Recently a lot of movies based on the future are dystopian, with technology run rampart and humans the victims of thier own false ideals. The tone of the movie is dark, and the screen is laden with grays, blacks, and muted tones. The machines we use are rough and dirty, uncared for. Even a lot of videogames share these tendencies.


GET THAT SHIT OFF MY TRACK


Then, in a streak of wonderchrome lightning, comes Speed Racer, an impossibly psychadellic movie that is (not lying) a visual feast, with bursting colors and wonderous animations in every scene, great in-character acting by every single actor, a story and hints-hell, flat out refrences-to the source material, an in general such a wonderful movie that I am tempted to see it again, because it is such a change from futuristic movies where the world is in danger or something is wrong with X conductor...It's pure concentrated FLASH, the future is bright and neon and everyone wears the loudest possible tint of color they possibly can (except Racer X, but even his black seems to shine compared to the deep blues and flaring reds of the cast).
I wasn't going to see this move because I hold Speed Racer somewhat close to me as one of the first anime I ever saw, but this movie...WOW If DBZ looks like this, has this type of style, then I'd be happy. The movie is not ashamed of being campy and basically ludicrous in every way (the races are just...blitzes of skateboarding and NASCAR slammed together)

I now highly reccommend this movie as I believe it is more popcorn-inducing than Iron Man was, and I feel it's going to be underappreciated because they decided to open it so close to IM in the first place. This movie is a nostalgia fest if you see and hear the signs, but you can go into it fresh and enjoy a wonderful, colorful, sensory indulgence that probably won't be replicated for a long time.

THen they went and remixed the score, which was just epic in its own right. I'll not gush anymore on it, but yeah, this is a good film.

Saturday: I mainly played WoW during the day, to which I was involved in my first 25-man raid. On Dial-up this would have been impossible becuase all the data would not fit in the pipes and I would instantly disconnect. This time though I was able to stay during the whole thing and it was awesome. We had Ventrilo up, so the leader of the raid could bark proper instructions when things happened. Everyone else was talking and typing, oh it was grand. We went to Gruul's Lair, which is for non-wow people the cave/"lair" of a big ogre who kills dragons for sport (or something). Every 30 seconds or so he gets bigger. when he gets bigger he gets stronger, and can also cause a cave-in that hurts everybody. So the jist is to kill him before he gets so big as to become uncontrollable. We beat him on our second try after growth #18, where his FOOT took up the whole screen. I don't know how we managed it (people were dying left and right at that point), but it was awesome. I won my first "ph4t l00tz" armor and a nice belt that I can customize with various gems.

so that was fun. We tried another raid (a giant demon warrior named Magtheridon) but he just crushed us silly so yeah.

Then it was Shadi's Birthday at RA Sushi, which is at the new Del Amo Fashion Center. I expected a pretentious sushi place with overpriced everything...but I and many others were suprised. Along for the celebration was phil, jose, edgar, ervin, erick, a bunch of people from EA I recognized, and a bunch of thier friends. all together I think around 25 people. Turns out the food was delicious (or so I imagine because I hadn't eaten all day just for this). Started off with an Orion brew, one of my favorite imports (drinks like a soda bit has a hard kick bette than most beer). I ordered Blue Claw Crab Cakes, and lo- it was real crab in there! Delicious. Then came the main course. I took the safety Chicken Teriyaki, and it was presented much better than I thought. Two grilled chicken breats on top of a bed of bean sprouts, with a cup of rice in th emiddle, drizzled in sauce. Pure and healthy. Then for dessert, Ervin and I decided on tempura Ice cream. We did not realize it was Ice cream wrapped in POUND CAKE, fried, then drizzled with choclate and raspberry sauce. It was the extent of godly dessert I have had in a long, long time. My expectations were smashed in every way except for the bill ($504, $70 "gratuity"). I paid for Shadi's food as my present. Edgar went ahead and got super drunk, then got Shadi drunk with him. I counted 7 Irish car bombs and many galsses of...scotch? something quite hard.

After that we headed to Shadi's friends' house (all 20 of us) to play Rock band. Oh wow the game gets BETTER the more people there are around. The dude's kids were there playing with us as well, it was pretty cool.

Sunday: Got a text that "we are meeting at Ervin's around 9:30". Well I was mixed up because I happen to have 2 friends named Ervin who are friends with people named Phil. Good Times. I had to double check the text to see which one it was, and it was my friend Philemon. OK, cool. Then I get a call from Ervin Ramos saying they will go to the gym at night :( Cancel. I head over to Ervin (Ellis, whom I've given the moniker "erv-diggie" to separate them on my phone) and lol no one is there. All these guys have a terrible flake habit, and Anytime something is announced, It is a GUARANTEE that one or more of them will not make it due to a stupid reason. OK, so I get there, and we just watch Naruto for a few hours. Ervin is terribly hard behind (a little less than a year) so we watched about 11 episodes. Ervin's bro comes in and get all weeaboo about the OP and ending songs, trying to sing them in broken japanese/half-humming. Then we get another call and turns out he was at the door: Chikeze drops by, I'm like wtf shouldn't you be in Philly or London or something, and he says he's on break pending the Finale of Idol. Awesome to see him in person again. He wants to go to vegas near the end of the month (one of the big hotel CEO's is a fan apparently) and we are looking at the most ridiculous Skyloft brand apartments I have ever seen in my life. The fucking CORNER of the hotel, top level, all that. Doing it big indeed. But then again I know a bunch of people are also going to Vegas at the end of the month, so we will see how that goes.

I am perfectly comfortable being a cronie/wingman/etc of this guy, but I want to go to karaoke with him first just to challenge his skill with mine...it's an ego thing I guess. Make sure I am right in not pursuing Idol myself <_< So we are watching naruto and cracking mad jokes about Sasori (dude poisons his carpet, his hair, his doorknob, his ropes, his furniture, his toilet...everything covered in poison!) and good times. Then we leave because Ervin has work (lol the furniture place in Culver city post-Helms Bakery) Today I spent the day at Keystone because I am pretty sure I'm getting fat and failed a lot of things that were pretty hard I think? (Flower Forever v2, Dancemania Megamix [4k steps], Uber rave, AA, etc) I'll need confirm/deny on this because I totally don't follow this anymore. Psytrance is pretty good also.

This weekend was ridiculous on every front, update it...uh later today

"I object to the nations that are headed towards carnage while ignoring international law and I also object to the Japanese government, who neglecting their Constitution collaborates with that nation.

Since the 9.11 incident in the U.S., we have witnessed the carnage of thousands of innocent people who were killed under their "justice". Its momentum is now building for a war with Iraq without an effort to keep peace as a possibility. And the Japanese nation is going to be an accomplice to them. To oppose this, I am distributing music files to the people of the world who share the same opinion: to never allow this carnage.

Individually people against the war have different motives and different positions. However, I do not care who downloads my music. In front of the imminent tragedy, I only hope that my music is being used as a simple tool to keep and encourage our intention of objecting to the war.

Of course I do not expect that my music will be able to move everyone's mind but I wish my music could be a small trigger for other musicians who I don't know and others in different fields. Therefore, I decided the best way I know how is to offer this download of music."

Susumu Hirasawa

More famously known for the soundtracks to Paranoia Agent and the Paprika Animated movie, most of his music is based on Amiga sound boards with other synth and electropop vibes. The vast majority of it is simply uplifting, positive sounding music, with a hint of "this world is insane" thrown in for good measure, a fitting motif since the Agent series and Paprika are all about the human psyche, and how we deal with technology and media in the state of the world as it is.

got double what i expected

brb kthx

No money in my account; It was only a matter of time before this was going to happen. I suppose I'm happy though, I got to run Karazahn for the first time farther than the second boss, and it was very entertaining and informative, plus actual friends were in the raid with me and talking over the microphones. A very fufilling part of the game I never got to see. So ok, full-time job-hunting mode is back on.

I went to CSUDH yesterday to make an appointment over discussing this one dangling chad in my life, this ECO 350 nonsense, and maybe I can turn it into an online class, or independent study. Whatever the case, I don't want to go back to sschool for only one calss and still pay the crazy fee (since this is a senior-level class, I can't take it at a JC). Perhaps I can transfer my credits? Well in any case, I met up with Chet while I was there and we hung out for a few hours, and he persuaded me to play some Oni course on DDR extreme. WOW I suck at those. I tried the 2MB course and failed twice on KCET mix, which is tragic, becuase that was one of the only 9 footers I could easily AA back in the day. no bar 1x though after 2 years of not playing sure gets to ya. Then I ran into my old roomate and Halo teammate Jason, and we shot the bull for a few minutes, reminiscing about the dorms, and all the characters we met on the way. It was nice.

As far as the hunt goes, I'm going to expand my horizons now into the entertainment industry, not just games. Let's see how that pans out.

-Saw Iron man twice
-Recieved (and sent back) three unemployment surveys, which equal $666 when they come in
-Found an outside connection at Activision that can speak on my behalf in the company
-Played Rock Band again-Desmond bought it
-Had McDonald's for the first (and second) time since january


April showers bring May flowers; this goes metaphorically as well it seems.

I think it's about time for me to become a YouTube celebrity, don't you think?

FRIDAY: Mostly chilled out and watched youtube during the day. At night Philemon invited me to Evin's house again for some more Smash Bros. and pizza. Alright, I had a bit of gas left in my tank and nothing better to do, so I schlepped over (the house is a 9-minute drive from my own). They were watching the Tequila show on MTV, and I lamented this while we ordered Domino's on thier dial-up connection. Phil suggested "cheeseburger" toppings, which included cheddar cheese, shredded beef, onions, and extra sauce. We oredered the 555 deal, with 3 pizzas @ 5$ with unlimited toppings. So while that was going on, Ervin was showing me his beats made on Fruityloops or something, and we mucked around coming up with crazy lyrics and such. He should get a mic so we can record this and put it on MySpace.

SO the pizza gets tothe house, and Jackass is on TV. I have not seen that show in years at this point, and it is so goddamn hilarious watching these old shows. Johnny knoxville getting shot in the crotch with a baseball and paintballs and croquet...steve-o snorting a worm through his nose and mouth...the crazy skating stunts; good times. We ended up watching more of that and then Aqua Teen Hunger Force at the same time (which now seems very contrived and forced humor. It's just not as funny anymore) instead of playing any video games. Fun times. Kris never showed up with his 360 though, so all we had was the Wii. No problems!

Then all of a sudden, the doorbell rings and phil opens the door...SAAD...one of my old HS friends is standing there! ::History lesson:: Sa'ad majid mohammed is about 6'3". very lanky/skinny. Used to be a crazy guy. But he was smart also. Together, him and I created alittle bridge made of balsa wood for a MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Asscociation...something to that degree) project. A lot of schools took part in the competition, and the goal was to create a bridge that could sustain a lot of weight. the bridge that held the most weight won an acheivement. I was the architect, he was the contracter. Most bridges cracked and fell apart at around 50-100 lbs. Our little bridge, made of balsa wood, held an astonishing three hundred and fifty pounds. The professor (this took place at UCLA) was able to stand on it before it cracked (not broke). Of course to do this I designed the bridge as somewhat simple, and just threw in as many support triangles as I mathematically could. In the end it looked like a covered bridge, but with a lot of triangles instead of flat boards. Saad's construction was also key; He sanded each angle perfectly, used wood glue instead of that white school glue, and in general did a quality job. So yeah, this friend, who I had not seen in, hmmm...7 years, walks in and I'm kind of shocked that he even still exists. He had attended UCI, went to the Middle East for a spell, and now lives about 2 blocks away form the Beverly Center. Awesome. The first thing he says "Chandler? Well you don't look like you changed that much". LOL I said the same to him, except now he has some sideburns and his features are more angled (adult?)

No time ro reminisce! Commence playing Smash bros. Saad admits he doesn't have a console, as far as gaming goes he has a REALLY nice PC (quad core, water-cooled, etc) and all he plays is DotA (Defense of the Ancients), which is a Warcraft 3-derived fan game that is pretty popular. Well he is in the same boat as I am since I had never really played Smash Bros either, so we take turns playing against Phil, Ervin, and his brother Brian. I don't come in last all the time, which is good. After Smash we play the Naruto Wii game, and they get all egotistical about making Rasengans, which requires you to violently shake the wii rewmote and nunchuk up and down (lol), then pause, and thrust your hands forward. Well I'll have none of that rubbish, but Saad gets all into it and he's shaking and after like 6 tries he starts getting good scores. Meanwhile Ervin and Brian are godly and do it perfectly every time. THey almost work up a sweat doing this, so I suggest maybe a less physical activity. We switch to the "shadow clone training", which is basically the 3-cup trick done with naruto. He starts off with a few clones, then everyone switches places and moves around the screen, and you have to find the correct Naruto. We do this and get it up to the 18th round (it actually gets really fast). Then we play some Gamecube games, and call it a night at around 4am. Saad teaches me about Hypermileing(?), which I suppose I knew about already (getting the most milage out of your car by cruising down streets in neutral, shutting off your motor when you can, inflating your tires to the max, etc). We decide to meet up again and really catch up. Wow, I never in my life would have expected that.


SATURDAY: Again, during the day not much, but Edgar invites me over for some brews and help with his and Nick's econ test. I go to the gym for about an hour, then cruise over to his new apartment, but not before filling my tank up. $57.57. I Dont' have that much money in my account, so I am wondering how I am able to withdraw so much-MAYBE MY UNEMPLOYMENT CAME IN AND it's direct deposit! :D

No, I'm just shafted by overdrafts D: I hope Activision calls...

So Edgar's apartment is really mostly Nick's, which used to be a brothel or something (nice dinner conversation). I look over Nick's test and give him a few pointers, have a couple of beers, then help edgar take his test. Its an online multiple choice test with a 100-minute time limit. The majority of questions I knew, but there were some I was not too sure about, and sure enough, at the end of the test he got a somewhat low score. Not failing or anything, but low for a person who should be good in Econ (ie, me). I suppose I need to brush up on my stuff before I go back to complete this one class in the fall. After the test we have some more brews and load up Smash Brawl. Edgar actually teaches me the game and we watch all the story scenes (which are awesome, btw). I'm trying to learn R.O.B., Pokemon Trainer, and Game and Watch. I just spend the night since I'm buzzed.


SUNDAY: Brian wakes me and edgar up wanting to go to the beach. IT's 95 degrees, good idea. Edgar and I pick up Phil (Arrington) and Brian and head out to Malibu for some beach fun. ON the way, we pass the godliest thing ever. 2 ferraris (whatever) and THREE DODGE VIPERS, taking up all the opposite lanes, and one of them is this SICK shimmering green color with black racing stripes and I'm pretty much screaming because it's rare that I get to see a viper normally but three in a row, moving SLOW so everyone can see 'em. Ugggghhhh sexy. We end up finding a somewhat rocky beach with sand, and proceed to unpack. We had gone to Vons earlier but all I got was lemon soda. The water at this beach was numbingly cold, and the sand floor was filled with pits and hills, so the current sometimes was incredibly strong, as in, even standing, you really had to push yourself to not get swept out to sea. so I only went out maybe 70 feet, enough so I could swim and not touch the bottom, but not so far that I could die. Even then the water so damn freezing I could not stay in there long because my toes were getting numb. I get out, and some guy pulls out a kite, very cool hawk kite, and flies it around. Then we see a school of dolphins no 30 feet past where I was out swimming, and it's terribly cool, because there are like 7 of them, and they are doing jumps and all sorts of cool stuff, then a SEAL pops its head out farther to the side and now the whole beach is basically standing up looking at this wildlife. It was really nice. The weather was getting cold so we pack up and leave, and now I'm determined to keep my camera in the car for the rest of the summer. I drop off everyone, chill at Phil's place and get some more anime including the new Naruto shippuden movie, then go home.

Two hours later I leave again and pick up Alex at his work and go to 24 hour For a few hours. Of course, I'm already tired, but I managed to be more consistent with my 185lb benching, doing maybe 30-40 of them without too much trouble. I decide not to peak out at the 205 level because I'm pooped. I only run half a mile, do some other stuff, whatever. Drop Alex off and take my StarBooty home in the fridge. I hop in bed and oh my god it's too hot in my room. So I go and find a big room fan (the box fan type) and set it up in my room. The droning is pretty loud so I also wear my iPod. I notice after goign through all the songs that the one song I wanted to hear wasn't on it. It didn't matter because I fell asleep within 5 minutes of taking the 'phones off.


All in all a very good weekend, it seems more like summer every day. This coming weekend is of course Iron Man, which should be fun.

WHAT DID CHINESE CALL RETARDED BABY

SUM TING WONG