And many become one...
I had been meaning to update the blog sporadically with little things throughout the week, but due to various circumstances I have been unable to, so instead I will just put it all in one big blog today. I will try to make smaller and more frequent posts in the future though, so people aren't reading freakin novels everytime they visit here.
But anyways let's get this thing rolling...
****
Rented 3 more movies last week (the last of the 99 cent deal). This time I got Shark Tale (for the family), Mulan 2 (for Ariana) and Chronicles of Riddick (b/c they didn't have the other movies I had wanted to get).
I watched Shark Tale on Sunday night with the family, it was fun but it probably ranks on the very bottom of all the movies of it's kind (like Shrek, Incredibles, Finding Nemo, etc). But that still makes it better than a lot of other movies out there.
I also watched Riddick the day I had to return the movies, and damn was that thing confusing. I dunno if it was just me not paying as much attention to it (b/c I had a lot of stuff to do that day and was just rushing to see the movie before I had to return it) or if it was just really that "out there." I'm gonna guess it was the latter though. So yeah, it wasn't outright terrible, but it was only "ehh."
****
Spent Friday down in the city. I went down to Lincoln Center to hand in my grad school application in person, just so they couldn't try and pull any stunts with me like last year. After that though I had a lot of time to kill since Ariana was gonna have to stay late at work busy with an assignment, so I decided to wander around the city.
So from LC on 60th and Columbus, I made my way all the way down to 33rd and 6th (making a few stops in between). Among those stops, I went to Jim Hanley's Universe and Midtown Comics in search of some missing Young Justice and G.I. Joe comics. I turned up mostly empty-handed though, only finding one issue of G.I. Joe that i needed (but at least that gets me one issue closer to completing the entire original Marvel run- I only have 9 more issues left to go).
But yeah it was quite a walk (b/c obviously i had to make my way back also), so I was pretty tired after. It was a good workout though.
****
The highlight of my weekend though was definitely on Saturday. After the annoyance in the morning with having to wake up early to go to a TRiO sponsored event at Bronx Community College, the day picked up and me and Ariana headed down to the city to meet up with Joe, Marisa, Henry and Maryellen for dinner (at Asahi) and then to go see Monty Python's "Spamalot".
Henry of course brought along a coconut and so after dinner the guys galloped our way towards the theater while each of our respective girlfriends subtly stayed a good 10 feet behind us, wondering why they love us.
We definitely got a bit of attention for our antics. We got a bunch of stares, people laughing, and then comments from people who were probably also making their way to the play (or were just big Monty Python fans). So that was cool.
As for the show itself, it was absolutely HYSTERICAL. I was lmao throughout almost the entire thing. They kept things true to the movie for the most part with only a few changes but mostly changes that just made it more linear as a whole. And also cuz they really wouldn't be able to translate certain things from the movie to the stage.
But everything they changed worked and they kept in pretty much almost every major scene (the one lone thing some of us missed was the part where Lancelot ran into the castle killing everyone, they still did it, but mostly off stage, so i was kinda disappointed, but that is VERY minor b/c everything else they added in totally made up for it).
Each of the actors was having a blast doing this performance and it showed. The extra character they added in- the Lady of the Lake, was also a lot of fun, and stole every scene she was in.
Then to top off the whole night, after the show we waited at the exit for the actor's to come out and we met all of them. Getting their autographs was a little bit tougher but thanks to persistance and the actors's sympathies towards Ariana's pleadings of "Little person in the back here!" Each of us got the autographs we desired (I personally got Hank Azaria, voice of Homer Simpson- Whoo-Hoo! and David Hyde Pierce- Niles from Frasier for the clueless ones out there)..
We then continued to make fools of ourselves by "galloping" around the outside of the theater for pictures and a video (and also for the fun of it b/c come on, when the hell else are we gonna be able to do this again)?
So yeah, a fun time was definitely had by all.
****
I've noticed I have no more time to play video games thanks to my DVR. I've been meaning to start Star Wars: KOTOR 2 (or finish the Grand Theft Auto games) but everyday when I come home from work, I have tons of stuff saved on my DVR that I need to watch that by the time I finish it, it's time for bed.
Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, b/c I'm catching up on some great shows (as I've mentioned in previous posts), but I'm realizing that it's gonna make it REALLY tough for me once I get engrossed in an RPG like KOTOR 2 which will prob take me a good 40-50 hours to complete (over the next two months most likely).
It doesn't help that I still keep seeing games coming out that I want- like this past week, I went to Bestbuy and saw Tekken 5- and I was VERY tempted to buy it. Lord help me...
****
Sadly, one less show I'll have to worry about watching is my favorite anime- Yu Yu Hakusho. It used to be on Toonami everyday at 5:30, then they moved it to just on Saturdays at 9:30pm (which i was NEVER home for to see). But now, since I got my DVR, i've been able to watch it again (and lucky me, they had just restarted the series from the 1st episode). However, I noticed that this week they are starting a new anime on Saturdays at 9:30 and I looked through the schedule and have not seen Hakusho on any other time spot.
This really annoyed me, especially b/c as I mentioned they had started it over from the beginning so I would have been able to watch the entire series. But now they are trying to deny me of this. I'm seriously considering writting a letter to Cartoon Network to complain. I'm hoping this is just temporary and they bring it back to the lineup though. I'll be really upset if they don't b/c it truly is probably the best anime out there right now (not crap like Yu-Gi-Oh and stuff).
****
I've been going through some of my "older" comics which I've bought but just hadn't had time to read. Lots of times I buy a ton of comics in a week but don't get through them all. I read some right away but there are a handful of series' that I'm actually YEARS behind in- like X-Men. Well another one of those books was Young Justice (the series that eventually became Teen Titans). I've been meaning to catch up with that series for AWHILE, and I finally have for the past two weeks, and actually last night I finished the series (minus the last issue sadly b/c I realized I never had it). So after going online and finding a summary of what happened in that final issue, I can now go on to read Teen Titans (which I have about 21 issues to catch up on). So I'm pretty psyched for that.
****
Other stuff I'm psyched for- Star Wars: Episode 3 (and the Clone Wars cartoon preceding it).
As you all know (or very well should know), I'm a HUGE Star Wars geek, and well the final movie in the series is coming out in May, so we're entering the time of year where my anticipation is reaching an all-time high. Now while the first movie was disappointing, and the second movie- while fun, left a lot of loose threads, this final movie should be pretty awesome.
First off, it's gonna be pure action- too many fights are gonna happen that will prevent Lucas from having too much downtime in the movie to screw up the plot- so that's a plus. Also, the movie will have a decidedly darker tone- like Empire Strikes Back (the best movie in the entire Star Wars series) and might possibly come with a PG-13 rating (the first for the franchise). So my hopes are definitely high.
-One thing that came up and bothered me though is that for some reason they are deciding to put the final Star Wars trailer during an episode of The OC next week.
THE HELL!?!
I hate when studios do that! They've done it for Spider-Man and Harry Potter and other big movies, and they always stick it during a show I have NO desire to watch. Thank God I have my DVR now, so I can just record the show and fastforward past all the crap to just watch the trailer.
-But that's about the only bump along the way for the movie hype. The new season of the Clone Wars cartoon airs this month (five 12-minute episodes instead of a bunch of short 3-4 minute long ones). So I'm very psyched for that as the last season ended on a very high note.
The novels and comic books are also definitely doing their part to keep me excited. The artwork for the comics is some of the best I've seen right now and the stories are pretty good themselves and makes a nice bridge from Episode 2 to Episode 3. It's also cool b/c the company doing the comics- Dark Horse is working along with the company doing the novels- Del Rey to make sure the continuities match for the most part. So now I've got TONS of backstory to each of the characters which flesh out everything even more. You don't need to read the books or comics to enjoy the movies, but if you do, I guarantee it would make it more enjoyable b/c there is just SO much going on that the movies will not be able to go into detail about. Such as all the reasons Anakin finally turns to the Dark Side. Sure the "BIG" reasons will be in the movie, but the movie won't be able to convey the years of war Anakin has seen and all the things he and the other Jedi experienced that will be the foundation to all that will actually happen in the movies.
One such book (which I actually just finished about 2 weeks ago) that really developed a character well was- Shatterpoint, which focused on the character of Mace Windu.
When i frst bought the novel, i was tentative to start reading it b/c in my head I was like "I'm probably gonna be bored b/c this book is pretty much ALL about Mace who is a character that hasn't gotten much screentime in the movies. I may not be invested enough in the character to make it through a whole book about him."
But boy, how wrong I was!
Shatterpoint is probably one of the greatest novels I have ever read (right up there with the Timothy Zahn Star Wars trilogy and his following dualogy). The book totally makes the character of Mace Windu come alive and while reading it you can just totally imagine Samuel L. Jackson saying these lines and acting the way he is written. The new supporting characters were also very well fleshed out. My favorite was Nick Rostu, who had such awesome chemistry with Mace. Nick was basically the "Randall" (from Clerks) of the book- he got all the great lines.
The action in the book was also superbly written, especially the huge one on one hand to hand combat match Mace Windu had against the main baddie of the book- Kar Vastor. It was also surprisingly quite violent and bloody for a Star Wars novel, which was also pretty cool. And in the end, despite the fact the novel focuses only focuses on one Jedi on one planet, it has strong parallels to the Clone Wars themselves, and provides a deeper understanding of what is going on in them.
But anyways, here's hoping there is a scene in the movie that shows Mace fighting in the Vaapaad lightsaber style. If they translate it to the screen even CLOSE to how it was described in the book, it would be a sight to see.
****
Another thing completely off topic to get excited about- BASEBALL SEASON is starting!
I'm really hoping the Yanks offer another deal like the one we got last year for 6 games for $48 (or something close to that). I just really wanna go to a bunch of Yankee games this year, cuz the Yanks should have an awesome season.
I'm actually also interested in going to one or two Mets games. My mom's husband is a huge SF Giants fan, so I'm gonna go with him and my grandfather (and anyone else who might be interested) to see the Mets vs Giants on Fri June 3rd or Sat June 4th.
Then for myself, I really wanna go see the Marlins again this season (and it should be quite a matchup with the lineup the Mets have now) so I'm planning on going to see Mets vs Marlins on Fri. July 1st (which also happens to be Fireworks night).
So if anyone is interested in joining me for either or both of those games, get back to me ASAP as I will prob purchase the tix for those games this weekend.
****
I'm going into concert withdrawal here... I haven't been to a show since Yellowcard- in NOVEMBER! This is probably (no definitely!) the longest concert drought I've had since I started going to shows back in 1998. I feel like I'm gonna start twitching or something real soon if I don't get my fix. But sadly there isn't much coming around (thanks to the suck ass music scene Depression we are currently in).
Velvet Revolver is coming to town with Hoobastank for shows at Jones Beach and PNC, but they are both in May- and both arenas are outdoors, and well, it might not be all that warm yet by that time. So I'm still debating that one. I'm also waiting for the Killers to get their asses back from Europe and tour here again. And I'd also like to see Green Day if/when they swing by again in support of their American Idiot album. And I hope that is soon!
****
And last but not least! The new Judas Priest album- Angel of Retribution came out this week! I picked it up on Tuesday and it is pretty freakin good. They are another band I can't wait to see go on tour again, as I will be one of the first to get tix.
And well, stuff just came up for me to do here at work, so I'm out (which works out, b/c I think I've done enough babbling for the day anyways).
But anyways let's get this thing rolling...
****
Rented 3 more movies last week (the last of the 99 cent deal). This time I got Shark Tale (for the family), Mulan 2 (for Ariana) and Chronicles of Riddick (b/c they didn't have the other movies I had wanted to get).
I watched Shark Tale on Sunday night with the family, it was fun but it probably ranks on the very bottom of all the movies of it's kind (like Shrek, Incredibles, Finding Nemo, etc). But that still makes it better than a lot of other movies out there.
I also watched Riddick the day I had to return the movies, and damn was that thing confusing. I dunno if it was just me not paying as much attention to it (b/c I had a lot of stuff to do that day and was just rushing to see the movie before I had to return it) or if it was just really that "out there." I'm gonna guess it was the latter though. So yeah, it wasn't outright terrible, but it was only "ehh."
****
Spent Friday down in the city. I went down to Lincoln Center to hand in my grad school application in person, just so they couldn't try and pull any stunts with me like last year. After that though I had a lot of time to kill since Ariana was gonna have to stay late at work busy with an assignment, so I decided to wander around the city.
So from LC on 60th and Columbus, I made my way all the way down to 33rd and 6th (making a few stops in between). Among those stops, I went to Jim Hanley's Universe and Midtown Comics in search of some missing Young Justice and G.I. Joe comics. I turned up mostly empty-handed though, only finding one issue of G.I. Joe that i needed (but at least that gets me one issue closer to completing the entire original Marvel run- I only have 9 more issues left to go).
But yeah it was quite a walk (b/c obviously i had to make my way back also), so I was pretty tired after. It was a good workout though.
****
The highlight of my weekend though was definitely on Saturday. After the annoyance in the morning with having to wake up early to go to a TRiO sponsored event at Bronx Community College, the day picked up and me and Ariana headed down to the city to meet up with Joe, Marisa, Henry and Maryellen for dinner (at Asahi) and then to go see Monty Python's "Spamalot".
Henry of course brought along a coconut and so after dinner the guys galloped our way towards the theater while each of our respective girlfriends subtly stayed a good 10 feet behind us, wondering why they love us.
We definitely got a bit of attention for our antics. We got a bunch of stares, people laughing, and then comments from people who were probably also making their way to the play (or were just big Monty Python fans). So that was cool.
As for the show itself, it was absolutely HYSTERICAL. I was lmao throughout almost the entire thing. They kept things true to the movie for the most part with only a few changes but mostly changes that just made it more linear as a whole. And also cuz they really wouldn't be able to translate certain things from the movie to the stage.
But everything they changed worked and they kept in pretty much almost every major scene (the one lone thing some of us missed was the part where Lancelot ran into the castle killing everyone, they still did it, but mostly off stage, so i was kinda disappointed, but that is VERY minor b/c everything else they added in totally made up for it).
Each of the actors was having a blast doing this performance and it showed. The extra character they added in- the Lady of the Lake, was also a lot of fun, and stole every scene she was in.
Then to top off the whole night, after the show we waited at the exit for the actor's to come out and we met all of them. Getting their autographs was a little bit tougher but thanks to persistance and the actors's sympathies towards Ariana's pleadings of "Little person in the back here!" Each of us got the autographs we desired (I personally got Hank Azaria, voice of Homer Simpson- Whoo-Hoo! and David Hyde Pierce- Niles from Frasier for the clueless ones out there)..
We then continued to make fools of ourselves by "galloping" around the outside of the theater for pictures and a video (and also for the fun of it b/c come on, when the hell else are we gonna be able to do this again)?
So yeah, a fun time was definitely had by all.
****
I've noticed I have no more time to play video games thanks to my DVR. I've been meaning to start Star Wars: KOTOR 2 (or finish the Grand Theft Auto games) but everyday when I come home from work, I have tons of stuff saved on my DVR that I need to watch that by the time I finish it, it's time for bed.
Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, b/c I'm catching up on some great shows (as I've mentioned in previous posts), but I'm realizing that it's gonna make it REALLY tough for me once I get engrossed in an RPG like KOTOR 2 which will prob take me a good 40-50 hours to complete (over the next two months most likely).
It doesn't help that I still keep seeing games coming out that I want- like this past week, I went to Bestbuy and saw Tekken 5- and I was VERY tempted to buy it. Lord help me...
****
Sadly, one less show I'll have to worry about watching is my favorite anime- Yu Yu Hakusho. It used to be on Toonami everyday at 5:30, then they moved it to just on Saturdays at 9:30pm (which i was NEVER home for to see). But now, since I got my DVR, i've been able to watch it again (and lucky me, they had just restarted the series from the 1st episode). However, I noticed that this week they are starting a new anime on Saturdays at 9:30 and I looked through the schedule and have not seen Hakusho on any other time spot.
This really annoyed me, especially b/c as I mentioned they had started it over from the beginning so I would have been able to watch the entire series. But now they are trying to deny me of this. I'm seriously considering writting a letter to Cartoon Network to complain. I'm hoping this is just temporary and they bring it back to the lineup though. I'll be really upset if they don't b/c it truly is probably the best anime out there right now (not crap like Yu-Gi-Oh and stuff).
****
I've been going through some of my "older" comics which I've bought but just hadn't had time to read. Lots of times I buy a ton of comics in a week but don't get through them all. I read some right away but there are a handful of series' that I'm actually YEARS behind in- like X-Men. Well another one of those books was Young Justice (the series that eventually became Teen Titans). I've been meaning to catch up with that series for AWHILE, and I finally have for the past two weeks, and actually last night I finished the series (minus the last issue sadly b/c I realized I never had it). So after going online and finding a summary of what happened in that final issue, I can now go on to read Teen Titans (which I have about 21 issues to catch up on). So I'm pretty psyched for that.
****
Other stuff I'm psyched for- Star Wars: Episode 3 (and the Clone Wars cartoon preceding it).
As you all know (or very well should know), I'm a HUGE Star Wars geek, and well the final movie in the series is coming out in May, so we're entering the time of year where my anticipation is reaching an all-time high. Now while the first movie was disappointing, and the second movie- while fun, left a lot of loose threads, this final movie should be pretty awesome.
First off, it's gonna be pure action- too many fights are gonna happen that will prevent Lucas from having too much downtime in the movie to screw up the plot- so that's a plus. Also, the movie will have a decidedly darker tone- like Empire Strikes Back (the best movie in the entire Star Wars series) and might possibly come with a PG-13 rating (the first for the franchise). So my hopes are definitely high.
-One thing that came up and bothered me though is that for some reason they are deciding to put the final Star Wars trailer during an episode of The OC next week.
THE HELL!?!
I hate when studios do that! They've done it for Spider-Man and Harry Potter and other big movies, and they always stick it during a show I have NO desire to watch. Thank God I have my DVR now, so I can just record the show and fastforward past all the crap to just watch the trailer.
-But that's about the only bump along the way for the movie hype. The new season of the Clone Wars cartoon airs this month (five 12-minute episodes instead of a bunch of short 3-4 minute long ones). So I'm very psyched for that as the last season ended on a very high note.
The novels and comic books are also definitely doing their part to keep me excited. The artwork for the comics is some of the best I've seen right now and the stories are pretty good themselves and makes a nice bridge from Episode 2 to Episode 3. It's also cool b/c the company doing the comics- Dark Horse is working along with the company doing the novels- Del Rey to make sure the continuities match for the most part. So now I've got TONS of backstory to each of the characters which flesh out everything even more. You don't need to read the books or comics to enjoy the movies, but if you do, I guarantee it would make it more enjoyable b/c there is just SO much going on that the movies will not be able to go into detail about. Such as all the reasons Anakin finally turns to the Dark Side. Sure the "BIG" reasons will be in the movie, but the movie won't be able to convey the years of war Anakin has seen and all the things he and the other Jedi experienced that will be the foundation to all that will actually happen in the movies.
One such book (which I actually just finished about 2 weeks ago) that really developed a character well was- Shatterpoint, which focused on the character of Mace Windu.
When i frst bought the novel, i was tentative to start reading it b/c in my head I was like "I'm probably gonna be bored b/c this book is pretty much ALL about Mace who is a character that hasn't gotten much screentime in the movies. I may not be invested enough in the character to make it through a whole book about him."
But boy, how wrong I was!
Shatterpoint is probably one of the greatest novels I have ever read (right up there with the Timothy Zahn Star Wars trilogy and his following dualogy). The book totally makes the character of Mace Windu come alive and while reading it you can just totally imagine Samuel L. Jackson saying these lines and acting the way he is written. The new supporting characters were also very well fleshed out. My favorite was Nick Rostu, who had such awesome chemistry with Mace. Nick was basically the "Randall" (from Clerks) of the book- he got all the great lines.
The action in the book was also superbly written, especially the huge one on one hand to hand combat match Mace Windu had against the main baddie of the book- Kar Vastor. It was also surprisingly quite violent and bloody for a Star Wars novel, which was also pretty cool. And in the end, despite the fact the novel focuses only focuses on one Jedi on one planet, it has strong parallels to the Clone Wars themselves, and provides a deeper understanding of what is going on in them.
But anyways, here's hoping there is a scene in the movie that shows Mace fighting in the Vaapaad lightsaber style. If they translate it to the screen even CLOSE to how it was described in the book, it would be a sight to see.
****
Another thing completely off topic to get excited about- BASEBALL SEASON is starting!
I'm really hoping the Yanks offer another deal like the one we got last year for 6 games for $48 (or something close to that). I just really wanna go to a bunch of Yankee games this year, cuz the Yanks should have an awesome season.
I'm actually also interested in going to one or two Mets games. My mom's husband is a huge SF Giants fan, so I'm gonna go with him and my grandfather (and anyone else who might be interested) to see the Mets vs Giants on Fri June 3rd or Sat June 4th.
Then for myself, I really wanna go see the Marlins again this season (and it should be quite a matchup with the lineup the Mets have now) so I'm planning on going to see Mets vs Marlins on Fri. July 1st (which also happens to be Fireworks night).
So if anyone is interested in joining me for either or both of those games, get back to me ASAP as I will prob purchase the tix for those games this weekend.
****
I'm going into concert withdrawal here... I haven't been to a show since Yellowcard- in NOVEMBER! This is probably (no definitely!) the longest concert drought I've had since I started going to shows back in 1998. I feel like I'm gonna start twitching or something real soon if I don't get my fix. But sadly there isn't much coming around (thanks to the suck ass music scene Depression we are currently in).
Velvet Revolver is coming to town with Hoobastank for shows at Jones Beach and PNC, but they are both in May- and both arenas are outdoors, and well, it might not be all that warm yet by that time. So I'm still debating that one. I'm also waiting for the Killers to get their asses back from Europe and tour here again. And I'd also like to see Green Day if/when they swing by again in support of their American Idiot album. And I hope that is soon!
****
And last but not least! The new Judas Priest album- Angel of Retribution came out this week! I picked it up on Tuesday and it is pretty freakin good. They are another band I can't wait to see go on tour again, as I will be one of the first to get tix.
And well, stuff just came up for me to do here at work, so I'm out (which works out, b/c I think I've done enough babbling for the day anyways).
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