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Monday, February 8th, 2010
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9:45 pm - room.
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yes. i saw it. i saw the worst movie ever created. i saw... The Room. directed by Tommy Wiseau. pretty darn horrible. but the best horrible movie i've ever seen. it's the story of a successful banker, about to marry his girlfriend, who is unfaithful to him.. getting the three main characters involved in a love triangle. pretty simple storyline right? how can you possibly mess it up? if you're tommy wiseau, then you definitely can.
the acting is worse than anything i've ever experienced. emotions are ALL bland. card/line reading is obvious. dialog is horrible. camera shots are shaky. props are inconsistent. there are five love scenes, two of which are exactly the same footage.
there is a monthly midnight screening of this movie in hollywood. it has gained a cult following from it's success from failure. people go in, and literally scream and laugh at everything on screen.
dont believe how horrible this movie is? check out the following clips:
  
clip one (left): main character goes to the roof in frustration because his girlfriend told people that he hit her. his best friend mark is already up there. and after the main character's hissy fit, he just goes along his merry day with "oh hi mark!" gotta love his accent.. "i did NAAHHT!!"
clip two (middle): the same characters at a coffee shop. you have to admire the flow of conversation. it's so natural. i mean, who doesn't just go to a coffee shop and talk about confidential banking work and sex life?
clip three (right): probaby one of the most popular lines in the horrible movie. everyone gets a kick out of it in the movie trailer. and here's the famous "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, LISA!!" line from the movie. if you can't feel the raw emotion that the main character is pouring out in this line, then you obviously have no soul. hahaha.
current music: Zac Brown Band † Where The Boat Leaves From [from "The Foundation"]
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| Saturday, February 6th, 2010
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6:31 pm - beast.
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anyone ever notice that disney's Beast is a chargers fan? check out his colors!
click to enlarge
maybe he can replace ladainian tomlinson for next season...
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1:39 pm - lost.
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for those of you LOST fans out there.. check out the crash flight from the very first episode compared side-by-side to the safe flight that they showed at the beginning of season 6!! pretty crazy!!
^click to watch
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| Friday, February 5th, 2010
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7:56 pm - voglio.
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a few years back, some of us barkada e-board heads went to rosarito mexico. while there, watching what seemed to be the mexican equivalent to our MTV, we stumbled upon a pretty intriguing video. tiziano ferro. italian pop singer. we watched his video for "Ti Voglio Bene" off his album 111, which after looking it up, i noticed was on sale everywhere in Mexico. heh. anyways, i ended up really liking that song. open up your ears and expand your musical horizon.. and take a listen:
click^
Tiziano Ferro - Ti Voglio Bene
and compare the chord changes to the roots f. erykah badu "you got me" and fugees' "ready or not". =D
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4:13 pm - rain.
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i noticed i've never photographed rain. considering it's pretty difficult to take my non-waterproof camera out into it, makes sense. but it also hasn't rained this much in so little time for at least a year or two. so i broke out my old (almost dusty!) camera and took a few shots of the rain from the comfort of my room:
  
  
(click to view larger)
view the set on flickr
it needs to keep raining. the air smells so crisp and clean. the mountains are left with beautiful white snow caps. it brings out the beauty in everything. and i can go out dealing with less idiotic people because everyone's staying in complaining about it. while my deepest sympathies go out to all those who were affected by the floods and tornadoes that hit california from the previous storms a couple weeks ago (yes, we did have tornados, not just warnings), i can still confidently say that i love the rain.
and disneyland has little to no lines!
current mood:  relaxed
current music: Jay Sean † Stuck in the Middle f. Craig David (Remix) [from "All Or Nothing"]
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| Thursday, February 4th, 2010
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11:13 pm - color.
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check out THIS VIDEO of some of the inital water fountain testing for the World of Color show coming soon(ish) at Disney's California Adventure. my pass will be expired by the time it debuts though...
 
(click for larger) more info...
current music: Jay Sean † Love Like This (Eternity) [from "All Or Nothing"]
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| Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
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1:46 pm - teppan.
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full day yesterday. meet up with gigz, then off to irvine to bring bk to work and get free boba at tapioca express. then uci to pick up some more cg heads. then off to disneyland to see them celebrate their 2nd place win at vibe. did something i thought i'd never. not only did we fully watch the abomination of a so-called 'parade' (Celebrate!: A Street Party), they got me to join in on the conga line. fail times 100! haha. but it was low-key kinda fun.... heh. and CLICK HERE to watch CG dancing along with some of the characters during the parade. other events include riding splash mountain in the cold and gigz and loradane getting stuck on the winnie the pooh ride because their lap-bars wouldn't release after the ride.
we then head out to tustin to celebrate Carissa's birthday at Kobe Teppan and Sushi. always a great time with teppan chefs. and that room was just full of bmod 08-09 alumni! such a great group of anti-drama people! i miss that! we must have more outings.
seems like some are out to do some damage control finally. good to see some initiative being taken. but there is quite a lot of damage to fix. and some of it is really quite unfixable.
P.S. i installed the new fancybox plugin into my site. pretty cool new way to view images/pages/videos in a webpage. still fiddling around with the scripts, but most links in this entry and my previous entry can showcase it's abilities.
current mood:  awake
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| Monday, February 1st, 2010
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3:22 am - land.
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click for larger
fun day at the parks today. picked up andrew and cicero. headed to the parks, first hit up california adventure. look for some hidden mickeys. head into the animation building and did everything except turtle talk. we drew dopey in the animation academy. headed into the redwood creek challenge trail. had quite the fun running around the ropes. then we go to the cove bar at ariel's grotto for some much needed alcohol! bump into johanna and her man there. witness a bunch of hilarious drunk people. almost forgetting we were at a disney park. got some catch-a-flave. rode screamin. rode mickey's fun wheel (swinging gondolas). rode toy story mania.
headed into disneyland once dca closed and entered as the fireworks were going off. watched great moments with mr. lincoln. got disgusted by miley cyrus. found the secret bathroom in plaza gardens. rode big thunder mountain. rode pirates. rode indiana jones. afterwards, jumped back in line without even exiting. andrew finally saw bones, the mickey ears-wearing skeleton. once disneyland closed, we took the tram back to the structure with the most hilarious tram skipper ever.
current music: Jerry Goldsmith † Soarin' Over California [from "Disneyland"]
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| Monday, January 25th, 2010
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1:47 pm - flashmob.
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on january 23 2010, an OC-based group called Random Acts Theater (their website still under construction), inspired by east coast's Improv Everywhere, did their first flash mob mission: Freeze at Downtown Disney.
for those who have lived under a rock for the past couple years, a flash mob is when a large group of people assemble in a very public place, perform an unusual action, then quickly disperse as if nothing happened. one of the first big flash mobs was the Freeze at Grand Central Station by Improv Everywhere.
orientation meeting
got word of the event from a facebook invite and got jean cicero and gigz to come along with me. gigz and i went to the mission briefing/orientation/introduction meeting at the Anaheim Garden Walk about an hour before the freeze. i'd say there were about 400+ people participating. they let us know of the logistics, what to do if something went wrong, and to synchronize our watches. then we all headed to downtown Disney where cicero and jean were waiting.. filled them in with all the info.
at exactly 4:00pm, about 80% of the population present at Downtown Disney froze in place.. time had stopped. it just so happened that the music at DTD was in between songs, so it got dead silent right when the freeze happened. our freeze pose was simple, just four regular people chilling at DTD. loved hearing what passerbys were saying as they walked around confused. "What's happening?!" "Why is everyone frozen?!" "What's going on?!" from reports, i hear the freeze extended all the way from ESPNZone to the other end of DTD. at 4:05pm, everyone went on as if nothing had happened.
found a video on youtube from one of the passerbys during the freeze: CLICK HERE TO WATCH. me gigz jean and cicero can be clearly seen at the 1:00minute mark!!
it was my first flashmob and a pretty good experience at that. it was nice to have seen so many different kinds of people and of different ages just coming together to perform this random act.
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| Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
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1:40 am - animal.
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i was going through my pictures and noticed i have a few good shots of various animals:
a meerkat from my trip to florida. let's call him timon?
rambo
jean's puppy, theodore
a dog that found our house and wouldn't leave, the owner finally came by looking for a lost dog =)
you all know our cat, kobe
a giraffe on my safari trip
and some not-so animals:
a wasp, looking at YOU!
daddy long legs
busy bee, doing his business
a fly... flying
more animals and insects.
current mood:  sleepy
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| Monday, January 11th, 2010
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2:18 pm - town.
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this is our town
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| Saturday, January 9th, 2010
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1:27 am - first.
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first post of 2010!
surrounded myself with good people to start out the new year. spent new years day at the grecia residence for the new years party / jay's birthday. had quite the time with games of B.P. and good food. watched some scary movies to end the night. both of which i wouldn't recommend: The Mist and Mirrors. not very good movies. but enjoyed the day and night.
 on the 2nd, i took my mom out to Pasadena for the Rose Parade Float Showcase. it is definitely something i would NOT RECOMMEND. one of the worst experiences i've ever had to endure in my life. once you park at one of the designated Park & Ride locations, you have to wait in a line of thousands of people to get your ticket. the line took about 1.5 hours in the beating sun (why it was so hot at the beginning of January, i have no idea). then right after you get your ticket, you have to wait in line for the shuttle, which was about 2 hours. the worst thing is that Pasadena makes you pay for this service. who would want to pay $10 to stand in a line for over 3 hours and almost die of dehydration? yes, there were a couple people who passed out and paramedics had to be called. once you get inside to actually view the floats, the crowding issue is just as evident. there are just way too many people for someone to simply go up to a float and look at the detail and really appreciate all the hard work that was put into it. the only thing you can do without getting run over by everyone is simply run up to it, and take a picture, and move onto the next float. doing so, you dont get to really soak in the details, and it only takes about one hour to see every float on display. 3+ hours to NOT really see floats for 1 hour? no thanks. Pasadena gets a million minus points for planning and executing this event so poorly.
that night, wanting to redeem myself of the horrible start of the day, met up with cesar cicero and andrew in buena park, then headed out deep into the valley for aj's birthday celebration. took more shots than i wanted thanks to aj's niece. and had a fun game of beer pong.
 celebrating continues onto the third! me andrew and cesar head out to disneyland! our first stop is Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure. i never knew they had a FULL BAR until a couple months ago. new spot for me! andrew cesar and i get about 3 drinks and share the awesome lobster nachos. maureen and cicero meet up with us and we all get another round of drinks. good buzz much? when andrew and i go downstairs to use the restroom, we stumble upon the thing where they keep all the paper crowns for the little kids. we took a bunch enough for all of us, and wore them for the rest of the day. disneyland royalty. we head back to disneyland in a semi-rush so we can make the last day of the holiday fireworks. they were awesome. at the finale, we had to make our way to the Rivers of America in time to get a good spot for the last showing of Fantasmic! before its hiatus till May. since we didn't have someone wait in a spot during the fireworks, all the front-row seating was filled, but i found the same spot on the bridge when i took my mom there for her birthday, which is a great center view. at the last big huge green firework bang of the finale, we headed over to Indiana Jones Adventure in time before the rest of the crowd gets there. most epic Indy experience ever. everyone was getting into the ride as if it was the most realistic thing ever. we head to the castle to take pictures with our royalty status crowns. then we do the castle walkthrough and cicero gets owned by the little scary goblin in the window. we end the night by riding Snow White and Mr. Toad. the two scariest rides in the park.
have a pretty full day tomorrow. brazilian barbeque at cynthia's. then cesar's birthday dinner at coconut bay. let's gooooo!
current mood:  excited
current music: Jay Sean † Cry [from "All Or Nothing"]
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| Thursday, December 31st, 2009
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1:00 pm - year.
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2010 is among us! and 2009 was quite a year. so here is my "year in review" entry. pretty much a month-by-month recap/summary of my year. pictures can be clicked to view a larger version.
January
started the year off with my family. first time in four years that all four of us were together during the new year countdown. but then not too long after, i joined some bModders at our mini-new year bash. the wolverine movie was soon to come out (even though that came to be a huge disappointment) so i went through a nostalgic/nerd chapter and got back into the x-men animated series from so many years ago. not to mention looking through my (complete) x-men card collections. froi had just turned 21 that december, so i bought him his first irish carbomb at bj's. fellow founding member, kyleen, decides to dance for bMod again. the twitter craze blows up after some of us had it for almost a year already.. both in a good and bad way (can we say: pointless horoscopes on twitter that are for the person to read, and not for everyone else to read?)
February
     
after sadly seeing TM get voted off America's Best Dance Crew, we were happy to welcome wobz back to hanging out and visiting practices once again. i got a parking ticket from leaving my car at the cpp village lot from a loser named 'kalem,' who, if you happen to know or see, needs to get smacked in the face. thanks. i also made a decision to shut a certain person out of my life. and so far, i've done so very well. this person was just a ball of negativity that i didn't need or want in my life.
March
     
march started off with the end of bMod's winter retreat (retreat spanned from the end of feb to the first day of march). it was just all sorts of awesome. the team really bonded. like crazy. and i established alex as my lilbro. bMod performed at the V.Ent awards which was the first big performance of a string of many performances to come. alex and jowena almost die of allergies at my sister's apartment becuase they were not smart like kat who stayed away from kobe. i parked my car at south campus for practice, both my and carissa's cars were broken into. no more parking there. also took a trip down to SD with vince carissa jackie arvin and bert for a party bus outing. during this month, i've also made the official switch from mozilla firefox to google chrome.
April
   
World of Dance was the big jump-off for april. one of my favorite performances ever. just that rush of performing, knowing we did well, and the crowd seriously loving the heck out of us. not too long after was fusion. i actually don't remember much about the competition because i wasn't really feeling the vibe of it. but we stayed at alex's home and had quite some fun (thanks manucals!) and that's really the only thing i remember of the whole trip. oh, i also got bit by alex's demon dog with an underbite, Charlie. meanie. back at home, we upgraded to verizon FiOS tv and internet. amazingly fast speeds and hdtv finally! but then... the wireless adapter in my HP laptop breaks. so i have to buy an external expresscard adapter.
May
     
in early May, we all get the news that Danny Gans, vegas' entertainer of the year.. of what seemed like every year, passed away. RIP. bMod performs at ultimate brawl. at the time, i didn't know it was going to be my last big performance with bMod. common ground's vegas set blows me away and takes the place of my #1 favorite set ever, bumping kaba's bustagroove 2005 set down to #2. also performed with bMod at level3, then the day after for our famous "hangover" performance. deciding to do a performance after a clubbing night was the worst decision ever. it was our worst performance ever (but we didn't care), and it was mine and jackie's last performance with bMod. way to end our reign right? but it's ok, i dont count it as a real performance. back at home, my mom and i decide to say goodbye to our two turtles: henry and bertha. maintenance was getting a bit demanding and expensive, so they now have a new home at the pomona fairplex lakes/ponds. we end may with a fun 'our town' vegas trip for memorial day.
June
     
bMod banquet: bMod board's official goodbye to the team, even though we'd be staying to help out for the rest of summer. very sad indeed. i also find out that my lilbro was moving back down to san diego. very sad indeed. the world is also shocked to have lost another legend, michael jackson. very sad indeed. RIP. bMod had auditions, the last that i'd be judging at, and we picked the summer team. i had also began contemplating getting a disneyland annual pass.
July
     
at the beginning of july, i decided to go through with it and get a disneyland annual pass. spent the 4th of july with my mom at home with barbecue and ribs. also had very numerous disneyland trips, going crazy with my new pass. biggest event of july? winning the online lottery for tickets to Michael Jackson's Memorial service. AWESOME event. got to see mariah, stevie, usher, john mayer, etc. perform. and was deeply touched by brooke shields and michael's daughter paris' eulogies. it was the perfect balance of mourning a loss, celebrating a life, and paying our respects.
August
   
a small handful of bModders to go vegas to start august. it was a trip a bit more chill than i had wanted.. a bit too chill actually. but still fun nonetheless. on the 6th, i take my mom out for her birthday to the disneyland parks. took her almost everywhere around disneyland and california adventure and got to see the fireworks and fantasmic; and she seemed to enjoy the whole day. bMod has a pool/movie party. set up the projector to play movies on niki's house while some of us swam and watched. pretty awesome. me, gigz, jowena, and kat spend alex's bday at disneyland with his parents. with september quickly approaching, i realized i was going to be letting go of something dear to me: bMod.
September
   
less than an hour before my birthday hits at midnight, i was very seriously offended. by people and individuals i trusted. without going into details, with some of those people, i've lost my respect for them forever. and a few others have since then gained it back. spent my birthday at none other than disneyland. but with a different crowd: mainly barkada. i had to leave early because of dinner with the family. where they presented me with my bday present. a brand new iphone! since then i've pretty much put my life on it and now i'm super dependent on it. bMod had a performance at level3. the first time jackie and i got to watch bMod. not too long later after, jackie and i presented who the new bMod board was, and with that, we were officially off bMod. very sad indeed.
October
 
leaving bMod really took its toll on me. it was straight culture shock not having to be at practices or running the team anymore. my laptop's gpu decides to die on me. rendering my screen useless. unless i disable the gpu and it renders any video card demanding processes on my computer useless. i start looking for a new laptop. spent some time hanging out with barkada a lot this month. chill/kickbacks at froi's. not to mention carving pumpkins with lauren, james, rodney, and erin. halloween party at hannah's. came out to be pretty dramatic. and i ended up taking froi home in his drunken stupor.
November
     
november started out horrible. had a really bad experience at a job interview. got a really bad case of the flu -- bedridden for a couple days and i was home alone. started distancing myself from barkada because a certain board member who barely knows me thought it was appropriate to violate and disrespect me, an alumni, in public.. whereas, if the tables were turned and i did the same thing to this person, i could have been arrested. pretty much, the lowest i've felt all year. but i thank jowena, and my ading froi, and grandings mark and james, for helping me get through the slump. got me looking at the positives again. by the time thanksgiving rolled around, i was okay. got my new lenovo y550 ideapad. spent time with good friends. then thanksgiving with the family. after thanksgiving, i woke up early to get to target by 4.30am, and scored myself a 500gb hard drive for only 60 bucks. woot.
December
     
this brings us to this month! my kuya linden came down to socal. was able to chill with him and my bestest elise. the paul james release party was a success and it felt good to perform once again, especially with fellow bMod alumni. a handful of bMod alums also take a trip to vegas and have a blast. me, hannah, jackie, kim, and j decide to stay an extra night. watched avatar, which came to be my top movie of 2009. gigz' little brother jay turned 17 and we celebrated by getting mad full at sizzler. then jay rented his first rated r movies. haha watch out. watched orphan and district9 when we got back.
so here's to 2010. let's hope for a job. and less celebrity deaths. and a great year in general. happy new year everyone!
current mood: excited
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| Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
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2:04 pm - christmas.
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kobe dressed up
the holiday has come and gone. we all spent it at my sisters' place in chino hills. had a big christmas eve lunch with movies playing all day. we decided not to go to the midnight mass and go to the 9pm one instead. the midnight one is just all too crazy crowded. but at the same time, that means i wouldn't see anyone i know, like last year, where i saw nick and virgil. but eddie was singing in the choir at the 9pm mass. we had a full-on text message conversation trying to get him to see where i was sitting during church haha. the fam gets back to my sisters' and give each other presents.
my sister and i got my mom an HP webcam. yeah, i hate HP, but this was an accessory, so i guess it's ok. we also got her a Snuggie. i got my sister the case mate id case for her iphone. since she only really carries around her phone, id, and debit card, it's a perfect fit for her. but i was sad to see that she had already gotten one, so now she has an interchangable id case, ha. also got her a set of four stemless wineglasses. we got my dad a Snuggie as well, and a skin/case for his netbook. which failed because due to a faulty case design, his netbook hinge broke, preventing it from opening. but he texted me yesterday saying that HP would cover it under warranty and it'll be out for a few weeks. but even though this seems to be a smooth HP customer service case, i still wouldn't recommend HP computers to anyone ever again.
my sister got me the ogio hip hop messenger bag for my laptop. heaps better than the target one i got myself. my mom got me a couple jackets. and i got cash from my dad.
the family
the presents around the tree
current mood: awake
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| Thursday, December 24th, 2009
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3:14 pm - avatar.
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on tuesday, i didn't know i'd be adding another movie to my favorites list.
started out meeting up with gigz, his brother jay, cynthia, her cousin, and danny at the brand new Buffalo Wild Wings in west covina. very nice location. easier for me to get to than the chino hills location. service-wise? not that great. but i'll give them some leeway because i could tell they were all new and still freaking out. my french fries order was practically ruined and i got no queso sauce. sadness in my face.
got back to gigz' place and played modern warfare a bit. jay and i struggled with the spec-ops mission "O Cristo Redentor" on veteran difficulty. but after numerous.. and i mean very numerous attempts, we finally cleared it. during which, we decided we should watch Avatar in IMAX 3D that night. i go home real quick to have dinner with my mom, then head back out to the Puente Hills AMC.
avatar
 i went into the movie not really knowing what to expect. from the trailers, i gathered that the movie was really out of the box. the plot and premise was so profound that i didn't know if it would settle well with the average audience. it seemed like the movie was trying too hard to be different.
so i sat down in the theater, put on my 3D glasses, and expected a visual and sensory experience with a lackluster and self-indulgent plot that would bore me or be so profound as to confuse me. that's not how it turned out.
Avatar is, in fact, a visual masterpiece and a sensory explosion in your face. but the story (while recycled like in Dances With Wolves or Ferngully), is done so well that you're literally put in the world of Pandora. sure, there are some weird plot holes and some of the dialogue is nothing more than bland, but James Cameron directed the movie in such a way that he's able to manipulate all the elements that make a movie great, and get you to ignore the small/nitpicky details that would usually make a movie a failed attempt.
a quick synopsis of the story (don't worry, there are no spoilers) is: humans are on an alien planet to obtain a rare mineral. a man is sent to live among the aliens disguised as one of them to help research and get insider information for the mineral. while living among them, he becomes attached to the alien race, and now has to juggle his differences between protecting his fellow human, or his newfound alien life. an all-out war ensues.
i don't like epic war movies much. well, it's not that i dont like them - i just never have the desire to watch them. and everyone who knows anything about me knows how NOT spiritual i am. but Avatar is heavily influenced by both. it is an epic and spiritual movie. but it was done so well that i enjoyed it to the fullest and it is know added to my list of favorite movies.
visually, as mentioned before, and as anyone would say, even if they for any reason didn't like the movie.. it is fantastic. hands down the best CGI i've ever seen in a film. much better than anything Pixar could do (and i love pixar!). with any other movie, even the ones where the CGI is done well, you can still tell the difference between the real and the fake computer generated images. but in Avatar, i found myself believing everything that was put on the screen. and at all times, i couldn't tell what was CGI or not. the live action and CGI sequences were that seamless. the cinematography is just plain stunning. you're introduced to an alien world, with things you've never seen before, but done so well that you could swear they could be real. the night scenes with the bioluminiscence of the plants is one of the most beautiful scenes i've ever laid eyes on. one thing though, i think i would rather watch the movie in 2D. the 3D was great at first, but once the movie really got rolling, i felt like the 3D worked against it. the images are so beautifully and well done, that i don't think it merits for the 3D novelty. in the latter parts of the movie, i started to even forget it was in 3D, and when i did remember, it came off as more of a distraction. but either way, 2D or 3D, i'm sure you'll still get a very good moviegoer experience out of the movie.
the characters were very well-rounded. you actually got to know each and every one and get emotionally connected to them. i felt so emotionally connected to the Na'vi race, that i almost found it hard to watch some scenes of their destruction. the only thing that bugged me regarding character development, was the fact that i felt that Jake Sully (human) and Jake Sully (Na'vi) seemed to be a bit too different personality wise. i felt like they were two separate characters at times.. unlike Dr. Grace's human and Na'vi counterparts who worked seamlessly together as a single person.
the plot deals with a lot of spiritualism. so much that one can argue that it brings in religion into the picture. but either way, the message that the movie succeeds to convey is good -- and while political, something we need to get into our heads.
james horner hopped onto the boat to compose the score. and well played. we need musical sounds that are just as epic as the scenes we see and the message it shoves in your face. while you don't hear a recurring theme like the cameron/horner pair did in Titanic, you still get that majestic larger than life feeling when pairing horner's music with cameron's direction. at times you expect celine dion's voice to erupt over the sounds, but it never happens. instead, you get a ballad from leona lewis during the credits. which isn't too far-fetched. she's a vocal powerhouse too.
in all, while the film does have some quirks here and there, they are so small compared to the hugeness and the epicness in visuals, sounds, and overall message, that you learn to ignore them. avatar gets an A from me. two thumbs up. 4.9 out of 5 stars. whatever your scale is. is it the best movie of the decade as many say it is? i wouldn't go as far as saying that, but top 10 for sure... but is it a great movie alone? yes. one of my favorites.
some stills from the movie to give a gist of how epic-ly beautiful the imagery is (click for larger):
the planet Pandora's famous Hallelujah Mountains aka "floating mountains"
Neytiri teaching James a few skills.. aka flirting.
and it's christmas eve. have a merry christmas everyone! be safe out there and enjoy!
current mood:  geeky
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| Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
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12:41 pm - vegas.
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went on a trip to vegas with some of the bmod alum. it was great! a much needed one since my last trip was a bit more chill than i expected.
hannah, jackie, and kimbo went early on friday and got settled into the room (and had a fun girls night out on their own). while the guys (me, gigz, peig, ma, robrob, j) met up later on friday since we all had stuff to take care of. after a pretty long trip up, we finally arrived to our room at the Palazzo around 6am. ouch. but we all attempted to sleep through the rest of the morning. i was pretty unsuccessful. we all finally "woke up" on saturday and decided to have lunch at the Fashion Show Mall Food Court.
"Fashion show! Fashion show! Fashion show at lunch!"
after a quick round of shopping, some of the guys went back to the room to take a quick nap since we failed at sleeping the morning before. woke up in time to celebrate the rest of the night out! the guys' car left first so we could pick up mr. RJ at bally, then we headed out for dinner at the Firefly Restaurant on Paradise. we were getting there around the peak hour for dinner, so i was expecting crowds and a long wait. the place was definitely crowded, but to my surprise, when i asked for seating for a party of 10, we got seated right away at the lounge! my favorite place in Firefly to eat! got myself the baby back ribs, the filet mignon sliders, and of course, the firefly fries with aioli.
the guys at firefly.
we headed back to the hotel to pre-party. set up a beer pong table and had a mini-tournament. i won the prelims against RJ. and he got owned. he ate too much at Firefly and the rapid drinking of beer pong caused him to lose and throw up. pwn3d. but in his defense, he didn't throw up out of weaksauce drinking. he was just too full.
the guys with our beer. can't do vegas without the traditional elevator shot.
rj gets pwn3d by me at beer pong. loses the game. then throws up. fail.
we finally head out to the strip. hannah, j, and kim stayed back at the hotel to handle some stuff.. on the other hand, our first stop: Rockhouse. got my first 80oz guitar! shared it with gigz. had a pretty good one going as we walked around. i didn't get too crazy though. good times. headed back to the hotel for some chill talks then finally headed to sleep.
sunday, we all get up, and finally check out of our hotel room. original plan: meet up with Mel and KJ to watch the Chargers game at RA Sushi at the Fashion Show Mall, then head home. the game ended up being a more epic win than expected. so we wanted to celebrate. decision for me, jackie, hannah, kimbo, and j: stay another night in Vegas!!
we saw the other guys' off for their trip home, then we dropped our stuff off at KJ's room, also at the Palazzo. then headed out for an early night. first stop: Planet Hollywood for some Fat Tuesdays! it was Kimbo and J's first times! got myself a strawberry 44oz. walked around the PH shops a little, then we got to Pinks!. had myself the Bacon Burrito Dog: 2 hotdogs, with chili, cheese, and bacon wrapped in a large tortilla. freaking amazing. had ourselves a grand ol' time. the walk there and back to our hotel was incredibly far. so when we got back to our room, we decided to rest a little before heading back out. fail time 10000! we all ended up resting a bit too much and slept through the night. but i was satisfied, we all had a great time.
the ones that stayed behind. an early, but fun night!
morning hit, and we gathered our stuff for our journey home. stopped by Jack in the Box as we headed out.. the only place we could afford after all our fine dining experiences from the weekend, haha. and it just so happened to be the place for all the Las Vegas Crazies to be. we were creeped out so we ate in our car. finally headed home with a traffic-filled 5-hour drive.
i need more weekends of this caliber. but with a lot less spending involved. =D
current mood: great
current music: Jay Sean † Down f. Lil Wayne [from "All Or Nothing"]
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| Monday, December 21st, 2009
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11:32 pm - pj.
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thursday night = paul james clothing release party. 909 performs. bMod performs. and bMod alumni performs. quite awesome and fun. i missed that performance feeling. i didn't get too crazy afterwards considering i had a vegas trip to save money for the following day, but here are a few pictures:
the paul james project. bMod alumni performers.
  
me and paul james himself. me and jowena. me and rjsters.
more bMod alumni!
best of luck to the paul james clothing line!
-vegas update to come tomorrow.
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| Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
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2:13 am - whatsinmybag.
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a lot of members on flickr do this thing where we empty out our daily bags and take a picture of everything we normally carry around. considering the winter storm we just had leaving the mountains a beautiful and angelic white, i decided to do it with my snowboarding gear. but since these are a lot larger than what can fit in a bag, they are all individual shots.
this is the bag itself. my k2 biosonic backpack. it has speakers built-in to the straps so i can hook up my trusty ipod shuffle and listen to my music without it being so loud like earphones where i cant hear the person next to me. makes for a nicer ride up the mountain on the lifts too. for me and the people i'm with.
my 686 pants. nothing much to say here.. other than the fact that i need to spray on some more water resistant stuff on it. now where is that bottle.. ?
my empyre bonded fleece jackets. switch between gray and black randomly. super light, but warm. usually sufficient enough for normal snowboarding conditions.
american eagle snowboarding jacket. i actually don't wear this very often at all. i only put it on if the conditions are going to be wetter than desired. my empyre bonded fleece jackets are usually sufficient for normal snowboarding use.
burton woven beanie. and my seirus face mask. comes in handy when there are those intimidating signs out on the mountain that say "WARNING: NO EXPOSED SKIN"
my burton moto boots. not the best looking boots ever, but they make up for it in comfort and functionality. speed laces save me a lot of time and effort when booting up.
my dakine gloves. i love the ease of putting these things on. pulling on a couple straps gets them tightly fitted. and the built-in wristguards have probably saved me a few times already. discount courtesy of cesar.
my MEGABLASTER! mult-tool that me and rk got from skidazzle a couple years back. this thing is actually really useful when needing to make some last minute adjustments or tightening a loose screw.
oakley a-frame goggles. after ditching my cheap-O goggles, these things felt like heaven on my face. perfect fit. wide view. discount courtesy of cesar. i'd like to upgrade my lens to black iridium though sometime in the future..
my burton P1 bindings. got them at skidazzle a bit ago. most comfortable bindings i've worn yet. these make me really feel connected to my board. a lot more than my previous ride bindings did. really like the under-toe strap that really keeps my boots secured on the board.
and my board! my burton cruzer 151. been with me ever since i started getting into boarding. and it's still doing quite well. someday, i'd like to upgrade, but money is not the thing to be throwing around right now.
the snowboarding season looks like it's off to a strong start! a single storm brought in feet of snow at bear/summit! with another storm on its way :D
current music: Timbaland † Morning After Dark f. Nelly Furtado & SoShy [from "Timbaland Presents: Shock Value II"]
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| Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
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4:16 am - recent.
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haven't updated in a while event-wise.
i was finally able to hang out with kuya linden and the bestest elise last wednesday. i met up with linden in chino hills, then we headed out to elise's work in newport beach. she showed us her twilight-ified office. we then headed out for some soooosheee. linden spoiled me by paying for my meal. woot. afterwards, linden and i went to bevmo to find a beer to bring home and try while we watched glee. by the way: linden has hair now... wtf!?
kuya with hair.
then friday was gilbert's little shindig. by the time i got there he was plastered and throwing up in a sink. gilbertfail. he passes out and everyone draws on him. but somehow he wakes up and can enjoy the company for a little bit.. before passing out again. BUT an awesome event happened that night. five generations of kuyas and adings were present. kevin, his kuya mark, mark's kuya froi, froi's kuya which is me, and my kuya linden. lineage.
generations.
saturday was huy's dinner at joe's sushi. i guess i can consider myself a regular there now considering i'm always welcome with hugs from the waitresses and high fives with the main chef.. and free alcohol.. waitress julie was kinda drunk and tried getting me to dance with her. it was really awkward. so she tries to bribe me with alcohol by pouring sake into my mouth and getting it all over my clothes. fun night. but wtf?!
then later saturday night was rj's 21st bday celebration at his place in eagle rock. and of course, by the time we all get there, he's plastered and throwing up in a trashcan. but magically again, he wakes up around 5am and is able to enjoy our company for a little bit! he was able to take pictures with us and now he can actually remember us being there.. we end up leaving a LOT later than i would have desired. should have just driven myself there.
rj and i. not too bad a picture of him considering his.. condition?
checked out bMod's set for the bridge at their little pre-show. gonna go and support them at their competition :D can't be pulling a Scott's Tots on them..
and.. is it sad that my iPhone has kinda replaced my actual digital camera? gah. gonna need to start taking it around more often.
current mood: sleepy
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3:44 am - tumblr.
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