I threw a rock and I ran.

There are two characters from movies that I wish would be made in 1/6th scale very badly. The first is Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood.



I'd want him to wear that same outfit, since it's of the same style he'd generally wear in the movie, though maybe a darker version. That and have a second version of him from the end of the movie. For the first's accessories, he could come with a revolver, the gun he had when quail hunting, and...I really don't know what else. It's been a few months since I've seen the movie in full, and most of the scenes I remember perfectly are the ones with Daniel Day-Lewis' incredible acting. I guess the hat could be an accessory since he didn't always wear one. The second, ending version, would be easier. Give him a bowling pin, bottle of booze, a plate with a cold steak on it, and maybe a bowling ball and a milkshake(!) too.

I really loved that character. I know he was a complete bastard, but he reminded me of myself in a few ways that I can't really explain. Daniel Plainview to me, is an instant timeless, memorable character. Even people I know that hated the movie said they'll never forget how much of an evil bastard he was, and still remember his name. There's not much outside of posters for collectibles from the movie, but a 12" figure would be beyond cool. If Sweeney Todd can get one, why can't Mr. Plainview?

The other is the one and only Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men.



Now him, he'd be a lot easier for accessories. The air gun used for cattle, both of his shotguns with the huge silencer, some loose change for unscrewing vents, his quarter of life and death and...what else? Maybe the bag of money and the tracker for it. Oh, handcuffs too. This guy would be loaded. And just make sure he has socks under those boots.

Ok, 'just had to get those out of the way.

Kairi's birthday party went really well. It was great for her because all of her buddies were there, and she just kept running around with them and watching Wubbzy. She got a lot of neat things, especially the trike my dad got her, and the dry erase board from Lindy. 'been wanting to get her one of those for a few months now since she loves dry erase markers and gasps out of excitement whenever I get them out for her. About half as many people from last year showed up, most of those probably losers from the old church from hell. 'just further proof that those people don't honor their word. Kairi went crazy about halfway through, and started licking all the cupcakes that were left on the table. She also didn't cry when everyone sang to her! She got lots of super cute clothes, including Finding Nemo pajamas. I hate Finding Nemo but can't deny that those are cute. And holy shit she got 60 bucks? I thought she only got $40. Cool. Rich baby! I hope she gets some movies she's wanted for a while, like The Aristocats and maybe some Tom and Jerry collection. I always forget to look at FYE for what they have that she likes.

My brother can lift 1/3 of what I could at his age. He wanted to use the gym here again. I really wonder if he'll ever get bigger. When he was in 5th grade and graduated the DARE program, he got an XS shirt and it was huge on him. My youngest sister looks like she's going to be the same way. She was born about 8 months ahead of Kairi and Kairi's an inch or two taller than her.

It's been over a week and still no shirtless Kit Fisto in the mail. If I don't get him by wednesday, I'm going to do the whole complaint thing. 'never even heard from the guy saying he sent the figure out. Even the Dunny that was sent by freakin' Media Mail got here on saturday, a week after I won it, and on the other side of the country. The last one I bought should get her soon. And I've officially given up on Aaron now since I lost him AGAIN. If I hadn't went to bed an hour before the auction ended, I would've bid at the last minute and probably won him. But I'm not going to look up anything Wild Thing-related for a while now. I'm happy with the ones I got of course, but damn is Aaron cool, especially in his pose and how his face looks. He really looks like he's in some kind of ritual. Oh shit, what if that's what the Wild Rumpus really was?

ZEBURAMAN VS WAAAAAAAAGE!!

I just wasted nearly 3 hours watching the worst movie I've seen all year. The Dark Knight? More like The Darsh Knight. There wasn't a single thing that got me going "woah!" in the whole picture. Heath Ledger did alright as The Joker- nothing incredible, but he did a decent job. I really don't understand how people can say that no one else could've played that part when it's such a basic role and didn't have anything that other actors couldn't have brought to the table. That's not even to disrespect him either, but The Joker was just another regular bad guy in my book.

Batman still doing the "dark" voice is annoying as hell. I couldn't take it seriously in the first movie, and it only got worse here. I'M GOING TO KEEP TALKING LIKE THIS, EVEN IF YOU ALREADY KNOW MY TRUE IDENTITY. And Two-Face...I had to pause the movie when he first appeared because I was laughing so hard.

There weren't any gags that I laughed even a little at. None of the action scenes impressed me. None of the IMAX shots wowed me. I wasn't even expecting to be blown away because I know better than to do that with a movie that got people beating off to it as much as this. And here I thought Batman Begins was going to be the boring one of this new Batman series. Nope. Well, ok they're about even.

This isn't a joke entry or anything either. I did not like this movie at all. I kept checking my email and other sites during the many "quick we have to find x person!" scenes, and when the movie was over, I ejected the disc right away, put it back in the Netflix slip and put it in the mailbox. And it's sunday morning, and the mailman doesn't come until monday afternoon, so it'll be in the box for a while. That's how much I didn't want this thing in my home any more. I gave it 1 star on Netflix, and 1/2 a star on Flickster on FaceBook since that's as low as you can go. I'm dead-serious: Elektra didn't bore me this much. That at least had a stupid factor that had me laughing from beginning to end. Here, it's just an overblown budget movie that took itself too seriously and tried to throw in little bits that made you question society and humanity. Wow, how deep. Really.

I think another reason I couldn't get into The Darsh Knight was because I can't stand superhero movies. X-Men was ok, X-Men 2 was pushing it, and X-Men 3 is better left for dead. I didn't like any of the Spider-Man movies, especially both sequels. Iron Man, I really wanted to like since the character always interested me, but that one didn't have enough Iron Man in it- they could've just called it Tony Stark and gotten away with it. Fantastic Four...fuck both of those movies. The first one is THE worst comic-based movie I've ever seen. Both Hulk movies? Ugh no.

The only superhero movie I've ever seen isn't even based on a comic. It's mother fucking ZEBRAMAN:



Don't let Takashi Miike's name on the poster fool you- the movie's excellent, and I wish Zebraman had appeared in The Darsh Knight and made everything good. I would say "better", but that's saying it was any good to begin with.

Ok, enough of talking about things that make me mad. Though there's one more thing. I lost yet another Aaron Wild thing auction yesterday. He went for $41(!), and I -know- it's because I've been making videos of these guys for YouTube. There are a few more listed right now, and if I lose any of these ones that are up as of this typing, I'm going to put him on hold unless I find an insanely low BIN one like I did with Max and Goat Boy.

Man they need to make some Zebraman toys. I wouldn't care if Hot Toys or Medicom made a 12" figure and charged their usual $150+. I'd buy one in a second.

Speaking of 12" toys, did you see the upcoming Dutch from Predator by Hot Toys? This thing's crazy:





I'm really tempted to pre-order one, but it's about $160-180 on most sites. But god would that look incredible in-person. 'definitely want to get one of the Predators by Hot Toys in the next month or two now that I decided on a great bass that's $220 cheaper than the Schecter I wanted. I got to play a slightly lesser model at Watz Up yesterday and I was really impressed. The neck on it wasn't as wide as I was expecting, and it was a lot smoother than the Schecter's. If it didn't come in an ugly camo green with stripes[???], I would've probably put it on layaway.

Kairi's birthday party is today and I think a lot of people are coming. Hopefully, from my standpoint, it goes better than last year's where I missed out on a lot of things because I had to keep doing stuff for people and even missed them singing her Happy Birthday. But this time I don't want it to be sang since Kairi hates that song and starts crying as soon as she hears it. Besides, her birthday was over a week ago. I don't want my little Monk to be crying when she has all kinds of cool presents around her.

Oh, in retaliation to one of my friends on YouTube mentioning me in a video of theirs, saying that I have some of the best videos, I made this for them:

Viva La Revolution.

Viva La Revolution by Dragon Ash is probably my all-time favorite album. I'm tempted to call it the best I've ever heard, but there are so many others that I could say the same about, so I'll just stick with it being my favorite. After the little introduction to how I got the album, I started playing it so I can remember exactly how I felt hearing everything for the first time, track by track. This is a pretty long entry, since I typed it over the span of about an hour. So unless you've never heard about Dragon Ash, but are interested, I can't recommend reading this because it'll get boring.

I first got the album after a then-girlfriend of mine and I were talking about who we listened to. She brought up Dragon Ash since she had moved here from Japan, and they had just hit it big over there. Like most guys who try to impress those they like, I lied and said I did. She got excited and asked if I had their newest album, Viva La Revolution. I said "sure!" and she bugged me about borrowing it for the rest of the day. I told her she could borrow it the following weekend, which gave me a week to find the damn thing. Luckily, this was 2000 and there were still record stores around. I hit up Tower Records in Beaverton since they had an import section, and low and behold, there it was: Viva La Revolution. It was 40 bucks! Holy shit! The most I ever paid for a cd at that point was $20 for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness! But this cd was going to get me bonus points, so I bit and bought it. 'couldn't back out at that point.

On the way home, I checked out the cd's booklet and saw that about half of the songs were in English. At this point in time, my Japanese language skills were ok, but not great, so this was good news. But it doesn't matter if you know what a foreign band is saying if the music's good, of course. Anyway, looking over the band members, I thought that these were going to be the baddest dudes around. All 4 members were in sharp suits, and two of them had sunglasses. The other had a nice chain and the last member had braids and a fake mustache. I had no idea what I was getting into, especially looking over some of the lyrics. What were these guys going to sound like? It said on the last page that there was a singer/guitarist, a bassist, a drummer and a DJ. Remember that this was 2000 and there were many bands that had that line-up. Most of which were yucky rap/rock. Was I going to like any of these tracks? Did I just waste $40?

I got home and put the cd in my stereo, and just laid on my bed with headphones on. Back then, whenever I got a new album, I'd have to be alone and with no distractions so I could fully appreciate the music without interruptions in order to make a verdict. I hit |>.

HORNS!

The cd started out with horns blaring and a viking-like drum beat. It was called "Intro". Ok, gotcha. Maybe these guys have some classical music sampled by the DJ and...whatthehell, hip hop beats? The DJ started scratching. I was confused.

Then someone said something. "EVERYBODY SING ALONG, NOW COME ON NOW". After the sampled intro to the next track, Communication, this simple bass riff kicked in: dun, dun-dun. Dun, dun-dun. A few guys were singing the chrous, and then a rap started while a hip hop drum beat played. Ok, so these guys are rap? Alright. I hadn't started to like rap much back then, but I didn't hate it. So I went with everything. The track had a really scratchy sound to it for the most part, and a bunch of English words were in the mostly Japanese rap. Weird. What had I gotten myself into? In the middle of a track, there was another sample, but it was a soothing little bit, then it went back to the main track. What the hell was going on? I hadn't heard anything like this before, and this was after listening to tons of BucketHead albums for the last 2 years.

The next track, Rock The Beat, started with more samples of people talking before a flute started playing over the rest of the track that was mostly drums and scratching. Kenji, the singer/rapper, started up sounding a little less angry than he did on the previous track. This one really reminded me of the Beastie Boys, and I wondered if they were one of Dragon Ash's influences.

Being impatient back then, I couldn't take much more rapping and skipped over to the next track, Humanity (Album Version). More samples and scratching. Great. All of a sudden, this slap and pop bass line started. Where'd that come from? I had just heard 2 simple riffs on the last 2 tracks, and now the bassist started to do cool things? I skipped to the next track, Attention.

Attention along is what got me to like the album, and give the first few songs another chance. This track is such a party/night track that it's ridiculous. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please" is the first thing you hear and then this incredibly rad slap bass riff plays. That riff right there is responsible for making me lose interest in guitar and switching over to bass. Ikuzo Baba had tricked me on those first few tracks! Now he's playing a line over and over that would've worn out my thumb in no time if I tried to play it back then. But the rest of the track kicked ass too. Kenji delivered a smooth rap that I can recite word-for-word, even if I only know what the first verse means. A sample plays in the back for the majority of the track: "Kick that gangsta shit, come on! We gotta kick that gangsta shit, come on!". It could've gotten annoying if I hadn't given in and started liking these guys right then, but I was soon singing along to that line. When the track ended, I actually got sad because this is the kind of track that could go on for a few more minutes and I'd be happy.

Following that is Let Yourself Go, Let Myself Go. It was another basic rap like the first 2 songs, but had some soft singing thrown in too, as well as an acoustic guitar. What was with these guys? It's like they knew how to blend instruments with turntables or something! I hadn't heard that done before. Eventhough Attention got me to keep listening, I started to really listen to the tracks, and stopped worrying about figuring out what they were about or trying to do. These guys were musicians. No, they were artists.

When LYG, LMG stopped, the album did a complete turn. Dark Cherries, a song about snowboarding, went along with a simple acoustic riff and drum samples. There was bass and regular drums too, as on -every- track on here, but they took a back seat to let the song go more softly. It's weird, only typing this up right now do I notice that the album makes an extra transition. I knew it went from rap to rock, but it went from rap to lighter hip hop to rock, like it didn't just suddenly change completely. I never noticed that LYG, LMG served as another transition. Kenji's singing voice sounds a lot different than he did while rapping. But Dark Cherries was the first all-English song, and I can admit to this day that it may sound a bit Engrish-y to some people, but it's still a nice song. Someone really needs to play this song over some nice, slow snowboard footage.

At this point, I didn't know what to expect. What were these guys going to do next? They had already done a nice orchastrated intro, a rap opening number, rough hip hop, a bad-ass party song, a softer paced rap, acoustic and...

OH HOLY SHIT WHERE DID THIS COME FROM??????

Drugs Can't Kill Teens begins with a sample voice saying "Who this?" (I think), then a soft, high-note bass line. Maybe this was going to be a love song, or at least a softer track than Dark Cherries was? NOPE. Rock guitar, rock bass and rock drums come like a bat out of Guantanamo Bay. I had to turn the sound down after I recovered from the surprise. These guys could play -loud-! I think this is the track that really shows how well each guy can play their instrument without overshadowing the others. Kenji on guitar shreds while Baba can be heard perfectly without any overlap. Makoto, the drummer, is right there with them, and DJ Bots plays cool background voice samples. Dude, this track...I think anyone who likes rock could get into this. Kenji isn't screaming the lyrics, but singing loud while still being gentle. It's great.

I love it when a band plays through to the next song on an album, like there's no break between them. Once they finish one track and the instruments are still ringing, they start the next one. That's exactly what Dragon Ash did after Drugs and into Just I'll Say, one of my favorite songs of theirs. It's a softer track, but again, all instruments blend flawlessly. I LOVE Baba's bass riff that plays through the whole track and only finally figured out how to play it last year. He goes simple again, after playing that fast paced line on the last track, but it still rules. And Kenji's guitar work goes a little Ska. Yet it works. This is a love song that, while upbeat, has some kinda sad lyrics if you look them up. After listening to this, I made it my goal to play this at a talent show or something. That never happend, but hey, maybe when my brother's in highschool I could get him to see about it. I call bass!

Fool Around is a bit more punk, I guess. I don't listen to any punk music aside from Bad Religion because it doesn't interest me, but this sounds like a few ponk (pop/punk) songs I'd heard on the radio back then. I sound like a broken record, but just like the last 2 songs, everything blends. This was such breath of fresh air for me, since most of my friends who'd lent me albums of bands they liked...you could barely tell if they had a bassist, or what the drummer was doing, or if they had 2 guitarists or 1. Fool Around is nice because it reminds me of something you could see playing during footage from the X-Games or something. I love Makoto's drumming during the chorus. It still amazes me that he usually does most of the backing vocals while playing. The only other band I'd known at that point to do that was 3 Doors Down, but even then, their drummer was the lead singer I think.

Now we got a bit slower- Freedom Of Expression. It starts out gentle and stays that way, but after the opening verse, we go from single string playing to full rock chords. This is a pretty inspiring track, even if it isn't exactly deep. Kenji says it simple- he loves hip hop and rock 'n' roll. So what if he's Japanese? No matter what happens, he'll be playing music. When in love, if things go bad, if he's successful and set, anything. Side note- this is the first song (by a band or singer) I ever sang to Kairi when she was a baby. I think it was when she was 4 or 5 months, and when I sang the chorus, she started laughing. It was so cute!

Nouvelle Vague #2 is kind of a break track. It's bass, drums and samples. Most people skip over these kind of tracks, but by this point, anything the band did was fine with me, and it still is. Years later, it's good to see that DA still does tracks like this on their albums. This one's slow, and I picture a dark, empty city or an alley while it's raining.

Viva La Revolution, the title track, is probably my least listened to track on the album. Back then I didn't care for it after all those rockin' songs, and now I think it could've been placed higher on the play list, but it's ok. I'll say it now- I tend to listen to the full cd in its entirety whenever I can, but if I'm short on time, I do skip this one. This goes back to the rapping and samples, but is much different than the others. It's hard to explain this number. It begins with a sample I've heard so many times before (and after), most notably in Jet Grind Radio for Dreamcast. The little voice saying "VIVA! VIVA! LA REVOLUTION!" over and over. Is that from a movie or something? Kenji raps and sings at the asme time here, and sounds good doing so.

Grateful Days though, wow. This is the band's main hit that made them icons in Japan, and if you've seen clips of them playing this live, you'll see why. Everyone in the crowd goes NUTS when it starts. This track features Japanese hip hop legend Zeebra, so that just cements why this song is a big deal. DJ Bots samples The Smashing Pumpkins' dainty guitar work from Today, but the song by Kenji and Zeebra is the complete opposite of what Corgan sang on the original. This song made me feel different than all the others, even if it's not one of my favorites on here (don't get me wrong, I still love it). Some of the lines are just genuinely sad.

Finally is the Outro, another bass/drums/DJ track but with nice moans from a woman playing over and over. But after many many minutes of nothing once it ends, there's a hidden track- Hot Cake! This sounds like something Weezer would play, only better. It's pure mid-90s rock, and remains one of my favorite songs they've done. I just want to know why they didn't make it a "real" track! I actually went and edited the mp3 of this for iTunes so there's just a few seconds between the Outro and Hot Cake, because I can't stand waiting to hear this cool song. This was another one I vowed to play at a talent show, but never did.

After the album was over, I listened to it again, and liked the first couple of songs before Attention. Then I listened to everything again. This was my album. No other since then has bumped it out of my #1 spot for top favorite. Others have come close, like Deltron 3030, Aphex Twin's Richard D. James Album, another by Dragon Ash- Independiente, and even Tom Waits' Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards couldn't do the job. Viva La Revolution, while not a perfect showcase of music by any means, is perfect for me. I still stand by my initial impression and think it may be weird for people who've never heard Dragon Ash to use this as their first alubum because it starts out with rap, and most people I know these days in-person suck when it comes to having an open mind with music. But over the years, I've gotten many people to buy this cd. Former friends, friends I don't talk to much any more, I can get most people to like Dragon Ash because of Viva La Revolution, then move on to their other work. This is one of the only bands I'd be genuinely heart broken about if they broke up or something happened to one of them. These guys are just so cool and do what they do well, that I can't ever turn on them.

Viva La Revolution really opened me up to other kinds of music. BucketHead did tons of that when I first got into his stuff, but that was 90% instrumental and weirdness. Dragon Ash opened me up to more rap and DJ work, and even got me wanting to play bass. To this day, Viva La Revolution is one of those few purchases that I'm glad I made.

Oh, and I did eventually let my ex borrow the album, but it took a month before I could trust her with it, haha. I didn't want anything to happen to this cd. When it got its first scratch, I freaked out and considered buying back up copies, even at $40 a disc. Of course, over time it just got worse until I imported the whole thing to my computer and didn't have to worry about it any more. I think if it weren't for that, I would've worn out the cd ages ago.

There aren't many cds I've listened to where I can say that I listen to every single track. Even Deltron 3030 isn't one of those. Viva La Revolution though, is. Even if I was trapped on a desert island with a freakin' gramophone and there was only a record with Viva's Intro, I'd be fine. Yes, even a quick opening fanfare would be enough for me. Anything from this album. But I'd prefer all the tracks.

Tracks I recommend for a good first impression:

-Attention
-Drugs Can't Kill Teens
-Just I'll Say
-Grateful Days
-...all the others, but those ones first!

And you know what? If you buy the album and don't like it, I'll buy it from you. I promise.

Maybe monday, ah-ha!

She reminds me of Kairi., originally uploaded by Tarta Caliente.

So the first of four Dunny dudes I ordered arrived. She's really cute and reminds me of Kairi for some reason. I know there are -tons- of these things out there, and some of them are practically used as currency, but I'm not going to get that into these. Yes, there are many that I like and want, but these guys are just barely 3" tall, yet some of them are going for over $200. That's sick. I think the most expensive one I want is $60, which isn't any better, but I'm setting the limit right now at that being as high as I'll go for any of these. And even then, it better be god damn insane looking. Anyway, it's cool how they got such clean lines painted on these tiny lil' things [even if the paint coloring could've been a little cleaner]. They're like much smaller Mighty Muggs, but with ears. Things like this, that have huge followings, make me wonder why some things are just so easy to make money off of. If I knew who to send character designs to, I'd send a few of my guys in in a second.

'got to play tag team foosball during lunch last night. It was me and Dan vs Miguel and James. I generally suck at foosball since I haven't played more than 3 times over the last, I don't know, 15 years? Dan got most of the goals, but I was rocking on defense, blocking tons of shots and passes. I sure as hell wasn't expecting to do that good, that's for sure. But it was weird seeing Miguel and James sweat while playing. We only played for like 25 minutes, and there me and Dan were just fine while those two took it like a real sport. Wait, this IS a real sport [in some countries]. An added bonus was shouting "HADOUKEN!" each time I tried to make a goal. I'm surprised the guys got that.

I also want to mention that my super hearing got even more amazing. I was on my floor, heading down to the cafe before clocking out, and I heard James and Miguel playing pool from the entrance to my floor. This doesn't seem like a big deal to nearly everyone since I doubt many people reading this are familiar with my floor, but there's no way anyone should've been able to hear something like that from that distance. Maybe I'll get my ears checked next month and see if they're just so clean that I'm able to hear nearly everything around me, or if it's something else. Hey, I don't mind.

PUSH THE BUTTON!

Kairi woke up about 35 minutes ago. It was so sad seeing her walk out here crying, holding her Wubbzy blanket in one hand while she was hugging her Wonder Pets Ming-Ming with the other. I think she had a bad dream since she wouldn't go back to sleep when I put her in our bed. She just wanted me and now we're watching Pixar Shorts.

The guy I bought the IG-88 figure from sent me a message saying the figure was sent back to him from the post office and the box was completely crushed, ruining IG-88 inside. That blows so much, but he was nice and gave me a full refund. I still want the figure, but I opted for a Dunny I liked instead. I'm going to use the rest towards HOPEFULLY an Aaron figure. There are 3 up right now, and if I don't win one of them, I'm going to be pissed. I don't get why he suddenly jumped in popularity. The order always seemed to go Moishe, Bernard, Emil, Goat Boy, Aaron and Tzippy. Maybe I made a mistake in uploading videos showing off the figures on YouTube...

This showed up on eBay a few days ago:



I emailed the seller asking if there was anything inside the magazine that mentions new Olivia figures coming out and he said there was just an ad for the show. That'd be rad if they released a whole bunch to go along with the show. It'd mean I could get a new figure instead of holding out for that damn rare one that goes for a stupid amount of money. But that looks like a figure on the cover of the magazine, and not a character model from the show. Or does it? The show's done in such a bland CG style that it doesn't look like the usual CG shows on these days. Man I hope this means new figures. Now if only they'd make some of the Backyardigans too.

As far as the new bass goes, I still plan on getting one, but I might be leaning more towards an Ibanez EDB like I used to want. The two main reasons being that the neck on the EDB400 I played 2 years ago is fucking incredible and I could play anything effortlessly. The other reason is that EDBs are very cheap on eBay. Like...1/3 the price of the Schecter I wanted cheap. But the risk there is not being able to play before you buy. Sure I could always file a dispute with PayPal, but those always take a while. Maybe I'll go to the music store down the street this weekend and see if they have any EDBs in-stock that I can try out and see if they're still great. I swear though, every EDB on eBay is less than $400, usually less than $300 even. But I've went through bass info over the years hearing that heavier bodies are better, and apparently the EDB models are plastic. Eh, time to go on a bass board and ask what the geniuses over there think.

Awww, now she wanted to go to sleep, but wanted to kiss Moishe and Emil (or as she calls him, "The chicken"). She's such a sweet little Kai.

J-E-DOUBLE F...

Jesus, is the band Saliva really still around? Things like this astonish me. There were so many one hit wonder bands when I was in school, especially from 7th grade to 12th, and I figured most of them were done because they realized they weren't capable of making good music. Bands like Linkin Park almost fell into the pattern but thanks to Rick Rubin, they saw that their fans had moved on from the rap/rock thing, and they're still around. But Saliva? I just saw a commercial on RAW for them since they did the theme for No Way Out. Didn't these guys only have like 2 main songs a few years ago? There was their first "hit" (I use that term loosely), and then the duet the singer did with Nickleback's reason for sucking, ie- their singer. And here Saliva is, x years later. I don't care if they've "made it" since they're being recognized on tv or whatever. The fact that these guys sound the same as they did back then is sad. Godsmack was notorious for this. Remember them? Yeah, that's what I thought. I remember when a friend and I went to Wherehouse a few years ago because he wanted to buy their new cd. He put it in the car's cd player, but accidentally played the first cd first. It wasn't a problem since I didn't mind that album. But after a while, I asked him, "did the new cd start yet?".

...we couldn't tell when the old cd stopped and the new one started.

Then Godsmack's 3rd cd came out, and the few fans of theirs experienced similar things- not being able to tell that it was new material. Great, Saliva just made me talk about Godsmack for the last 3 minutes. See what these bands can do to me? It was even worse when Papa Roach came back from the magical land of obscurity, but I won't even go there. If anyone still listens to Last Resort and enjoys it, I don't know what to say. ARRRRRRGH. WE'RE ANGRY WHITE GUYS WHO NEED TO TELL PEOPLE ABOUT HOW WE NEED ATTENTION BY WANTING TO KILL OURSELVES. WAAAAAAAGE!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!



Last night I watched Densha Otoko, or Train Man as it's known on Netflix. The movie was a lot different in tone from what I was expecting after I read the disc envelope summary. It's about a geeky guy who falls in love with a girl after semi-saving her on a subway train, but he doesn't know how to really do anything about it. So he asks a few people for help on an anonymous message board (basically the Japanese version of Craigslist). They all give him advice on how to ask her out on a date, clean himself up, get contacts, everything. It's really cute watching these people and how they act when replying to Train Man's messages. There's a group of 3 guys, all geeks themselves, who reply to him often, and whenever Train Man makes progress with the girl, they cheer him on and envision themselves in war, wishing they were as brave as he was. Another is a loner teenage boy who's cynical about how to show affection, but makes some good, warm-hearted replies as well. One more is a cutesy nurse who isn't over her previous boyfriend, and acts as more of a motherly figure in her replies.



That's really most of the movie- a geek getting replies from people online about what to do next with the girl. It might sound boring, but it's super funny and very cute. They did a great job with making this guy come off as the biggest geek ever. He wears Gundam shirts, has TONS of toys and figures (more than I would if I had never sold anything...or maybe just as much. I don't know), his room is literally stacked with comic books, and even girls on the street who give out free products while promoting the company they work for don't even give him samples. You can't help but wish this guy the best, and feel bad for him when he screws up here and there. Make sure you watch this one if you're looking for a romantic comedy that's both romantic and a comedy without being typical and constantly predictable. The only problem I had was the ending and that they could've ended it perfectly, but chose to keep it going for a few minutes more and make things confusing. Regardless, I give it a 5 out of 5, and it's the best movie I've seen this year so far.

Watching Train Man, I wonder how I got as far as I did with girls in middle and high school since I was't much different from him. 'must've been my style.

Since I'm too sore from working out in the gym last night, and can't do my usual routine, I'm making a move summary document for the move list I posted on here a few weeks ago. It'll just be kept aside for Kairi for when she's older, or if I ever find someone serious enough about wanting to learn everything. This one kid at work is showing interest in fighting after a few of the "big" guys there said I'd kill them in a fight, and he wondered how that can be since I don't look like much. Part of me likes that since, like The Beast in Kung Fu Hustle, that's a big element of surprise. But at the same time, I'd love to have the build of even someone like Rey Mysterio Jr. But this guy at work has a great center of gravity and if he learned a few basic things, he could handle himself well enough for people around here if anything ever happened. 2 or 3 weeks ago he asked me to show him a few things for a slow sparring session.

Don't get me wrong here, because I can't stand the thought of coming off as arrogant in talking about fighting, or sounding like I'm the be-all of martial artists since I'm definitely not. But the poor guy wouldn't have stood a chance against me using what he showed me. Oh my god, the kick he used...I wanted to let him hit me after that. I lent him my old Shotokan book that I let other students borrow. 'need to ask him soon if he's been reading it at all. He said he'd be up for doing this once a week in order to get better. That'd be really cool, especially if it were somewhere near work since James took Choi Lei Fut for I think 2 years, one of the more deadly styles. Of the people I know, the two I really want to fight are Dan and James. Dan's got most of the power advantage (though he can't do pull-ups while holding his legs straight out, but I can do about 15 in a row!) and from what I've seen, has some good speed too, but I don't know about his experience. James says time and time again that he's too old to do anything, but is sneaky, so I'd know that in advance and be looking for such things. I think James could be in good shape to spar if he'd work out even once a week. He's taught me a few nice techniques over the last 3 years working with him, so I know he's not just a commoner like what we mostly have in Hillsboro.

Just the thought of having anyone to practice with again, for any amount of time, makes me happy. Martial arts schools around here are always closing down after less than a year, and the majority of the ones in the area still are simply "karate" (no style of it, just plain "karate") and that god awful Tae Kwon Do. Dan said he's went to a TKD school that's been around for a long time and just watches them do drills. They've invited him to join the class a few times, so that makes me wonder just how far that could go. When there was a school right across the street from here, I asked how their sparring goes, and the guy said it's controlled contact and that your moves should depend on your rank. That's BS. Let's say I were to have enrolled there. I would've started out as a white belt, and had to've used the white belt set against my opponent, even if they were a higher rank? That's not how it is in a fight. The thought is just as ridiculous as modern Mixed Martial Arts and how they have weight classes. You either have it or you don't.

Yo it's 3030.

Damn. Aaron went for over $30 and Olivia went for well over $50. I said I wouldn't bid more than $55 on her, and I didn't. So I didn't win. And when I saw Aaron going for more than I paid for Moishe, I just didn't bid at all. But there's another one listed right now, so maybe I'll have luck with that one. It just sucks to me because the seller of the one that ended yesterday was really cool and took time to send me extra detailed pictures showing if there were any paint defects on the eyes or anything. 'feel like I wasted his time now. But I think I'm going to hold off on the Olivia figure unless I can find a super good deal on one sometime down the road. But it's just such a sweet little figure when you see pictures of it that you can't help but want it right away. If you haven't read the books, I've only read Olivia Hels With Christmas, and it's one of the cutest kid's books ever. Even with there being like 3 or more books in the series, and this is the only exposure I have to her, I love that little pig. 'need to start watching the cartoon.

We didn't do a whole lot for Valentine's Day, but went out to a good Chinese eatery we haven't been to in a while. I made the mistake of ordering fried rice, which is a huge plate there. Actually, I told the guy that I wanted white rice but he was new and he didn't seem to speak much English, but I didn't complain. I got killer spring rolls, and just typing that made my mouth water. No one has spring rolls like these guys do. Then we went to Target where the Mrs. found a Mighty Mugg Ewok and put it in the cart immediately. I also won her the Gingerbread Dunny before we left, so these were her two presents. The Ewok, Teebo, is creepy as hell since he looks like a hamster that was walked in on when he was going to the bathroom. Wicket at least looks happy.

I had no clue that Mountain Dew Slurpees had ginseng in them. When I went to pick my flavor, I looked over the Mountain Dew logo and saw that one of the main 2 ingredients was ginseng and said out loud, "whatthehell, it has ginseng in it????". I think that's one of the most unexpected things I've ever seen.

Kairi's eaten so much these last few days, and you can tell that she's growing. Her face has changed a little bit, but you can't see it unless she's talking. Her mouth movements and expressions look a lot different from how they did just last month. And her hearing and vision's only getting even better than it already was. My hearing's incredible, and it surprises me when she can hear something I can, that I know barely anyone else could, and she goes, "wassat?!". And with her vision, she can see airplanes far off into the distance and points them out when I can't see it unless I really focus. Man I hope she has excellent senses all around and keeps them for a long time. I don't want her to suddenly get horrible vision when she hits 4th grade like I did.

Oh yeah, I saw the anniversary edition re-releases of the original Ninja Turtles at Target too. It was so weird seeing the same figures at the same store from almost 20 years ago. 'be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited to see that. All 4 of the turtles were there, and I was -this close- to getting Donatello. It took a few minutes of walking around and looking over everything before I put him away and decided to hold off and get the NECA version instead (sorry old Don!). The two things that did it for me were that the NECA one is just so much cooler and has great articulation, and I'd almost feel bad opening this re-release because of how classic the packaging is. Now, I can't stand people that leave their figures and toys in the packaging. The main reason being that there's always someone out there who would've paid just as much for it to open it and appreciate the toy instead of leaving it just to be looked at in a neutral state. But I have to admit, these guys looked really good in their oh so 80s/90s packaging that I actually thought about ways to open the figure without ruining the card. April was on it in the bottom-right corner too! When they're released, I'll definitely get Slash, Bebop and Rocksteady. 'don't know about Shredder, Splinter or April. Casey Jones and the Foot Soldier are on their way too, but I'll have to look at them again for the first time in ages before I make up my mind. The turtles also came with a dvd of an episode from the show. Even if it's just one episode, it's a nice extra. I didn't like seeing the $9 price tag for these guys since they were $5 back in the day. Hey, if they're gonna look the same and have an extra dvd that barely uses any of the disc space, it should be a little cheaper than $9!

Hmm...it was also weird to see the huge brown rack of weapons that the turles came with. I forgot how many were on that thing. Donatello came with a scythe-like weapon, two different katar, throwing stars, and other things. That always bugged me that their weapons were brown, and I still don't like it now. Donatello's makes sense since he fights with a wooden bo, but all the other weapons are metal. I can remember 5 year old me asking kids at school if they thought it was stupid that the turtles had brown swords and throwing stars too. Most of them agreed.

Piso mojado.

Kairi turned 2 on thursday. She was in a grumpy mood for most of the day, but you could tell that she had fun. She was excited as hell to sit in her car and go around the living room. She barely leaves it still. When we get back home from doing whatever, she goes straight to the car. She'll eat in there. Play with toys in there. And manages to lay down in there too. That was probably part of the reason she was so grumpy while we were out- she was probably thinking about her car the whole time. She was fine when we went to a park, especially since we were the only ones there and she got the whole thing to herself. But when we took her out for dinner at Red Robin, she was fussy and cried when everyone sang her Happy Birthday. Poor Kai. Even at Toys R Us we were going to let her get any one toy that she wanted, but she kept saying no to everything. She settled on a big paint set, but wasn't that excited about it until we got back home. Kairi fell asleep for about 35 minutes or so in the car and when she woke up, she was in a super good mood at Borders. It's so cool how kids can do that. But she still has a lot of birthday cake left. When she came home from getting her birthday pictures done, Kairi just ate the sprinkles, one by one, off of the cake. She didn't eat any of the cake itself until later that night. She's so cute.

Something else I noticed is so obvious, but it's not the kind of thing you notice much. I was looking at this foam elephant on a wire that she got at the zoo earlier this week. It's just a simple purple and yellow elephant shaped piece of foam that's connected to a long wire with a handle, like a dog on a leash. This is such a basic concept, and Kairi loves it. How she plays with it is equal to how a giddy teenager is when they get the newest model of phone. It really is the little things that give [most] people the most in life, no matter what their age is.

I ended up getting some water behind the LCD screen of my camera last night, and spent an hour looking up tips online for how to fix the problem. The most common solution I found was putting the camera in a bag of rice, covering it up with said rice. The rice should absorb the water, though I don't get how it'll absorb water that's behind an LCD screen when the rice is on the outside of it, unless the screen's just that thin. The camera works fine and all, but having this big spot on it that's lighter than the rest of the screen is annoying. Luckily, pictures and video come out normally, so it's not a big deal. I was planning on getting a new camera within the next couple of months anyway. My friend James is always up for whatever I sell, so I can probably sell this one off to him and buy a new one, only paying half of it with my own money. It's nice that good digital cameras for casual users are getting cheaper. Today at Target I saw a newer Nikon model on sale for $90. 'had equal MP to my camera, 8.1, but was faster and less bulky.

In the off-chance that things are going ok enough for me to get a new bass in the next month or two, I can't decide between the two versions of the same bass. It's the Schecter Stiletto Studio-4 Bass. Unlike my last bass, which was the Schecter C-4 Custom, I've actually played this one prior to buying it, and this sucker is incredible. The only thing I didn't like about it at first is that it has a multi laminate neck instead of a natural finish. On most basses that have the multi laminate neck, my hand gets stuck because of the gloss or paint, and I can't play some faster tracks as a result. But this one I got to play on didn't give me any of those problems, and here I hadn't played in almost 2 years. The problem of buying comes in on the color decision. There's honey satin:





and see through black:



The honey satin, even if it might look boring in those pictures, is gorgeous in-person. But I don't like the gold hardware since it tends to chip away over time, or just plain discolor. The black doesn't have that problem, as you can see, but...I really don't like black when it comes to guitars and basses. They look so boring. The one pro to this is that stickers and stuff like that don't look as weird since black goes with everything. And even if it'd mean spending extra on the sweet honey satin number, I COULD buy black parts and replace the gold ones, but I really want to just be happy with everything right when I get it. 'suppose that might be asking for a bit too much though since the bass sounds incredible as it is. I know I said that even with playing all the instruments I have over the last 10 years, that I never really enjoyed doing it, for some reason I've been really back into music lately and analyzing the hell out of some tracks that I want to learn how to play. Like Hot Cake by Dragon Ash, it's so easy but now that I'm in the mood, I'm picking up on a few little bits that I never heard before now. And here I've had Viva La Revolution since god damn late 2000!

'played the bass at Guitar Center though, and it always makes me laugh to see people really into their own playing no matter how bad they are. There was this one kid playing a really nice bass- the kind that a professional would use, and he was playing generic metal tunes, very sloppily. It was kind of embarrassing. Kairi could do better than him. In fact, she did, on drums anyway. She loves bongos, conga drums, anything like that. Since she loves the whole King Louie scene from The Jungle Book, she finally got to play out the I Wanna Be Like You number on bongos. It was so cute seeing her all happy while smacking the hell out of those things.

Oh, as I'm eating concha, I just remembered. If you can't eat a whole lot in one sitting like me, don't even try to eat a muffin from My Favorite Muffin. I tried to eat a chocolate one the other day and I felt sick within 7 bites. These things are the size of standard muffins you can get at Winco, but holy crap, they weigh at least twice as much. My cousin Daniel made these chocolate chip pancakes a few weeks ago, and I tried one, and couldn't go beyond 8 bites, and those at least had something other than chocolate in them. Though to be fair, I think he just added a little bit of pancake mix to a bag of chocolate chips. I swear to god, one of those things could kill a village of diabetics. These muffins? They're capable of taking out entire countries, easy. No wonder I find so many bags from there with half-eaten muffins at work when I'm emptying conference room garbage. I totally understand now.

Before I'm done with my little break before doing my sit ups and push ups again, I just figured I'd share what I ordered in the last 2 days with leftover money from the Muggs I sold. These are two figures I've wanted for a while, shirtless Kit Fisto ('comes with his lightsaber of course):



and the best IG-88 made so far:



I have an idea of something to do with a few figures that'd make a good picture, and these two had to be involved.

'back to working out and praying that no one else bids on either the Wild Thing Aaron or the super sweet Olivia figure. With the money I got for Rain ($168!!), I'm going to use $60 of it for the Mrs.' eye exam, $40 for my contacts soon, and the rest towards Aaron or Olivia. Ok, Aaron most likely won't go for THAT much (I think the average for him is $30), but Olivia's tricky. I really wish I'd did the Buy It Now for her a few weeks ago for $15 when I had a chance. It was 2 days before I got paid though, and the guy needed the payment within 3 days. Bastards. Originally, I wanted to use the money towards the Master Replicas Animal photo puppet, but I'm going to put him on hold for a little longer, if ever. I know a few friends on Flickr have shown some just amazing shots of theirs, but others look pretty bad. Animal's unlike Kermit- he requires some fixing up in order to make him look better. And if I spend $150+ for a replica, made by a company called "Master Replicas", it shouldn't require any fixing up. Then again, the Muppets line isn't looking good since there still isn't any new news on Fozzie, and I guess they only have another year left on the Muppet contract. All this time and we've only gotten 3. Wow.

I'll get you back.

I've been getting the Where The Wild Things Are figures these past few weeks, and they're without a doubt the best toys I've ever bought. Each time I get a package in the mail and open it up, seeing Max and the Wild Things outside of the book is just so cool. They're a lot bigger than what I was expecting, which was a little taller than keychain figure size. All of the Wild Things I have so far, except for Goat Boy, are taller than the standard Mighty Mugg. These bad boys are heavy as hell too, for what they are. It just sucks that they have a history of breaking, and I finally got to experience that yesterday. Max's tail broke off just minutes after opening the box, but it looks like a clean break and can be glued on. There's no point in moving around his tail either- the way it's sculpted, it'd look weird at any other angle. I can't decide if I like him with his crown on or off though. He looks bad-ass either way. But it's all about the wolf ears.

Speaking of the Muggs, I think I'm done with them. I saw a few new ones I wanted at Toys R Us this past weekend, and with the exception of The Baroness, I didn't like how they looked in-person. I'll still go for her, Venom, the Ewoks, old Obi-Wan and maybe Grievous if he ever shows up again, but I'm pretty much over these guys. Part of it is having room on the shelves without things looking weird, and the other is that once I start collecting anything, I get tired of it within months. My favorite, Dr. Henry Jones, is apparently rare, and so I sold him to someone who really wanted him. 'used some of the money to get Kairi a birthday Wubbzy pin in hopes if it getting here for her birthday, but I don't see it getting here THAT fast. I sold Revan too. As cool as s/he is, I don't know. 'might finally buy a copy of Hagakure, though I just saw on Amazon that they're releasing a new version, and there's another version I hadn't seen before with a bunch more pages than the version I'm used to seeing. I'll have to check out the book store later this week and see what's different about it.

Musashi's Way Of Walking Alone was brought up on a message board, and I thought I'd share it for everyone reading. If more people acted through these, things would be better.

-do not turn your back on the various Ways of this world
-do not scheme for physical pleasure
-do not intend to rely on anything
-consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply
-do not ever think in acquisitive terms
-do not regret things about your personal life
-do not envy another’s good or evil
-do not lament parting on any road whatsoever
-do not complain or feel bitterly about yourself or others
-have no heart for approaching the path of love
-do not have preferences
-do not harbor hopes for your own personal home
-do not have a liking for delicious food for yourself
-do not carry antiques handed down from generation to generation
-do not fast so that it affects you physically
-while military equipment is another matter, do not be fond of material things
-while on the Way, do not begrudge death
-do not be intent on possessing valuables or a fief in old age
-respect the gods and Buddhas, but do not rely on them
-though you give up your life, do not give up your honor
-never depart from the Way of the Martial Arts

We had Little Caesars for lunch last night and I was surprised at how good it was. $5 for a large pepperoni pizza? We might have to do that this weekend at that rate. Since I didn't have anything to eat aside from I think half a cookie earlier in the day, I had 5 pieces easily. It reminded me a lot of how Winco's used to be in the late 90s before their ingredients changed all of a sudden.

Insta-cure-ity.

Now that's disc art., originally uploaded by Tarta Caliente.

Of all the pictures I've uploaded on Flickr, this is the one to get the most views in the least amount of time. Almost 200 as of this typing, and I took it on saturday afternoon. I didn't even add any tags like "boobs" or anything either. I didn't rent the movie based on this image either, since the box looked plain. 'nice surprise to have disc art like this underneath it.

Man, Woman and the Wall was weird. The first 15 minutes make you think you're watching an entirely different movie than what the disc slip would lead you to believe, but it changes tone soon enough. It wasn't a geat movie by any means, but it's one of the better ones I've seen in the last couple of months. It almost makes a case in stalking's favor, showing what good can come from it. Actually, that's exactly what it does. It's hard to explain.

I got an iPod Nano from my brother as part of a trade. He wanted a Gir shirt, so I delivered and we swapped. It's a 1 gig, but that's more than enough. I honestly don't have any need for one since I'm either at home or work, and I like to hear everything around me on my way. Maybe I'll use it while jogging or in the gym, but even then. Kairi can have it in the car, if she leaves the headphones on. I threw a bunch of Backyardigans songs on there. 'mostly my favorites but her and me like the same songs for the most part.

'also found out that his PE teacher was Donatello's stunt double in the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. I'm tempted to go to TFAW and buy the Donatello figure that I've wanted this weekend, then give it to him and see if his teacher'll autograph it. Dontallo's the best- he does machines.

It's only the first week of February, but with how things are going so far, and how they look like they might be going, I think this might be a better year than the last few.

I'm diggin' all the way to China with a silver spoon.

I did a very bad thing at work last night. One of the ladies that talks to me whenever we see eachother had made maple bars for her meeting but it was canceled, so she gave me a whole bunch. Maple is...my favorite flavor. Anything maple, I'm there. Maple syrup, maple turkey, maple ice cream, you name it. She had about 8 in her container and told me I could have 5 while she took the rest home to her kids. God, I was planning on having my bag of frozen broccoli for lunch, but 12 hours later, it's still in the freezer at work. 5 maple bars gone in the span of 3 minutes. Probably less. I felt like such a pig, but given how much maple was on those suckers...yeah. Jesus Christo they were awesome. So great that I had to mention it right here. I'd say, "I don't think I can ever have a maple bar from a bakery ever again", but that'd be a complete lie. Of course I'll have a maple bar whenever I get a chance, but these babies were the real deal, and can't be topped.

A video review of the Kermit photo puppet is going up on my YouTube channel eventually. I'm still uploading the file to my computer right now (558.9 mb!), and it'll probably take an hour for it to be uploaded on YouTube with their slow-as-hell uploader. It was weird talking -to- the camera for a change. When I did Mighty Muggs reviews, I focused on them because of their size, and it's pointless for me to be holding it and talk to the camera at the same time, with a more distant picture just because I'm in the picture. With Kermit, he's so big that I need to hold him with both hands and at the same time show just how big he is, using myself for a size comparison.

...I compared my size to Kermit. Nice.

My YouTube channel for those who don't know is:

http://www.youtube.com/user/liquiterge

Also, I'm DONE buying toys for at least a month hopefully. Unless I find Venom or General Grievous Mighty Muggs in a store, I'm not buying a damn thing. I know I mentioned something just like this in a recent entry, but I mean it now that I won the Max and Goat Boy figures. The old Obi-Wan and Ewoks Muggs are going to be out soon, if not already, so there's no worries about finding them over the next 2-3 months. Though the Ewoks could be a problem since they're so cute and all the kids'll want them. But I snagged Max/Goat Boy for about $35 total, which is a good $20 less than they usually run for. I didn't even wait for my Best Offer to go through since the seller lives in Washington and, as a result, they go by my time zone. And since I found the auction at about 2:30am, someone on the east coast probably would've bought them before my offer went through. This rules though that I get Max and Goat Boy. This set is the main one that people who get the Wild Things figures go for since, well duh, it's Max. I really wanted to get Aaon since he's my second favorite Wild Thing, but there wasn't any way I was gonna pass up on Max/Goat Boy for that price. Aaron doesn't show up on eBay as much as any of the others though, so I'm kind of worried there. There'll always be another chance though.

Kairi's going to be 2 years old in less than 2 weeks. I can remember her first birthday party like it was just yesterday. This time around, I'm not going to be running little errands back and forth. Last year when I did that, I missed everyone singing Happy Birthday to her. If someone wants or needs something, they can get it themselves. Kai's talking up a storm, has learned almost all of the basic colors in the last 2 weeks, and is really developing a new personality. It's depressing because, just as when she grows up physically, that little girl that I knew even a week ago is gone. When you look at pictures of your child from when they were a newborn, then look at how they are now, you know that child, not the one in the picture. How they were then isn't how they are now. That's life, and it sucks, but you can't stop what's coming. I can't ask Kairi a question and get a simple smile out of her anymore- she has a verbal answer for me now. She shows when she wants me to chase after her instead of leaving it up to me or trying to read her facial expressions. All those cliches about how "they grow up every day" are true.

Alright, I need to get back to finishing my 500 leg lifts that I said I'd do because of those maple bars. 'need to go to the gym tonight or tomorrow too, as usual. My dad and little brother are working out every weekend now I guess. It'd be nice if I could go too because I'd like to see if my dad's still got it like he did a few years ago when he could do the max weight on practically every machine at 24 Hour Fitness. 'doubt Tristan'll be able to do much unless he starts growing finally. I wish he had interest in fighting so I could teach him a few things too. He's pretty pathetic as he is right now. When I had him hit me in the stomach as hard as he could a few months ago, he hurt his hand.

(Edit: Oh yeah, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO JESSICA SIMPSON??? I saw a picture of her in the newspaper today and ohmygod.)

Break it down.

Here's what my move set that I put together myself looked like a few months ago:

Hand moves-

straight punch
uppercut
side chop
downward strike
backfist
Shock Slam
palm thrust
upward palm
side elbow
downward punch
leopard paw
dual blades
double layer strike
rising chop
upward elbow

Leg moves

front kick
side kick
hook kick
inside kick
outside kick
reverse kick
forward reverse kick

I wanted to make a set based on everything I've learned, but weeding out the moves that wouldn't be very practical in a real fight. I looked at all my old rank move sheets, went over each move a few times, and took out the unnecessary ones. I thought this was a good list, especially since in going over it, most of the moves worked muscles that I don't use while lifting weights or doing home exercises.

Many of these moves are basic, especially the kicks, and I didn't include anything very flashy or fancy. Why not? It's obvious. Spinning kicks, no matter how fast you may go, leave you wide open. I wouldn't dare compare Shotokan moves to the horrible things they teach people in Tae Kwon Do, but a lot of styles have kicks where you turn around before delivering the blow, giving the opponent that split second of time when they can do anything. They could simply step out of the way, sweep your standing leg, or pull you backwards and end it right there. And if you throw kicks that are always aimed for the face and head, you're leaving yourself open there too. Unless it's a sure thing, I'd prefer to stick with the body or using kicks as pushes or leads into a solid elbow strike.

I won't go into the whole real world fighting vs dojo fighting topic right now, since that's a lengthy subject, but that's the main point ot this list as well. From what I saw at first, all of these moves seemed like they could be used in a fight, many of them ending it with the first strike.

I came to the conclusion that while this list is good, it needed some tweaking. The leg moves stayed pretty much the same, but I added in one that seems amature-ish but is still effective. Forward reverse kick was removed because it's too risky, plus it's weak. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing anyone use this ever. Why did I throw it on the list in the first place? Over my time in Shotokan and when I tried other styles, I learned a lot of leg moves, but the basics are all you'll really need. That's why that section's so short. These are the sheer basics of leg moves, with the slight exception of the hook kick. But that can be learned easily.

The hand moves were moved around a little, and I added in a couple that I realized would be practical in a real fight. Downward strike was changed to a completely different move as well. I also added targets to each move on the list. (s) = stomach, (h) = head, (n) = neck, (c) = chest, (b) = body, (g) = groin, (r) = ribs. This set list doesn't include grabs/throws yet, since I haven't had a person to try them on in a long time. That could be changing soon, but we'll see. Anyway, here's the revised list:

Hand moves-

-straight punch (h) (s)
-side chop (n) (r)
-rising chop (n) (h)
-uppercut (s)
-Koho Tsuki Age / rising chin punch (h) [under the chin)
-backfist (h)
-Shock Slam (h)* (b) * = this could be fatal, so stick with the body version
-Twin Hand Waves (h) + (c)
-eye/neck dual hit* (h) (n) (finger stab to the eyes and punch to the neck at the same time)
-palm thrust (c) (s)
-leopard paw (n) (s) (c)
-finger stab (h) (n) (c) (r)
-dual blades (n) then (r)
-straight elbow (h) (c) (s)
-reverse elbow (h)
-rising elbow (c) (h)
-double layer strike (h) (b) (c)
-downward punch (s) (g)

Leg moves-

-front kick (h) (s)
-groin kick (g)
-side kick (s)
-inside kick (h)
-outside kick (h)
-hook kick (h) (n)

That does it for now. I need to go over this revised list tonight or sunday after I go to the gym. There won't be many throws or holds included here, mostly because that's not my style. It's funny how I went from 80% kicks when I was a young teenager, to building my upper body strength these last 2 years and going with a lot more strikes and specific area moves (palm, first two knuckles, side of hand, etc.). There are 3 hand moves on this set that cause shockwaves when done right. Because I don't have an opponent to practice these on, I can only get it to happen maybe 40% of the time (when I use these moves on a tree or wall, I can tell when it happens. Your body, legs and arms feel it). Those moves aren't to be used like all the others though. They're too dangerous. Just look at Bruce Lee's infamous One Inch Punch. That's just from a one inch distance, while the 3 on here are full-on strikes. And I know I've seen him use the Shock Slam before, though it was just in a movie. 'still got the point across.

Nobody's bigger than a giant.

Good grief., originally uploaded by Charlie the Vietnamese Vegan.

For Christmas, I finally got something that I've been wanting for a long time- Kermit the Frog. He's a photo puppet replica and not a puppet though. The difference being that photo puppets were used for picture shoots and publicity rather than the "real" Muppets. Photo puppets could be posed in any way without requiring a puppeteer to keep the body up from inside. I lucked out and was able to order him for a great price instead of going to eBay, where he's going for about the retail price from when he came out a few years ago. Kermit sold out early last year I think, and eventhough I wanted Animal more, it was better to get Kermit when I had the chance.

Let me tell you, waiting for him was a nightmare. The store we ordered him from is in California, the state immediately below us, and standard shipping was to take 5-7 days. No big deal there, especially since shipping was free(!). But just 2 days after ordering Kermit, it started to snow. A lot. So much chaos happened with everything here during that time that it seemed like Kermit would be delayed. The UPS tracking info didn't get updated for a while, so I expected the worst. I literally checked the tracking every 10 minutes whenever I was online. It was a combination of hoping that there wasn't a delay and that I've wanted a Muppet for so long that waiting made me feel like a kid on Christmas again, looking at presents under the tree a week before getting to open them.

But by some amazing fluke, and regardless of how much I hate UPS, they came through and delivered Kermit on time. The box he was shipped in was HUGE- a lot bigger and even heavier than Kairi. When I opened that sucker and saw Kermit's box, I went back in time to when Christmas presents excited me and I looked forward to everything. Yeah, there was no way in hell I was waiting to open Kermit- it was right then or not at all.

Taking Kermit out of the box and seeing him in-person was incredible. There it was in my own home, in my own hands: a real, "living" Muppet. Kermit the Frog was part of the family. Honestly, I expected him to come to life and start talking at any moment. This IS Kermit. I almost felt not good enough to have him because of how amazing he is. He's made of a special kind of fleece, the kind that erotic novel writers could go on about for paragraphs. The thing around his neck is felt, as are the feet, and his eyes are real ping pong balls. He has wires in his arms, legs and mouth/head, so any pose you ever saw Kermit in can be recreated (even his fingers can be bent individually). I haven't messed with him that much because I need to clear our shelves still, but it's a blast coming up with poses and facial expressions for him. You wouldn't think that something so basic in design and detail could have such expression.

There are only a few pictures of him on my Flicrk account at the moment. Just search for Master Replicas or Kermit in my Photostream:

http://flickr.com/lol69

Even if I don't pose him on a regular basis, I can't help looking at him every day. I still can't believe that I finally have a Muppet. Kairi loves him too and gave him a big hug, but she has to be a little older before she can take him on adventures or anything. Maybe for show and tell when she's in kindergarten...

A special top 10 countdown is coming soon. And by the way, this clip made me jump on the inside a little:

It's from the movie [REC]. Someone recommended it for a movie similar to 28 Days Later (in the overall feeling anyway) and I checked out a clip on YouTube. If the rest of the movie is even half as cool as that, I'm gonna watch it. Oh who am I kidding, I'm watching the whole thing on there right now, 10 minute portion by 10 minute portion. That sample is the first thing from a horror movie to make me jump even a little since I saw LeatherFace slam the steel door for the first time in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre all the way back in 1999. Before then? Pet Sematary and It when I was 5. But that's another entry in itself.