Congratulations!

To my sister Mariel.

All the best, I'll be there to support you always.

Alan

The Last Emperor

Fedor Emalianenko just lost. This is literally the biggest upset in MMA history. Fabricio Werdum (A UFC alumni who just makes the top 10 HW list) was knocked down earlier in the first round and came back with absolute Brazillian Jiu Jiutsu perfection, catching the now former #1 P4P fighter in the world in a submission duet: a triangle choke with an armbar. It was BJJ wizardry. It's sad to see Fedor lose because he's been such a dominatrix. He has not lost in NINE (9) YEARS. You gotta lose sometime though. His legacy has been cemented and he will still go down as MMA's best fighter ever. He may not be as relevant and as dominating today, but he still made history with his past victories.



I don't like to think that he is over, rather, I'd like to think that this is but a hiccup. I still think he has what it takes to be #1. I could be wrong though...for all we know we just witnessed the end of an era.

But The Last Emperor is a fitting moniker. When will we ever see another fighter who ruled MMA as long and dominating as he did?

What an upset....

Alan

CN Tower Pics

It's a bit late, but here they are:










The other guys prolly have more of them, but this is all that I got using my cell. We also bought a group photo from there.

Alan

Can I please get a little bit of Knowledge?

Somebody tell Roth that I don't love college.

(Opposite of Adults by Chiddy Bang)

Alan

Maligayang Araw ng mga Tatay

Happy father's day everybody and to their respective fathers.

Ate at a Japanese buffet today, I can safely say it was better than the one me and the boys ate @ in TO after the CN Tower.

MMVA's are pretty cool.

The effects of Toy Story 3 are still strong. I wanna watch it again. Let's go guys.

Alan

Review and Thoughts: Toy Story 3

Remember the year of 1995? I sure do. It was the year the first Toy Story film came out. It revolutionized animation and popularized the use of 3D in feature animated films. It, and its sequel, gave me a lot of laughs and memories to keep and cherish forever. But I knew that it couldn't end where it ended in Toy Story 2. When they announced the true sequel was going to be made, I couldn't contain myself. I had no idea what it would bring to the Toy Story universe. I only knew one thing. 2010 was too long of a wait.

I can't write enough about Toy Story 3 and how great it was, my words and text would never be able to do it any justice. The best thing to do is to watch it. But what I can do, is describe it for you.

It possesses every conceivable theme you can think of. (Friendship, hope, loyalty, betrayal, transition and moving on, loss and grieving, growth, imagination and creativity, justice, corruption, revenge and hatred, realisation and redemption and the list goes on.)

It possesses almost every aspect of a feature film. (Drama, excitement, thrilling, full of action, plenty of laughs, joy, sadness, emotionally involving etc.)

It is wonderfully animated and realized. To think that this was going to be a straight to DVD without all its wonderful stars (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen among MANY others) and its director, would have been extremely preposterous.

In short, it was perfect (3D or no 3D). Especially to those who have kept up and appreciated the series from day 1.

The only thing that I don't like about it personally, is the fact that it's the last major film in the series. The end of a saga. The end of Toy Story.

This is arguably the best trilogy series, maybe only LOTR giving competition. On that note, this is easily a 10/10

Verdict: GO AND WATCH IT ALREADY!

My Thoughts (Spoiler Warning):


Never have I been so emotional watching a film. To truly appreciate this movie, you must've watched the first two films over and over. There are a lot of references and inside jokes that really will hit something inside you. It's not a feeling you often experience. Nostalgia just doesn't describe it well enough, because it feels so much more than that. In addition to that, if you were a 90's kid like myself, you will love it 10 fold. This is our generations Star Wars Trilogy (The original one). This is our super trilogy.

As much as the whole series revolves around the toys and their loyalty to each other and their hard fought journey to return to Andy, I felt that this film really centered on Andy and Woody and their final moments together. In the end where Andy realized that he had grown up and had to make a tough choice on giving away his most treasured possessions was a situation any of us could relate to. That word, relate, that is something that was in my head the whole time. The truth is, as a kid of the 90's, as many of us are (referring to my friends), we grew up with that little guy. Sure we didn't get attached to toys as much as he did to his, but we feel for him. We know what he's going through. He's turning into an adult and he's on his way there by going to college and leaving his family to pursue his future; we all know how that feels. To some, it's not too big a deal, to the rest, well, it hits them more than others. I know it's still hitting me right now...growing up is TOUGH.

Although the Toys are what this movie basically revolves around, they can truly be seen as things that made us happy as children, things that simulated our imaginations and made us feel free and feel like we were in control of our own destiny. Toys..they seem so trivial and we take take them for granted and so the toys also represent things (in the case of the movie, youth and childhood and friendship) that are always around us that we don't fully appreciate or we may have appreciated them at first and later on forgot about those things. That is until we realize, such as Andy did in the end of the film, of how much joy, laughter and memories these things can give to us. Something we can never forget. That place will always remain in our hearts and in some cases, that is a place we never want to leave. But life is life, you have to move on when the time comes. And when the time comes, you have to make tough choices. The toughest choice is usually the right choice and is not something we are comfortable with at first. But we know, deep inside that what we did will be good for us and everyone surrounding us. It's a simple fact of life. Loss and transition (the gradual disappearance of Andy's old toys such as Bo-peep and Weezy, Andy giving away Toys, Lotso being replaced almost immediately by his original owner etc.)....one of the hardest things we can ever experience in our lives is so evident in this movie. The consequences, the effects and how individuals cope with loss; they are all brilliantly exhibited here.

This last entry into the Toy Story universe is the darkest and most serious of the trilogy, which I absolutely loved and enjoyed, all the while maintaining that imagination and fun that made the first two so endearing. The journey the toys make and as well as Andy and his family is just magnificent to witness and you can't help but feel the same things that these fictional characters feel.

I mean, Woody meant the world to Andy. He's been there for him since he got him and like Andy said "He never gives up on you" He made a tough choice by giving all his toys away, including Woody, to Bonnie a shy little girl with a big imagination, much like himself many years ago. Woody also made a tough choice, because although he was going to be with Andy, he did not want to leave his friends behind and also wanted to make another kid happy just as he did to Andy. I commend Andy (and also Woody for moving on) for such bravery and taking the final plunge to his first step as a man. He's grown up form a kid with a big imagination and a bunch of mismatched toys to a young man with a big heart. I just hope Bonnie plays with, takes care of and loves these toys as much as Andy did once upon a time. And when she reaches that stage Andy did in the film, I can only hope that she does the same thing. The right thing.


Live on Woody, Buzz and gang. To Infinity and beyond.

Alan

Lakers do it again.

Was @ Alvin's place. Defensive and close game.


MVP o' da season again, Kobe climbs higher and closer to the pedestal MJ's @.

I hope the vuvuzela's didn't ruin the night.

@Jerick, lol the Torn song is pretty funny. Who sang it? Some Asian (Korean) chick?

Alan

Sony + Nintendo @ E3

Nintendo first. It was a pleasant surprise. They picked up steam towards the end when they revealed the Nintendo 3DS.

What I liked:

-The reveal of Golden Sun. Excellent RPG from the GBA era, hopefully this DS game will do it justice. Main character looks like the old main character, although the setting in the new game is set in the next generation of the story.

- Nintendo 3DS. This thing's serious. Revamped with 3D, multiple cameras and finally...an analog stick! Plus the graphical capabilities have been bumped to the MAX. It looks like Wii graphics almost.



Kid Icarus means business!

-I hope the whole 3D thing works out and ends up being well integrated into game play rather than a novelty feature. Coming out soon to a store near you.

Next up: Sony. Sony was pretty good; great title reveals, PS move in action, Kevin Butler (EPIC SPEECH) and a new (black) kid on the block...Marcus! (Yes Alvin, it is the kid from role models; personally, I thought he was hilarious.)

What I liked:

-The PS Move looks more promising everytime it is shown. Although I have a feeling that it's probably extremely identical to the Wii, I still think it will cater greatly to the hardcore gamers. I hope they come up with some good titles. That insomniac all stars game looks good. (The one with Ratchet, Jak, Sly Cooper etc.)

- KZ3 (now with 3D..the kind with glasses!) This game still looks friggin amazing still.

-Gran Turismo 5. I was in awe.....Alex thought it was a car commercial. He didn't know it was in-game graphics. The damage makes me lol though...it feels so tacked on.

-Infamous 2. I need to play the first one. Looking good though.

-LBP 2. Endless possibilities; different game genres. It's all up to you on what type of game you will create. What more can you really say? Wow.

-Then the cherry on top of the whole presentation: the reveal of my childhood split screen obsession, Twisted Metal. The entrance was epic, with Sweet Tooth ridin' on his death Ice Cream truck. Game play has evolved, hopefully for the better. There seems to be a lot of variety. Graphically it looks OK.. you could not really see because it was zoomed out half the time. More importantly though....split screen is available! YUSSSSS!!!

-To a lesser note than the above, they finally added video rentals on PSN to the Canadian network. Still cool I think, to be able to get full HD movies without leaving the comfort of your home. But Bluray is Bluray and HD is HD.

- The speech of Butler that probably got every hardcore gamer out of his seat and salute him. And also the fact he noted that lame "french circus" and boxers with no arms.

I was expecting more announcements from Sony, like The Last Guardian, Resistance 3 and maybe even Siphon Filter PS3. I guess I'll have to wait for those. All I know is...Sony is on the right path and has a bright future.

Anyways...based on content and presentation..I think Sony takes the cake this year for best E3 presentation. But I'm more hyped on the Nintendo 3DS, simply because of the number of improvements it's supposed to have.

Here's hoping to seeing more awesome title come out of this year's E3.

Alan

New Blog Template

It's about time for a template change. I really like this new one. Also time for a new motto. Guess where that is inspired from?

Nintendo and Sony press conferences today....should be interesting.

Also..working on a project, will try to finish ASAP for y'all to see...or hear.

Alan

E3 Day 1: Micro$oft and more.

Things that stuck out:

- How crappy Micro$oft's line-up in their presentation were. Everything announced....everybody knew (Gears of War 3, Fable 3, Halo: Reach). Oh and there was the New Xbox. It looks sleeker..and bleck. I guess they took Chad Warden's advice. Oh and please, take your failed Kinect product and go work on your Xbox 720 already. Your reign in this era of gaming is done. Admittedly though, there is a sort of novelty and intrigue you get when you look at Kinect...but you also get a filling of kitsch and gimmick. Catch 22.

- EA had Crysis 2 3D, using old school 3D tech (3D glasses). Kinda cool, but nothing new. Looks good though, but I can already see the fan boy comparisons of PC to console.

- EA also had MMA. As much as I love the UFC Und9isputed series, MMA is lookin' fine.
The Last Emperor and The Natural are revealed as the front-men of the game.

I didn't catch Ubisoft. I'll comment on it once I catch the videos.

Nintendo and Sony tomorrow and more.

Alan

E3 has commenced!

E3....once again. It just feels like yesterday since I watched E3 2009.

Anyways, I'm psyched to see what the future holds for video games.

First thing I saw and that stuck out is Marvel VS Capcom 3. The visual art style and graphics (not sure if it is in-game) are top notch. Amazing. Impressive. Etc.

Dante and Deadpool have arrived.



Who the hell is that?



Also Rock Band 3 game play with the new modes and instrument. I am real excited for this one too.

Video Games | Rock Band 3 | E3 2010: In With The New Interview HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

There are a ton of games that I did not mention, just cuz of the sheer amount of them. Lookin' forward to Sony's conference and all the other game announcements.

Microsoft's conference starts soon and it's lookin' thinner than an anorexic girl on a diet. Haha.

Wish I could attend E3 live at least once in my life.

Alan

@Alvin's blogpost: "Life in HD"

That my good friend, is an excellent documentary series.

There are a few scenes borrowed from other excellent BBC Nature series (such as blue planet), but man....it's larger than life.

Remember my other recommendations for documentaries.

Good choice though.

Alan

Acrophobia.

It has been a lengthy day.

Went up the CN tower for the first time..finally! After living here for 9 years or so I finally conquered (took the elevator) up that thing. The result: magnificent. The view is spectacular and belittles everything you thought belittled you when you are ground level and compared to the CN tower, well..it makes you feel insignificant and humbled. I also got through some of my fear of heights today. The ride up was absolutely terrifying and conversely, the ride down was quite easy.

After the free-standing structure, we ate at an all you can eat Japanese restaurant. It was iite.

Then, we headed over to the steam town brewery, which we never got to see due to time constraints.

Lastly, we chilled at Justin's, watched Jackass, NBA finals game 3, Pizza (from...guess......Pizza Pizza) and to top off the amazing day: Scrabble. I won the last game.

That's it. Finally a day lived well in the summer.

The time is at hand; time to pull the trigger.

Alan

P.S. Will update with pictures and media later.

Summer List

I made one so I always have something to do and look forward to.

This summer sucks so bad cuz I can't go anywhere at any time.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Alan

Sinkhole

This thing is insane. Like...holy crap. The power of earth and her elements man. Holy crap. Tropical storm Agatha hit Guatemala and apparently caused this sink hole. A huge building was apparently swallowed along with the entire intersection.

Check out my new tunes. That's some good shit.

Alan