RAW on time!

This is the first time in a long while since I had an up to date RAW report (as early as I can get it here anyways). Pretty good show with two long matches, one I've been wanting to see for a while, and the in ring return of a Hall of Famer! Check it out.

Went to watch Shrek 2 with Trish this evening. Fun movie and it was more dramatized than the original. Great movie and lots of laughs. Really loved how they 'elevated' some of the undercard characters from the previous movie to a big push at the end of this one. I also noticed they kinda stole a bit from the ending of Ghostbusters 2. If you haven't already, watch this movie now!

America gets Bashed by WWE

The results for WWE's Great American Bash PPV are up. It was an ok show featuring an awesome cruiserweight title match, a showcase of the new talent (not all good), and a few suprises at the end of the show. My predictions for the show were 4-4-0, bringing the total for the year now to 34-19-3. Next WWE PPV is RAW's Vengeance in about 2 weeks.


My weekend was simple. Fetched Trish from work on Saturday evening and went to Pizza Hut for dinner at Bintang Plaza before we came back to my place to watch Criss Angel: Supernatural on Star World. Interesting show and I think Criss Angel is the coolest magician I've seen since David Blaine. I've always had a fascination for close up magic and some of the stuff Angel pulled off were truly mind bogling. It was also interesting that he liked dressing up like The Crow for his stage performances.

Sunday was even less spectacular. Just picked Trish up from work since she was only working half day, then we went looking around for blank CD-Rs and CD casings as I had to burn some VCDs. After I sent Trish home, I came home and spent the rest of the afternoon (and most of the night) ripping the new NJPW shows I received the other day.

Speaking of Puroresu shows, I've posted a short review of the King of IWGP Tournament show. It was a pretty good show, and the spots were Chono and Nagata were injured were interesting to catch.

100 and Still Going Strong

This is my 100th blog post!
I actually got back from Bintulu on Wednesday afternoon and wrote a long and detailed diary of my trip. Ufortunately before I could click the "Publish" button, my damn PC froze on me! Needless to say I'm too lazy to type all that up again, so to make it short and simple:
- Driving on an open highway is fun
- Finally got my tattoo finished
- Taman Tumbina Bintulu SUCKS
- Chances of passing my exam are 50/50
- Shout out to my old buddy Cornelius! My old school mate, college mate, and now the two of us seem to be gunning for the same career path!

The good news is I received some new Puroresu shows and have already added them to my VCD site. I'll have show reviews up as soon as possible. I've also posted some wrestling news, predictions for the Great American Bash PPV and Spoiling The Illusion.

Road Trip coming up!

Ain't that one of the coolest logos ever?
Anyways, I'll be going out of town on Saturday, driving to Bintulu for my big NIOSH exam. My exam is actually on Tuesday, but I'm getting a headstart to familiarise myself with the roads there.
Right now, I've updated my thoughts on this week's WWE RAW and a small news bit. But before I leave on Saturday, expect my Spoiling the Illusion column to be up.
Anyone thinking to order puroresu vcds/tapes just e-mail and I'll get to processing them when I get back on Thursday.
I am bummed out though that I'm gonna miss Criss Angel's Mindfreak TV special on Star World this Saturday, as the hotel I'll be staying most probably won't have ASTRO. I'm also gonna miss WWE RAW and all the other good shows. Dang.

WWE Stars on X-Play
I don't know how backdated this is, but today's episode of X-Play on Tech TV they went to WWE video gaming event where a handful of WWE stars took part in a WWE SmackDown: Here Comes The Pain video game tournament for charity at Planet Hollywood. Shelton Benjamin was the winner beating Kane in the finals. Adam Sessler interviewed Kane who was VERY out of character as he pointed out how he's gotten used to playing with a standard PS2 controller despite his big hands, which freaked out Sessler a bit. Sessler also interviewed Trish Stratus, The Hurricane, Steven Richards, A-Train and Matt Morgan (who referred to himself as "The Blueprint" here).
Sessler even plugged an idea he had for a finisher, where he would just sit on his opponents head and whine until they tap out! A-Train asked nicely NOT for him to demonstrate it and Richards agrees that his whinning would be enough to make someone tap. Hehe. Suprised that they didn't interview Sheldon Benjamin who won the damn thing, or Rey Mysterio who was there.

Prior to the WWE segment, X-Play previewed the new Legends of Wrestling game, which looked REALLY good and I might even consider getting it since I didn't get the previous two installments. There are 70+ wrestlers in the game! And if the gameplay has been improved over the previous game, then I definately won't miss out on it.

Get Punished!

I skipped WWE RAW last night to go watch the new Punisher movie with Trish. After reading the show reports on the net, I don't think I missed much other than an awesome main event. I'll try to catch the replay tonight and put my thouhgts up later.



Watching The Punisher last night was kinda of a mixed bag. I liked the way everything was put together, with a killer plotline and such. But there were some things I didn't like or made no sense to me. Kinda 'spoiling the illusion' you would say. Whether or not it followed the actual comic storyline is beyond me since I never read the comic on how it all got started. I won't mention the holes in the story, but watch it yourself and tell me what you think.
One thing that left a bad taste in everyone's mouth was when the sound went off for an ENTIRE segment! And wouldn't you know it would be where Frank Castle faces off with the big Russian hitman played by Kevin Nash! Weird that Nash's part would be the comedy match of the show, and with his haircut and clean shaven face, he looked freakingly similiar to John 'Bradshaw' Leyfield! Everyone was shouting "REWIND" when they finally got the sound working, but the Cineplex crew never complied. I'm definately gonna get the DVD to watch this again as there were also alot of spots that was edited (censored) out. And it's not just harsh language was that left out.
Overall, this is a great movie, though I don't think I would agree with it being the best comic book adaptation as some critics have praised it. One thing I will say is that it did seem at times like I was watching a pilot for a TV series instead of a big budget Hollywood action flick. Definately better than the 1989 movie that starred Dolph Lundgren, but then again I can't remember much of that one to really compare the two.

Badd Blood report

I would have posted the Badd Blood report this morning after the PPV was over, but just as I was about to click the "Publish" button, my darn PC resets on me! So I was quite pissed that I had to do the whole thing from scratch that I delayed re-posting it 'till this afternoon.
Anyways, it was an OK show with a 47 MINUTE long Hell In The Cell main event! And with that, my PPV predictions for the show was a lousy 3-4-0, bringing the grand total so far to 30-15-3.
The full card for NOAH's 7/10/04 Tokyo Dome show was also announced and I can't wait for it! Check it all out in the Puroresu page.

Right now I'm counting down the days to my NIOSH Safety Officer Exam next Tuesday the 6/22/04 in Bintulu and I'm studying myself to death trying to remember everything that was thought to me ONE YEAR ago! Wish me luck.

Another black out!

I was updating the blog this morning and all of a sudden got struck by ANOTHER black out! What the heck is going out there with SESCO?!? It's like there's at least one everyweek now.

Anyways, updated the latest Spoiling the Illusion column as well as my predictions for WWE's Badd Blood PPV. And I've got some new music video reviews up.

The King was in town, but I went to see Harry Potter...
The Agong was in town these past two days to attend the closing of the Gawai celebrations. But last night rather then brave sweaty crowds, traffic jams and live performances that do nothing for us, Me and Trish instead went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at the Star Cineplex at Bintang Plaza. I could probably say it was the best Harry Potter movie so far, but I noticed like the previous movies that it plods along sometimes seems like it's never gonna end! And I can't make any comparisons since I haven't (or plan to) read any of the books.
One thing I do wonder since watching the very first one, Wouldn't it be interesting if they found a part in one of the movies for Cradle of Filth singer Dani Filth? I mean look at the guy:

Doesn't he just fit into the Harry Potter world? On top of the look, he's already a Satanist that believes in the dark arts. And he's British to boot! And in case you doubt his ability to work with kids, Mr. Filth once lent his voice talents to the animated movie "Dominator", about killer robots from Hell that rise up to destroy mankind! I AM NOT KIDDING!

No Power, New Tapes and Free Gaming!

Yesterday there was a big power outage for most of the day. But the good news was that the new puroresu tapes I ordered from BlueThunderVideo finally came! I've already added them to my site and I'll have reviews of both shows up soon.
Anyways, with the power outage, I decided to go hang at the arcades for the afternoon before going to collect the tapes from the post office. Luck would be on myside as for some reason, there were several games with tokens already in them! I got to play a free game of King Of Fighters 2001, 3 free games of Super Puzzle Fighter X! I did pay for a few games though. I went head to head against other players at King of Fighters 2002 and ended up with a win/loss record of 3-10!!! The arcade at Boulevard has improved alot in the past few weeks. Firstly, they've expanded to almost TRIPLE in size, and they got a TON of games now. But only ONE machine with KOF2002, so you can imagine the line of gamers waiting for their shot at it. They have several KOF2003 games, but everyone prefers the 2002 edition.
Anyways, at 3PM I head to the post office to get my tapes, and when I get home at about 3:30pm, and the power STILL wasn't on yet! Luckilly the power did come back on just 15 minutes later! I tested the tapes and both worked OK, but I still haven't gotten around to watching them yet. Interesting day overall though.

Badd Blood is coming

Posted this week's RAW report as they head towards this Sunday's Badd Blood pay per view. OK show, but they could have then alot better given the time they usually have to build matches. And I'm leaning more to the mid-card instead of just the main events. Fans want to buy a PPV for the overall product, and not just for the main event which they could probably just download off the net later if the undercard sucks on paper. Check back later this week for my Badd Blood predictions.
I've also posted a rant on one John Bradshaw Leyfield. Many of you know I'm a big Bradshaw fan, but his actions on a recent tour of Germany were just inexcusable. What did he do? Read the rant to find out as well as the backlash of his actions.

Finally, Puroresu on ASTRO....sorta

STAR Focus Asia on Star World did a short story on Joshi Puroresu (Women's Pro-Wrestling) in Japan this evening. The focus mostly on an independant show ran by Nanae Takahashi, and featured some shots of herself, Amazing Kong, Sasori, Dump Matsumoto and a few others who's names I missed.
It was basically about how tough Joshi Puro is and why some fans find it more interesting than their male counterparts. Funny advice from Takahashi when she said the guys need to work on their screaming in ring to help sell the match. Hehe. Still a fun, but short, segment. Hopefully they'll be somekind of follow up in the future.

House-sitting for one week and this is what I get?
Geez. I look after the house for nine days, feeding the pets and watering the plants among other chores, and all my parents could get for me from Hong Kong was a glow in the dark koala bear hand rest for my PC mouse? Thanks a lot!

Doomsday!
This afternoon me and Trish went out and saw the doomsday movie The Day After Tomorrow starring Dennis Quad of Dragon Heart fame. This was one freakingly believable movie and I bet more than a few viewers would be left a bit paranoid after watching it. I strongly recommend checking it out. Next week: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! No, seriously, we're going to watch it...

Prior to the movie, we went around Bintang Plaza as Trish was looking for a pair of boots since there were Gawai sales going on everywhere. We went to several stores that had the boots she was looking for, but unfortunately none of them had her shoe size. Oh well, better luck next holiday sale.

Kickin' off the weekend with Slipknot

My parents came back from their week long excursion to Genting Highlands and Hong Kong today. Unfortunately they couln't find any of the heavy metal CDs I asked them to look for in Hong Kong, So I had to go get Slipknot's new album, Vol.3 (The Subliminal Verses) by myself today as it suprisingly was available locally, and it totally kicks ass! I posted a review of the CD in my Metal blog for those of you curious to what it sounds like. Also posted my latest Spoiling the Illusion column in the Puroresu blog, so check it out.
I also got my hands on the latest PS2 installment of the Super Robot Wars series, Super Robot Wars MX. Problem is I haven't even finished the previous two SRW games yet XP And on top of that I still have a load of Survival Horror games to finish. I do have one game review for you guys, though I originally completed the game about a month ago!

PS2 Game Review
Ghost In The Shell – Stand Alone Complex
I’ve watched the original Ghost in the Shell anime, but I’ve never watched the Stand Alone Complex series. From what I can tell, the SAC series is an extension of the OVA, but minus the nude scenes I think.
The game follows the two main characters of the series, Makoto and Batou through a series of missions. Like I mentioned previously, I haven’t watched the series so I don’t know if the game is connected to it. The game plays like your standard stealth action game, but with more action then stealth as there really aren’t any penalties for getting spotted other than being fired upon heavily. Most of the missions require you to just run around, find switches and shoot anything that moves.
Graphics are pretty good with a few nice cut scenes thrown in every here and there. It’s nothing really spectacular though, same goes for the sound. The controls do need some getting used to, unless it’s been used before in other games I haven’t played yet. You can run, jump, duck, climb, as well as pull of a few nice acrobatic jumps to get up to higher platforms. One cool ability you have is to ‘hack’ into certain guards after you kill similar looking ones and read their program. Hacking and taking control of enemy units helps to clear certain areas of enemies, or get close and take out snipers who would kill you on sight. There are several boss battles, but none of which are really too difficult to figure out how to beat once you know the patterns. Other game modes include online play (for what, I’m not sure) as well as a four-player death match survival mode where you and three friends play as several of the main characters in the game ‘till only one is left standing. There are also unlockable stages
The main complaint I have with the game is that it’s too short. I originally completed it in just TWO DAYS on the normal difficulty setting! I seriously recommend immediately going to the hardest difficulty setting the first time you play to get the most out of it as there are infinite continues available from the start, and it doesn’t take too long to figure out the games patterns and puzzles even though it’s in Japanese.
Ratings:
Graphics – 7
Sound – 6
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 6

MIRC mystery...

Weird thing happened today as I left the PC on overnight to download some music videos or MIRC, since I had to wait in line for my turn to download and switching off would lose my place in line. Prob is this morning I check the PC and my downloads were complete, but I couldn't find the videos anywhere! What the heck?!? I even ran a search through the whole PC and couldn't find them! Talk about wasted effort!
So I give my PC a rest for the whole day, but when I finally start it up this evening, I had some serious problems with my anti-virus program that I had to re-install it several times before it finally worked properly. The whole thing took almost THREE HOURS to get working.

Anyways, I didn't watch WWE RAW last night because it was pre-empted for a live telecast of the French Tennis Open, which only ended around 2.30AM, but just in time for a LIVE FOOTBALL broadcast! Geez. So I don't have a report up today, but from what I've read on the net, it wasn't that good of a show. Heck, we all knew the streak of good shows had to end sooner or later. I posted some random puroresu news though.
Also posted some music video reviews. I've had a much easier time getting videos ever since my Streamyx got hooked up!

Plodding Along...

Kinda of a dull day today. I left the PC on all day to download music videos off MIRC, but since this morning till now, I'm STILL in queue waiting for my turn to download. Geez. I didn't know there were still so many using 56K dial-up.

Anyways, yesterday I had the misfortune of running into Mr.Annoying. If you remember, I ranted on him a while back about him being a pain in my neck. So he bugs me about buying VCDs while I'm trying to concentrate on beating SVC Chaos till I finally give in and agree to do business with him again. He says he can pay in advance this time, so I think why not. Sure enough, he tries to stiff me by saying he doesn't have any small bills to pay the exact amount and wanted a discount. GEEZ. I tell him to go buy some tokens to break his bills, but he says he already has tokens. Yeah right. Like buying ONE DOLLAR worth of tokens to break a ten bill is so much trouble?! So I say Fine. I give him his 'discount'.
Today I handed him his VCDs, but I didn't tell him the music videos were mostly common crap we can get on MTV & Channel V! Serves him right. Think you can stiff me? If your only willing to pay a discount price, I'll give you the discount deal. You want the good stuff, you gotta pay what it's worth. And that's all I gotta say about that.

And before I forget, Selamat Hari Gawai to my friends who celebrate it today.