Catching Up

I'm not even going to try and remember what happened last week since it was really dull all around with not much going on. I did manage to get a Justice League Unlimited Invisible Martian Manhunter action figure though, cause not only did it look cool, but according to some sources, it'll be worth something in a few years if I can keep it in mint condition.

Anyways, Sunday night I caught the excellent Tom Cruise movie, The Last Samurai. I missed the chance to watch it at the cineplex when it was showing, and luckilly was able to catch it on HBO for free. This was a really good movie with Cruise playing an American soldier/war hero sent to Japan to train the Japanese soldiers on how to use modern weapons of war like guns and rifles, only to be caught by the rebelling side and end up teaming with them against the Japanese government. It was really cool the way he could match up with the Samurais at the first battle of movie where he fought them off and showed tons of fighting spirit, which he did throughout the movie to eventually earn the respect of his captors. The big war battle at the end was also pretty cool to watch, though I would have expected Cruise's character to be a bit more smart since he knew going in what kind of artilerry the army would be packing, yet didn't think a proper strategy through.
I guess the best way to sum up the movie would be Dances With Wolves, but set in Japan. And could somebody please tell me who the heck Ken Watanabe is supposed to be? I heard he's big in Japan, and was also recently in Batman Begins, but what's so special about the guy that he has a big fanboy following in the US?

Yesterday I caught what was definately one of the overall best WWE PPVs of the year, Vengeance 2005. I posted my review of the show already, and highly recommend watching this event as it featured three superbly excellent matches.

Another thing I'd like to mention right now is the utter pain my body is in. My joints and muscles are all stiff and aching, not because I took some crazy bump to show my machizmo, but because this past weekend I started doing some heavy exercises. The grim reality hit me while I was doing this that my stamina has dropped to an all time low. Where before I could do 50 push-ups and squats non-stop, now it only takes 15-20 before I have to stop and catch my breath! But I intend to persevere and build myself up again back into fighting form.

Father's Day weekend

It was a pretty dull weekend to say the least. Friday night me and Trish just caught whatever was on TV, including TNA Lockdown where Chris Candido had his foot twisted, and we all know that lead to his tragic passing awhile back. It was weird how Mike Tenay & Don West actually missed it until they third replay.
After that, we caught Meet Joe Dirt on STAR Movies. Trish had never seen this hilarious David Spade movie before, and I enjoy watching it whenever I can. We both had alot of good laughs there.

Last night was rather hectic for me as my share ratio at PWTorrents dropped dangerously near the banned level. Thing is, I followed the FAQ on the site for the recommended setup for my Bittorent program and all it did was screw things up worse! Now I can't start any new downloads and am seeding instead so that my ratio can go up to a safe level again. At least I managed to get first day of the Differ Cup event, which I will watch as soon as I can and put a review up.
And speaking of reviews, I finally got around to posting a new puroresu show review! Check it out and enjoy!

Today is Father's Day, and there wasn't really much going around at my place. Just the average Sunday really. I was supposed to go out with Trish tonight, but she instead will be spending it with her family as they are having a Father's Day family dinner. Can't argue with that. I was originally invited to go, but old people still give me the creeps, whether they are destined to be my future inlaws or not XP

From Psycho to Hero

Caught the movie "Batman Begins" last night with Trish. I had next to ZERO idea what the plot of the movie was going in other than this was how Batman got his start in the crime fighting business. It should also be noted that this movie has no relevance to the other four movies, which is probably for the best considering how the last two movies sucked and almost killed the franchise.
This movie basically explains how Bruce Wayne got his training to become the caped crusader and all the things surrounding his transformation into the Dark Knight, from where he learned his skills to how he acquired all the cool gizmos he uses. The story follows very closely to that of the current cartoon series, which is a good thing considering the way Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were more like the cheesy 70's TV show. Christian Bale who was last seen in the box-office bomb, American Psycho did a really good job of portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman in my opinion. Almost as good as Michael Keaton did.
It even took me awhile to figure out that one of the supervillians in the movie was Scarecrow, since it took awhile for them to actually mention who he was. The other villian was Ras Al G'ul (However you spell his name), and he was portrayed rather well and kinda predictable as to his true identity in the movie.
The one thing I didn't like, as with most of these big Hollywood movies, was all the quick cuts they used during the fight scenes. You know, one screen the guy is winding up a punch, then it cuts to a different angle of the punch thrown, and as quickly as you see that it switches to some guy falling on his ass, and before you could absord that image the hero is winding up again. I know it's a rather poor way to illustrate speed in an American movie, but it really wouldn't hurt to keep everything in one frame so we could see whats going on.
Christian Bale has signed on to make 3 more movies, but only as long as it's Christopher Nolan who's directing it. I would agree that Nolan is the right man for the job judging by what he did here, and it will be interesting to see how the sequel follows up. I'll particularly be looking to see how The Joker is portrayed since he was hinted as being the next villain at the end of this one. Whoever they get for that role will have some might large shoes to fill as Jack Nicholson was the best damn Joker in the movies series, and still remains my favorite villain of all the movies they made with the modern day Batman.

One Night of Greatness

Normally I would put the following into the Extreme Puroresu section, but its something I really want to share with everyone since ECW was something that I like many held as something special in the pro-wrestling industry. You can read my "as I watched it" review of the show on the Puroresu blog if you haven't yet. So read on and enjoy.

I finally had some time to digest it all in, and One Night Stand last night truly was one of the best pay per views I'd EVER seen. They did a tremendous job of giving it that actual ECW feel to it, and I'm glad they went with it that way.

One of the things the crossed my mind before the PPV was if the WWE was going to try and control the fans, as we all know die-hard ECW fans are the most rabid blood-thirsty fans on the planet when it comes to the product. When something sucks, they'll let you know. When someone blows a spot like Super Crazy and Psicosis did, they'll let you know. And if they really hate you, by God, will they let you know. No doubt, the fans in attendance made this show and gave it more heat overall than any PPV I'd EVER seen. They were just great all night long.

A small complaint I would have was that the matches seemed rather short, save for the last two matches. It also didn't help I guess that the PPV ended rather early. They easilly had 20-minutes they could have given to some of the first 3 matches on the card, or even add another surprise match to the card. You'll also note that I didn't rate the matches in my review, because I was watching this PPV simply as a fan last night and not a critic.
Without a doubt, the best match of the show was Mike Awesome VS Masato Tanaka. Even Joey Styles who was bashing Awesome throughout the match for selling out to WCW was eventually won over by this incredible performance they put on, and you could actually see that the two weren't even in the best of shape to begin with! This match was so damn good that I even pulled myself away from my PC just so I could sit in front of the TV to draw it all in! There was also one really dangerous spot in this match I should point out, when Awesome did the top rope powerbomb through what was left of the table, there was a big steel spike or something sticking out from the table, and Tanaka was lucky not to get impaled on the damn thing if they had moved just a little closer to the right.
Next to that, the other best bout of the show was easilly Rhino VS Sabu! Sabu put on a performance that reminded everyone why he got the nickname of being "Suicidal, Homicidal & Genocidal", and the fact that he almost totally annihilated Rhino the way many would have wanted to see during the last days of ECW really made it something special. I was really happy to see that despite all the injuries he's taken throughout his career that would easilly have ended the careers of lesser men, or cause some of them to "lose their smile" *wink*wink*, Sabu can still go out there and work through the pain to entertain the fans and put on a solid performance while at it.
The main event was what you could call a "garbage match". No, not because the match sucked, which it by far didn't, but because of all the violence involved! You had weapons, blood, sick bumps and run ins. All vintage ECW!
And the ending brawl between the ECW stars and the WWE "superstars" was done just right with the ECW guys coming out on top since the logically had the numbers advantage. I only wished we could have seen Taz throw a few Taz-plexes during the brawl instead of just choking out Angle with the Tazmission. The crowd went nuts for Taz when War Machine hit on the loud speakers, and even I marked out for it!

Rob Van Dam is the friggin' man! He delivered probably the best promo I've probably ever heard! RVD reminded us all that he has a voice and a vocabulary that goes longer that just a simple laid back sentance WWE keeps giving him. It's just too bad they had Rhino interupt it to set up the match with Sabu, but it was cool to see RVD acknowledge Sabu after heeling him for all those years in ECW. It doesn't matter how WWE tries to bury the man, RVD will ALWAYS be more over and loved than any "creation" WWE can come up with.
Paul Heyman also gave a great interview, as he basically came out and said what the people wanted to hear. He tore into Bischoff, Edge and JBL, and it's probably lucky HHH wasn't involved in the whole invasion thing either, or I'm sure we would have heard a few choice words from Heyman concerning "The Game". Even if we never see Heyman on WWE TV again after this, for one night, the "mad scientist" had his say like many of the fans in New York, I thank you, Paul! And I salute you!

Whether your an ECW fan or not, this was a show that you MUST SEE. It's not perfect, but still the best overall damn PPV I've seen that didn't come from Japan. Get the PPV version anyway you can, cause the official DVD might be edited if the rumours are true, and rightfully since there was a ton of profanity on this show. This is one of those shows that you can truly lose yourself to and chant along and shout at the TV like I did here, and I ain't shy to admit!

Catching Up

I'm really getting fed up of my Streamyx connection. It's getting really bad these few days that I can't do anything after logging on, taking forever for pages to load to the point that they time out. Hence the reason I couldn't even update my blog from home.

Anyways, to recap my week, Thursday night me and Trish went to check out the 3D animated movie Madagascar. The movie didn't really live up to the hype that the trailers made it up to be, but it was ok. Not something I'd pick for animated movie of the year, but I'll still bet it's tons better than the upcoming Cars.
Friday night was even more boring I guess. Trish and me came home and just watched whatever was on TV. First was TNA, featuring the really bad World Title match of Jeff Jarrett VS DDP, God I hate Jarrett's overused, overbooked finishes. I can't remember what else was on after that as everything on untill 11pm just sucked. There was this Japanese horror movie on one of the Chinese channels, but it felt dumb and made ZERO sense that even I got lost somewhere in it. At 11PM though, something good finally popped up to watch. Some Chinese comedy movie about three spoiled rich kids who enter the police academy to prove themselves worthy of enheriting their father's fortunes. It was your usually Hong Kong comedy movie, but there were some really funny bits in it even if I can't remember the name of the movie.
Saturday, me and my dad took out crazy little weaner dog to the vet to get her heartworm shot. For the first time since we first got her, she wasn't so badass anymore as she was literally shaking in her boots as she sat on the vets table waiting to get her shot, which went off without a hitch or struggle. The rest of the day was pretty dull and I hit the arcades a bit that evening since Trish was working.
Yesterday was more of the same boredom, just sat at home watching anime and playing Super Robot Wars MX for the most part till evening when I went out with Trish for dinner and a bit of window shopping. Trish finally picked up that pair of jeans she had booked from one of the stores TWO MONTHS ago. I also had a shot at the Japanese drum game at Boulevard while we were there. I hadn't played it in awhile, so my I was a bit off in my game.
Not much doing when I got home last night either as SNL was probably the worst edition I'd seen since last week's show. But Jay Leno had an interesting guest on the show. The guy created the first ever donut-bacon-cheese burger! That's a grilled cheese burger with bacon stuffed between a glazed donut! He also had this interesting hot dog which was the hot dog wrapped in burger meat and deep-fried, then placed on a hot dog bun and topped off with chilli, bacon and a fried egg! Why can't we get food like that here?!? Other than making it ourselves of course. People starve and suffer through exercise and diets every day just so they can live a few years longer. But everyone dies eventually, so why not make the best of it and eat something really good even if it is a bit fattening??? I just might have an idea for a future business venture here...

Anyways, like I mentioned earlier, I've spent my free time watching some anime I got off the net. A fun series called Ten Jou Ten Ge. About these two guys who go around schools picking fights untill they reach the Todou Academy, which mostly specializes in martial arts. The duo get their butts whipped and then decide to join one of the school's clubs to make themselves stronger. The fighting scenes are nice done and there are some really hilarious moments thrown in. And there's a fair share of eye-candy as well as the female characters are rather generously endowned and courvacious :P I picked up this anime after seeing the VCD on sale in town, and reading about it on the net. I too will hop on the bandwagon and recommend checking this one out if you get the chance.

One step closer...

I'll be damned!

I post the article below about Exo-suits and wanting a huge robot suit, and my buddy TenzanTeam2K directs me here to a guy who's actually made one! That's one step closer to making an actual giant robot suit!

Today, Exo-suits, tomorrow, GIANT ROBOTS!!!

Here's something I've been wanting to see since I was a kid. Cybernetic suits to enhance human abilities! And some University in Japan has actually gotten the job done!
I also strongly belive that somewhere in Japan there's an underground base slowly putting together an army of giant robot war machines! If any country can do it, it's sure to be them!

Back to Anime

This makes sense




What is Your Ideal Anime Weapon?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.


I don't even watch this show




What Gundam SEED Character Are You?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.






What Anime Mech Are You?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.


Eh...




Who's Your Anime Girlfriend?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.


I haven't watched alot of Anime since it was axed from AXN's daily line-up, and the only recent anime I've watched was Seasons 2 & 3 of Galaxy Angels which I got off torrent. Even as big of a fan I am of Gundam model kits, I haven't mustered the strength to watch any of the recent shows, even if the robots and battle scenes do look cool.
But I've recently had a rekindled interest when my cousin showed me this hilarious anime series called Fullmetal Panic Fumoffu, a crazy series about this strict military guy who's protecting this girl in school as an undercover student. And due to his life in the military and lack of any common sense, all kinds of crazy and wacky misadventures ensue! This is seriously the funniest anime I've seen in a long time and highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it yet.
I've also recently found out that one of my all time favorite games series has been translated to an anime! The Super Robot Wars series is a long running games franchise and was one of the main reasons I got into next generation gaming. I grew up watching alot of giant robo anime like Mazinger Z, Voltus V, Grandizer and Getta Robo, and this game series brings all those classic robots together in one big interplanetary war! But not just the giant robos, but also classics like old-school Gundams, as well as the newer models, and even the more recent series like Neon Genesis Evangelion are also included! It's a turn-based strategy game that was never translated to english, but has a huge following around the world. If you've never heard of or seen this game before, I suggest tracking it down and giving it a shot if you were ever a fan of these robots or SLG games.
Anyways, the animation is based on the Super Robot Wars: Original Generation game, meaning they used the original robots from the games that would normally be representing the player. So far I've only managed to get and watch one episode cause so far that's all that's been released! The second episode isn't due out for another few months and an even longer waiting period for the third! But I'll wait patiently, and maybe look around Hongfire for any other anime that catches my eye to check out.

Changes

Ok, as you've no doubt seen in the topic, I'm making a few changes around here.
When I originally started this blog over a year ago, it was supposed to be as a place to vent my frustrations and rant on about the things that pushed my buttons in life. But if you've read through my postings in the past year, there really hasn't been all that much to complain about or shoot off on these days in my life that doesn't directly effect me.
Indeed, I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago: An angry kid with a grudge against everyone. Yes, I have evolved and forgotten all about the dipshits in school who mocked and jabbed me for being "different" from what they perceived as normal. For one thing, I KNOW I'm doing better than most if not all of them as I've got a job I enjoy (most of the time), and I'm on a plateau above them. I know because some of these bastards have walked into my office LOOKING FOR A JOB, and you can imagine how surprised most of them are to see me sitting comfy in my big chair while they shill their shitty looking resumes to convince me to give them a push to get the job. But I don't play favourites. If they don't get the job, it's purely cause they aren't qualified for it. I'm also not the guy that has the final say in the matter anyway.

I've got the life now as the KoRn song goes. I have a stable job and income, a beautiful woman who loves me as much as I cherish her, a roof over my head and all the fun a hot blooded dude like me can take in an afternoon of video gaming and net surfing. OK, so maybe I still do have a bit of hostility in me. But that's where the changes I've mentioned will come into play. From now on this Blog of Extreme will chronicle the good times in life I'm having, and all the other blogs will remain as they are.
But this is where the darkside of me comes in to play as I've just started my very own Live Journal. It's just the same as a blog, but with a different name. Here I will rant and rave on things I come accross either in person or in some form or another. If it irks and irritates me, I'll talk about it there. I might not update it often, but that's not necessarily a bad thing either.

Monkey Business

Here's an ironic newspaper headline I found in the papers yesterday: The front page headline read "Attacked by Orang Utan!" Basically these two women in Kuching were attacked by an Orang Utan while visiting a wildlife centre there, and just below that article in smaller print was the article titled "Save-The-Chimp Campaing Launched"! Who'd have thought they'd print two contradicting articles on the front page?

Anyways, the past few days have been a bit dull. It was a short holiday on Wednesday & Thursday due to the Gawai celebrations. It was kinda good we got Wednesday off cause WWE RAW was pre-empted on Tuesday night due to some live tennis event and was delayed from 10:00PM to 12:30AM! It wasn't the best edition of RAW either, but what the heck.
Wednesday night me and Trish caught the Tokyo Shock Boys Japan on National Geographic channel. You might remember the Tokyo Shock Boys from those wacky MTV ads they did before. These guys are actually pop-culture icons in Japan for the bizzare stunt performances they like to pull. The show was basically them going around Japan visiting all the various bizarre festivals that take place, like the fireworks festival, the portable shrine races and the Naked Man festival. Great fun show overall.
Thursday night was a bit dull as all me and Trish did was go to Pizza Hut for dinner and tried the new meatball pizza. Basically just a normal pizza with a beef or chicken meatball on it. Nothing special, but the set meal you can get it together with made it a bargain.

Disrupting the flow of vacation time, I had to go back to work yesterday, when all the other big companies in the state were taking the day off all week! It was really boring day at the office since no one was around. Management didn't even bother to show up. Now I've heard they are giving us Monday off due to something to do with the King today, but I would have preffered a straight stretch then have a speedbump in the road when it comes to holidays.
Last night me and Trish watched The Eye 2 on Astro Celestial Movies. Starring Hsu Chi as a chick who after a near death experiance, has the ability to see spirits. It was actually rather boring overall. Trish says one of her colleagues at work also has the vision to see spirits, and was even attacked by one recently for mouthing off at it. I'll just take her word for it.

Not alot doing today either. Had lunch with Trish before sending her to work, then sent out a puroresu DVD order to my #1 customer who's back in town. I'd actually spent the pass few days completing his order as one of the shows was giving me a Hell of a time trying to burn. Wasted some good DVD-Rs trying to complete the order. After that was done, I rushed home to clean up the house as my parents were coming back from a short vacation this evening, which brings me to where I am now after I fetched them from the airport. Just lounging at home watching TV and will probably play some PS2 later after Saturday Night Live, which will be on in a few minutes so I'll end it here for now.

Oh, and I still haven't caught that snake yet. I'll wager it escaped the house already as there has been no sign of it for a week now, and no foul stench of death around the house either.