de Janeiro is a go. I secured the Olympics tickets I wanted (through a hotel travel package, not the lottery). I decided to pick tennis over gymnastics, because last time I didn't leave enough buffer between my flight arrival and the first Olympic event. Also, this time I plan to minimize what I put on my itinerary. Side note: That new invention the narcisstick would sure come in handy at Christ the Redeemer, but alas I still use an analog camera. :P
Looks like David Lynch decided to return to "Twin Peaks".
I really like this idea, letting Survivor fans vote on which ex-players to cast in the 31st season. I was happy with a lot of the choices, unhappy to see others (and will fume if they make it back onto the show), and had to look up the ones I couldn't remember. Was also surprised that Shirin would want to come back--but when I think about it, how could her second experience possibly be as bad as her first.
I hope people don't just log in so they can vote for the cutest castaways--I wouldn't even suggest voting for the most likeable ones.
My first round of endorsements would go to ex-players whom I feel deserve second chances because of how they got screwed over their first time playing:
My next round of endorsements would go to ex-players who seem open to winning by any means necessary:
Finally, I would endorse Stephen Fishbach because of a blog he writes where he editorializes each episode's Survivor strategies. I'm curious whether he would still blog and give out Fishy awards for a season he just gone done filming for.
I'm still conflicted about whether Kass McQuillen deserves back in the game after playing kind of like a griefer the first time. Admittedly, I am kind of curious whether her "chaos" strategy would work again.
Update 5/21/2015: Fume...someone explain to me how Woo, Keith, and Abi all got voted back into the game. I just can't wrap my head around it. I can live with the rest of the cast but am bummed Stephanie Valencia got snubbed. Like this Monica and Peih-Gee, I read up on them and still can't remember who they are.
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao...what a profound disappointment. Granted, that's the first boxing match I ever watched (and most likely my last)--but Mayweather's grandstanding made me expect a fight, not round after round of him evading and hugging Pacquiao. (I thought hugging was supposed to be illegal in boxing.) Hahaha, check out this Punch Out! spoof of the match.
I finally researched why the MGM had Mexico's national anthem before the boxers'. Apparently, it was to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (three days early).
In miscellaneous news, where can I buy Sprite LeBron's Mix? All I could find was the 2 liter bottle.
This morning marked the closest I've ever come to calling into work sick. As I got out of bed, the room seemed to spin, and tasks as simple as putting my shoes on made me nauseated. Fortunately, I began feeling better when I sat down next to my phone. Due to the pressure behind my eyes, my leading theory has been sinus headache (though oddly my nose wasn't congested).
I've actually never called into work sick but have, at least once or twice, left work early to lie down.
In travel news, I submitted ticket requests in the Rio Olympics lottery for two Usain Bolt sprints and two Michael Phelps races. I don't plan to attend all four events (I'm hoping to stick to my plan of minimizing my itinerary this time), but I purposely overreached because historically I've only gotten one ticket per Olympic lottery I've requested tickets in. If I can't a Usain Bolt ticket, I'll cancel the trip (I'm already half-hearted about visiting a country where I can't speak the language).
In video game news, Konami cancelled Guillermo del Toro's Silent Hills video game (starring Norman Reedus of Walking Dead fame). I'm actually happy about this, because now I have zero temptation to buy a new gaming system. My last Sony purchase: Playstation 2. My last Nintendo purchase: Game Cube. I still don't know why my passion for video games waned so much. I just got tired of collecting them I guess.
I'm used to seeing female wild turkeys pecking the ground around my workplace, but recently a couple of male ones arrived. One of the male turkeys keeps fanning out its tail and puffing out its feathers like some kind of Thanksgiving float (I read online that this is called strutting, a courting tactic to attract females). But from what I saw, the females just ignored him. Though I read that turkeys mate differently from humans in that the males are polygamous, and don't "go steady" with just one female.
I finally got around to researching why the metallic fringe--hanging above the pool at my apartment complex--repels geese from swimming (and pooping) there. Apparently, both the flapping noise and the reflections of light bother the birds' senses. (I read that decoys of their enemies like swans and alligators can scare them away as well.)
I'm getting more impressed with this Mike after he went above and beyond looking for that hidden immunity idol on Survivor: Worlds Apart. I assume that by openly pretending that Joe had it, it deterred others from looking for it. Also, if Kelly hadn't gotten voted out at the merge, I probably would have praised Mike as the first player to ever make "throwing a challenge" into a successful strategy. :)
In contrast, I didn't see much cause for the "No Collar" alliance to gloat when Jenn got lucky with that hidden immunity idol. Losing one of their own and the two swing voters should've instead been a big cause for alarm.
But at least the "No Collars" have yet to commit jury vote suicide like "cool calm collected" Rodney, who got mad (again) over salami skin, and "I know how to talk to women" Dan, who might be the worst talker to women in Survivor history.
Update 5/11/2015: Man, I shudder at the nightmarish thought that the final three could come down to Dan, Will, and birthday-boy Rodney!
April started out inauspiciously for me in that I had three days ruined by what Weird Al would call "first world problems". First, I stressed out over a defect in an irreplaceable workplace application that went out-of-support. Then I had another day ruined because of a defective DVD-ROM that cost me over five months of WWE recordings. Finally when I was all ready to catch up on "Game of Thrones" during XFINITY Watchathon week, the episodes wouldn't play. To my frustration, the other HBO shows in the Watchathon played just fine--and the XFINITY service technicians weren't much help. (One of them didn't even know what a Watchathon was, and told me I needed to subscribe to HBO!) Fortunately, my complaints eventually resulted in a free 3-month HBO subscription. I still can't play any "Game of Thrones" episodes, but I'll be able to watch season 5 when it premieres this Sunday.
In other TV news, I read that David Lynch pulled out of directing Showtime’s "Twin Peaks" revival due to a budgetary disagreement (and a bunch of cast members made a video expressing their disappointment). But I can live with it since Mark Frost (the original co-creator) is still on board. Although I credit David Lynch with some of the best "Twin Peaks" canon, e.g., the Fire Walk with Me movie, I also blame him for driving the show off the deep end, e.g., introducing crazy supernatural themes, filming old men shuffle across the room, and directing the notoriously awful series finale.
In movie news, I gotta give props to the Furious 7 filmmakers for how they handled Paul Walker's death. Every scene where they presumably used stand-ins and CGI looked completely seamless to me. They also handled his exit in a really classy way--infinitely better than the lame idea I had brainstormed (writing off his character with an explosion). :P
Durn it. Had I known that the Triple H vs. Sting match would end up escalating into DX vs. nWo (complete with Kevin Nash faking a quad injury), I probably would have attended last Sunday's WrestleMania 31 in person! Instead, I watched it on pay-per-view from my apartment (about 15 minutes from the actual venue).
Haha, when the Rock walked along the barricade to recruit a woman against Stephanie McMahon, I expected some kind of relative like his mother or Tamina Snuka. But when the camera panned to UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, I marked out. Hmmm, what if in the future they book her in a WWE match? In no way could I suspend disbelief that a WWE Diva could stand any kind of chance against her. It'd have to be a squash match or a 15-second victory by armbar. :)
Other highlights of the show: Randy Orton's super RKO to Seth Rollins and Undertaker's sit-up as Bray Wyatt spider walked.
Funny how closely that the daylight outside my window corresponded to the daylight on the TV (which lasted nearly the entire duration of the show).
That Walking Dead season 5 finale made me think back to some advice Mike once gave Walter White in Breaking Bad: don't take half-measures.
It pleased me to read that Brock Lesnar re-signed with the WWE. If you ask me, this announcement singlehandedly saved the main event of this weekend's WrestleMania. Now I'm honestly unsure of who will win the match (though my money's on Brock now).
Haha, Bushwhackers in the WWE Hall of Fame. Das cool.
In TV news, "The X-Files" is returning as a limited series of six episodes. First thing I want explained: why aliens didn't colonize the Earth on December 22, 2012.
Also read that the companion show to "The Walking Dead", titled "Fear the Walking Dead" (and set in Los Angeles), will finally premiere this summer on AMC.
Das funny. Last Thursday's "Jeopardy!" ended up with only one contestant in the Final Jeopardy! round, because the other two contestants got -$200 and -$6800 and couldn't wager any money!
Speaking of game show rules, it's still a mystery to me what happens on "Survivor" if the jury votes tie. Perhaps the jury has to re-vote for the top two of the final three?
Here are some other "Survivor" rules that I picked up on through interviews and casual remarks. The players are...
Also read an interesting interview one time where Jeff Probst explained how he determines what order to read the votes in...which isn't always easy. (In summary, he always goes for the biggest dramatic effect.)
My workplace recently showed a hacking documentary that made me paranoid enough to start strengthening some of my passwords and security questions. I also started deleting accounts I don't need, as the hackers prey on login sites with the weakest security to get a foothold into your other accounts. The scariest message of the documentary for me was that sooner or later, any security system can be broken as long as its weak link--human beings--can be tricked or taken advantage of.
L.L.A.P.
Another perfect score on my Oscar predictions. Though if you ask me, "Boyhood" deserved Best Picture more than "Birdman"...but I guess the Academy identified more with Birdman.
In other news, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao is finally on! Even though I've never watched a single boxing match in my life, I understand what an epic dream match this is. Come May 2, I'll be tuning into this one (or at least that's the plan).
My TV of over 15 years finally shorted out after months of intermittently glitchy lines at the top of the screen. I could tell by the stench that something had burned out, and had to lug the huge thing outside to ensure my smoke alarm didn't go off (picture me weaving around and knocking things over like Baymax). Then I paid Best Buy to haul it away since I couldn't put something like that in a dumpster. The upside: I finally had an excuse to splurge on a new HDTV (that is, if you call ~$220 on a 28" Samsung LED splurging). No support for S-Video though, so that facet of my home entertainment system is now obsolete.
I also couldn't figure out how to watch the Simpsons and the mid-season 5 premiere of Walking Dead in high-definition. By the way, after watching that depressing Walking Dead episode, I was in no mood for the series premiere of "Better Call Saul" (though I did catch up on it later in the week).
Haha, the Cookie Monster has his own Twitter account: @MeCookieMonster. Mostly just tweets about cookies.
Congratulations to Serena Williams on her 19th Grand Slam title! The final tiebreaker had me on edge--not just because the score was so close, but because Serena served a let at match point and dropped her racket like she was about to lose her temper. Fortunately, she collected herself and then hit a winning ace.
What a crazy ending to that Super Bowl XLIX game. First that Seahawks receiver miraculously caught the ball after it bounced around his moving body like a hacky sack (leading me to wonder, taking into consideration their improbable NFC victory, whether they had divine intervention on their side). Then one yard from the goal, they had victory in the palm of Marshawn Lynch's hand...but what happened instead? They threw an interception and lost everything! I'm still dumbfounded.
In WWE news, I'm still curious whether Roman Reigns will really close out WrestleMania here in the Bay Area after his booed Royal Rumble victory. I keep picturing a repeat of the infamous Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar match, where die-hard WrestleMania fans booed both guys out of Madison Square Garden.
Ugh, now that "Birdman" has unexpectedly swept the Guild Awards (SAG, PGA, and DGA), I have no choice but to forecast it as the Best Picture winner over "Boyhood". Here are my official Oscar predictions for 2014:
Although I'm not confident about Eddie Redmayne over Michael Keaton, I still feel that the former's demanding performance as Stephen Hawking has Oscar bait written all over it.
This might sound completely trivial given everything that's been happening at my company (my head's still spinning), but the music video results for 2014 have been tabulated.
Ah, memories. Thanks to the EM-DOSBOX in-browser emulator on this Software Library: MS-DOS Games, I was able to play one of my favorite childhood computer games: "Castle Wolfenstein".
How did "Foxcatcher" manage to nab an Oscar nomination for director without a best picture nomination? Other than that mystery, "The LEGO Movie", and maybe David Oyelowo, no snubs really jumped out at me. I saw a lot of surprise nominations, but only in the spots that I had always considered "wild card".
I'd rank the 2014 Best Picture nominees as follows:
Now I know why I saw so many police cars speeding past me on Sunday morning: five people got shot during a Chris Brown performance at a nightclub right next to my neighborhood.
In other news, I compiled a list of coming attractions that caught my eye for 2015 and beyond:
P.S. Marvel is also planning at least seven more movies starting in 2017.
I'm also looking forward to a Steve Jobs biopic directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin (with Michael Fassbender as Jobs and Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak).
After all the times I've patronized the ArcLight Hollywood, I finally screened a film ("American Sniper") at their Cinerama Dome. As one of only three Cinerama theaters in the world today, it uses three projectors to project a movie onto a gigantic curved screen. (My reaction: shrug). Having previously caught a movie at the Seattle Cinerama Theatre, I guess that just leaves the Pictureville Cinema in England (though I won't be adding that to my bucket list anytime soon).
I was pleased that "The Interview" opened on New Year's Eve at the historic Fremont Theatre...until I actually watched the movie. Still...I gotta give props to Sony Pictures for standing up to cyberterrorism.
Best of 2014 | Worst of 2014 | |
---|---|---|
Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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Music video | "The Writing's On the Wall" OK GO | "Anaconda" Nicki Minaj |
TV series | "Game of Thrones" | "24: Live Another Day" |
Commercial | AXE PEACE commercial where people make love, not war. | Time-wasting Porsche GTS car commercial about a Porsche Cayman GTS and Porsche Boxster GTS 2014 Committee meeting. |
Movie trailer | (tie) Gone Girl and American Sniper | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
Well, 2014 is almost up and I haven't attended a single concert or WWE event this year. Haven't taken any plane fights either.
I also managed to see zero films in San Francisco this year--opting instead to wait for them in San Jose. I will, however, make a special effort to see "The Interview" during my holiday vacation--even if it means driving over an hour to the nearest theater. (But first I need to get through the last of the Oscar contenders.)
Ever since Entertainment Weekly published that stick figure death diagram in their magazine, spoiling each major TV death of 2013, I've actually been hoping for another 2014 edition now that I'm caught up on every show I care about. In particular, I'm interested how they'll illustrate that last death on the Sons of Anarchy series finale (which I decided to tune in for). By my tabulation, the major fatalities on Sons of Anarchy have now surpassed both The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones for 2014.
Even The Newsroom had a major fatality. While channel surfing in my hotel room, I happened to tune into HBO right when this character collapsed and died. Having seen no previews or warning signs for it, I was shocked.
Exasperating mid-season 5 finale of "The Walking Dead". Mostly because I thought this character's death could have easily been avoided had Rick simply said "no and that's final" to Dawn's overreaching stipulation. Also felt that Dawn, Noah, and Beth made idiotic errors in judgment as well. Yet despite this huge senseless result, I still liked the plan better than Rick's. Dude's crazy. :) Side note: AMC apologized for spoiling the death for the West Coast on The Walking Dead Facebook page. Seems like common knowledge that you should always avoid social media (or better yet, the entire Internet) hours before a new episode airs, but there you go.
To my relief, I managed to carve the Thanksgiving turkey successfully despite a couple of hiccups trying to get the legs off (one leg came off without any meat and the other one came off with too much meat). The legs came off really easy in the videos. :) Also couldn't slice underneath the breast due to the rib cage. The one trick that worked really well: placing a paper towel underneath the turkey to keep it from sliding.
Man, that forehead detective game can sure get tricky if your questions start going down the wrong path. Someone had "Wizard of Oz" and once she learned that he was in a musical ("Wicked"), that derailed her. Similarly, it was misleading for us to confirm that the Phantom of the Opera was a movie character.
I almost skipped Survivor Series this year due to my boredom with the card. Good thing I decided to order it, because I might have just witnessed the best Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match in WWE history. From Stephanie McMahon’s great heel acting to John Cena's shockingly early elimination to Dolph Ziggler's perseverance to the historic WWE debut of Sting, I was riveted.
Das funny, Grumpy Cat's pictures with the WWE wrestlers. That cat did not look happy to be there.
In other news, congratulations to Roger Federer for finally winning the one trophy that has always eluded him: the Davis Cup. I guess all that's left is an Olympic gold medal in singles, but at his age he'll likely have to settle for the silver one he won in London.
Well, looks like it's up to me to carve the turkey for Thanksgiving now. Based on the videos I watched online, I concluded that I need to remove all of the string and detach all of the limbs first. After that, the techniques vary:
Wow. Jeremy, my favorite Survivor player of the season--the one who seemed positioned to win it all--just got ruthlessly blindsided in a conspiracy reminiscent of the Red Wedding! (Although the conspirators discussed it beforehand and I sensed something wrong when the camera spoiled Jeremy's vote, the outcome still shocked me.) This after he relinquished his reward and suffered for his allies on Exile Island! Backstabbers and ingrates, if you ask me. I was already annoyed with Jon & Jaclyn for their constant PDA, but now I totally despise those two (they just betrayed the same allies whom they were holding back tears for earlier in the episode!). At the same time, I have to give Jon & Jaclyn credit for a really smart move.
Man, I guess that strategy of Jeremy and Natalie relinquishing their rewards wasn't nearly as brilliant as I originally thought. Come to think of it, good deeds do seem to get punished a lot in this game.
In other news, I drove down to Dublin to watch "Interstellar" in 70mm film IMAX on their tall, 2-3 story square-shaped screen. (I actually could have seen it locally at the Tech Museum Hackworth IMAX Dome, but the projection's so gigantic there that during onscreen conversations I can only see one person at a time!) Although the film featured quite a few grand 70mm shots, it kept alternating distractingly between full height (70mm) and normal letterbox (I presume 35mm). For example, the interior of the spaceship would use a letterbox ratio while the space outside of the spaceship always took up the whole screen. I wished the whole thing could've been 70mm. :)
Also, the sound would get so loud that I could feel my seat shaking. Good thing I had earplugs.
During the lunch after my brother-in-law's second memorial service, I found out that the reverend was a "Survivor" fan. A Buddhist minister regularly watching "Survivor"! It blew my mind. Naturally, I had to get his thoughts on the show. He reflected that "Survivor" is a social game which relies on interdependence, and that no player could win by isolating themselves. (My own personal perspective about the "Buddhist meaning" in that show: that it's about letting go of grudges, to which he replied: "...yeah.")
Also watched a high school performance of the musical "Pippin" (which was a lot more suggestive than I expected). I was actually able to follow the storyline even though it contained illogical impossibilities and liked to break the fourth wall.
Finally, I enjoyed the Simpsons' crossover with "Futurama", but couldn't reconcile how Fry’s dog ended up in Springfield. Hehe, I guess now the door's open for Bender to reappear in some future Simpsons episode.
Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for their narrow, odds-defying 2014 World Series victory! Or maybe should I say, congratulations to Madison Bumgarner for winning the 2014 World Series for them! His historic John Henry-type heroics under such nail biting, winner-take-all stakes immortalized Game 7 of this World Series as my favorite baseball game of all time.
When I look back, the outcome arguably turned on the slimmest of margins, for instance, that double play (which sparked an instant replay review) and Omar Infante's slip on the grass for the run that eventually won the game.
I still have gaps in my knowledge about Major League Baseball, for example, why the Royals couldn't just replace injured catcher Salvador Perez with a pinch runner. Dude could barely even walk to first base when that pitch drilled him!
Drove down to Redwood City to watch "The Maze Runner" in Barco Escape, an experimental new movie gimmick wherein two angled side screens (one left and one right) fold out from the main screen, and supplement the movie with peripheral imagery. Specifically, the side screens projected scrolling shaft walls when Thomas first rode the elevator; then during his trip to a key section of the maze, the side screens projected a few minutes of maze walls and other peripheral sights. For everything else in the film, the side screens remained off (so we really only got 5-7 minutes worth of peripheral footage).
I liked the peripheral footage for the most part, but got disoriented whenever the maze runners vanished off the edge of the middle screen (my brain kept expecting them to continue onto the side screen). I also can't envision much future for this new format. Although it augmented "The Maze Runner" pretty well, I can't think of any other movies (besides maybe "Cube") that would benefit from extra peripheral imagery.
Not sure why I'm so curious about emerging movie technologies, but here's a couple more that I read about:
Looks like I'll be ordering Showtime again come 2016. David Lynch and Mark Frost will be reviving "Twin Peaks" as a limited series of nine episodes! Finally a resolution to that infamous "How's Annie?" cliffhanger (I hope). (Though I read that the actor who plays BOB died after the Fire Walk with Me movie.) My question: Will the show bring back Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer? Considering the actress' age, maybe she could play an angel or something (we never did get to see the White Lodge).
So weird seeing the Simpsons on "Family Guy". Although the animation styles seemed to blend ok, I had trouble reconciling the Simpsons with all that crude and misogynistic humor. Like it almost seemed beneath them to even appear on that show.
One time my friends and I mused about who's dumber: Peter Griffin or Homer Simpson. I had trouble deciding, but eventually went with Homer. :)
Belated congratulations to Serena Williams for finally winning that 18th Grand Slam title! Ironic how the US Open, Serena's worst Slam in terms of scandal, has now become her best Slam. During that first set of the final, I got worried that my jinx was messing up her serve--but since she basically dominated Caroline Wozniacki the entire match I didn't have to turn my TV off. My favorite moment: when Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova personally welcomed her to the "18 Grand Slam singles titles" club by presenting her with an 18 carat bracelet. (I knew Evert and Navratilova both worked for the tennis sportscast team, so I would've been disappointed if they hadn't shown up.)
As for the US Open Men's Final...I skipped it.
In data storage news, my new USB zip drive works great. I bought it off eBay, and the device plugged straight into one of my USB ports without any further setup. Currently, zip disks are the only way to transfer data between my laptop and Pentium (the latter has no Internet access). Heck though, technology changes so rapidly that flash drives might become obsolete next.
Similarly, I believe my Dad transferred his wedding video from 8 mm to VHS before he died...and it occurred to me that maybe we should transfer that to DVD because who uses VCRs anymore? But then I thought: how much longer before DVDs become completely obsolete? Everything's digital now.
Can't believe I had to write another obituary so soon. My brother-in-law passed away suddenly, in his bed. A total shock because even though he had cancer (of unknown origin) in his hip, we all felt optimistic about an upcoming operation that would allow him to walk again. None of us expected his health to decline so rapidly.
Memorial services will be held this Saturday.
Niklaus "Nick" Trachsel Nick was born on 9/9/1955 in Berne, Switzerland to parents Hanspeter and Elisabeth Trachsel. Nick passed away in his sleep on September 10, 2014. Nick graduated high school in 1974, spent a year as an exchange student in Rochester, Michigan, trained as a goldsmith until 1978, and emigrated to America on June 14, 1980. He worked as a goldsmith in Monterey, designing and crafting fine jewelry for over 34 years. He married June Aoki in 1995, and raised one daughter. Nick was preceded in death by his father Hanspeter Trachsel. He is survived by wife June Trachsel of Pacific Grove. Daughter Corinne Trachsel of Pacific Grove. Mother Elisabeth Trachsel of Switzerland. Sister Barbara Josi of Switzerland. Brother Lorenz Trachsel of Switzerland. |
I inadvertently figured out a way to improve your privacy on the Internet: change your name to someone famous. Ever since this DJ Steve Aoki's career took off, I've all but vanished from Google. :)
While I'm at it, I have a solution for all those celebrities who had nude pictures leaked onto the Internet: don't photograph yourself naked.
Congratulations to "Breaking Bad" for sweeping the Emmys! I still consider that final half-season of the show some of the best TV I've ever watched. Seemed like a foregone conclusion that Moira Walley-Beckett would win for writing "Ozymandias", and that Bryan Cranston would clinch lead actor--but I was surprised that both Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn won too.
In contrast, I was dismayed that my least favorite music video of 2013, Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball", won MTV's video of the year! Whaaaat.
Weekend box office results...I still can't wrap my head around why Sin City 2 bombed so badly while tripe like Transformers 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles performed so well. The PG-13 rating, perhaps? Unfortunately, this will probably scare movie studios into catering to teenage audiences now. :(
Haha, Homer Simpson took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Finally in travel news, I already found a hotel in Santa Maria that I like. Although it lacks room service and an on demand library, I like its quiet, complimentary business center. I'm too paranoid to travel around with a laptop, so internet stations that charge fees or have a lot of distracting hustle and bustle around them become deal-breakers for me.
Can you believe the year Brock Lesnar has had? First he snapped the Undertaker's 21-win WrestleMania streak, then last Sunday he totally squashed "Super Cena" for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship! Going forward, I can't think of any challenge left for Brock to conquer--except perhaps John Cena's undefeated record in "I Quit" Matches. I can't imagine Cena's character ever losing one of those.
What a downer, Robin Williams taking his own life. R.I.P.
Well, I spent one final weekend at my Dad's house before the estate liquidation service empties it out and the realtors put it on the market. Was I sad to leave my childhood home forever? Not really. Maybe because I negatively associate the place with constant schoolwork, curfew, and not being allowed to play video games. Or maybe I'm just not sentimental about places. (Either way, when I first left that house for college--that was one of the happiest times of my life. :))
Also, out of everything that my Mom and Dad ever hoarded, I only salvaged one item for myself: a Phillips screwdriver. Not because of any kind of sentimental value, but because of how well it fits into my car's license plate screws. Haha, maybe as a prank on my future heirs I'll leave that screwdriver behind in a safe deposit box. :) Dude, when my family found those rusty scissors in my Dad's safe deposit box, we almost asked his old internment camp friend whether the scissors had some kind of special meaning!
Someone finally wrote an article about insensitive photos at serious places. Yeah, I still hate it when tourists smile for pictures at the World Trade Center memorial. I also don't get why people would even snap pictures at a funeral, much less smile in them.
Strangely though, I wasn't offended by the September 11 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" poster. Probably because it looked like an unfortunate fluke.
To my chagrin last Saturday, my car passed smog testing but still failed certification due to a technicality with the catalytic converter. Apparently, the "universal" catalytic converter that Firestone installed back in January 2011 was only officially compatible with a 2002 Corolla at the latest, not a 2004 Corolla. A new smog mandate, apparently. I had trouble believing the smog inspector at first--until I received the exact same bad news when I attempted a second smog check somewhere else.
The next morning, I approached Firestone about whether they would replace my catalytic converter for free if I paid $900+ out of my own pocket for a new one (a more than fair offer, IMHO). The manager got flustered and stammered why I would reason that. I told him that it was Firestone who obtained the incorrect catalytic converter, and added that the smog guy actually recommended I report them to the BAR (California Bureau of Automotive Repair). So after that thinly veiled threat on my part, further research on his part (including a look, I suspect, at how frequent a customer I was), and their own in-house inspection, the manager agreed to waive the labor fee.
In other news, I really hated that "24: Live Another Day" finale. Not as much as I hated the series finales for "Dexter" and "How I Met Your Mother", but same ballpark. I felt like the writers silent clock'ed a romantic chemistry for Jack that no future storyline could ever equal. Ugh--knowing Hollywood, the writers will probably entertain some kind of "ship" between Jack and Chloe next. :(
What did I ever do before the Internet? Google solved the mystery about why my Dad kept old scissors in his safety deposit box (most likely reason: bond coupons). And awhile back, Wikipedia managed to diagnose my beeturia (better than my original theory, kidney failure!).
Spoiler alert: I actually re-watched the movie and made this chart to tell each quantum counterpart apart. Strangely improbable how Hugh and Amir stole another house's box at least four times. Also struck me as improbable that the realities didn't get more crowded with duplicates.
House 1 | Lee (glasses) | Beth (white hair) | Em (blond hair) | Kevin (Em's boyfriend) | Laurie (red dress) | Mike (idiot) | Hugh (beard) | Amir (black sweater) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stolen ping pong paddle, stolen numbers in red, blue glowsticks, broken cup, early flower vase compliment, cracked phones (Hugh 1 & Amir 1 left through dark zone) | ||||||||
Stolen ping pong paddle, stolen numbers in red, blue glowsticks, broken cup, early flower vase compliment, cracked phone (Em 1, Kevin 1, Laurie 1, and Mike 1 left through dark zone while Lee 1 & Beth 1 stayed behind at first house) | Cloth band-aid (Hugh 2 & Amir 2 stayed behind at first house) | |||||||
House 2 | Lee (glasses) | Beth (white hair) | Em (blond hair) | Kevin (Em's boyfriend) | Laurie (red dress) | Mike (idiot) | Hugh (beard) | Amir (black sweater) |
Stolen oven mitt, stolen numbers in green, blue glowsticks, unbroken cup, late flower vase compliment (Lee 2 & Beth 2 already there at second house) | Stolen ping pong paddle, stolen numbers in red, blue glowsticks, broken cup, early flower vase compliment, cracked phone (Mike 1 snuck out through dark zone while Em 1, Kevin 1, and Laurie 1 stayed at second house) | Cloth band-aid, red glowsticks (Hugh 3 & Amir 3 already there at second house) | ||||||
Stolen oven mitt, stolen numbers in green, blue glowsticks, unbroken cup, late flower vase compliment (Lee 2 & Beth 2 still at second house) | Stolen ping pong paddle, stolen numbers in red, blue glowsticks, broken cup, early flower vase compliment, cracked phone (Em 1, Kevin 1, and Laurie 1 still at second house) | Stolen napkin, blue glowstick (Mike 2 more depressed) | Cloth band-aid, red glowsticks (Hugh 3 & Amir 3 left through dark zone with book & box) | |||||
Stolen oven mitt, stolen numbers in green, blue glowsticks, unbroken cup, late flower vase compliment (Lee 2 & Beth 2 helped create new box containing coaster & blue numbers on photos) | Stolen ping pong paddle, stolen numbers in red, blue glowsticks, broken cup, early flower vase compliment, cracked phone (Em 1, Kevin 1, and Laurie 1 helped create new box containing coaster & blue numbers on photos) | Stolen napkin, blue glowstick (Mike 2 helped create new box containing coaster & blue numbers on photos) | Stolen stapler, normal band-aid, both red and blue glowsticks, uncracked phone (Hugh 4 & Amir 4 brought book and helped create new box containing coaster & blue numbers on photos) |
At long last, my family got to open our Dad’s safety deposit box. We surrounded it, lifted the lid, and found one lone item inside: a rusty pair of scissors. Needless to say, this discovery left us dumbfounded. Did it have some kind of meaning behind it? Did it have sentimental value like Citizen Kane’s sled? Did he intend for our Mom to find it instead? Did he just place it in there absentmindedly? Did he leave it there on his way to the airport? Is it evidence in a cold case? Is it a clue to a hidden treasure? Guess we'll never know. :(
Given that both of my parents died shortly before Fourth of July, I find that I hate this holiday more than ever (especially in my Dad's neighborhood, which I guess I won't have to worry about anymore next year). Nowadays I prefer to just hole myself up in a hotel room while the fireworks explode outside in muffled bursts.
In other news, Roger Federer's narrow five-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final left me dejected. Federer lost a perfect opportunity to win an unprecedented eighth Wimbledon title, and now at his age might never reach another Grand Slam final again. Oh well. He's already won a historic 17 Grand Slam titles so I guess it's not like he needs another one. :P I really want Serena Williams to win one more Grand Slam title though.
Interesting. I read that Rian Johnson will direct the sequel to J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Wars movie. Rian Johnson is the guy who directed quite possibly the greatest TV episode ever made, "Ozymandias" from Breaking Bad (which unsurprisingly topped Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best TV Scenes of the Past Year).
To this day, I still feel a pang of emotion thinking about that episode. It struck me as a cruel, visceral tragedy about a man who shatters the lives of everyone he loves, and then has to exile himself in disgrace. Maybe I should have expected the shocks in that episode after the ominous teaser of a happier time, but they still caught me off guard (I incorrectly reasoned that big deaths would only occur at episode's end). Hours later, the events of the episode still troubled me. It was like I had gazed into some kind of bottomless pit of infinite sorrow.
Amazingly after 51,000+ user ratings, the episode still has a perfect 10/10 rating on IMDb.com.
I do not like that "check engine" light. Tightening the gas cap didn't seem to fix it, so I took an afternoon off work to drive my car to the mechanics' shop. But before I got there, the light vanished by itself. When I had them check the code anyway, they theorized that maybe I'm about to have a timing chain problem. The last time I had the code checked (by the dealership), the mechanic posed some other convoluted theory. It's like House, M.D.
My car is coming up on 278,000 miles, so I guess anything can go wrong at this point.
I keep seeing rumors that the 30th season of Survivor will cast returning all-stars again. Also read an article that the show won't have an all-winners edition because "some of the winners have been boring". If you ask me, that's an understatement. :) Though admittedly, I wouldn't mind seeing Tony, Yul, Cochran, and Parvati again. Not sure how much of this is coincidence, but Parvati has appeared in all three of my favorite seasons--and also took part in both of my favorite Survivor moments/tribal councils.
Personally, I'd bring back Cagayan players like "Chaos" Kass, Spencer, and the aforementioned Tony. I'd actually nominate Ciera as well--mostly because to me, she heralded this new generation of "big move" players whom I find subversive to the game.
Speaking of Blood vs. Water, I read that Redemption Island got nixed from the next Blood vs. Water so that the arena could be used for some kind of new twist. I can't help thinking that they're planning something evil, like forcing the eliminated player to duel their own loved one to stay in the game. I still remember the one and only time this happened in the first Blood vs. Water, i.e., when Tina and her daughter simply agreed to let the best woman win. (That choice was spared for the other players who had to duel their loved one, because one of them always managed to beat the third competitor.) Logically, you would think that the originally voted-out player would simply volunteer to forfeit the duel--but I could totally see players (like Rupert and Ciera's mother) romanticizing it and sacrificing themselves.
In other news, I found it amusing that the co-owner of California Chrome called it cowardly to skip the first two legs of the Triple Crown. It's like, he just now figured out why a Triple Crown is so freaking difficult? Not only can the owners enter fresh horses into the Belmont Stakes, but the horses can specialize at that distance too! (Haha, imagine if Michael Phelps called it unfair that he had to keep competing against fresher Olympic swimmers.)
Last Sunday, I yelled at some guy in my theater. He came in late to the movie (after the lights went dark) and then kept shoving his backpack onto me. "What the hell are you doing!" I finally exclaimed. "Sorry, I didn't see you there," he apologized as people in the audience shushed me. As Homer Simpson would say, they were shushing me?
Then yesterday when I was watching X-Men again, something happened that I don't remember ever happening before. A noisy group of 3-4 people--after coming into the movie really late and ignoring every shout from the audience to stop talking--actually got escorted out by security! I've never even bothered to report talkers (or shadow puppeteers) to security in the past, so maybe now I'll try that route someday.
I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but people seem more rude in the less crowded theaters than the crowded ones. Maybe because they care less about the movie than the people who show up on opening day?
I'm starting to think that the quietest time to see a movie might be early in the morning. :P
Even though we're not even halfway through the decade yet, I'm already looking ahead to my best and worst of 2010-2019. The worst event that happened to me is a foregone conclusion, but for best event I'm already leaning toward the joy I felt when the United States got bin Laden. Also, I think I can safely predict "Inception" as my favorite movie.
I won't always stick to my year-end countdowns either. Last decade, that Riverdance trip with my Mom jumped ahead after she stopped going out because of her health. This decade, my #1 of 2013--Edwards Santa Maria 10 becoming an art-house theater--will plummet due to months and months of disappointing selection from that place (by my count, I've only seen two movies there since it first opened on 11/22/2013).
Watched it again in D-BOX/3D and enjoyed the motion effects. The monsters' roars shook my seat, and every giant footstep made my seat quake. I could also feel the wind shear from the HALO jump.
Update 6/4/2014: Read an article about a deleted scene where Xavier, Magneto, and Iceman rescue Rogue to relieve Shadowcat. Sounded cool, but it would've meant cutting one of my favorite slow-motion shots: the Sentinel blast reflecting in Shadowcat's tired eyes.
At long last, nearly 90 minutes of never-before-seen footage from "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" will be released in a new Twin Peaks box set. From the teaser, two scenes in particular grabbed my attention: a) Agent Cooper asking the dwarf how to leave the Black Lodge, and b) a catatonic Annie rolling through a hospital on a gurney (brought in by Sheriff Truman from Glastonbury Grove)! Dang, almost makes me want to buy a Blu-ray player.
Ticketmaster temporarily blocked my IP address, to my chagrin. It must've mistook me for a bot or scalper when I was scouting seats for a rumored "Buried Alive Match" (I kept requesting and releasing seats on the Web site). The problem was that the site kept offering me "Best Available" seats, i.e., open seats closest to the ring. I wanted a ticket in a row farthest from the ring, next to where the grave for the Buried Alive Match would be. :) Anyway, I called off the search once Daniel Bryan announced his neck surgery.
Panda Express came out with a new entree, Orange Chicken with Bacon. Blegggghhhhh. I like their new Shiitake Kale Chicken though.
Interesting...I read that FOX will air an hour-long crossover event between "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" in September.
Haha, great 16-bit Game of Thrones title sequence: Super Mario Game of Thrones.
I liked the "24: Live Another Day" premiere, as it was good to see all my series favorites again: Jack Bauer as the rogue "Dammit!"-shouting (corners-cutting) counterterrorist, Chloe as the blunt hacker talking him through the missions, and Audrey as his love interest. I noticed they harvested a lot of real-life security controversies too: drones, Edward Snowden, and WikiLeaks. I haven't seen anything about the NSA yet though.
I'm also optimistic that this 12-episode format will reduce a lot of the bloat that past seasons suffered from whenever they struggled to keep the characters busy for 24 episodes straight. :P
This "Resurrection" series might be going downhill. Are the writers just drawing plot points out of a hat now? Examples:
And finally the plot development I care for the least: a massive influx of strangers coming back from the dead, including ones from over half a century ago like a soldier who died in the Korean War. :(
Update 5/5/2014: Decent season 1 finale for "Resurrection" (did the ending imply that Bellamy might be that returned couple's missing baby?). I found it hard to believe that a military commander would just take the sheriff's implausible story at face value though.
Thanks to an On Demand promotion for the upcoming 24 mini-series this Monday, I've been able to roam through all eight of the previous season premieres for free. My reaction: so many ill-fated characters and forgettable storylines. One particular gem stood out though: the third season introduction of Chloe O'Brian, a CTU analyst whom Jack Bauer finds so irritating that he resolves to fire her. Nearly fires Chloe O'Brian! The irony of it.
Update 5/2/2014: While skimming through some more "24" episodes, I came across a couple of pivotal fourth season scenes that started the friendship between Chloe and Jack. The first is when Chloe goes behind her boss' back, and asks Jack to help her hacker friend. The second is when she rebukes Jack over the phone (for letting her hacker friend get brutalized), saying she'll never forgive him and that their partnership is over. Fortunately, his subsequent "you know I'm right" speech changes her mind. (Then soon afterward, he saves the lives of Audrey Raines and--ironically enough--her father.)
Update 5/3/2014 After re-watching more fourth season episodes of "24", I think I can call that season my favorite. It's the first season with Audrey, Bill Buchanan, and that lame President Logan, and the first season where Chloe got to shine (including the best "24" scene ever where she was the one in the field instead of Jack). The season did have its flaws, though, like how this terrorist Marwan kept escaping and convoluting the season with layers upon layers of "premeditated" conspiracies.
Accidentally saw a spoiler about Game of Thrones' Purple Wedding. My reaction: happy dance. I keep reflecting on what George R.R. Martin meant when he blogged: "Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros." I can probably think of at least 10 Westeros scumbags worse than Walter White. But I can certainly concede that Walter White defied his conscience worse than all of them--and really should have known better--so maybe that's what George R.R. Martin meant.
Weird how "Wheel of Fortune" recently went from best contestant to worst contestant within a month of each other. The best contestant managed to guess the correct answer from: "N E _ / _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _", whereas the worst contestant blew the Million Dollar Wedge because he mispronounced a board that had every letter filled in: "MYTHOLOGICAL HERO ACHILLES". Ouch.
According to a CNN article, "Khaleesi" (from "Game of Thrones") has become a popular baby name. Heh, I wonder if anyone ever considered naming their baby Joffrey, Viserys, or Eddard?
Man, I'm sick of seeing BREAKING NEWS that there is no news of Flight 370. Just let me know when the plane is found.
Michael Phelps swimming competitively again? Excellent. Even if he struggles to just win one medal, I still think he should compete at the next Olympics.
These past few days, I went from bitter disappointment over the "How I Met Your Mother" series finale--which marginalized The Mother--to the MOTHER of all bitter disappointments: The Undertaker LOSING at WrestleMania (out of nowhere)! This is how Undertaker's 21-match win streak ends...to a part-timer?? I still can't believe it. I'm telling you, WWE has just jumped the shark. Those Streak defenses were the main reason I watched WrestleMania every year! It's an incomparable yearly attraction that simply cannot be replaced.
In other less appalling news, thanks to Watchathon Week on XFINITY TV, I managed to binge-watch "Game of Thrones". Sort of. To make it through all of the seasons in time, I fast-forwarded through anything that bored me, e.g., Winterfell, Essos, and Night's Watch. I found it harder and harder to fast-forward though, and ended up binge-watching past 5 in the morning--twice! (The second time I took a day off work so I wouldn't fall asleep in the office.)
I enjoyed the second season overall, and often found myself humming the theme song in my head at work. However, by the end of the third season, I got so sick and tired of the Seven Kingdoms that I wanted a meteor to just wipe Westeros (and all of its cruel, rotten inhabitants) off the map. It's like, just bring in the zombies and obliterate the whole lot of them.
Props to Peter Dinklage at least. I found him magnificent as Tyrion Lannister, and thought he totally deserved that Golden Globe.
I read that NBC Universal closed that recap Web site, Television Without Pity, on April 4. I used to read "Survivor" recaps on it, but then stopped once I realized how much the writer hated the show. It's like geez, couldn't they get someone who likes the show to write about it?
The Winchester Domes closed down last night. These three San Jose Century Dome Theaters (Century 21, Century 22 and Century 23) neighbor the Winchester Mystery House, and played movies that I enjoyed watching for the first time such as "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "District 9". I feel kinda guilty that I didn't patronize these theaters more often. It's basically because they kept on using analog film reels while their competition upgraded to digital projection. I got spoiled by digital picture quality and began finding film defects, cigarette burns, and blurriness distracting.
Interestingly, the historic Fremont Theatre re-opened after being closed for much of March. Given how empty it was each time I went last year and the lack of top attractions there, I can't reconcile out how they can continue to stay in business.
To my surprise, I came across some news that a fifth Phantasm movie, titled "Phantasm: Ravager", has been filmed! Not directed by Don Coscarelli this time, but the cast includes all of the original actors...even Angus Scrimm. Supposedly this installment shows The Tall Man's home world, and will finally conclude the series. To give you a sense of how long I've waited for this installment, "Phantasm IV: Oblivion" came out in 1998...16 years ago!
Maybe someday I'll get the other cult sequel on my wish list, Cube 3D.
I started watching this new ABC show "Resurrection", but haven't made up my mind yet. It's about a small town in Missouri where deceased loved ones starting coming back to life (for example, a couple's 8-year-old son who died more than 30 years ago). Technically, I guess I should say doubles of the deceased loved ones, given that their remains still exist in whatever casket or urn they ended up in. Apparently, the clothes get replicated too--the boy woke up in a red sweater identical to the one in his casket (right down to the name on his neck tag), and the guy had a suit and handwritten letter identical to the ones that he got cremated with! One element I found unrealistic: the loved ones' instant acceptance of the "returnee". If it were me, I would probably freak out and fall backwards.
So far I still can't tell what direction the show plans to go in (for example, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or "Lost"), but since one of the returnees appears to be a psycho killer I managed to rule out "Hallmark special". :) Side note: That same returnee still had biological traces of the heart attack that killed him...so would a cancer returnee still have cancer?
It did amuse me that the primary investigator scoffed at an "alien doppelganger" theory, as if that was harder to believe than a mystic river that brings the dead back to life. :)
"The Walking Dead" edited for syndication to comply with a TV-14 rating? They'd pretty much have to edit out every single zombie kill. I'm also really curious how they would censor last week's "The Grove", easily the most disturbing episode of the entire series. Guess they could just show the girls eating pecans and looking at flowers, haha.
Ugh, CGI faces for Paul Walker in "Fast and Furious 7" and Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Mockingjay"? I've rarely ever seen this technique look realistic.
Man, I see that TV spoilers continue to make headline news. Fortunately, I never planned to watch "The Good Wife".
I'm still concerned about the fate of The Mother in "How I Met Your Mother". That one glimpse into the future better be a red herring. :(
I gotta hand it to WWE. Thanks to that clever "Occupy Raw" segment, I felt like WrestleMania went from dismal to must-see. WWE would've been crazy not to channel this Daniel Bryan "YES!" Movement at WrestleMania. I experienced it first-hand at the last one I attended--energetic "Yes! Yes! Yes!" chants everywhere, from the lines outside the Sun Life Stadium to inside the arena.
Weird seeing the MIA CM Punk on "Talking Dead". Unfortunately for him and his propensity for irreverence, he got saddled with one of the most solemn, tragic episodes in the show's history. "Look at the flowers..."
Mr. T finally going into the WWE Hall of Fame! I pity the fool who don't like that.
I don't know if it's me or planetary climate change, but I've gotten airsick three times in the past three years, i.e., during my flights to Atlanta, London, and New York. After reading recent horror stories about violent turbulence and now about this missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, my interest in travelling has really waned. :(
In general, I've always found plane disasters unsettling. I mean, I can live with the idea that omnibenevolence doesn't exist--what really bothers me is the thought that everything in life could be happening randomly for no reason.
Congratulations to all of the 2013 Academy Award winners! And congratulations to me for successfully predicting all 6 of the 6 top categories. :) (Man, "Gravity" was on such a roll that I began second-guessing my "12 Years a Slave" prediction.)
I'm glad Steven Price won the Oscar for Original Score for "Gravity". Awesome music. I even enjoyed hearing the orchestral reenactment every time "Gravity" won an Oscar.
Incidentally, I raised my rating of "Gravity" to a 9. I've seen it eight times at the theater, and still feel awed by it. (Sadly, a TV would probably shrink a lot of the meticulous details--onscreen, I could actually make out a reflection of George Clooney in Sandra Bullock's visor.) During one viewing, I just kept my eyes on Sandra Bullock during a particularly heavy render-fest--and found it amusing how she hung on for dear life like a rag doll. :)
I also stopped holding the movie's scientific inaccuracies against it, such as the close proximity of each space station and certain inconsistencies in zero-g. For the most part, I felt that the film depicted zero-g pretty accurately--for instance, I noticed that one of Sandra Bullock's tools kept bouncing back and forth without slowing down (akin to that time I tapped an M&M during my weightless flight).
Finally, and this might sound odd--but as a career tech writer who's used to customers not reading the manuals, I appreciated Sandra Bullock's usage of them to help her out of crises. :) Though nowadays, manuals don't even exist anymore--they've all been replaced by searchable onscreen documentation.
That "Brains" tribe on Survivor: Cagayan annoys me greatly. I guess that's what happens when contestants are selected by IQ rather than social grace. I'm not saying I could do any better (heck, I could actually relate to some of those follies), but for sure I wouldn't forewarn a target that I'm voting them out, or ally with a nuclear engineer (!) who dumped out the tribe's rice! (They should've removed J'Tia from the game a la Brandon Hantz.)
So remember my Survivor idea about casting intellectuals only? I take it back. Without the Brawns and Beauty, I probably would've prejudged this season as bad--like Nicaragua and One World bad.
Maybe disregard my "Survivor: Babel" idea too. :P
This police officer (!) Tony shows a lot of promise. Engineering a "spy shack" to eavesdrop on "useless Cliff and weasel Woo"? Hahahaha!
Update 3/6/2014: Latasha sticks by J'Tia when she dumps out their rice, but then considers it an outrage when she eats some of the rice?! Gotta love this Brains tribe.
Interesting...despite what seemed like a lack of star power for team USA at Sochi, the USA ended up tying its gold medal count from Vancouver 2010. I guess maybe I spent too much time reading spoilers, fast-forwarding through the athletes' human interest stories, and lamenting woeful losses like in speedskating, hockey, snowboard cross, and men's halfpipe. Another problem might be the delayed medals ceremonies--by the time the athletes got their medals, I felt like the emotion had worn off by then. Moreover, I felt like the NBC coverage lacked shots of the proud families in the audience (I don't even see them during the televised medals ceremonies).
In some exciting news, Hulk Hogan will host WrestleMania XXX after being away from the WWE since December 2007! Man, he hasn't wrestled in the WWE since SummerSlam 2006--so I literally witnessed his last WWE match.
While watching the short track races for the Men's 1500m on NBC, I suddenly realized that Apolo Ohno was the one giving commentary. Haha, his personal prejudices totally came through. Too bad he and Katherine Reutter retired from racing--short track has gotten really boring without them. Though admittedly, I've found this shutout of South Korean men from the short track podium interesting--especially because their skaters have been losing to Viktor Ahn (formerly known as South Korean legend Ahn Hyun-Soo) after he defected to Russia. Side note: With both South Korea and Canada now out of the Men's 5000m Relay final, can USA finally win gold there?
Overall, I've found that the Winter Olympics has gotten boring for me (probably because my Dad was the one who got me into it). Instead of avoiding spoilers and watching the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in suspense, I've just been reading the results online. Though I did abstain from spoilers for one event: the women's snowboard cross--but alas, Lindsey Jacobellis fell yet again, blowing a huge lead in the semifinal race (albeit on a snow bump, not because of a showboating mishap). Man that's depressing. Another annual snowboard cross winner who seems cursed when it comes to the Olympics: Nate Holland.
Oh, congratulations to Meryl Davis & Charlie White for winning the USA's first ice dancing gold medal. Makes up for all that Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir victory coverage I had to suffer through during my Vancouver 2010 trip. :P Surprising side note: These two pairs share the same coach?!
I never used to eat those fortune cookies from Panda Express--but ever since I opened one at the mall and the prediction came true, I started getting superstitious. The fortune predicted that luck would come my way. Soon after, I won a free-meal-for-three at my workplace cafeteria--twice--AND a lottery for a free gym bag at an IBM Christmas reception. Unfortunately, the subsequent fortunes I read at that mall struck me as throwaway, e.g., achieving piece of mind is a most worthwhile goal and adventure awaits you.
Hardly any movies to see this month. Upon checking my January movie reviews from past years, I confirmed that this month is always dismal for some reason.
Side note: Recently at work I got trapped in an elevator, but was able to manually pry the doors open with my bare hands. I learned that from movies. :)
Man, what a painful tennis match to watch. I tuned into the Australian Open men's final live to see that inevitable semi-historic moment where Nadal ties Pete Sampras for number of Grand Slam titles. Instead, Nadal injured his back and struggled to play though the pain. I'm not really a fan of his, but I gotta give him credit for refusing to quit. (Also in defense of the spectators who initially booed, they probably remembered Azarenka's fishy medical timeout and thought he was flopping.)
Ironically, five years ago at this very same tournament, Roger Federer attempted the same feat (tying Pete Sampras' record) and Nadal was the one who left him in tears after the final.
In other news, what a painful Royal Rumble Match to watch. The #30 entrant and the winner practically got booed out of the building! Though admittedly, I'm not at all thrilled about the WrestleMania 30 main event either. I've found that in general, my viewership of WWE programming has really dwindled--nowadays, I mostly just skim through the results of SmackDown and Monday Night Raw online. I'm not even planning to see WrestleMania 31, which will take place only 13 miles from where I live (I might entertain Super Bowl L though).
Speaking of Monday nights, I've grown impressed with that sitcom "How I Met Your Mother"--mostly because of Cristin Milioti, a former Broadway singer whom the show cast as "The Mother" (before she came on the show, I couldn't even stand watching it). After over eight years of red herrings, teasers, and rare sightings, Monday's episode centered only on her (the series even temporarily renamed itself to "How Your Mother Met Me"). I still don't find the jokes very funny, but the serious dramatic parts redeem the show IMHO.
Well, as part of a team luncheon I reluctantly returned to that Indian restaurant for the first time since that false accusation debacle. The waitress who accosted me wasn't there though.
Funny story...on that same morning as the Oscar nomination announcement, I listened in on a teleconference but then had trouble hanging up the phone. Despite pressing the off button and unplugging the thing, I could still hear voices coming from the receiver. Finally, I realized that I was inside of a dream (I had fallen asleep with the receiver still on my ear), and that I could only hang up the phone once I woke up.
Two mornings later, I awoke to the sight and sound of someone rummaging through my bathroom. When I shouted "Who's there!", a homeless man emerged and approached my bed with a rag and chloroform! Alarmed, I swung my fists wildly at him...and then realized I was punching nothing but air. Dang these freaking dreams, man. Good thing I was alone in the bed.
Well, Alfonso Cuarón's win of the DGA has motivated me to once again split Best Director and Best Picture in my Oscar predictions for 2013:
I'm still favoring "12 Years a Slave" for Best Picture even though it tied with "Gravity" for the PGA and lost to "American Hustle" for the SAG.
Woke up early again to watch the Oscar nominations announcement live. Whenever they announce each nominee, my mind races to deduce who got snubbed.
Once again, I managed to see every nominated film and acting performance before they were announced. I'm also improving in foreign language film as I managed to see three of the five nominees this time. I'd rank the 2013 Best Picture nominees as follows:
Contrastably, I've seen "Gravity" five times whereas I had trouble seeing "12 Years a Slave" even once (afterward I drove around listening to the radio to get the movie out of my head). Nevertheless, "12 Years a Slave" strikes me as the Best Picture frontrunner.
Perfect timing on that recent Simpsons episode where both spoilers and movie theater nuisances ruined a movie for Homer. After that holiday movie marathon I had, I felt like I needed a break from noisy kids. To my chagrin, parents nowadays even bring them to the really late showings and rated R films. Plus I began noticing an irritating new trend where parents encourage their kids to ask them questions during the movie. That's my cue to change seats. (Another cue for me to change seats: when someone near me can't sit still.)
I've even started getting annoyed when people talk during movie commercials, trailers, and end credits (though nowhere near as annoyed as that retired cop in the Cobb Grove 16 theater). Eventually I concluded that it's actually the shallowness and proximity of the conversations, not the timing, that I hate. Outside of the movie theater, I'd have the freedom to move until they're out of earshot. :)
Strangely, movie commercials don't bother me nearly as much as they do Homer. I figure that the commercials help keep movie theaters in business.
Well, I accidentally read another Game of Thrones spoiler thanks to Entertainment Weekly's "Best & Worst 2013" issue. One of the pages diagrammed all of the major TV deaths in 2013 (complete with red dots for gunshot wounds and icons for whatever killed each character). Had my eyes initially wandered onto characters from Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead (or shows I don't care about like Downton Abbey and Homeland), then I could've immediately turned the page without reading any further. But as luck would have it, my eyes happened to fixate directly onto a major (and fairly skewered) character from the one show that I'm still trying to avoid spoilers for! Maybe I should just give up. :P
Best of 2013 | Worst of 2013 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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Music video | "#thatPOWER" Will.I.Am f/ Justin Bieber | "Came Back Haunted" Nine Inch Nails Honorable mention: "Ooh La La" Britney Spears |
TV series | "Breaking Bad" | "Dexter" |
Commercial | (tie) Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh clear pack commercial with the transparent grandfather, and GEICO commercial where Dikembe Mutombo happily blocks shots. | KFC Original Recipe Boneless commercial where some idiot thinks he ate the bones. |
Movie trailer | (tie) X-Men: Days of Future Past and Prisoners | (tie) InAPPropriate Comedy and Planes and The Lego Movie |
I think I finally got tired of screening early releases in San Francisco. According to my tally, I only saw three movies in San Francisco this year (down from nine last year).
I finally screened a movie in the new REGAL Cinema Art Santa Maria 10. Was basically the same as the old theater, but with less patrons. (Not much influx of new movies either--I've already seen 10 of the 12 movies that will be playing there on Christmas.)
That same day, I watched the second Hobbit movie over at the RPX theater and was dismayed by the High Frame Rate. It gave me a slight headache again. Last time I chance watching a Hobbit movie there (if I can help it).
I'm really starting to like my new Windows 7 interface. The windows remind me of Blu-ray cases (translucent at the top). When I minimize them, they automatically stack atop their corresponding application icons in the taskbar. If an application has an active process, a progress bar gradually eclipses the icon. I can also hover over an icon and jump straight to a window through its thumbnail.
R.I.P.
Someone finally died on "The Walking Dead" whom I'll actually miss. Meaning, I now have an answer to that question that keeps popping up: which Walking Dead character would you bring back? I found the death really senseless too, but maybe that was the whole point.
After Thanksgiving, my friends and I went inside the new Edwards Santa Maria Stadium 14 & RPX for the first time. We saw the second Hunger Games installment in RPX (regal premium experience). At first, the giant screen and stadium seating impressed me--until I noticed, on the next day, that a normally priced auditorium in this exact same theater looked virtually identical!
I haven't seen a movie in the new "REGAL Cinema Art Santa Maria 10" yet--but judging by the lack of cars in the parking lot, this theater might be in jeopardy. :P
Incidentally, during my drive to Santa Maria I had a terrible headache that made my stomach feel queasy. Almost felt like motion sickness. I grew worried when three naps and an ibuprofen didn't even help. Later when my friend suggested dehydration, I drank some water and my symptoms actually went away. Crazy. I guess all that sparkling apple cider I drank at Thanksgiving didn't hydrate me. :P
Guess I spoke too soon about seeing my last movie at Edwards Santa Maria 10. Starting Friday 11/22/2013, this theater became Regal Cinema Art Santa Maria 10 and devoted all 10 of its screens to art-house movies! Possibly the best news I've heard all year.
Wasn't impressed by the grand opening of Edwards Santa Maria Stadium 14 & RPX. Wasn't able to go inside without buying a ticket. They didn't even have any searchlights in the sky. :)
Geez Ciera, no one would've held it against if you had you refused to vote out your own mother. I didn't consider it a stab-in-the-back by any means, but I did consider it misguided. Now I have to eat crow because I never thought any castaway would even entertain voting out their own loved one. :P
Update 11/28/2013: Oddly enough, I found myself pulling for Ciera in this latest episode--probably because I dreaded what a downer it would be had she sacrificed her mother for nothing!
Update 12/5/2013: Ciera has now dismayed me for the third consecutive episode. She made all these sacrifices to build trust with the Galang alliance: voted for her own mother, ratted out her original allies, and shared her immunity clue (which is almost like an immunity necklace at this point in the game). Then in this latest tribal council, threw it all away and nearly voted herself out with a rock. The good news is that once she gets voted out and has to duel her mother, at least she won't have to vote out her out for a second time. :P
Update 12/12/2013: Wow, Ciera actually won immunity and won't have to duel her mother after all. I was really curious about whether her mother would have thrown the duel to save her (and whether Ciera would have asked her to). Guess we'll never know. Admittedly, I was surprised when Tina (who already won Survivor before) eliminated her own daughter.
Last Sunday, I walked into my favorite Indian restaurant and received one helluva shock. The waitress accused me of walking out on the bill! She said that last week, I lied that I had to get my debit card out of the car and then took off. I immediately countered that she had the wrong person because I never pay by debit card, that I'm a frequent customer whom her boss knows, and that I would never do anything like that. I also added "that's racist," when I found out that this guy she mistook me for was Asian (though afterward I didn't play any more race cards because maybe we really did look alike). When she still didn't seem convinced, I decided to just pay her the measly $10 as an act of good faith. A decision I regretted almost immediately. Because as I sat there eating, I began losing my appetite--stewing more and more over the realization that I had just appeased someone who in essence called me a liar and a thief. I was like one of those cartoon characters where the conscience whispers in one ear and the id whispers in the other: my conscience told me she made an honest mistake and to let it go; my id told me to try to get her fired.
So when it came time to pay again, I asked to see her boss instead. When she said he probably wouldn't come in for another 30 to 60 minutes, I replied that I'll wait for him. I declined calling him too, because I wanted to make sure he recognized me. I think she began to worry, because she started backpedaling that she believed me and that the $10 I paid was for today's meal. So I kept talking to her and didn't leave until I felt absolutely satisfied that my name was cleared.
Matter closed, right? Wrong. Two days later, it still gnawed at me. What was to stop her from accusing me again the next time I stepped foot there? Plus I never really got an apology. So this afternoon, I went back there for lunch.
Still no boss, but my accuser was there plus another waitress who knew I came there all the time. So I summoned them both together to corroborate that I was who I said I was. They both sort of laughed it off like, ha ha what a funny anecdote (my accuser even added that she had apologized (?)). :(
So anyway, I resolved not to pursue it anymore. Unfortunately, it's always going to be awkward seeing that waitress again. The whole time I sat there this afternoon, I couldn't even bring myself to look at her. :P
Recently, I screened a movie in the newly renovated Embarcadero Center Cinema. They have recliner seats now that basically let you watch the entire film on your back. I liked it, but had a hard time reserving a good seat.
I also rented a DVD from one of the last remaining video stores in California. (Unsurprisingly, Blockbuster recently announced that they won't have any more stores in the U.S.)
It occurred to me that fittingly, "The World's End" will likely go down as the last movie I ever screened at Edwards Santa Maria 10. (I can't imagine how this theater could possibly compete with the Santa Maria Town Center stadium seating one opening on Thursday evening, November 21.) Not that I'll miss Edwards Santa Maria 10. I have no sentimental attachment to that theater whatsoever.
My two cents on some TV that aired recently:
I also suspect that Ender will never feel truly happy, and suffer from tremendous boredom. Though I did envy and admire his deep emotional bond with Valentine. I considered her devotion to him one of the book's highlights (another highlight for me: the whole part where Ender had to keep watching his back when Bonzo conspired to kill him).
Plot-wise, the book left me unsatisfied because I felt like Ender had not built any worthwhile human connections (which I consider important to good drama). At a minimum, I expected some kind of apology from Graff (instead of just cutting ties with Ender after he no longer had a use for him). Also, I felt that the climax could have been way more suspenseful had the author had only approached it differently. Rating: 8
Recently while looking through my recordings of last year's London Olympics telecast, I made a special effort to erase anything related to "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius. The guy totally sickens me now. Even if I believed that outrage of a defense that he mistook his girlfriend for a burglar, who fires shots through a bathroom door without even verifying whether it's your loved one??
If I could easily erase my recordings of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, I would do that as well. He won one of my favorite Royal Rumble Matches of all time--but then killed his whole family and ruined my enjoyment of that match forever. I also blogged a photograph of myself shaking his hand during a meet & greet--needless to say, I took that image down pretty quick.
I'm really puzzled by the walking regiment of this tan dog at my apartment complex. It has a collar and looks like some kind of terrier. It walks with purpose, eyes straight ahead, undistracted by things like me or the neighborhood cat. It walks non-stop along the perimeter of my parking lot, continues across the main gate, and passes by from the other side of the fence (where the homeless people used to camp). That's a helluva distance. Then another day or so later, it inexplicably repeats this routine.
After roughly six years of construction at the Santa Maria Town Center mall, the Edwards Santa Maria Town Center Stadium 14 & RPX is finally scheduled to open on November 22, 2013. In addition to stadium seating and digital projection, it looks like they'll have an RPX (Regal Premium Experience) theater...whatever that is.
After enjoying "Gravity" in IMAX, I shelled out some more money to watch it in D-BOX too. Needless to say, the seat didn't spin me around or make me feel weightless (probably for the best given how nauseated I felt during my real-life zero gravity flight). It more or less teetered like a waterbed (when the action wasn't crazy). Interestingly, I could actually feel Sandra Bullock's heartbeat sometimes. Wouldn't that be cool, if Motion Effects Seating got to the point where you could feel certain things whether or not they were triggered by specific onscreen cues? For example, I should still be able to feel random debris hitting the hull even if that's outside of the camera's purview.
Awesome "Breaking Bad" series finale. We got to see "Heisenberg" terrorize the Schwartzes, and I loved every minute of it. He really owned those guys, haha. As an added bonus, Walt finally 'fessed up and confirmed precisely what I had said about him.
Update 10/2/2013: One thing I would have added to the series finale: a couple more scenes where Skyler a) bargains with the DEA, and b) reacts to the trust fund. Because the monetary value and the Schwartzes' insistence would probably make her really suspicious. I actually came to the conclusion that Skyler's intelligence indeed rivals Walt's--because as smart as Walt is, he does the dumbest things sometimes. I also don't share fans' overwhelming hatred toward Skyler--most likely because of my foreknowledge that her misgivings come true in a big, big way.
While screening my DVR footage of the "Breaking Bad" marathon, I began fast-forwarding through anything related to Jesse, Skyler, Hank, Marie, Mike, and the Cousins. Walt intrigues me the most even though I keep shaking my head at his poor choices. I began seeing his crusade to provide for his family as an excuse; a lie he tells himself in order to break bad. Because man, I look at how euphoric and virile he gets after he's done major bad...and it's "crystal" clear to me that he enjoys it. That's actually how I originally pictured the end to this series: a scene where Hank or some judge asks Walt whether he felt any shame for what he did, and him replying that he's never had more fun in his life.
My new predictions on how the series will end: For starters, I imagine we'll get a flashback about why Walt left Gray Matter Technologies--because I searched the Web and it's still a big mystery. Then...
Ultimately I considered that Walt might just kill himself with the ricin cigarette. But nah, I'm thinking he'll flip off the whole world (a la Homer Simpson in the sinkhole) and go out in a hail of bullets. :)
Haha, I enjoyed the reactions to Walt's newly shaved head. Flynn called him "badass" and Jesse said he looked like Lex Luthor.
Speaking of series finales: not only did I hate the final episode of "Dexter", it gave me a nightmare too--about my phobia of sinking into darkness. To see how I would have ended the series, scroll to the bottom of my "Dexter" season 8 review.
That "Survivor: Blood vs. Water" premiere turned out more interesting than I originally anticipated. Instead of the friendly competition that the returning players and their loved ones kept teasing (ad nauseam), I began to realize what a liability their bonds posed. Cases in point:
P.S. How in the world did Colton survive that first vote?!
Update 10/3/2013: This Tadhana tribe has no mercy. First they tried to weaken the other tribe by baiting Tyson with his own girlfriend. Then they exiled John to Redemption Island knowing full well that he'll have to duel his own wife! Das cold. P.S. Colton's decision to quit inspired me to revisit the "worst Survivor player ever" debate.
What a gut-wrenching "Breaking Bad" episode last night. It perturbed me so much that afterward, I watched "Dexter" in a daze. Then that night I had trouble falling sleep, and today I had trouble concentrating at work. The pure, unadulterated despair on Walt's face as he lay there in the dirt haunted me the most. The fact that he'll have to live with this for the rest of his life (not that he has anything left to live for), and can never redeem himself. I know I should hate the guy but man, I can't help feeling sorry for him.
I might be too depressed to ever catch up on any past episodes now. Instead of escapist fun, my brain will likely keep perceiving this show as a cautionary tale about why crime isn't cool. :(
This Serena Williams keeps feeding my superstitions. I tuned into the U.S. Open women's final in time to see Serena blow a huge second set lead against Azarenka, leading me to immediately turn off the TV. Later on when I tuned back in, I saw that Serena had mounted a commanding third set lead. This latest win now places her one Grand Slam title away from tying both Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. It also appeases my own personal neurosis by levelling three of her Grand Slam singles totals: five Australian Opens, five Wimbledons, and now five US Opens. So going forward, she just needs three more French Opens to make it an even 20. :)
Later that Sunday, I caught an insane episode of "Breaking Bad". In the past I've never been a fan of this series...but man, I am now. I'm on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next.
Is it bizarro that I like this Walter White character (and hate anyone who dares to humiliate him)? Maybe I haven't seen enough episodes or maybe it's the ethical egoist in me, but his greed and hubristic pride don't bother me nearly as much as his "altruism" toward Jesse (whom I consider an ingrate, a liability, and a junkie whom Walt should have given up on a long time ago). Admittedly, I try not to fault Walt's critics...unless they're self-righteous or rushed to judgment (or took his hard-earned drug money). One thing would turn me against Walt though: if Marie became a widow because of him--so get out of that shootout alive, Hank! :)
The concert purposely celebrated Verdi and Wagner, two of the most influential composers of operas of the nineteenth century. Meh. :) Also to my disappointment, the setlist wandered from operas to Broadway musicals like "West Side Story" (a waste of their vocal gifts, if you ask me).
Regarding my seat in the pit, a few things bugged me that I tried to ignore: a) the floor's crinkling sound, b) a pesky bug that kept crawling in my hair, and c) a guy to my right who seemed to be texting. If he texted during "Riddick" that would be one thing--but to text during Plácido Domingo?? Sacrilege! :(
Funny how after the intermission, Domingo explained a German scene to us as if we understood what the heck he was talking about. Also funny that during the encores, Domingo invited the audience to sing "Bésame Mucho" and "No Escudar" (sp?) as if we knew what the heck the lyrics were. :D
Side note: Couldn't figure out why this Micaëla Oeste paused the concert with a fish-like hand gesture--an issue with a teleprompter or the noise from a passing train, perhaps? Rating: 7FYI, here was the setlist:
1-3. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Prelude to Die Meistersinger von NürnbergTo my dismay, some burglar tried to break into my Dad's house through the kitchen window. The screen had been cut through and dislodged, but the police deduced that a curtain rod/wind chime bell fell off and scared the burglar off. Nothing was taken or ransacked, but still--not a good feeling that a burglar could be hiding in that house whenever I come to visit.
I've seen some relatively interesting developments near the IBM lobby: a raccoon family raiding the cats' feeding spots....the black-striped cat dissing a newcomer cat (this one had similarly black stripes on its legs but with tan fur on its back) by hiding in a bush as it approached...but never have I seen a development as interesting as the other night's. To my surprise, a skunk was sniffing around the cats' favorite hangout...unaware that around the corner, the gray (?) cat was slowly advancing toward it! I gaped powerlessly at this ignorant cat, unable to look away as the skunk recoiled and raised its tail in a kung fu pose. Fortunately, it looked like the skunk missed (judging by the aim of its butt, I probably would've gotten the shot had that window not separated us). In any case, the cat darted out of there like a lightning bolt.
I once saw a Jackass episode where Johnny Knoxville got sprayed by a skunk, and if I remember correctly he needed paint to get the stink off. They also tested personal self-defense weapons one time, and the guy they tested on concluded that pepper spray hurt him the most. So believe it or not, sometimes that show was educational. :)
The only Seattle's Best Coffee in all of northern California closes today. Ordinarily, this would have made my worst of the year list--but looking back on 2013, I doubt it will even crack the top five. Business-wise, the Fremont Theatre can't be far behind...ever since they agreed to a new lease to the end of February 2014, that place has looked more dead than ever. I also saw it as a bad sign that Best Buy did not carry the newly released WWE DVD I was looking for. I had to drive all the way to FYE instead.
After some internal debate, I decided to salvage my old letterman jacket from my Dad's house. I skipped dry-cleaning it because they wouldn't even take it until I removed all the pins. I imagine most people would find sentimental value in their jackets...but not me. Not only did I hate my stint on the varsity tennis team, I pretty much disliked all of high school in general. Although I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "living hell"...I would go so far as to call it a "purgatory". :) I met the rudest people there, and always felt stressed out (which for better or for worse, did prime me for the real world).
When I stopped by the lab last weekend, that black-striped cat (from my previous blog) meowed urgently at me from its new hangout near the lobby...making me think that it didn't know its food and water bowls had moved to a bush around the corner. So I tried pointing toward the new spot, but the cat didn't understand. I tried to get it to follow me, but it wouldn't move. When I walked toward it, it shied away. So finally I went and fetched the food bowl (which was covered in ants that started crawling onto my hand). Then when it finished eating, I took the food bowl back and raised it over my head to show where I was putting it.
Looking back, I now think the cat knew the bowls' location all along...because later in the week, I saw it creeping over there before eventually returning back to the lobby. So maybe someone by the lobby fed it a tasty treat or something that it wanted more of. The way I see it, this once adventurous cat no longer has a life (says the guy who works in an office job five days a week). It just loiters there by the lobby.
In other news, thanks to a new wet/dry recycling program at my workplace, our printer room stinks like rotting garbage. I actually think I'm getting used to the stench though. :(
Sometimes I like watching videos from that Distraction category on CNN.com. For example, Cat hates ThunderShirt. Even though they don't consider it news, for me it beats all the death, murder, and depravity that fills the headlines ad nauseam.
Speaking of distractions, I've been observing two stray cats at my IBM lab for quite awhile now, one gray and one black-striped. They don't seem to get along as I once caught the gray one sneaking up on the black-striped one, and freezing in place every time the black-striped one turned around. I also heard them catfighting inside of a bush one time.
I considered naming the black-striped one "Catniss" because it always looks hungry and likes to nap in the exact same thicket around 5-6pm each day. But after thinking about it, "Scaredy Cat" seemed like a better fit. :)
While getting the lining of my wheel well repaired, I watched an entire episode of "The Price Is Right" in the waiting room. Heh...if I ever competed on that show, I might go down as the worst contestant ever. From the "Come on down!" to the chance of winning a new car, my lack of excitement would probably confuse the viewing audience.
Last weekend, I rode a train from San Jose to San Luis Obispo for the first time...the Amtrack Coast Starlight. It took roughly five hours but had a few highlights:
Afterward, I rode a bus to Santa Maria and walked home from IHOP.
The mission to sell my Dad's car tested my coolheadedness. To my dismay, the car failed to start (not even an ignition noise), even though its electrical power seemed fine during my previous visit. After roadside assistance jump-started it and left, the car stalled halfway up the street and I had to jump out and push it to the nearest curb. Fortunately, there was an auto shop open on Sunday that the car could be towed to. Once they replaced the dead battery, the car worked fine again. (Mechanic's lesson of the day: a car's fuel injection system needs electricity to work.)
Interesting. When I mentioned at work that my Dad (stubborn to the end) refused an ambulance during his heart attack, they said it sounded like something I would do as well. What? I may have my pride, but I wouldn't die for it. :P I also wouldn't pinch pennies when it comes to my life either.
One thing that haunts me: my Dad always had low cholesterol and seemed to eat healthy--given that he had a heart attack anyway, what chance do I have later in life. :(
My Dad left behind a 1987 Toyota Camry, a car I always resented because he wouldn't let my Mom and me drive it when I was growing up. Now it's old and out-of-date, e.g., no airbags and still uses cassette tapes--in retrospect, hardly worth slighting one's family for.
During this Wimbledon tournament where all kinds of top seeds got eliminated in the early rounds (I guess tennis fans had griped about Federer vs. Nadal in the quarterfinals for nothing), I made a mental note to discuss it with my Dad; but then realized I couldn't do that anymore.
I have to admit, I respected how my Dad clung to life. His heart kept beating on its own, and his brain seemed perfectly lucid. That's what made all those life and death decisions about him (like a DNR) so agonizing. (Well, that and the way the doctors kept raising our hopes one day only to dash them in the next.) By the end of all that suffering, I actually felt relief that my Dad had finally found peace.
By the way, that West Coast blackout hit the hospital but only brought down non-essential systems like terminals and outlets. I didn't realize the extent of the blackout until we drove home to a pitch black house.
Also found it curious that anytime a new baby was born in that hospital, a lullaby played over the intercom.
I finally go back to work on July 8. I've been away since June 20, and have started feeling anxiety. :P
My Dad passed away on Tuesday. He toughed out a rough few days after his heart attack long enough for our family to say our goodbyes to him.
In preparation of his death, he personalized a passage from Coffinman to convey the following message to those he left behind:
There's nothing I regret as I take my leave.
I've lived a full life, in fact, more than I deserve.
Thank you, thank you all for making my stay on this earth such an enjoyable, happy, and fulfilling one
My hope is that Namoamidabutsu will be an important part of your life for I sincerely believe that this is the greatest gift one can ever receive.
I also wrote the following obituary for the Santa Maria Times:
TADASHI "TAD" AOKI Tad was born on 11/4/1926 in Reedley, California to parents Kanichi and Yachiyo Aoki. Tad passed away on June 25, 2013 surrounded by his close family. Tad graduated Reedley College, served as an infantryman at Fort Lewis, Washington until 1950, graduated UCLA in 1956, taught high school and collegiate business in Santa Maria for 30 and 45 years, respectively, and worked part-time for Maguire Investments for over 40 years. He married Michi Aoki in 1960 and raised four children. He also devoted over 50 years to the Guadalupe Buddhist Church. Tad was preceded in death by his parents Kanichi and Yachiyo Aoki and wife Michi Aoki. He is survived by daughters Naomi Choquette of Mililani, Hawaii, June Trachsel of Pacific Grove. Sons Stanley and Steven Aoki of San Jose. Grandchildren Nathan, Kelsi and Jarad Choquette of Mililani, Hawaii and Corinne Trachsel of Pacific Grove. Sisters Yosh Ishibashi of Los Angeles, Atsuko Judge of San Francisco. Brothers Hitoshi and Kiyoshi of Reedley. Viewing services will be held on Saturday, June 29, 2013 from 2:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. at Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary. Memorial services will be held on Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at the Guadalupe Buddhist Temple. Arrangements are under the direction of Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary, Crematory and Memory Gardens. |
Upon reflection, my parents always reminded me of that Giving Tree (from my favorite childhood book of the same name). The tree selflessly gave and gave pieces of itself to the growing boy and even after it became a stump, the tree was happy.
Stingy as my Dad was, he always provided for us and ultimately made us into responsible adults.
I will miss him and just want to say, Thanks for everything, Dad.
The main event of WWE Payback...not the best Three Stages of Hell Match I've seen, but definitely better than the last one I personally attended. (Possibly because now those new breaks between the stages help prevent quick victories.) I liked the spots when the lumberjacks fell, when the ring steps broke tables, and when the ambulance got dismantled. The ending totally confused me. From my seat, I could see John Cena deliver an AA on top of the ambulance--then next thing I knew, the ring bell sounded. Later on the TitanTron replay, I gleaned that Ryback had inexplicably crashed through the roof.
"Ryback ROOOOOLS!"
"The CHAMP is HERRRE!"
Stage 1: Lumberjack Match
Stage 2: Tables Match
Stage 3: Ambulance Match
Historically, I always saw Twin Peaks as a community blind to Laura Palmer's suffering. But as I watched this movie again, I realized that she did have positive relationships (including people reaching out to her)--just not the positive relationship that mattered most, i.e., the one with her father. That's what made that one solitary scene between them, where his true self briefly emerged, so heartwrenching. I also liked that theme of Laura (justifiably) feeling like the angels had forsaken her.
Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland made an entertaining onscreen duo, IMHO. I think they'd make a great spin-off. Side note: The interior of the Double R Diner much more wooden than I remembered--it must have been remodeled before my visit. Rating: 9
Congratulations to Rafael Nadal on his unprecedented eighth French Open title, making him the first man to win the same Grand Slam title eight times. Crazy seeing that protester storm the court with a flare. Hehe, after Usain Bolt presented the trophy, John McEnroe asked Nadal what he thought of the "crazy idiot" on the court. Nadal replied, "Usain?"
Also congratulations to Serena Williams for finally winning that second French Open title after 11 years! I'm glad she didn't fall on her back in celebration this time (I always worry she'll hit her head). It surprised me that the French audience rooted for her, and surprised me even more when she delivered her victory speech in French! (I guess she had 11 years to practice it.)
Man, Maria Sharapova had a look on her face like she'd lost her best friend. The neurotic in me kinda doesn't want her to win another Grand Slam title because that would throw off her perfectly even, "minimalist" Career Grand Slam.
Looks like Apolo Anton Ohno retired from speed skating. :( He's going to the 2014 Sochi Olympics as a correspondent for NBC (and recently hosted "Minute to Win It" for the Game Show Network). Not that I can blame him for staying away from U.S. Speedskating, given all the recent scandal there.
If I had to name my favorite car chase in movie history, I'd end up with a three-way tie. In other words, I can think of three car chases so insanely good that I can't decide which one I like the best:
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"The Matrix Reloaded" (2003) Every time I watch this mindbending tour de force, it specifically makes me think of U.S. Highway 101. Eventually I discovered why: it turns out the film crew used a real-life US 101 freeway sign on an otherwise fake freeway. They built the entire freeway from scratch--then dismantled it after about three months--just to shoot roughly ~15 minutes worth of action! What an awesome ~15 minutes of action though. |
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"The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) A white knuckle thrill ride through Moscow that felt as much like a demolition derby as it did a high-speed chase. I loved the soundtrack during this sequence so much that I used to play it in my Corolla (while driving responsibly, of course). |
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"Fast Five" (2011) Initially, the trailer made it look like two muscle cars would simply drag a vault around with the police in hot pursuit. So when they went medieval with that thing and wreaked havoc all over Rio de Janeiro, my jaw dropped. After screening this movie in D-BOX--which made my seat quake whenever the vault tumbled across the ground--I came back the very next day just to relive the experience. Then about five months later during IMAX Big Movie Week, I re-watched the action without motion effects and still enjoyed every pulse-pounding second. |
Hehe, saw a devilishly clever bumper sticker that simply read: "fredo deserved it".
I read that Jack Bauer will return next summer for a 12-episode limited series, "24: Live Another Day". It'll take place years after the original series finale and skip hours here and there. (That makes more sense to me as I always found it unrealistic how Jack never once got stuck in L.A. traffic.) Here's hoping they tie up that loose end between Jack and Audrey.
Kudos to Cochran for a well-deserved Survivor victory! A kindred spirit in that he struck me as introverted (judging by his lack of close personal connections with jurors), unassuming, and fond of big words. One really big exception though: I wouldn't be crazy enough to play Survivor. Granted, I would enjoy the part where I vote out enemies...but not the inevitable part where I'd have to vote out friends. I'd also hate the cold, starvation, and total lack of privacy. :)
In regard to Boston Rob's new rulebook, I think I'd identify more with Cochran's rules based on the great points he made about timing and voting people out preemptively. My own Survivor rules would look more like this:
Next season = Survivor: Blood vs. Water? Probably not as interesting as it sounds, as I can't imagine anyone voting out their own family member or spouse. Ugh...I would cringe if they brought Brandon back.
Compiled a new list of coming attractions on my radar:
Just wishful thinking, but I think Identity Crisis would make an awesome Justice League movie. It's a whodunit about a terrorist who knows the superheroes' secret identities, and goes after their loved ones. Also explores some past ethical compromises within the Justice League itself.
Saw another movie on my "famous classic films I've never seen" checklist, "The Graduate". It played for one night in theaters, so I got to see it in widescreen format (I vaguely remembered a film critic using this film as an example of why moviegoers should stick to letterboxing rather than full-screen/pan-and-scan).I still have two other Dustin Hoffman films on my checklist: "Midnight Cowboy" and "All the President's Men". I also resolved to see at least one Marilyn Monroe film and James Dean film.
Incidentally, one of the more recent Simpsons episodes reminded me that I still have "A Streetcar Named Desire" on my checklist...despite my disappointment with "On the Waterfront". (Other classic films I found overrated: "The Searchers", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "Casablanca", and most of all "Sunset Boulevard".)
Michael Shannon Reads the Insane Delta Gamma Sorority Letter. Man das funny. This is precisely why I save my flame e-mails in draft mode instead of sending them, so I can tone them down once I've cooled off. If I had kids, I'd give them that same advice--and while I'm at it, warn them against phishing, catfishing, and taking pictures that could leak online. I wonder if parents nowadays even think of that stuff.
A week passed since my last blog and I have to say, I'm really impressed with U.S. counterterrorism. Not just because both Boston Marathon bombing fugitives have been taken down, but because the Feds managed to arrest someone for the ricin letters too! Makes me wish they could spare someone to help catch the perps who keep sabotaging the phone and network lines in our area...
Update 4/22/2013: Wow. Feds charged the Boston Marathon bombing suspect with using a weapon of mass destruction, the equivalent of detonating a nuke or using airplanes as missiles. Minimum sentence = life imprisonment without parole. For a teenager who still has his whole life ahead of him, I'm thinking that punishment might be worse than death.
After attending the last seven WrestleManias, I was relieved to finally break the streak and watch WrestleMania on TV this year. No more stress of securing a ticket; no more worrying about its authenticity and the actual location of the seat (for example, behind a pillar); and no more fatigue heading back to my hotel.
Admittedly, WrestleMania 29 exceeded my expectations--particularly the Undertaker streak match against CM Punk. I enjoyed Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar and John Cena vs. The Rock as well.
In other news, I finally finished reading Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, I still have to avert my eyes from Internet, magazine, and even billboard spoilers for season 3 of the HBO series. I also have to avoid associating names to faces as well, lest that spoil who survived the second book. (I haven't been entirely successful.)
Some smart aleck in Entertainment Weekly spoiled the twists in "Citizen Kane" and "Empire Strikes Back", quipping how oversensitive people have gotten to spoilers for TV shows and movies that have long been out. Dude, I don't care how old the TV series or movie is. If somebody hasn't seen it, then it's still a spoiler!
I like this director--anytime I watch his characters, I find myself unable to nitpick any of their choices. In particular, whenever they resort to something cringeworthy, I feel like that they weighed or exhausted every possible alternative first. Side note: I half-expected the director to impart all 464 sins on the nuns' checklist. :) Rating: 7
Ultimately when I finally made it through all 807 pages, I was left asking: what progress did any of the characters make ? In particular, I felt like that that dense main character, Eddard Stark, had wasted my time the most. At the very least, spread the results of your murder investigation! I seriously wish the guy had just stayed home. (Also knew from the get-go that he shouldn't trust Littlefinger or Lord Baelish or Petyr or whatever his name is.)
In conclusion, I have to praise this author's flair for writing great villains, e.g., Viserys and Joffrey. I loved hating Viserys so much that I kinda hoped that he had survived his "crowning". Rating: 7
Finally visited New York's IFC Center, the theater where for some reason limited releases tend to start from. Pretty small place. As fate would have it, I screened a documentary there that matched the name of my blog.
Lots of emotion at the WWE Hall of Fame 2013 Induction Ceremony in Madison Square Garden. Mick Foley opened the night and as I expected, delivered a great speech. At one point, he literally dropped an elbow on Chris Jericho and pinned him for a 1-2-3 count from CM Punk. Hopefully Foley will make it onto Tuesday's broadcast. Other occurrences worth noting:
A lot warmer in New York today. I finally got to visit the 9/11 Memorial that opened on September 11, 2011. As a tribute to all of the World Trade Center victims (including the 2/26/1993 bombing), 2983 names were arranged by affiliation (a.k.a. "meaningful adjacencies") and inscribed into bronze parapets surrounding each footprint of the Twin Towers. Inside the footprints themselves, I could see pools with majestic waterfalls on each side and a big square drain at the bottom.
Good thing I reserved a whole afternoon for the visit. First I had to wait in line at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site to get a free visitor pass (next time I'll know to just print one from 911memorial.org); then I had to wait in line for a security screening.
It was all worth the wait though, to see those twin Memorial pools. (Though personally, I almost wish they had a sign that said "please don't smile when you pose for pictures here".)
I noticed a brand-new visitor center too. But I breezed through there as it made me kinda uncomfortable seeing 9/11 memorabilia like T-shirts, mugs, postcards, and keychains. :(
The 9/11 Memorial Museum was still under construction, so I guess I'll have to come back on a later date. I'll have to see that Survivor Tree I overlooked too.
Nippy here in New York. While reading Game of Thrones as my plane flew through choppy air, I think I got airsick. Even after a long nap at Holiday Inn, my headache persisted (last time that happened: my zero gravity flight).
I've seen "Stomp" twice before, but this marks the first time that I've caught it in New York. The interior of the Orpheum Theatre looked really narrow, and fences covered with junk lined the walls.
This time an Asian took on the comic relief role, i.e., the "odd man out" whom the other dancers pick on. I only mention that because had I not seen the show before, I might've misconstrued their behavior as racist. :)
I still like the musical number with the clapping/slapping/tapping/snapping/shuffling the best. Also enjoyed some theatrics that I didn't recall seeing before, e.g., segments with shopping carts, newspapers, and giant inner tubes. Side note: I wonder if that malfunctioning shopping cart and lighter were really part of the act? Rating: 10
While researching whether Apolo Anton Ohno made up his mind yet on whether to compete at the next Winter Olympics, I came across a slew of mind-blowing short track speed skating news:
Also, I think Lee Jung-Su (the two time gold medalist for South Korea at the 2010 Olympics) might be eligible for the next Olympics. Awhile ago he received a three-year ban for faking an injury for his coach so that a teammate could win a World Championship medal.
Character-wise, I liked Saoirse Ronan as the glow-eyed Wanda and got annoyed by Melanie Stryder's constant voiceover nagging. I kinda wished that the writers could just invent some plot device to expel Melanie to a different body. :) (By the way, I didn't expect to see William Hurt in the film...that guy's cool.)
In general, I like Andrew Niccol's films (he wrote my favorite movie of all-time), and don't get why his last two movies have gotten panned so badly. Rating: 7
While skimming through some Ticketmaster spam, something interesting caught my eye: "Mick Foley - Tales from Wrestling Past" a.k.a. Mick Foley's stand-up comedy act, happening that very night! From then on, all the stars seemed to align--I bought a ticket, made it to San Francisco in decent time despite a late start and traffic, found a perfect parking spot (an achievement in itself), and breezed into a packed club just minutes before the opening act started.
I wouldn't have minded missing that opening act though. Crude, raunchy, and racist. Which was odd because I could've sworn seeing "All ages with parent" in the show heading. Turns out I was right. When Mick Foley came out, he scolded the comedian for using such foul language with children (!) sitting right there in the audience! Yikes.
Comedy-wise, I found Foley as entertaining and well-spoken as ever. (Why he spent his whole life dedicated to the grind of pro-wrestling, I'll never fully reconcile.) It pleased me to see how much his speaking style resembled his writing style, i.e., digressing into extraordinarily long tangents but somehow snapping back to his original point. It helped prove to me that a) he wrote his own books as opposed to a ghost writer, and b) all those chair shots to the head didn't ruin his short-term memory.
He also showed his impromptu speaking chops by fielding random audience questions and injecting humor into his answers. To my surprise, the audience asked a lot of good questions that led to a lot of great insights. For example, he explained...
The highlight of the night for me: Foley's anecdote about the horrors of rooming with Diamond Dallas Page, and the pranks Foley and Steve Austin pulled as a result.
After the show, I left without waiting around for Foley's meet-and-greet. (I already met him at WrestleMania Axxess and am going to see him again at Madison Square Garden in two weeks.)
My thoughts on last night's "Survivor: Caramoan" episode where Brandon Hantz melted down, in no particular order:
White House tours cancelled for the remainder of the fiscal year? Not such a big loss, if you ask me. It's just a walkthrough of a bunch of antique rooms. It's not like you get to see the Oval Office or anything.
Hmm...also read that due to the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Sandy, both Liberty Island and Ellis Island are still closed until further notice. Good thing I had no plans to revisit the Statue of Liberty during my New York vacation.
Although the film would probably frighten little kids, I felt it had good positive messages against killing and womanizing (making a witch who's allergic to water cry...ouch). Rating: 7
Haha, I liked the Miami Heat and Simpsons renditions of the Harlem Shake meme (wherein bystanders act oblivious to a single dancing person, and then suddenly everybody breaks loose). Wouldn't it be cool if say, The Walking Dead did one wherein the cast members, engrossed in their usual drama, ignored a dancing zombie (or maybe a dancing hitchhiker)? :)
Nowadays out of all the social networking trends, I think I might dislike hate-watching the most. That's when people purposely watch TV they hate so they can complain about it on the Internet. Pro-wrestling, in particular, seems to attract a lot of overblown backlash.
Take WrestleMania, for example. Fans seem genuinely outraged that The Rock will face John Cena in a rematch after WWE had billed last year's match as Once in a Lifetime. Similarly, WWE billed last year's Undertaker vs. Triple H match as End of an Era even though they're both competing again this year. Finally, WWE billed WrestleMania XXV as the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania even though technically it was the 24th anniversary.
Man, they're just taglines people. If they bother you so much then stop watching!
Admittedly, I do get uptight about netiquette sometimes. Like I don't even like getting instant-messaged OK instead of Ok. :)
While gazing at this Oscar poster, I got really stumped on the statuette for 2007. I kept racking my brain for a Best Picture winner that had a woman with a vacuum cleaner in it. :( Also had to jog my memory on the girl in red. I still consider "Schindler's List" the most profound movie ever to win Best Picture--so when films like "Shakespeare in Love" win too, I consider that a shame.
Scored four out of six in last night's Oscar show. But I have no complaints, given how unpredictable the races for supporting actor and director got. And I felt that Ang Lee certainly earned that win.
Although I cringed every time host Seth MacFarlane opened his mouth to say something, his humor actually felt toned down. Nowhere near as offensive as "Family Guy", if you ask me.
As for the Oscar speeches that the orchestra interrupted with the Jaws theme, I hope they had instructions not to play that during any emotional heartfelt speeches!
Man, sometimes those free previews on my On Demand menu work pretty well on me. After previewing a few minutes of a twisted Brittany Snow movie, I ended up ordering the whole thing to see what would happen next. I also blame those free Showtime season premieres for first hooking me on "Dexter".
Oddly, CNN.com teased a gruesome surprise for Batman #17 wherein the Joker unveiled a foreboding silver platter to Batman. Took me a long time to find spoilers to it, and...meh, anticlimactic. :P
In contrast, last night's "Walking Dead" episode "Home" certainly did not disappoint. I was like, What happened?! (because my attention had lapsed) and then It's on now!. That's why a DVR comes in handy. (I also reach for the remote during "Talking Dead" anytime they discuss the comic book, which unfortunately happens a lot.)
On a side note, I'm certain I would suck at Fear Factor-type competition. The challenge could be "eat an Almond Joy" and I'd lose. :)
...Francesca Hogi. Not just because that "Survivor: Caramoan" premiere marked the second time she got voted out in the very first tribal council (a Survivor first), but because I looked at that tribe of hers and concluded that it had the worst Survivor players of all-time on it! :(
Before that tribal council, I had her tribemate Brandon Hantz pegged as the worst for blowing a spot in the "Survivor: South Pacific" final five when he inexplicably volunteered to give up his immunity idol.
Halfway through Super Bowl XLVII, I gave up on the San Francisco 49ers and started driving back to San Jose with my car radio turned up. Talk about a turn of events. First the announcers kept talking about a power outage; then to my astonishment, the 49ers managed to catch up! I ended up watching the last five minutes or so in a pizzeria by the highway.
I actually didn't care about the "holding" no-call at the end. The way I see it, the 49ers blew so many scoring opportunities throughout the game that they can only blame themselves for coming up short.
On the bright side, I learned that Michael Oher from that "Blind Side" film played in that game for the Baltimore Ravens. Both his adoptive family and Sandra Bullock rooted for him from the stands!
Hmm...I read that after the 49ers' 2013 NFL season, Candlestick Park will be demolished.
After 70 years of business, it appears that the Historic Fremont Theatre of San Luis Obispo has closed! I first noticed it while passing through the city, and then confirmed it on Facebook. Something about an expiring lease.
I fondly remember screening "Star Trek: First Contact" there with my fellow Cal Poly'ers. Contrary to the blogs where I bitterly complain, I actually enjoy watching movies in an excited crowd atmosphere. And that movie, in particular, really lent itself to some fun mark-out moments.
More recently, I enjoyed watching new releases like "Star Trek", "Inception", "Harry Potter", "The Hunger Games", and "The Dark Knight Rises" there, and felt that the movies went best with a feast of sliders and Pepsi at Margie's Diner.
Update 2/12/2013: Guess I eulogized the Fremont prematurely. Apparently they reached a new agreement and will re-open the Fremont this Thursday. :P
Meanwhile at the Santa Maria Town Center Mall, construction of a new 14-screen Edwards Regal Cinemas seems to have picked up. The sign indicated that it would open in Fall 2013.
Looking forward, I might not renew my discount card for the Camera Cinemas. Although it reduces the ticket price to $6, it can't be used on Saturday night--nor do I dare come on Senior Tuesdays and Student Wednesdays. On Thursdays as of 2013, I've started watching special 10:00pm new release screenings at AMC or Cinemark theaters instead. The Sony Digital Cinema 4K that used to make Camera Cinemas unique? Now most theaters I know project in digital.
The patrons at Camera 7 Pruneyard, in particular, seems to have gotten more obnoxious. I finally got fed up with the thinness of the walls too, when I could hear loud vacuuming during a couple of key numbers in "Les Misérables"! (Previous nuisances: the sounds of the club next door and/or another movie playing nearby.) I think that's the straw that broke the camel's back. My discovery that their concession stand began serving Coke instead of Pepsi didn't help either (is Pepsi going out of business?). :P
Final movie news: now that "Argo" has swept the DGA, PGA, SAG, and Golden Globes (despite the Ben Affleck Oscar snub!), I've finalized my Oscar predictions for 2012:
The third season of "The Walking Dead" continues on February 10. Hopefully they won't kill off any of the characters I care about (and hopefully Michonne will learn to disseminate vital information better). I had this theory about why I and my fellow Walking Dead fans kept forgetting characters' names: maybe it's our defense mechanism so that we don't get too attached to anybody. :P
Last month, the Parents Television Council protested that the show needed a stronger rating than TV 14. Man, I totally agree. This series has showed so much blood and violence and gore (and swearing) that I've always assumed it was rated MA.
Update 2/11/2013: Noticed "TV MA" in the corner of last night's new episode. :P
Still weird to me how British a couple of those actors sound when they give interviews. It does explain Rick's tendency to overenunciate words. I once heard that to emulate American accents, British people must draw out every syllable they say.
The possible final season of "Dexter" will start in June now instead of September/October. I almost feel like Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter should stay in character outside of the show--because man, they're so boring when they're not playing Dexter and Debra. :)
Similarly, the younger actresses from "The Office" always look plain to me outside of the show. I finally reasoned that it's all because of the company they keep on the show. :)
Funny zingers by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards. I'm hoping they host the Oscars someday.
Really strange to hear the orchestra play the flight to bin Laden's compound score when Jessica Chastain walked toward the stage to accept her award. Almost seemed sarcastic considering how suspenseful that music sounded. :) Side note: I actually like the music to "Zero Dark Thirty" so much that sometimes I hum it in my head while I'm driving.
I liked Jessica Chastain's emotional reaction to the Golden Globe, and considered factoring that into my Oscar predictions (as part of my "likeability" criteria). Hopefully all this misguided backlash toward "Zero Dark Thirty" won't sabotage her chances. I mean seriously, why deny acting upon information gathered from torture if you're not even going to deny committing the torture?? Moreover, I honestly believe that I can make a stronger case for why this movie is anti-torture rather than pro-torture.
Speaking of 9/11 subject matters, I'm finally going to see that new WTC memorial when I fly to New York this April. I bought tickets to Mick Foley's WWE Hall of Fame 2013 induction. I'm also making a special effort to skip the outdoors WrestleMania 29 this year. Given that every rumored main event is a rematch, I don't feel like I'll be missing much.
During a Studio Ghibli film festival downtown, I managed to screen a bunch of early Hayao Miyazaki films (restored, English-dubbed 35mm prints) that I've never seen before.
Now that I've seen virtually all of Hayao Miyazaki's films, I can rank them from my favorite to least favorite:
To my dismay, the Academy snubbed Kathryn Bigelow for a directing nomination. I had her as one of the frontrunners for the Oscar! I guess at this point, "Lincoln" is looking like my most likely prediction for Best Picture.
It appears that this year's Sundance and Cannes winners (if you ask me, two of the most overrated films of 2012), "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Amour" respectively, cleaned house. In addition to all the prominent contenders they beat out for Best Director, they got both Best Picture and Best Actress nominations. (I guess now it's a foregone conclusion that "Amour" will win the Foreign Language Film Oscar.) Admittedly, my subconscious might harbor bias against these two movies due to my distaste for squatters and the loss of dignity in death. :P
Update 2/11/2013: In contrast to "Amour", "Les Misérables" totally romanticizes death. What better way to go out than singing. :)
I'd rank the 2012 Best Picture nominees as follows:
Say, I think this marks the first time I've managed to see the performances of every single actor and actress nominee before they were announced.
I still have misgivings toward Seth MacFarlane as Oscar host, but I'll try to keep an open mind. :)
Recently watched both "Les Misérables" and "Zero Dark Thirty" again in Cinemark XD. I decided to raise my "Les Misérables" rating to an 8, which automatically elevates it into my top six films of 2012. My rationale: it's probably the best theatrical adaptation of a musical that I've ever seen. The musical numbers really rouse my emotions, and make me willing to forget everything I took issue with (like Russell Crowe as Javert and the vexing bottom line that when Cosette finally reads Jean Valjean's deathbed confession, it's going to say "I stole a loaf of bread").
If the Academy Awards ceremony ever introduced an Oscar for best cast, this film should clinch it. I actually feel that this year, Hugh Jackman deserves the Oscar more than Daniel Day-Lewis. I also don't see how Anne Hathaway can lose.
Interesting fact: the singer who played the Bishop also used to play the original Jean Valjean. That explains why in my subconscious, he always seemed to have the best voice of the entire cast.
I also noticed, in my second viewing, that Javert does not appear on the barricade with the other deceased characters. Wonder if it's because he (inexplicably) committed suicide?
For my second viewing of "Zero Dark Thirty", I didn't really catch anything new. The film did, however, remind me to go look up the definition for tradecraft:
tradecraft -noun skill acquired through experience in a trade; often used to discuss skill in espionage
Update 1/7/2013: Finally patronized Taco Bell (ordered the same meal that the SEAL celebrated with, two tacos and a bean burrito) after over a year of abstinence from fast food. I'd describe my reaction as...apathetic.
Update 1/8/2013: Forgot to mention that during my second viewing, people laughed (!) occasionally. Like at the part where Dan fed the caged monkeys. Did they not see the parallel to the detainees in the background? :(
Man, first movie of the year and already I have a new entry for my worst of 2013 list. :(
Last Saturday, I decided to try out that Galaxy Theatre in Atascadero. I theorized that I'd enjoy "Les Misérables" better in a VIP screening where no one under 21 could enter.
Before the movie even started, somebody asked if I minded shifting two assigned seats away from the middle so their entire group could sit together. When I started suggesting alternatives, she took my reluctance as a no. So they sat around me and kept passing hors d'oeuvres back and forth in front of me (to which I suffered in silence in order to avoid further confrontation). In hindsight, I don't think my reluctance was wrong at all. That requires a special explanation I think, asking a stranger to move two seats away instead of just one. I would've done it, no questions asked, for one seat. :)
Unfortunately, my brain couldn't completely shut all that out. Also bothered me whenever a wine glass shattered on the ground and the audience laughed. Quite the mood killer.
Best of 2012 | Worst of 2012 | |
---|---|---|
Events that happened to Steve |
|
|
Movies |
|
|
Songs |
|
|
Music video | "Gangnam Style" PSY | "Dive In" Trey Songz |
TV series | "Dexter" Honorable mention: "The Walking Dead" |
"The Office" |
Commercial | Sprite Films Presents: Prom Night. | (tie) The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas commercial where they converse the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody, and Scion iQ Park! commercials. |
Movie trailer | (tie) Looper
and Les Misérables
Honorable mention: World War Z |
The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (incidentally, the film broke a box office record) |
Want to know what I did on doomsday? Watched movies. At one point--as I sat in the middle of a theater full of old people--alarms suddenly interrupted the movie, lights flashed, and a voice urged us to evacuate! As a result, I had to politely wait as a sea of slowpokes blocked the exit. :(
Turned out to be a false alarm, but I'd be lying if I said that the end of the world hadn't crossed my mind.
On the plus side, thanks to digital cinema technology, the projectionist managed to jog the movie pretty close to where it left off.
Ehhh...what time is the world supposed to end? I was instant messaging a colleague in the Philippines and it's already December 21, 2012 over there. Those Mayans man, didn't even have the courtesy to specify a time zone. :)
I think I'm more worried about Doomsday nutjobs than I am about say, Armageddon. Because for me, a preordained destiny comforts me much more than an existence where everything happens for no reason.
Would suck if that became the last movie I ever saw on Earth. :)
High Frame Rate 3D...I think it gave me a slight headache. Somehow by making everything look more natural, the HFR 3D made everything look less natural (if that makes any sense at all). I dunno, everything just seemed...glossier.
As for the IMAX exclusive, extended preview of "Star Trek Into Darkness"...I didn't like it. It showcased that cartoonishness that I had criticized its predecessor for. That doesn't mean I won't like the movie though. After all, I didn't like last year's extended preview of Dark Knight Rises either.
What a season 7 finale on "Dexter". I'm like, traumatized. Easily the best season ever.
Cast-wise, I felt that Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage made a great Bilbo and Thorin, respectively. Also found Gollum most entertaining, and wished we could see him again. Rating: 7
Yikes. Currently, my Survivor Season Rankings Web page tops the Google search results for "survivor season rankings" (I confirmed it after receiving an e-mail that somebody plagiarized what I wrote). Not sure how that happened, given that I only update that page twice a year. Does that make me the foremost authority on Survivor rankings now? :)
Strange to think that Survivor players might very well be reading what I wrote about them. Hope some of them have thick skins. :( The way I see it, if you don't want audiences to blog about you, then don't audition for a reality show.
In other news, my credit card number got stolen somehow. Somebody tried (and failed) to make a big purchase in Florida. I doubt it got stolen online, because I haven't purchased anything online in ages. My mind keeps going back to that soda that I had bought from my apartment vending machine. I remember hesitating because it used an external card reader.
I like those "Les Misérables" trailers (Russell Crowe's singing notwithstanding) and twice, to my irritation, I've heard people behind me comment, "I hate musicals." Well I hate people who talk during trailers, but you don't hear me saying that aloud.
I'm sort of a purist in that I best like watching trailers in a theater as opposed to online. Like that awesome "World War Z" trailer, a smartphone or computer screen would not have done it justice in my opinion.
I also like watching movies in IMAX and XD (Extreme Digital Cinema)--not just because of the picture and sound quality, but because the high prices deter large groups of people from coming in. That's also why you wouldn't catch me dead at any Bring Your Baby Matinees, Student Wednesdays, or Senior Tuesdays. In fact, the stuff old folks say during movies might even annoy me worse than what teenagers say!
Nowadays I've seen a lot of merit in screening movies on opening day. My reasoning:
Moreover, I concluded that the type of audience matters much more than the size of it. Cases in point: I screened "Flight" in a theater with only one couple in it--a couple so obnoxiously loud that I ended up relocating several rows back (and could still hear them). Similarly during "Rio", the one other guy in the theater rocked ceaselessly in the handicap area--and it got so distracting that I had to relocate to the back of the theater and elevate my foot high enough to block all sight of him!
Wouldn't it be funny if I ever owned my own theater and posted my own rules? I'd have rules like, "No moving in your seat" and "No breathing too hard".
During the cast reunion, when Brent Spiner recounted how a fan with Asperger syndrome saw Data as representative of the disorder, I was like Data does not have Asperger syndrome! But then when I thought about it...I guess he sort of does. :P
Lots of activity on that ex-junkyard hillside now, i.e., massive tree trimming and backhoe-ing. Could that be why the county cleared out the homeless encampment...for tree maintenance? Or maybe they have something more ambitious in mind, like a precipice and fence to make the area inaccessible? I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Update 11/28/2012: Lots of trees gone from the hillside now. Hmm.
Ugh, I'm starting to see bargain screenings for Senior Tuesdays and Student Wednesdays. At this rate, I might have to start postponing movie night to Thursday. :)
Can't decide which I hate worse: driving through San Francisco or walking through San Francisco. :P This past Saturday, I rode on BART for the first time, and surfaced a couple of blocks from the San Francisco Centre. Couldn't believe how many homeless people I passed along Market Street. Terrible.
I did like travelling by BART. Plenty of free parking and not too many passengers on a Saturday.
Felt pretty ecstatic about the "Survivor: Philippines" tribal council last night until I found out that Michael Skupin had defected from those bullies, not Lisa. Even though I'm awestruck that Jonathan Penner survived yet again, I might've ranked the season as high up as "Survivor: Cook Islands" had his masterful rhetoric managed to persuade her. Update 11/16/2012: Forgot to mention that when I saw one Jonathan vote with "sorry" on it and another Jonathan vote with hearts around it, I mistook them for Michael's and Lisa's votes, respectively. Made me wonder whether any Survivor fans ever tried memorizing each player's penmanship.
I've really enjoyed watching Jonathan Penner this season. It's like he's been hanging on by the skin of his teeth. Here's what I'd put in his highlight reel:
In other news, the workers look like they're about done cleaning up the homeless encampments outside my parking lot. Didn't surprise me one bit that the clean-up lasted six days...if you ask me, they made good time!
Yesterday morning, I saw a Roads and Airports Department for the County of Santa Clara vehicle and a porta potty near the homeless encampments. Parked cars lined the street by the hillside too. Now for the past two days, I've seen workers with white suits, dust face masks, and litter pickers working to clean up all of the garbage. About dam time. They really have their work cut out for them though. Had they come months earlier, it wouldn't have looked like a Snickers commercial.
I know I should be happy, but I keep dreading that the squatters will simply come back.
As for my downstairs neighbor, still no conclusive evidence of any criminality.
In other news, I liked Obama's acceptance speech. When he advocated tolerance, health care for the poor, and an end to the war, I felt like he had indeed practiced what he preached. In fairness to Bush, I felt like he had practiced what he preached too: when he vowed that America would avenge 9/11 (ultimately I felt that America indeed got its revenge, in spades).
Thankfully, I no longer hear the intermittent sound of rushing water in my bathroom. But recently in the wee hours of the morning, I've heard a loud humming in my bathroom; loud enough to seemingly vibrate the walls. It actually made me suspect my downstairs neighbor of cooking meth. I've never actually seen my downstairs neighbor, but there's a weird pot outside of their door chock full of cigarette butts (to avoid igniting an explosion inside?). I also heard a smoke detector go off a couple of times.
Then again, maybe my neighbor only smokes outside to avoid setting off the smoke detector. And maybe the humming noises radiated from a neighboring, industrial-looking water heater (?) instead of a fume-ventilation machine. Most importantly, I don't smell the biggest telltale sign of a meth lab: pungent odors.
I'll keep my eyes, ears, and nose open though.
Update 11/6/2012: Smelled like B.O. outside of my apartment this morning (I left with my bathroom still humming). Made me realize that I smelt this odor before, in the parking lot (I had always thought it came from the homeless encampment). Also noticed a trash bin downstairs this morning, full of cleaning products (?).
Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for their 2012 World Series sweep (pretty impressive considering that they made a comeback from 1-3 in the National League Championship Series)! I enjoyed watching Game 4, and learned of new baseball strategies like no doubles defense and sacrifice bunt. At the top of the tenth inning with the winning run on first base, the commentator puzzled me with a no mystery what the Giants will do here remark just before the batter bunted himself out so that the runner could advance to second. Made me realize how much I still didn't know about professional baseball.
Fingers crossed that this movie franchise will someday adapt the two Silent Hill games that I rated perfect 10's: Silent Hill 2 (not just Pyramid Head) and Silent Hill 4: The Room (could that prison bus have been transporting Walter Sullivan?). I also hope that that cameo of Travis Grady will be the last reference I ever see to that awful Silent Hill: Origins game. Stay after the credits for one final appearance of Pyramid Head. Rating: 5
I like Google Maps. For my London vacation, I printed out public transportation directions to each Olympic venue. Most recently, I used the Google satellite to survey an alleged parking lot behind the Fremont Theatre in San Luis Obispo. According to their Facebook page, they intend to build a new IMAX theatre in that spot. I dunno, seems awfully small.
Congratulations to Roger Federer for hanging onto the #1 tennis ranking for 300 cumulative weeks now! An unprecedented milestone.
Watched Derek Jeter fracture his ankle on a TV replay. Ouch. Last time I fractured my ankle (while running suicides), I can remember crawling and writhing on the court in agonizing pain. I think my brain actually repressed some of the memory. My foot swelled like a cabbage patch doll, and afterward I couldn't even walk on the cast without crutches. I think tearing the ligament made all the difference, because as a kid I remember fracturing that very same ankle but with considerably less pain afterward (I could even walk on it again once the doctor wrapped it in a cast).
"The Walking Dead" season 3 premiered last Sunday...a strong no-nonsense episode, IMHO. No more fooling around for those characters. They threw down on those zombie hordes like a well-oiled machine. Usually the show follows a format where various characters alternate from likeable to unlikeable, but in that episode I found them all likeable.
As for "Dexter" season 7, which airs in the same time slot...still phenomenal. I can't say enough good things about it. If you've been following it, feel free to read my spoiler-heavy season 7 review.
Update 10/22/2012: More awesomeness from "Dexter" and "The Walking Dead" last night. Sunday's become the highlight of my week lately.
Struck me as ironic that the entire cast from Part I had to be replaced. Almost like this film franchise is tanking just like the world it portrays. Rating: 5
I'm stuck with a new annoyance at my apartment: the intermittent sound of rushing water. Given that I can hear it all hours of the day and night, 24/7, I dismissed my first hypothesis: a neighbor repeatedly turning their faucet on and off. Additionally, I don't think that a toilet would refill itself that frequently. Maybe it's an aquarium?
Today in the cafeteria, I witnessed a grand slam on TV during the Giants game. Pretty cool. I don't think I've ever seen a grand slam live before.
Comcast finally blacked out all of my analog channels. As a result, I had to install and activate their digital adapter. Now I can see most of the TV channels, but can only record the channel that the adapter is on. I also still need the digital cable box for premium and pay-per-view programming like "Dexter" and WrestleMania.
In other news, I kept spotting a baby coyote outside my workplace. In the last sighting, I noticed it limping. Our workplace newsletter warned us to "appreciate them from a distance"; not to feed them or make direct eye contact. "Coyotes, by nature, are wary of humans they will avoid people whenever possible. However, in urban areas, coyotes are less likely to fear people and are more likely to associate their presence with easy sources of food."
That's called habituation, gradually losing a fear of something through repeated exposure to it. That's mostly what I credit for overcoming my phobia of dogs. Well...whatever phobia I had of friendly-looking dogs, at least. I still get wary of dogs I can't read, and I still fear vicious-looking dogs like pitbulls (same as I fear predators like lions, tigers, and bears).
Now my biggest phobia is death. Or more precisely, nihilophobia (a fear of nothingness). Even looking across dark, pitch-black expanses of water perturbs me.
This "House at the End of the Street" movie seemed more like "Jane Eyre" than a horror flick. It actually reminded me of those early Brian De Palma films, back when he was obsessed with "Psycho". It's like, something beautiful would start to bloom and then get stomped out by something violent and horrible. Rating: 5
For the first time ever, the IBM cafeteria served butter chicken. Afterward, I submitted a comment card praising it. I should've submitted one the day they served Pueblo Pork Roast too (the one coated with some kind of cumin (?) sauce). They served it about three years ago and I haven't seen it since.
Last Tuesday, I tried an Italian restaurant in Santana Row called Pasta Pomodoro. I spent most of the time looking down at my table as the couple next to me had a falling out in front of their kid. It started when the guy repeatedly asked the woman why she kept glaring at him. The woman wanted to know whom he had been texting, which led to her asking for his phone and reviewing his messages. Initially I thought how possessive, until she singled out one particular message from someone saying that she hadn't seen him on match.com lately. The guy got defensive, denying that he was on match.com and insisting that it was nothing (Steve's translation: "I'm totally hiding something"). "Tell me the truth," the woman kept repeating. "Let's just forget about it and eat," the guy deflected. So then the woman CALLED the person in front of him, got all the embarrassing details, and then walked out on him with the kid.
The guy should've just told the truth. Although their relationship still might've tanked, it also might've been salvageable. I mean, if she already trusted him so little that she had to check his phone, what more could he have to lose? It reminded me of Tarzan (from "Survivor: One World") and his wife's dubious secret to marriage: never lie to each other.
Personally, I think people are entitled to their secrets. I'm actually so cynical that most lies don't bother me. In fact, I prefer the lie if the truth led to some kind of embarrassment, awkward moment, or spoiler. I do get mad if I lose face because of someone's big mouth, but that applies to both lies and truths. :)
My own reluctance to lie mostly stems from pragmatism rather than self-righteousness. Just like a good credit score is important, I think credibility among allies is important. And the best way to maintain that trust: sharing information and keeping secrets while trying to minimize the lies I have to keep straight. I guess now I sound like Jonathan Penner from "Survivor: Philippines"...I once read an interview where he stated, "I'm a pretty straightforward, honest person. Lying is a lot of work. You've gotta remember what lie you told; it's much easier just to tell the truth."
I also have the ability to trust conditionally. Meaning, I can trust someone when it comes to X, but not when it comes to Y.
Final thought: I'll never understand how people can talk behind each other's backs but then turn around and act like the best of friends. :)
At long last, my next-door neighbors moved out! Happy dance. Certainly not the worst neighbors I've had, but vexing nonetheless...a father and grown-up son lounging around all day with their door open and their shirts off (sporting huge pot bellies), drinking beer and unashamedly projecting their embarrassing conversations, e.g., "I love you, baby" or "You don't love me" or inexplicably berating security. The son hocked (and spat) a lot too; a ghastly noise that made my skin crawl.
Strangely, after the father cleared his things I happened to open my door that night to see the son stumbling up the stairs, totally wasted with eyes wide open (for an alarming split-second my brain mistook him for a zombie). Was he not aware that his father had moved out?
Now if only my homeless neighbors followed suit. I read an interesting article that reported how San Jose's homeless returned to their camps after the cleanups. Apparently the city has some kind of obligation to fund alternate housing options and to tag & store homeless people's personal property. Lame.
I did find the robot itself interesting. To fulfill its directive of improving Frank Langella's health, I noticed it had no qualms against bargaining, lying, and breaking the law. Rating: 5
Man, I hope Jerry "The King" Lawler recovers ok after suffering a heart attack during the WWE Raw broadcast last night. After his commentating went silent, I could actually see him in the background slumped over. One account reported him clinically dead for 20 minutes before a defibrillator revived him! Hope that won't mean brain damage. Weirdest part was that he wrestled a tag team match earlier in the broadcast, and didn't even seem winded afterward.
I watched a really fascinating "60 Minutes" interview of the Navy SEAL who helped kill Osama bin Laden (and authored that book about it). What I found most interesting about his firsthand account: how the SEALs pretty much treated every guy in the compound as hostile and shot them in the head if they peeked around a corner. So the SEALs ended up shooting bin Laden to death without even knowing his identity. Side note: Typical military humor, that warped joke about how curiosity killed bin Laden's son.
I'm hoping that the "Zero Dark Thirty" movie captures all the foresight and acumen that the SEALs showed, from improvising a new plan after the helicopter crash to methodically collecting evidence (including duplicating the evidence of bin Laden's identity in case one helicopter didn't make it back). Man, what commitment for the SEAL on point to rush the women around bin Laden's body in case they tried to blow up the other SEALs.
Other details about the SEAL's account that I found noteworthy:
In other news, congratulations to Serena Williams for pulling out a harrowing U.S. Open victory! To think that last year, her harassment of the chair umpire basically came one swear word away from violating her probation (originally placed upon her for cussing out a lineswoman at the at the 2009 U.S. Open). Meaning, she would've gotten banned from this year's tournament. Side note: I still don't get why Redfoo from LMFAO sat in Azarenka's box.
Also congratulations to Andy Murray on his first Grand Slam title! He didn't look too thrilled for some reason (exhausted, maybe?). Instead of embracing his loved ones, did he just ask them where his shoes were?? Side note: Sean Connery's starting to look pretty old.
I finished tabulating the music results for 1H 2012.
A passion for writing...that's my answer for why I'm still blogging. It also helps that I have no accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or MySpace to preoccupy my time. Simply put, I don't like to socialize online (or in person, for that matter). I don't even own a smartphone.
I think all in all, the hardest part for me about blogging isn't writing the entries...it's settling upon what to title the entries. :)
Today marks the tenth anniversary of my blog! Time sure flies. To commemorate the occasion, I decided to just extol my favorite movie from the last five years...
In my humble opinion, the magnum opus of Christopher Nolan. Despite my disappointment with "Dark Knight" (and my subsequent concerns that Nolan, my all-time favorite director, lost his touch), I walked into "Inception" with pretty high expectations. To my astonishment, Nolan blew all of my expectations away. To this day, I'm still in awe that one guy managed to write and direct this masterpiece.
I think Nolan captured my sentiment best with the following quote:
"Every film should have its own world, a logic and feel to it that expands beyond the exact image that the audience is seeing."
In my mind, Nolan loaded so much thought and detail into "Inception" that the movie felt like a whole new world...and "shared dreaming" felt like a real-life science.
Incidentally, Nolan actually explained in an interview what the ending meant. He said that the point of that scene was that Cobb looked at his kids and not the top.
In conclusion, I shattered a personal record of mine by watching "Inception" in a theater a total of eleven times (and each time the movie ended, I sat through the credits listening to the music). I even caught something new on the tenth viewing (scenes where Ariadne taught her architectures to each dreamer)!
Finally came full circle on the "Quantum Leap" series, but still missed a lot of episodes.
The episodes where Sam deeply loved somebody--and had to leave them behind--depressed me...especially given my knowledge now of what I didn't know then. Like I knew Sam would...
Other bits of trivia that I noticed this time around:
Honorable
mention: This
WWE Hall of Fame picture came out surprisingly good--you can
even see Mickey Rourke in the audience, 4/4/2009
15. The current
(and all-time) No. 1 tennis player in the world, Roger Federer, warming
up on Centre Court at Wimbledon, 7/30/2012
14. Michael
Phelps, lane 6, flapping his arms before the 200M butterfly final,
7/31/2012
13. The sight of
Vince McMahon in a sharshooter after 12+ years...surreal, 3/28/2010
12. Awesomest
pro-wrestling entrance ever, 4/5/2009
11. What is up with
that referee? 3/28/2010
10. A rare stunt for The Undertaker, 6/1/2008
9.
Me at the White
House, 10/27/2007
8. John Cena, 1/27/2008
7. My favorite
picture of the Royal Rumble Match, 1/25/2009
6. Crazy
Ladder Match stunt, 10/5/2008
5. Whisper
in the wind, 1/25/2009
4. Finally...I
photographed the People's Elbow, 4/3/2011
3. A front
row snapshot of the extremely rare Buried Alive Match, 10/24/2010
2. Surprisingly crisp picture of the medal-winning
Olympic figure skaters during their victory lap, 2/25/2010
1. The
money shot that made me the face of zero gravity, 9/20/2008
Was it just me, or did this whole movie make fun of the shallowness of modern society? For instance, the animators seemed to go out of their way to make everything on TV look stupid. :)
Stay after the credits for a time-lapse of Norman's creation. Rating: 7To my dismay, I discovered that the fine for driving in a diamond bus lane, a.k.a. CVC 21655.5(b) Improper Use of Preferential Lanes, amounts to $490!! Buncha bull. Plus to add insult to injury, I had to pay another $29 for a FasTrak violation.
My blog will turn 10 years old on August 29, but I have nothing special planned. I might just post some countdowns that weren't already part of my 2000-2009 Decade in Review. For example, my favorite screenshots and photographs, and maybe some movies of note. Certainly the #1 events that happened to me haven't changed.
Honorable mention:
Olympic
tennis at Wimbledon's Centre Court
10.
Elimination Chamber
9.
Women's Qualification for Artistic Gymnastics
7.
Quite possibly the greatest WrestleMania match of all time
6.
WWE Royal Rumble 2009
5. Me flinching
4.
WWE No Mercy 2008
3.
WWE WrestleMania XXVIII
2. Ladies Figure Skating Free Skate at the XXI Olympic
Winter Games
1. Buried Alive Match...I relished this screencap
Congratulations to the USA men's basketball team for winning the final against Spain. It made me nervous when the score stayed even all the way into the fourth quarter! Side note: Still feels surreal to me that the Lakers managed to acquire both Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.
Time now to rank my favorite highlights from the London 2012 Summer Olympics:
Interestingly, Apolo Ohno revealed on NBC that he must decide upon his Olympic future within the next few days. I don't see myself attending any Olympic events in Russia, but I might consider Rio 2016 (two points of interest in Brazil: Christ the Redeemer and Itaipu Dam) seeing as I didn't stay in the city of London long enough to catch any track and field sprints.
Such a relief being back in the United States where the steering wheel is on the left, cars drive on the right side, and the food doesn't mess up my stomach (though admittedly, I did like the baked beans with my scrambled eggs). :) Interestingly, in the office I mouse with my left hand even though I'm right-handed (the logic being that if I get carpal tunnel in my left wrist, it won't affect the hand that I use to write with). That's likely why in the UK I was able to gear shift with my left hand so easily. Nothing could prepare me for steering from the other side of the car though. I had to keep telling my brain to hug the right side of the lane, so that I'd stop drifting to the left. It's extremely fortunate that I only brushed against curbs instead of guard rails or other cars.
Still bums me out that Roger Federer lost the gold medal match against Andy Murray! If only they could have swapped results: Federer's most recent Wimbledon title in exchange for the one accolade that he's never ever achieved: a singles gold medal.
In contrast, I shrugged when Gabby Douglas (and two of the other Fab Five) blew their individual gymnastics events. The Fab Five already won team gold and Gabby won the all-around gold--so in my mind, they all earned free passes.
Congratulations to Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Jennings for winning their third consecutive gold medals in beach volleyball! Mighty impressive.
Also congratulations to the women's USA soccer team! The way I see it--after those clutch saves--Hope Solo can run her mouth all she wants. :)
This week, I've been reviewing NBC's coverage of the Olympics. I added both pictures and screencaps to my earlier blog entries.
I ended up renting a car from Avis, a black Peugeot 207 SW. It was a manual transmission but thankfully, I remembered how to shift gears (even with the stick to my left). The reversed driver seat location proved much more terrifying, as I occasionally nudged the lefthand curb while driving on the left side of the road. :P
Quite the learning experience, that Channel Tunnel. Once I figured out how to buy a ticket, they printed an alphabetical letter for me to hang on my rear view mirror. I matched the letter with its departure time on the terminal screen. Following a passport screening, I queued my car into a line and drove into some kind of long boxcar (which turned into carriages of 4-5 cars once the metal doors shut); then stayed parked there while the boxcar crossed through a dark subway-like tunnel for about half-an-hour.
Once I disembarked in France, I immediately wandered my way back to the Euro Tunnel le Shuttle. (Although I welcomed driving on the right side of the road, I had trouble comprehending French traffic signs. :P) Then I went through all that hassle over again. This time, French customs, UK Border Control (questions galore), waiting for my call in a eurotunnel shopping center (not as long as I thought given France is one hour ahead), ineptly driving to the wrong boarding area, and then finally boarding the correct shuttle back to the UK.
So thankfully, I got through all that unscathed despite driving around lost through Folkestone. My nerves are shot. Can you imagine if I had gotten my car into an accident? Goes to show how seriously I take my goals list.
Tomorrow, I fly back to the United States.
P.S. Good that I had my Visa debit card with me. The Discover card wasn't much use. :(
Ever since I picked up a 5 cent euro in my loose change (it looks like the British penny), I've been trying to sneak it past British cashiers. But every single time they've weeded it out and rejected it, like those cats who can sense the pill in their catfood. It might be my imagination, but the cashiers seemed almost indignant that I'd try to pay them with a euro coin.
Pretty rainy at the Stonehenge monument today, but the sky opened long enough for me to snap pictures all around it. The rope path curved in close enough for me to see the greenish discoloration and fungus on the otherwise gray rocks. In person, the rocks looked gigantic. How the heck did prehistoric people transport and stack those things 4500 years ago? Any why?
When I look at Stonehenge photographs, the monument always seems isolated in the middle of nowhere. But in actuality, it's fenced in. Outside the fence: roads, a gift shop, a café (where I bought a cinnamon-flavored rock cake with raisins), a ticket booth, toilets, parking lots, and grazing sheep.
All in all, I think that was worth the 90-120 minute tour bus ride from London.
In other news, security picked me up during my walk toward the Channel Tunnel. Apparently that's a huge no-no--we're only allowed to cross by vehicle. So after the police ran a background check on me and asked me some questions, they sent me on my way. Needlessly to say, I failed to cross off that goal today. :P
Frustrating setback...the private Stonehenge tour only runs on Tuesdays. It seems that the Web site erroneously let me book today's date. So I now have to settle for a tour where I view Stonehenge from afar. But that's not all--because the lady missed the discrepancy, I wasted the whole morning loitering while the other Stonehenge tour groups came and went. As a result, I now have to wait until tomorrow morning for the next tour bus! Grrr...
Good thing that when I scheduled this vacation, I buffered in an extra day.
Rainy afternoon in London. For lunch, I had fish & chips with earl grey tea. Although I'm not a big fan of fish & chips, I liked it better than any fish & chips I tasted in America.
I'd describe the rest of my day as disappointing. For some idiotic reason, the Olympic cauldron was not outside for visitors of the Olympic Park to photograph. It's inside the track & field stadium, and I have no ticket to grant me admission.
The ticket I did have, Olympic swimming, landed me in the 20th row of the Aquatics Centre...about third row up in the upper balcony. Pretty lousy considered I paid top dollar for an AA category ticket.
Spoiler alert for Tuesday's swimming finals: To my complete and utter dismay, Michael Phelps lost his signature event, the 200-meter butterfly! I had been holding my breath, waiting for his touch to trigger a single red light next to his lane (indicating first place). Instead, I saw two red lights. My reaction: dumbfounded...then when what happened sank in, dejected. Granted, I witnessed history in that he tied Larisa Latynina for most Olympic medals of any color. But *&^%$ it, I purposely picked Phelps' best event so I could see him win a gold medal! It's the topmost reason I flew to London in the first place.
It did give me consolidation that USA later won the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, which Phelps anchored. So I personally witnessed Phelps winning his first gold medal at London 2012 and becoming the most decorated Olympian in history. I also got to personally experience, finally, an Olympic medals ceremony where the American flag rose to the Star-Spangled banner (first for Allison Schmitt, again for the USA relay team).
P.S. Maybe someday I can brag about seeing those two teenage swimming stars, Missy Franklin and Ye Shiwen, in action.
P.S.S. I hope my pictures come out ok. My hands got kind of shaky at times.
I'm getting kinda sick of the news here. This just in: Great Britain ranked #20 in the medal count. Granted, it's not like the propaganda that Canada showed during the last Olympics--but I wished that the BBC focused less on Great Britain's defeats and more on the athletes who actually won medals.
I did see one prominent U.S. headline on the BBC: the charges for that shooting massacre in Aurora. :(
Update 8/1/2012: Michael Phelps made the top headlines in the news last night, so maybe the BBC redeemed itself. :) I didn't sleep a wink. Either the swimming excitement gave me insomnia, or my brain feared oversleeping and missing the Stonehenge tour bus. Or maybe it's jet lag?
My feet feel blistered and my face looks sunburned, but I have to say it was a good day.
I started with a big breakfast which included scrambled eggs, potatoes, baked beans, and a nasty brownie-like puck called black pudding that I imagine stuck to my stomach like gum. :P
Then I visited the obligatory tourist attractions in London: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. I tried to take photos of the guards as three of them marched out to relieve the ones in the front of the building.
Speaking of disciplined professionals who ignore distractions, all of those Olympic tennis players at Wimbledon's Centre Court seemed to completely block out the audience during their matches (even when we started a wave). A couple of things that I found cool: rhythmically clapping along with the audience during the challenges, and watching the points without spectators walking up and down (the officials block the entrances between set changes). I also enjoyed (twice) the famed strawberries & cream from the Champagne Bar.
The highlight of my Wimbledon experience (and possibly the highlight of my trip): seeing the greatest tennis player who ever lived, Roger Federer, in action. Fortune really smiled upon me, because I had no idea which tennis players I'd get to see when I bought my ticket. The schedule depended upon tournament draw, advancement, and chance. Here's a recap of who played today in Centre Court:
If these matches air in the United States, look for me in my neon cap and shirt in the 9th row from the court (a.k.a. the third row from the purple wall).
Centre Court seemed really small in person. The two retractable roofs looked massive though (for some reason the officials kept repositioning them over the court).
I still don't understand why players raise their hand (apologetically?) when the ball trickles over the net tape.
Upon my return to London, I tried a 10oz rump steak (with a side of mushroom sauce) at Skylon inside the Royal Festival Hall. Tasty but man, I really had to chew that thing.
Survived my 10+ hour flight to London. Afterward the pilot announced that the airport almost cancelled our landing due to weather. Good thing that didn't happen, because near the end there I started feeling airsick from the turbulence.
We still got delayed on the ground, however, so I arrived late to the Women's Qualification for Artistic Gymnastics. The USA's Fab Five had already come and gone so I got stuck watching the rotations for China, Russia, Germany, Romania, Japan, and "mixed groups", i.e., individual gymnasts lacking a team. If NBC airs the qualification floor exercises for China and Germany, look for me in the third row wearing a neon yellow shirt and neon orange cap.
I actually didn't care for the live format. I didn't mind waiting through each of the warm ups, but I found it distracting how all four of the groups competed simultaneously (then rotated amidst rhythmic crowd clapping to the next apparatus). As a result, my eyes kept wandering to the loud musically-themed floor exercises. Also, the live British commentator didn't offer much insight.
Spoiler alert from someone who's now eight hours ahead of California time: when I stared at the scoreboard and noticed Jordyn Wieber missing a Q next to her name, I was like what happened). I had to google the result on the Internet, because I'm not sure that'd even make the news on my hotel room TV. Last I checked, the BBC was singing the praises of a bronze-winning British swimmer.
The city of London looks really old to me. It feels like I stepped into an alternate reality where England won the Revolutionary War. I see American franchises like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Burger King, but most of the products and snacks I see have strange names. The cars and roads look reversed. Subway signs appear in English but say "Mind the Gap" instead of "Caution" and "Way Out" instead of "Exit". The clocks all use military time. And the local folk say "queue" a lot instead of "line" or "line up".
I guess Christopher Nolan finally answered whether Batman could ever just ride off into the sunset--or more importantly, whether Bruce Wayne could ever get over his beloved Rachel. :) I liked how the movie depicted Catwoman and Bane--definite improvements over their previous incarnations, IMHO. Other thoughts I had:
The San Luis Obispo Downtown Centre Cinemas advertised screenings of "Dark Knight Rises" in their brand-new EXTREME 3 THEATRE. Caveat emptor. It turned out to be a normal, non-stadium seating room with a screen that spanned from the ceiling to the floor. The movie didn't even show in digital projection--I could see the cigarette burns which mark normal film reels.
That one scene where gunmen open fire on the stockbrokers gives me the creeps. It keeps reminding me of that massacre in Aurora where a spree shooter opened fire on a "Dark Knight Rises" audience.
Well, after months of planning, I finally fly to London this Saturday. I come back the following Saturday.
"Dark Knight Rises" today. I noticed that that shooting spree at one of the screenings still headlines the news. Hope it doesn't inspire any other gunmen out there who might be hungry for publicity.
I finally e-mailed a complaint to the County of Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health. With all the trash that the squatters outside my parking lot fence managed to hoard, the hillside looks and smells like a veritable garbage dump now. It's totally ridiculous.
In other news, I received a brand-new traffic ticket for driving in a diamond bus lane. I had taken a wrong turn and was trying to avoid a toll booth. In hindsight, I should've just paid the toll. The cop said it wasn't a moving violation, but I dread the heftiness of the fine.
Guess I'll bring my Discover card to London after all. Thanks to their timely promotion, I'll receive a 2% Cashback Bonus for every purchase in London (from June 2 and August 31) and zero foreign transaction fees. I'll still take my Visa card, as that was the only card the Olympics vendors accepted in Vancouver.
I'm starting to dislike today's kids more and more. Specifically, their lack of inhibitions and manners. During Spider-Man, I had to listen to a loud kid asking lame obvious questions like, "Is that a spider?", "Is that man Spider-Man?", and "Is that man dead?" Another time, I was eating at Hometown Buffet while my car was at the mechanic shop. Some girl looked my way and commented, I think it's sad when people eat alone. In response, I just sat there fuming. What could I say back? I think it's sad that some kids won't amount to anything?
Worst part was that neither of the kids' mothers corrected their rudeness. Which is bad for the kids' futures, if they grow up without learning to respect others.
Dude, when I flush my new toilet it's like an airlock opens and sucks the water out (along with the air around it) into outer space.
Congratulations to 30-year-olds Roger Federer and Serena Williams for Wimbledon triumphs amidst Grand Slam droughts that made tennis fans talk of their retirement. Maybe I'll get to see one of them play in Centre Court during the Olympics at the end of this month. Gotta feel bad for Andy Murray, losing on his home turf with celebrities like the Middleton sisters and David Beckham in attendance. Also felt bad for Radwanska when Serena won one of the games with four consecutive aces. I have never seen anything like that.
In a bit of sad news, gold medalist Nastia Liukin failed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic gymnastic team. With both her and Shawn Johnson now retired, I can feel my excitement diminishing for the Olympic gymnastics events that I have tickets for. :P
By the way, that daredevil who crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope...he now wants to cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope! What a nut.
Last night, the maintenance guy who fixed my slow toilet told me he'd give me a brand-new toilet around either morning or afternoon. To my chagrin, he entered my apartment while I was in the shower and repeatedly shouted "MAINTENANCE! YO, MAINTENANCE!" for the whole neighborhood to hear. When I realized that he wouldn't stop, I cracked my bathroom door open to tell him I'll be out soon. Geez man, you'd think he could've deduced that all on his own.
Where's Rudy Giuliani when you need him? :( That homeless encampment between my parking lot fence and the overpass hill is starting to look like a slum now. After hearing what sounded like someone getting assaulted there, I talked to security and they said that they have no jurisdiction beyond the fence. The guard added that they were trying to catch whoever has been setting fires in the dumpsters (which explains the charred dumpster near my apartment). I guess their uselessness shouldn't surprise me, given how they did jack squat about the raving mad tenant underneath me too. At least they're really good at towing illegally parked cars.
I actually flagged down one of the security cars the other night, to alert them to a suspicious person with a hoodie that I saw crouched near a license plate. I watched closely as the security car drove up to the guy (prompting him to stand up) and then drove away (prompting him to crouch back down). Guess that means he wasn't stealing a registration sticker like I suspected? What was he doing then? (Good thing I'm not a George Zimmerman.)
But back to the encampment--I could see the garbage piling up behind the fence and even spotted one tent getting burglarized. I finally complained to the rental office, and they said they already knew about it. Apparently that's why they had laid sharp rocks along the fence--to deter squatters--but clearly it didn't work.
I have a pretty long list of things that bother me in cities: squatters, litter, vandalism, crime, bad roads. People picking through garbage cans, panhandling, or urinating in plain sight. That's why I tend to disfavor policies that in my judgment, make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Ironically, those Occupy protesters who camp out in plain sight--I consider them a public nuisance.
Thanks to the G4 channel, I got to watch a couple of my favorite "Quantum Leap" episodes again. Namely the ones where Alia, the Evil Leaper, defected with Sam. What a downer, thinking that Alia could have set something wrong each time that Sam set something right. :P Anyway, I loved everything from their simultaneous leap (leaving two people in the waiting room) to the part where she leapt as a bullet passed through her (leaving ?? people in the waiting room). It's the only time I remember seeing what happens once the Leaper departs.
Update 6/22/2012: Make that twice...just saw a scene where Sam swapped places with a Mafia don and the original guy came back with no memory of the waiting room. And now that I think about it, I vaguely remember an episode where Lee Harvey Oswald leaped back in.
Guess I'll have to wait awhile to see "Trilogy" again. That's the cool story arc where Sam had to save the same girl's life on three separate occasions: first as her father (the real father must've been mighty confused, taking Sam's place under a collapsing ceiling), second as her fiance, and third as her defense attorney. (Interestingly, the actress who played her went on to guest star as Trudy in "Monk" and Jan in "The Office".) Always bothered me that the show never resolved that HUGE loose end regarding Sam's biological daughter, whom he ultimately rescued from a "horrible" fate of writing computer manuals. :P
Also bugged me that the show never explained the origin of Lothos, the Evil Leaper supercomputer, and why it couldn't just send an Evil Leaper back in time to destroy Ziggy (the Quantum Leap supercomputer). Unless...what if Lothos was actually the future version of Ziggy? Sigh, so much material for a Quantum Leap spin-off or movie. :)
In other news, congratulations to LeBron James for finally winning that elusive NBA championship!
Started noticing movie theater advertisements for a "Dark Knight" Marathon, featuring the first two Dark Knight films followed by a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises". Probably won't last nearly as long as the Avengers Marathon ("Iron Man", "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man 2", "Thor", "Captain America", and "The Avengers"), but I'll probably still skip it. :)
I pencilled some new films to see this year based on the winners from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival:
Unlike the foreign language Oscar, which in my opinion favors safe films whose messages satisfy the "lowest common denominator", the Cannes films tend to strike me as atmospheric and edgy.
I managed to see an evening screening of "Madagascar 3" that had only one kid in the theater. I'll never forget that time I saw "Ice Age 3" and a loud kid behind me kept exclaiming obvious things, like "There's Diego!" and "Dinosaur babbbbbbies!!" Ever since then, I've tried to avoid matinees for family films. :)
In other news, my British currency finally arrived at the bank. At first glance, the bills have Queen Elizabeth on them. I dread how they'll look once Prince Charles becomes King. :P
Although I don't consider myself a huge sports fan, I've found the past few days of sports news unusually interesting:
I liked that Monica Seles presented the trophy--not just because she inspired Sharapova, but because they both excel at "shot grunting". Curiously, Sharapova appears to have the dropped that serve ritual with the hair-brushing, and almost speaks like an American teenager now (using slang like "sick").
On a lesser note, Video Games Live had a meet & greet for "Video Game Player of the Century" Billy Mitchell. I actually have to give the guy credit. After that "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" documentary brutally villainized him, he actually stepped it up and played in public to successfully retake the Donkey Kong record. (Of course, someone named Hank Chien broke it about three years later; then five months later Mitchell retook it; then two months later Steve Wiebe reclaimed it; then Hank Chien beat them all five months later...it never ends.)
SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my current thoughts on the "Dexter" series after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll down until after you have watched SEASON SIX of "Dexter"!
Ever since I became a fan of "Dexter", I've role played in my head what would happen if Debra discovered Dexter's secret. I concluded that if Dexter ever wanted Debra to trust him again, he'd have to come clean and tell the whole truth. After much deliberation, I came up with the following recommendations:
And hopefully, Dexter won't need to remind her that he twice saved her life. :)
Interestingly, I used to dread what would happen once Debra discovered Dexter's secret. But thanks to that incestuous "jump-the-shark" scare, I ended up welcoming the sixth season cliffhanger. :P My prediction about how Debra will react: she'll think that he's not being himself (that maybe stress and/or Rita's death got to him) and tell him to drop the knife. She might puke too. But I don't think she'll draw her gun on him. She certainly won't turn him in--otherwise, no more show. :) I figure that for the duration of season seven at least, she'll go about trying to "fix" him. They might even reverse roles so that she'd now have to take care of him the way that he took care of her.
I'm really looking forward to the seventh season. With actors like Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter, the season has the potential to outshine them all.
Did I ever mention my favorite episode of "Dexter"? "Left Turn Ahead", the one where Dexter hit one of the lowest points of his life and actually reached out to Debra. In short, Dexter a) considered abandoning his code because of the shame that his Dad ultimately felt for it, and b) considered turning himself in. But in one of Debra's finest moments, she convinced him to decide who he wanted to be and to "ride it out". At that point, I basically credited Debra with saving Dexter's life--because let's face it, he would've gotten a lethal injection or life in prison for sure!
SEASON 7 SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my thoughts on each season 7 episode after the photo below. Warning! Do not scroll past the titles of episodes that you haven't watched yet!
Update 7/17/2012: Watched Showtime's sneak peek of the first two minutes of season 7. My reaction: I felt bad for Debra. I felt that Dexter failed her. Not just because he poisoned her most treasured positive relationship, but because he continued to lie to her (against my advice). And badly, at that--he sounded so cold and rehearsed. If she ends up believing that BS, then that's straight-up denial.
On the other hand, she did draw her gun on him (which I didn't anticipate), so I guess I can't blame him for his "deer in the headlights" tap-dancing (even stooping to that awful lie about Rita). But he must know that she'll find out more sooner or later.
Update 10/1/2012 ("Are You...?" spoiler alert): Watched the season 7 premiere, and actually had trouble sleeping afterward. Haunting, man. Were Dexter and Debra really having those conversations? So surreal that my brain had trouble processing them.
Update 10/8/2012 ("Sunshine and Frosty Swirl" spoiler alert): Second episode of season 7 seemed lighter. Debra's best line ever: "You're a sick f***." Felt a tad annoyed about her flippancy toward the Dark Passenger, but I cut her a lot of slack. :) Also felt a bit disappointed that Dexter didn't fill Debra in on any of his high-profile killings (did he confirm to being the Bay Harbor Butcher off-camera?)--but as they say in sales: once you close a deal, stop talking. Side note: I noticed going back to season 5 that in addition to murderers, Dexter now seems ok with killing jerks too.
Update 10/15/2012 ("Buck the System" spoiler alert): Nice try Dexter, but I felt that Debra's point about the blood slide trophies scuttled your entire argument. Dang this season's good.
Update 10/22/2012 ("Run" spoiler alert): Did Debra accept Dexter's Dark Passenger already? I've really come to enjoy those confrontational "back alley" conversations between them. Are you even capable of love? Ouch. I like how Debra finally brought up Trinity (though I noticed Dexter didn't come completely clean about that as I seem to recall he misdirected the police and even foiled Trinity's suicide attempt). I'm surprised she hasn't asked about details on Doakes or the Ice Truck Killer. All in all, I concluded that Dexter shouldn't volunteer any more secrets unless absolutely necessary, like for instance, how their Dad committed suicide because of him.
Update 10/29/2012 ("Swim Deep" spoiler alert): Dang it, what a liability Dexter has become for poor Deb. I'm glad she rebuked him for misleading the police, because I always hated it whenever he did that. She STILL didn't ask him about Doakes, so maybe she never will.
Update 11/5/2012 ("Do the Wrong Thing" spoiler alert): Disappointed by the conversation (or lack of) about Lumen. Debra made it sound shady without knowing all the facts, Dexter failed to give her all the facts, and neither one even acknowledged the mind-blowing part where Debra let them both go. Also disappointed in Dexter himself: breaking his evidence tampering promise to Deb, disingenuously flirting with Hannah, and betraying his own vow to kill murderers the first chance he gets (though maybe I can give him a free pass on that last one).
Update 11/12/2012 ("Chemistry" spoiler alert): Dexter blackmailing Sal Price with Jamie within earshot? Isaak chatting with Dexter in front of a police tail? Debra setting up a hit? I would say this show is getting carried away...had I not thought that already. :) By the way, what a diss to Rita if Dexter is indeed falling in love for the first time.
Update 11/19/2012 ("Argentina" spoiler alert): I have to say this episode started off on the wrong foot when the "Previously on Dexter" segment teased the return of the incest angle. Hopefully they've cleared the air, and won't ever speak of it again. Hmm...that part near the beginning where Dexter turned down Debra pretty much mirrored what I was thinking.
Update 11/26/2012 ("Helter Skelter" spoiler alert): Quite the anticlimactic exit for Isaak. Wonder if that makes Hannah the season's villain?
Update 12/3/2012 ("The Dark...Whatever" spoiler alert): Craaazzy. Not the "twist" where Dexter broke code to kill a scumbag...that was business-as-usual. :) I mean the part where he turned over the Phantom Arsonist (a man who heard his voice) to the police (what!), Debra's spiral into prescription medication (which I don't blame her one bit for--personally, I feel like Dexter owes it to her to try to kill less), the development where LaGuerta and Matthews made Dexter their top suspect (flawed characters but definitely outside of Dexter's code), and Debra and Batista following up on a witness who could implicate Hannah and destroy Dexter's happiness! What will happen next?? I feel like Dexter's disciplined life spun out of control this season, and I like it.
Update 12/10/2012 ("Do You See What I See?" spoiler alert): This episode made me unhappy, as I felt that the ruination of Dexter's bright future could've easily been avoided had a) Dexter explicitly warned Hannah against poisoning Debra, or b) Debra just backed off. Then again, who are we kidding? We all know Dexter can't have a happy ending--that's the cruel irony of this show.
Update 12/17/2012 ("Surprise, Motherf**ker!" spoiler alert): Duuuude...great as this finale was, I think it might have scarred me for life. :P I felt like Debra died before my very eyes, condemned to Hell because of Dexter. Remember when I called Dexter a good brother? I take that back. I fear he's beyond redemption now. :( Update 2/11/2013: To clarify why I'm mad at Dexter, I believe he broke his code. Maybe not the letter of it, but definitely the spirit of it. Furthermore, I considered his "gotta protect Debra" rationalization a poor one--given that he was the one responsible for her situation!
SEASON 8 SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my thoughts on season 8 after the photo below.
Update 4/25/2013: Watched Showtime's sneak peek of a cereal aisle scene in the eighth and final season of "Dexter". Man, was Dexter really that oblivious to why Debra hates him? I guess in my head, I role-played him saying apologetic things like "I failed you as a brother" and "I don't expect you to forgive me". Maybe coming from a sociopath, that would sound insincere. Update 5/1/2013: Awesome promo videos online for season 8. One shows a time lapse of Dexter, and another shows a time lapse of Debra. Basically, both characters start out beaming and then...deteriorate.
Update 7/12/2013: Man, that Dexter's becoming a real menace. And for Dr. Evelyn Vogel to extol him shows that she's too good to be true. :)
Update 7/22/2013 ("Scar Tissue" spoiler alert): Entertainment Weekly totally spoiled that scene for me where Debra pulled Dexter out of the car. I had no idea how the car would end up in the lake though, despite that glaring clue in the "Previously on Dexter" segment. Funny how disappointed I am in Debra even though Dexter probably deserved all that and worse. For some reason it's hard to stay mad at him. :P As for Jamie's new friend, I don't think she's Dexter's type. Unlike Debra's "date men who aren't Dexter" complex, Dexter simply seems to prefer blondes. :)
Update 7/29/2013 ("This Little Piggy" spoiler alert): That's unprecedented how (justifiably) mad Dexter got at Debra. I actually felt like he forgave her too quickly, even though I did think he should forgive both her and Vogel eventually. After all, where else is Dexter going to find people who can be trusted with his secret? Side note: Way to channel Jason Voorhees. :)
Update 8/6/2013 ("A Little Reflection" spoiler alert): I see Dexter remembered the steak dinner in which Debra inadvertently talked him out of turning himself in. That's when she made that comment about the steak being "worth living for". (I only remembered that because it came from one of my favorite all-time episodes.) In contrast, Dexter seems to have forgotten what happens when he spares peoples' lives...again. :(
Update 8/13/2013 ("Dress Code" spoiler alert): Still feels like season 8 is playing it safe. I don't see them building toward a big series finale yet. Plus now that we're up to five different characters who have accepted Dexter's secret, Dexter included, I feel like this series has grown tepid.
Update 8/19/2013 ("Are We There Yet?" spoiler alert): Good riddance to that protégé storyline...although Dr. Vogel seems like the top suspect, I find it implausible that she'd have the strength to bludgeon Cassie to death. Cassie's self-proclaimed boyfriend, on the other hand, sure makes me suspicious given that I don't recall Cassie ever acknowledging any kind of romance between them. As for Dexter and Hannah, I get sad thinking about their doomed love affair. But who knows--in a show known for its twisted irony, they might actually live happily ever after.
Update 8/27/2013 ("Make Your Own Kind of Music" spoiler alert): It now seems highly unlikely to me that Dr. Vogel will survive past the series finale. Not sure Hannah will survive either, unless the show goes with a black comedic ending. I feel sorry for Debra...after everything she's done for Dexter, he hardly confides in her at all (in stark contrast to Hannah).
Update 9/9/2013 ("Goodbye Miami" spoiler alert): Dang, the final season of "Breaking Bad" has been so phenomenal that it's made the final season of "Dexter" seem boring by comparison!
Update 9/16/2013 ("Monkey In A Box" spoiler alert): Argh! This Dexter's gotten soft, and I don't like it one bit. I also hate how he and Debra restored their old relationship as if LaGuerta never happened. P.S. Good to see Rita's friend again. I always wondered what happened to her after the wedding.
Update 9/23/2013 ("Remember the Monsters?" spoiler alert): Worst "Dexter" episode ever. It's a travesty what the writers did to Debra. Utterly senseless. And why was Dexter's monster taking the blame when it was his humanity that caused it! After that choice he made at the end, I felt like I had suffered through Dexter's season of "Kumbaya" for nothing.
Update 9/24/2013: Here's how I would have ended "Dexter": first and foremost, I would not let Debra get over LaGuerta. In my alternate ending, Debra would finally resolve to stop Dexter (like maybe he causes Batista's death too or something) and corner him at a cliff. But then Dexter, out of remorse, would jump to his own death instead...his body never to be found.
...but not everyone (especially House) truly lives!
Did anyone catch House's inside joke to "Dead Poets Society"? It co-starred Robert Sean Leonard--the same actor who plays Wilson--and in the context of the "House, M.D." series finale, put an ironic twist on "Carpe diem!"
Interesting how intellectual the finale was after such an emotionally draining penultimate episode. If I ever had to eulogize House, it'd have to be a roast because coming up with even one redeeming quality would stump me. :(
Also if I were House, I'd be deathly afraid of oblivion. And I wouldn't find a life dedicated to solving puzzles very satisfying either. He should try living vicariously. :)
P.S. I still find it odd how pretty much every woman in House's life came back, including Stacy (Sela Ward), but not Cuddy.
As for the "Awake" series finale, I found that ending completely illogical...but can live with it. I initially thought that they must've just tacked the scene on--but apparently, according to the show's creator, they shot it long before cancellation.
I concluded a couple of things about the "Awake" series before I gave up trying to decipher it (minor spoiler alert):
To my discomfort, the plot never explained why the aliens came to Earth, and why they only seemed to target machinery. I'm not even convinced that the aliens meant harm, given that hostilities only flared whenever the Navy opened fire. For all we know, the aliens felt really indignant that Earth invited them with a beacon only to wage war upon them. Stay after the credits. Rating: 4
It gave me mixed feelings to hear that the 25th season of Survivor, "Survivor: Philippines", will seed each of three tribes with one past medical evacuee. Might as well just call it "Survivor: Do we have to suffer another season with Colton?" :) It'd be cool if Jonathan Penner returned at least.
A couple of my own suggestions for future Survivor seasons:
NBC cancelled "Awake". I wonder if that means that the upcoming season finale will leave the series open-ended. Here's how I think they should end it: make the "green" reality a dream (meaning Rex died in the car crash), and have Det. Britten live on in the "red" reality with his sweet wife (whom he can always have more kids with) and their future grandchild. :)
"House, M.D." ends next week too. I found the penultimate episode pretty heartwrenching. After House insisted that no afterlife exists, it dawned on me why he never resorted to suicide (dunno why it took me so long to make that connection). Personally, I never understood why House couldn't just get that leg amputated if the pain bothered him so much. But I guess curing House's misery would mean no more show.
I recently spotted a raccoon outside our cafeteria in broad daylight, raiding a trash can. Guess they're getting bolder.
SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my review after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll down unless you're ok with spoilers to the conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy!
Read book: "Mockingjay" (2010) by Suzanne Collins
Remember the good old days when all Katniss had to worry about were Hunger Games? :P
"Mockingjay"...bar none the most depressing novel I've ever read. I still can't believe that this young adult book, slated to become a PG-13 movie, delved into such gore, murder, and despair. To my discomfort, Katniss spent most of the book either traumatized, sedated, hospitalized, scarred, bloodthirsty, or completely suicidal.
I particularly hated how she kept throwing herself on the front lines...so much so that it hurt my enjoyment of the book. Finnick seriously ticked me off too, when he inexplicably volunteered to play "Hurt Locker". I felt like that whole Willy Wonka mission wasted lives and wasted time (both theirs and mine).
In others words, I felt like Katniss had nothing left to prove and indirectly got a lot of good people killed. Other than that...good book. :) Rating: 7
Crazy. "The Avengers" made over 200 million dollars in its opening weekend, and shattered the box office record set by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". The IMAX screenings, 3-D upcharge, and midnight showings no doubt helped. Unsuprisingly, Disney/Marvel has since green-lighted a sequel. I still feel bad for the Disney chairman who resigned over that "John Carter" flop. It's like, John who? Maybe the film could've done better had they stuck with the original title, "A Princess of Mars"?
SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my review after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll down unless you're ok with spoilers to the Hunger Games sequel!
Read book: "Catching Fire" (2009) by Suzanne Collins
Remember the good old days when all Katniss had to worry about was starvation? :P
I found the book title's metaphor apropos, as that heinous Capitol really made my blood boil (to the point where I even had trouble sleeping). They need to burn that Capitol to the ground--that's all there is to it.
Overall, I felt that the novel started slowly but then got awesomely good in the second half. Much as I hate those Hunger Games, I couldn't help but admire how fascinating that the 75th annual games were. Like one big puzzle from the pattern of the deathtraps to the Tributes' bewildering (and heartbreaking) acts of self-sacrifice. Hopefully, the movie will help clarify all that mayhem at the end.
Katniss and her once-cute tendency to assume the worst actually vexed me this time around. It's like, just report the facts and stop biasing them with your negative, teenage conclusions. :P Eventually, I found her thoughts so dark and fatalistic that I seriously began worrying about her mental stability. But given that I'd probably suffer a nervous breakdown one mile in her shoes, I tried not to judge her too harshly. :)
In conclusion, it seems pretty clear to me that Katniss should pick Peeta over Gale. Even though I often gagged at Peeta's lovesick comments, I found his speech about the locket downright moving. Rating: 9
I saw "The Hunger Games" yet again, this time in Cinemark XD. Ever since I read I book, I've found myself appreciating the movie more and more. In fact, I could even argue that Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss gave me more insight into the character than Katniss' own words!
I still find all that suffering in Panem rather poignant, and think that it really speaks to the human condition. I also felt that the film did a lot of things well:
I'm currently reading "Catching Fire" bit by bit. It's not like the first novel where I couldn't put it down--however, thanks to my lack of willpower, I'll more than likely be done by the time London rolls around. :P
As part of Best Buy's closure of 50 stores in 2012, looks like one of my favorite stores will permanently close next month. It's going to get harder and harder to buy WWE DVDs. :P
In one bit of good news, a new Seattle's Best Coffee store opened near my apartment. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder because man their classic mocha tasted good.
Now that Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE, I'll have a hard time suspending disbelief that anyone on the roster can beat him. Actually, I had trouble suspending disbelief even before he won the UFC Championship. The guy looks like a hulking freak of nature.
I compiled a new list of coming attractions that interest me in 2012:
SPOILER ALERT: Instead of hiding everything with a spoiler tag, I appended my review after the graphic below. Warning! Do not scroll down unless you're ok with Hunger Games spoilers!
Read book: "The Hunger Games" (2008) by Suzanne Collins
Now I understand why "Hunger Games" fans flocked to the midnight screenings. I found this novel so addictive that I read all 374 pages in less than two days!
The main character Katniss impressed me and struck me as a great teenage role model. Granted, she did seem sullen, hostile, and cynical--but I admired how deeply she inspired people without even trying to. I also respected how she and Gale provided for their starving families even if it meant jeopardizing themselves more and more at Reapings.
Thanks to the book's first person narrative, I finally got valuable insight into her fiercely guarded thoughts. Namely:
The movie followed the book pretty closely except for all those new cinematic scenes outside of the Hunger Games that Katniss might have imagined, but never could have witnessed. Also, my favorite parts differed. In the movie, I couldn't forget that heartbreaking scene where Katniss, looking very vulnerable, entered the elevator tube. In the book, it moved me how the crowd at Katniss' Reaping refused to applaud and instead raised three fingers (a gesture of deep respect that the movie neglected to explain).
Other details I found noteworthy:
In conclusion, I look forward to the next two novels in the trilogy and plan to read them during my London flights. Rating: 9
Great weather at the outdoor venue for WrestleMania XXVIII (28). No issues with sunburn, humidity, rain, or wind. Helluva show, too. I honestly could not predict whether The Rock or John Cena would win. Had the match occurred anywhere else but The Rock's hometown, I probably would have predicted Cena.
Even though I always favored The Undertaker to extend his winning streak to 20-0, the false finishes still kept me riveted. Awesomely emotional ending where they all left arm-in-arm. It took me a long while to come down from something so weighty. To all the critics out there who think Undertaker should retire, what'chu talkin' bout? These past few WrestleManias, he's been having the best matches of his career!
I found it curious how the WrestleMania crowd kept chanting Daniel Bryan's "Yes! Yes! Yes!" proclamation instead of Ric Flair's "Wooo!" I heard "Yes! Yes! Yes!" the entire time I was waiting in line; I heard "Yes! Yes! Yes!" the entire time I sat in Sun Life Stadium waiting for the show, and I heard "Yes! Yes! Yes!" throughout the show. Tragically, Daniel Bryan ended up jobbing in possibly the shortest World Heavyweight Championship Match in WrestleMania history.
In conclusion, that marks my last WrestleMania unless something astronomical happens like Stone Cold coming out of retirement. I think I'll mostly miss that payoff when I gingerly walk back to my hotel room and gorge on the food and drinks that I purchased beforehand.
Earlier this evening, I met WWE legend Mick Foley in person at a WrestleMania Axxess autograph signing. Dressed in a suit and tie, he sleepily autographed a photo of himself and our conversation went something like, "Nice to meet you." Then I broke a chair over him. Just kidding.
WrestleMania's almost here.
Time flies. The WrestleMania trip that I planned a year ago finally happens this weekend. My flight to Miami departs tomorrow. Here's a sneak peek of the stadium that will host WrestleMania on Sunday:
I liked how Woody Harrelson primed us for the villains' Elmer Fudd-type behavior by calling them arrogant--but apparently he neglected to mention that they'd turn out as dumb as doorknobs too. Why did they trust Peeta? Why did they booby trap their own supplies and then act all shocked when their supplies blew up?!
All in all, I enjoyed the movie even though I was less interested in the Hunger Games' outcome than I was in the Hunger Games' downfall. Side note: I'm glad the camera eventually stopped shaking.Update 4/7/2012: Raised my rating after watching the movie in IMAX and then in D-BOX. The D-BOX wasted my money though, as the only memorable motion effects came during the firestorm. Oddly, the chair reclined and slung forward anytime Katniss shot an arrow. Rating: 8
Not sure why, but nowadays when I see movies (particularly ones in San Francisco), I like arriving really early. As a result, I sometimes end up sitting all alone in a quiet theater. Which is fine--except for those rare occasions when a mouse mistakes the theater as empty, and begins zipping up and down the floor. A couple of weeks ago, a mouse actually approached me inside the Opera Plaza Cinema (and I could've sworn it was looking at me). I don't really mind mice...but just like in that movie "Ratatouille", they do make a place feel unsanitary.
Ever since The Rock returned to WWE, I've found his promos phenomenal. I'd go so far as to call them the best I've ever heard. Did his time in Hollywood improve his charisma? Does he have a team of joke writers? Does he read crib notes? Whatever the secret formula, John Cena desperately needs to follow suit. He's getting demolished out there.
This WrestleMania could go down as one of the greatest of all time.
Wonder what those coincidences between the two realities mean in "Awake"? I'm still watching it, hoping that the series turns a corner like "Lost" and "Babylon 5" once did.
I feel like "The Walking Dead" really stepped up in quality this season. Suddenly every episode got really good. It still shocks me whenever a character dies. I suspect that's why I still have trouble remembering their names--because I don't want to get too attached to them. Sometimes those teasers catch me off guard too. Although most of them follow the series chronology, once in awhile they show a scene from the past or a scene in the future. I guess that's their way of setting the tone for each episode.
P.S. Rick's son is going to grow up so screwed up.
Caught up on some of last year's movies. Been awhile since I saw a Shakespeare one. In all honesty, his words go right over my head. I once played Hamlet's father too, in high school. The interesting takeaway from that experience: that even though I recited my monologues word for word, I'm pretty certain that nobody in the audience understood any of it. They only seemed to remember the parts where my character's temperament flared and cooled.
Since then, I've forgotten all of my lines but one: "List, list, O, list!" It's the line that made the least amount of sense to me, and I had no clue how my character should deliver it. So...I just put my own spin on it.
Manono tribe? Ma-"dodo" tribe. I could probably write some tirade about why I consider their forfeiture of tribal immunity the stupidest move in all of Survivor history, but it's like--why even dignify it?
Remember two years ago when I starred in a zero gravity ad inside the March 15, 2010 edition of Forbes magazine? Well, that exact same ad appeared again in the February 27, 2012 edition of Forbes magazine. Can you believe the irony? The worst nausea of my life, when photographed, translated into a look of such unadulterated joy that the company made me of the face of zero gravity (and probably made millions of dollars off my likeness).
In other news...despite some mighty slim pickings, I finally negotiated a front row WrestleMania ticket. Granted, it cost more than any WrestleMania I've ever attended, but the two dream matches make it worth my while.
Hopefully this marks the last time I have to comb for a WrestleMania ticket. Aside from the anxiety of coming up empty-handed each day, it tortures me having to trust strangers. Although I only got ripped off a handful of times (and recovered what I lost in almost every case), I always carry this fear in the pit of my stomach that I'll receive an empty envelope--or like in that one case--an I.O.U. (Thanks to that I.O.U. fiasco, I now bypass any and all sellers that do not have the ticket in hand.)
Additionally, in the back of my mind, I worry about counterfeit tickets. But this one looks legit. I authenticated it by comparing it to a similar one on youtube. Side note: To all you Internet users who felt the need to film your WrestleMania tickets, I thank you. :)
On a final note, I think the WWE is engineering something special to hold the Hell in a Cell. Hope it doesn't collapse on top of me. :P
Sweet...I successfully predicted all six of the Oscar winners this time. That makes my record for the last three Oscar races (a.k.a. the races with nine or more Best Picture nominees) 17-1.
I felt particularly vindicated that I stood by Meryl Streep even when the odds began mounting against her. Ever since I had screened "The Iron Lady" at its midnight premiere, I could see a third Oscar in her grasp.
I also knew I had seen something special when I screened "The Artist". I would've been dismayed if another film (or George Clooney, for that matter) had won.
Finally, props to "A Separation". It marks the first and only time that I managed to screen a foreign language Oscar winner before it got nominated.
So far I like how "Survivor: One World" has started off. One camp of women and one camp of men, feuding on the same beach. Funny how the women actually expected the men to go on with the immunity challenge. If the men had agreed to that, I would've likened them to that earlier foolhardy tribe that threw one of their challenges and lost everything.
Also, I felt that the women deserved no sympathy after they blatantly reneged on the chicken agreement. It was one thing to swipe an axe or to steal some fire back when there was no rule against it--but it was another to renege on an actual good faith agreement.
Amusingly, the one constructive deal that come out of the feud, wherein the women got fire without having to give up a chicken, was criticized as "shady".
Which reminds me...I'm really starting to notice a recurring pattern in Survivor gameplay that I don't much like. The castaways seem to rush into a five-person alliance near the beginning, and then shave it down after the merge. Borrring. I can't quite pinpoint where that trend started. (I can pinpoint where the "find the hidden idol early" trend started, though: Russell.)
In other news, I tabulated the music video rankings for 2H 2011. "Yonkers" fared badly.
HELL...IN A CELLLLLL!
As they say in the wrestling community, a mark out moment! Well, not quite. I still need to get myself a WrestleMania ticket to actually see this match. But now I have every incentive to get one. Not everyday you see the two greatest Hell in a Cell specialists of all time settling who's better once and for all.
On a lesser note, we also have The Rock vs. John Cena on the card--or as I like to think of it, The Rock vs. poor man's Rock. :)
That match will undoubtedly headline the show.
I'll try wicked hard not to attend WrestleMania 29 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, even though The Rock hinted that he'd appear. I dread what that city's weather would be like this time of year. The WWE sure pushes its luck with these outdoor venues (the last outdoor WrestleMania I attended almost got poured on).
"House, M.D." ending this season? Good riddance. I can't stand the guy anymore. Just when I think he can't sink to a new low, he sinks to a new low. The most recent example: his indifference toward Chase in that last episode. Interestingly, that episode marks the third time where to my recollection, House actually apologized. But for me, an apology means squat if the person makes no effort to do better. By House's own admission, he'll never change.
I will give Dr. House one compliment, however: he makes the perfect cautionary tale for cynics like me. :)
Shocking--and yet, sadly, not shocking.
Currently listening to "One Moment In Time".
Looks like WWE wasted another potential WrestleMania match by airing it for free on TV: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan.
Other WrestleMania dream match opportunities that I felt the WWE wasted:
As for this upcoming WrestleMania, they need to book Undertaker vs. Triple H inside of Hell in a Cell. Make it happen WWE.
Side note: I loved Socko vs. Cobra at the Royal Rumble...that "dream match" hadn't occurred to me.
"Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Says who? :) That's what crossed my mind when I watched the open-ended series finale of "Chuck". Although I hardly followed the show, I personally felt that Chuck should never have let himself fall for that hedgehog of a spy. :)
Don't get me wrong--I think it's ok to love--I just don't think someone should addict themselves to it so passionately that they'll shrivel up and die without it. Like in my mind, careers fall in that category. I seriously think that Joe Paterno gave up living because he couldn't coach football anymore.
Over the weekend, the Directors Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild revealed their winners. So I'm now ready to disclose my own Oscar predictions for 2011:
Hope I fare better in my Oscar predictions than my Royal Rumble predictions. Yesterday I suffered my third consecutive loss.
Duh-nuh-nuh...duh...nuh-nuh-nuh. I scored myself a ticket to meet & greet Mick Foley the night before WrestleMania. Granted, I have no idea what to say to him--but it'll make for a great photo opportunity. Now I just need to secure a ticket to WrestleMania itself.
For this year's Royal Rumble Match, I predict Chris Jericho to win. He might even win without eliminating anyone, if the writers aibde by that shtick where he ostentatiously pumps up the crowd and then disappears.
Looks like I missed out on another Blindfold Match. From the year 2000 to now, I counted six Blindfold Matches in WWE. Five of them aired on TV unannounced. The one announced one actually took place less than an hour from my apartment...but tragically, it predated my decision to add Blindfold Match to my goals list. :(
In other news, I once again managed to screen every 2011 Best Picture nominee announced by the Academy. I'd rank them as follows:
Pretty surprising that "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" made their cut.
Can someone explain to me why some people take pictures of themselves before a movie comes on? I simply don't get it. :(
Just like "All My Children", the "One Life to Live" series finale ended with a cliffhanger. Soap operas. I didn't know the characters, so I had to look up what the ending meant.
Funny how the Cirque du Soleil interpretation of Michael almost seemed like a parody. They had a mime and clowns imitating him, and a performer in a monkey suit scampering around. I think the giant sparkle glove, which danced and gestured to "Beat It", amused me the most.
All in all, quite the production. A lot of those acrobats and dancers seemed to defy gravity with ease. Rating: 8Kinda sucks when a fast food commercial comes on, and I can't even taste whatever they're advertising. But I take my New Year's resolutions pretty seriously. One time I swore off Mountain Dew, and lasted the entire year without a single sip. Then when New Year's came around again, I immediately downed a whole can.
The "Napoleon Dynamite" cartoon premieres this Sunday. Yessssss. Afterward, I'll probably end up talking like him for awhile. :)
Looks like Edwards Santa Maria 10 now shows all of its films in Sony Digital Cinema 4K. Sweet.
As my New Year's resolution for 2012, I resolved to avoid eating anything from a fast food restaurant. I hardly patronize fast food franchises anymore anyway, so I think I can accomplish the goal. But it'll mean giving up on some guilty pleasures of mine: the occasional strawberry shake, McDonald's breakfast sandwich, and McSkillet burrito. Two important exceptions: anything from Panda Express or the IBM cafeteria. I don't want to starve. :)
Best of 2011 | Worst of 2011 | |
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Events that happened to Steve |
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Movies |
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Songs |
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Music video | "Party Rock Anthem" LMFAO f/ Lauren Bennett | (tie) "The Lazy Song" Bruno Mars and "Yonkers" Tyler, The Creator |
TV series | (tie) "The Office" and "Survivor: Redemption Island" | "WWE Superstars" |
Commercial | Jack Link's Beef Jerky commercial where snackers go messin' with Sasquatch using sprinklers. | (tie) Cheerios commercial where blood pressure dieters sarcastically talk about the sacrifices of eating Cheerios, and Minute Maid commercial where airline employees pamper an orange juice drinker. |
Movie trailer | The Tree of Life
Honorable mentions: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Artist, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Dark Knight Rises |
(tie) Conan the Barbarian and Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D |
Dessert | Our Strawberry Blonde at Cold Stone Creamery | Pancake Puppies at Denny's |
Sucks when the theater shows a preview so good that it steals the thunder from the feature presentation. Specifically, my excitement for "Mission: Impossible" waned once I saw the trailer to "The Dark Knight Rises". :(
Update 12/21/2011: Caught "The Dark Knight Rises" prologue yesterday at AMC Loews Metreon. Unintelligible. :( I'm thinking Bane might need subtitles.
Actually had trouble sleeping after last Sunday's episode of "Dexter". I think I'm worried that after five great seasons, one of my favorite shows is about to jump the shark.
My misgivings actually started in the very first scene of season six. I felt that Dexter did something unusually reckless. From there, I began growing more and more critical of Dexter's risks--risks that I found pretty careless for someone who dedicated his whole life to avoiding death by electric chair/lethal injection. As the saying goes, "loose lips sink ships".
Update 12/19/2011: Man, what a sadistic way to end this arguably throwaway season. I have to wait 9 months now?? :(
If someone provoked me hard enough, I could see myself thinking much like the Charlize Theron character. :) I still remember a couple of occasions where someone called my job as a technical writer "boring". First of all, how rude do you have to be to call someone's livelihood "boring" right to their face. Second of all, I don't have to defend my career to some nobody (of course, I couldn't say any of that aloud because one of them was a little kid and the other one was closely related to an in-law). :)
So yeah, as a fellow writer I highly respected what the Charlize Theron character accomplished. Granted, her actual name on the cover might've given her ego more strokes, but I think people would've forgotten her either way. :)
Man, I hate it when movie patrons discuss spoilers as they're walking out of the theater. I find that making my eyes wander helps my brain to block the voices out. Telling myself not to listen doesn't seem to work for me. :P
Thinking back, it's a good thing I wasn't looking forward to "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn". I think Part 1 set some kind of spoiler record for me. First, a co-worker gave away the central plot twist; then I went on to see it in a magazine, an Internet article, and the official trailer. :P If that wasn't bad enough, the reception I heard in the audience when Bella pitched a certain baby name totally clued me in to its gender!
Despite huge gains in the U.S. stock market today and the eroding affect of inflation, I still haven't invested a large chunk of my life savings. Why, you ask? Well--ever since that last U.S. recession scare, I grew attached to the comforting notion that neither a market crash nor a bad investment could ever take that money away.
Hmm...we're almost midway through the second season of "The Walking Dead", and I still don't know what that scientist whispered to Rick Grimes (last Sunday's episode torpedoed my top theory). The show's ok, but often times I get the urge to smack a character because I feel they lack vigilance or talk too freaking much--particularly the ones that get all melodramatic.
Update 12/1/2011: It still shocks me how no one in that show seems safe. Hate to say it, but that Shane character seems like a necessary evil.
Amusingly, I correctly predicted the #1 worst airport in CNN's countdown: Chicago O'Hare International Airport. I can't even remember how many times I got delayed there--it actually got to the point where I stopped booking connections through there.
Generally, I've observed that the morning flights seem less likely to get delayed or cancelled. Too bad I hate waking up that early. :)