Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Still Alive

Sorry for my absence from my blog this past week. Things have been really busy with my three 'job' life and school. I had planned on making a big post last night which would have included those 'booth babe' pics from E3 as well as other E3 related tidbits I found on the internet...I got as far as turning my computer on but then got distracted by some other things, then I fell asleep at some point and here we are now. Since I failed to get the pics up I will include at the end of this post the 'E3 related tidbits'...
The pictures (there are five, two of which are with the same booth babe as well as a certain other character who shall remain nameless at this time) need to be resized because they're all around 3 megs or so and I need Photoshop to do it. I tried using Paint and ACDSee here at work to resize, but everything came out crappy. I guess I could always wait until later on tonight to make my one big post, but I'm predicting tonight's going to be another one of those busy nights...but I'll try to make time to post the pictures. Also, I'm not entirely sure about how to post pics onto the blog, so I may try putting them on a separate webpage or something...

If you absolutely must have a booth babe fix right now, here's a little clip from ifilm.com called 'Girls of E3 2005'. I didn't get a picture with any of the women shown in this video:
Girls of E3 2005

Here's an E3-related VGCats strip:
Longest Elevator Ride, Ever

And just for the Hell of it, here's another clip from ifilm.com for all you World of Warcraft lovers. Bow before the fearlessness (or should I say dumbassness?) that is LEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOY!
World of Warcraft with Leeroy

I was logged on to WoW last night and some random guy in Orgrimmar was shouting Leeroy's name. Hilarious, I tell you, HI-larious.

And finally, here's a little uplifting quote to start out your work week:

Listen up, maggots.
You are not special.
You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake.
You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.
We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
We are all part of the same compost heap.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

My Candy Bowl

So I have a bowl of candy sitting on my desk at work. What prompted me to make free eats available at my cubicle was so I could get to know people better. When I first started here people would pass by my desk and not say anything...and I generally have a hard time taking the initiative in talking to people anyways. Now I have a lure...

Even though I know pretty much everybody now, I still continue to provide various kinds of candy (mostly miniatures of Snickers, Crunch, Butterfinger, Starburst...typical stuff) for the work folk. It still gets most people to stop at the desk for a few minutes, which is a good thing in most cases. I've run into a few 'problems' with certain greedy vultures, but whatever...when you take a step like this, it comes with the territory. I even did a test where I left the bowl full when I left for the night only to return the next day and find the bowl half empty. Bastards...

Ok, so now that you have all the background info, I was thinking: "If I were to put something weird/out of the ordinary in the bowl, what would it be?" Now, I don't mean stuff like excrement or cat eyeballs or anything. I mean something that people actually might want to consume. The only thing I could think of was packets of various kinds of pills like Tylenol, Bayer, Advil, etc. But not only could that get pricey, I don't think it would be the greatest idea to have a bowl full of drugs at work. I don't know...which is why I'm posting this on the blog to get other peoples's thoughts. I look forward to all your crazy-ass suggestions.

Friday, May 20, 2005

E3

So I went to E3 yesterday at the LA Convention Center. I must say that I've never been around a higher concentration of geeks in my life...but I've also never been around a mass quantity of that many unbelievably happy people. And don't think me wrong about the 'geek' barb as I am one myself. Here's my account of all the happenings of the day.

I arrived at around 8:00AM (doors didn't open until 9), but it was important to arrive early to secure good parking, which I did at the South Hall lot for $10...independent lots in the surrounding area were charging up to $50! I sat in my car for a little while and listened to cuts from the disappointing new System of a Down album as I sorted out the crap in my backpack and changed from the shorts I was wearing to some pants I brought along just in case. I wore shorts because my boss told me it would be hot in there, but I wasn't comfortable in the shoes I normally wear with shorts and there was going to be a lot of walking ahead of me and the shoes I was more comfortable with didn't go with the shorts. So after a quick apparel switch I took out the System album and put in some Nine Inch Nails to psych me up for the show.

Upon entry I picked up copies of the various free trades they had available and paid a visit to the E3 Merch booth. I picked up a shirt for my brother that has the E3 logo on front and "I Play Games" scripted on the back. For myself, I got a shirt that had an image from the upcoming "Destroy All Humans" game that had the words "Hostile Takeover" on the front and the E3 logo on the back. So I still have 30 minutes until the show opens. I go back to my car, deposit my swag and head back into the Convention Center. As I still have time to kill I sit down amidst the crowd of geeks waiting to get in and I started to read a new script by Anthony Minghella which I'm doing edit notes for.

When 9:00AM hits and security starts to let people in, a massive nerd horde (the 'norde') makes its exodus from the real world and marches toward and up the escalators, a veritable moving stairway to geek heaven, to enter the South Hall. Upon entry the sensory overload hits me instantly: all the loud sounds, flashing lights, the place is rumbling, giant screens displaying all manner of images, people are moving fast to get to the nearest console with the newest game. The first thing I played was the new Castlevania game (I think the subtitle for it was like "Dawn of Sorrow" or something) for the Nintendo DS. This was my first time playing on the DS which is an incredibly awkward system. I hate the dual screen and hate that stupid pen thing even more. The Castlevania game wasn't all that either as it was set in 2035, so the first area you start in is a modern city...LAME! I mean, you get to the castle in a little bit, but still... I didn't play very much as I walked through the hall for an hour and a half, as there were so many lines to play the latest games or particpate in contests. I watched a lot of people play or stopped to view demo videos where applicable. A lot of the stuff was really impressive looking and it's amazing what they're doing with graphics, but as many of you know, graphics aren't what get me into a game. Practically 95% of what I saw at the show were all 3D environment games. A lot of people are trying to get into the online gaming market so there were a lot of "World of Warcraft" clones as well. Somewhere along the way I stopped to play "Metal Slug 4" (in 2D, bitches!) for the XBOX. Such an awesome game...it's everything the new Contra games should be AND it's got more blood...once again, awesome. There were also a lot of models dressed up in character for all in attendance to take pictures with. I even saw one older and chubby gamer posing with a "booth babe" who was more interested in her cell phone than posing for the photo op (more on the booth babes later).

So now it's about 10:30 and I still have some time to kill before Dan's tour for all the Viacom folk. Dan is a manager in the interactive department and he apparently does a tour every year showing people all the necessary sights of the con. This year's special stop was scheduled to be Electronic Arts's special presentation of "The Godfather: The Game". With my time to spare I headed down to Kentia Hall to see what was up there. A lot of smaller companies and some retail folk had booths set up in that hall. There was also a fantastic "History of Video Games" presentation with everything from all the major systems to all the forgotten relics: Turbo Graphix 16, Virtual Boy, Atari Jaguar, and 3DO to name a few. Everything there was playable too and there were cartridges of games next to each system. I even got to play the wretched "E.T." for the Atari 2600! Ah, the memories... Ok, time for the tour.

After meeting up with all my fellow Viacom co-workers at the top of the South Hall stairs, our 11:00AM tour begins. Our first stop is the aforementioned "Godfather" presentation which was held in a small private room decked out to represent The Don's office. The senior producer of the game explained what they did with the property and played a demo version for us. What EA has done with this game is AMAZING. Incredible graphics aside, it definitely has the look and feel of the film...there are even graphical recreations of scenes faithfully reproduced from the film. What you are able to do is create your character (including image) as an "Italian-American" in 40's New York who goes on missions to try and ultimately gain favor with the Corleone family, which is just one of the final outcomes for the game...another being that you can take over all the families and become The Don yourself. EA has instituted a pressure point shooting system, where, like in Resident Evil, it does make a difference where you shoot someone. There's also a dual hand fighting system where you choose to throw left and right punches. There's even an interactive environment where when you grab a hold of someone, you can slam them up against the side of a building...other options after grabbing include being able to choke the poor bastard or you can even throw them off a rooftop. Also, unlike GTA, when you fire a gun in public, people react and start fleeing like cockroaches when you turn on the lights. Another great feature is that it matters how you approach the missions. If you use excessive violence then the other families might target you or you'll lose favor with the Corleones. You must only do what is necessary to get the job done...it's all about business and what's bad for business will ultimately screw you over...but you're really only screwing yourself. EA has put A LOT of thought into this game to make it as realistic and faithful to the films as possible. It's definitely like "Grand Theft Auto" but better in so many ways...although I highly doubt there will be random hookers walking down the street that you can kill (sorry Gordon!).

After visiting The Don's office, they let everyone on the tour test out demo versions of the game. We then went from there to the Blizzard booth where we got to view screen shots of new areas in "World of Warcraft". I thought the already existing environments were as cool as it could get, but Blizzard definitely has great things in store for this version of the franchise. Another impressive video demo was for "Starcraft: Ghost". We also stopped by Majesco's booth as they have developed games for several of our properties like "Taxi Driver" (got to watch a NPC lady get shot point blank in the face with a shotgun) and "Jaws: Unleashed" where YOU ARE THE SHARK! I'm totally stoked. From there we went to the West Hall and we lost part of our group along the way. The West Hall was where Sony's and Nintendo's booths were and that's where our group officially disbanded as people went off to see whatever was of particular interest to them. None of us checked out the new systems (XBOX 360, Nintendo Revolution, or PS3) as there was a three to four hour wait to check out the presentations on those.

After the disbandment of the tour I hanged with Dan for the rest for the show. I went to one of his meetings at 1:30PM between Perpetual Entertainment (a game development company) and Simon & Schuster (who produce our Star Trek books)...I was the most casual dressed guy there as I was wearing a King Diamond shirt and black jeans. I can't really divulge any details of the meeting as they're still in the initial development process, but they do have some great things in the works. So if you're a Star Trek fan, expect an incredible game to be coming out after a couple years...they're shooting for a late 2007/early 2008 release.

After the meeting, Dan and I went back to the South Hall to get pictures with the "booth babes"... Every year Dan does a presentation of the E3 happenings and part of his presentation involves a Viacom employee posing with the models...this year that person was me. I posed with various commando chicks, some girls dressed in leather bras and mini skirts, and some Asian girl decked out in...I don't even know how to describe it...it was very anime-like. Hopefully I can get Dan to send me copies of the pictures...I threw the goat in most of them! I had commented to Dan about how these women must feel posing with geeky guys all day long for a few days straight...but Dan informed me that they get paid around $600 a day and one year a girl dressed as a Dominatrix (for what game, I can't remember) got paid $1200 a day...so I don't feel so sorry for them.

After all the posing with the sexy girls, we stopped for lunch and talked about the con, comics, wrestling, music...all manner of random stuff before I met up with my boss at 4:00PM and then left the Convention Center. A totally cool day, stressful and hectic and exhausting at times, but totally cool. If you ever get the chance to go, take it! It's definitely an experience, to say the least. If I left out anything and remember it later, I'll post it, but I think I covered everything. Email me if you have any questions regarding the event.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

When Less is More in Filmmaking

I sent out some random movie news to all my usual people not too long before reading this item (see below after comments) from imdb.com about Robert Rodriguez. I'm a big fan of his work and I love his approach to filmmaking. He's one of the most creative guys out there and is able to produce great flicks for a fraction of what other directors require. Check out his Ten Minute Film/Flick School segments on the DVDs of his Mariachi series (El Mariachi, Desperado, & Once Upon a Time in Mexico). While I may not totally agree with his 'Film is dead' statement, he's probably the only director out there right now who really knows how to utilize filming digitally...forget the new "Star Wars" movies but do check out "28 Days Later" to see another director's approach to 'filming' with DV. I kid you not, I saw plenty of dailies for "Sin City" where it was just actors in a green room following marks on the floor and the rest of the environment was added in later and the movie looks AMAZING. I have so much respect for Rodriguez (and Miramax/Dimension films, of course) that I decided to post the aforementioned article from imdb:

When Less is More in Filmmaking
By keeping his film budgets relatively low, director Robert Rodriguez indicated with a touch of irony today (Wednesday), he has been allowed greater freedom than directors who work with bloated budgets. Appearing at a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival where his latest film, Sin City, is competing for the Palme d'Or, Rodriguez commented that a low budget also "makes you more creative." Moreover, he told reporters, it also has allowed him to get his film projects approved quickly. Sin City was approved within minutes by former Miramax chiefs Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, he said. (Made for $45 million, it has taken in $73 million domestically.) Making his films in Austin, TX (he is wearing a cowboy hat at Cannes), he also indicated, has allowed him to remain "under the radar" and keep studio executives at arms' length. He added that the liberty that he had been granted by the Weinsteins had been "extraordinary" and expressed no concern about their departure from Disney to form a separate company. "Disney was their bank," Rodriguez said. "Now, they're going to get another bank." He suggested that he plans to make his next film for the Weinsteins. "I'm going to follow them wherever they go," he said.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Happy Sunshine Bubble Parade!!!

Ok, so this post really has nothing to do with happiness, sunshine, bubbles, or parades. I can't say that I've totally debitterized from my general mood of the moment or the 'event' of this morning (see post below) but I watched one of my favorite flash movies a few times and it never fails to put a smile on my face. There's a lot of Japanese anime/culture/stuff and video game references in this one and apparently the music is some cartoon's theme song or something...hence the weird-ass title for today's blog. I almost feel I should be ashamed I can name like 90% of the references within the video. So, if you haven't seen this already, check out Miko Miko Nurse. It's a total attack on the senses. There's no escape. Give us your brains.

Fuck the Police

Welcome to the gangsta rap edition of my 'blah'g! hehehe...

My location: Howard Hughes Parkway

Reason: Getting on the 405

Disclaimer: In case you were wondering, I didn't get a ticket or even get pulled over. This was all an observation.

So I'm about to approach that stop/go light that lets one car at a time onto the freeway when the car in the car pool lane next to me stops and tries to get in right in front of me. As much as I would like to be a dick and not let this lady in, she's holding up the cars behind her that actually have two or more occupants. She's the only one in her car so she has no right to be in the car pool lane. On a side note, it does irk me when people drive up the car pool lane just to cut in front of you, but usually it's like halfway up the on-ramp, not at the very end! So why did this woman all of a sudden get a conscience and get back in to the 'single persons' lane? There was a police car two vehicles behind me. Now, in my opinion, this lady should have gotten a ticket. But no...she cut in front of me, the light thingie turned green for her and she went on her merry way. So because she got back in the appropriate lane after bypassing a whole string of cars, that makes it okay? I understand and appreciate the whole "It's only wrong if you get caught" thing, but this lady so got caught...she just didn't get 'caught'... It was painstakingly obvious. Not that I'm some crusader of justice now or anything, I'm just speaking for all the people (myself included) who've gotten bullshit tickets from cops. An opportunity comes along for them to do their job and they do nothing about it. Maybe if it were closer to the end of the month and they had some space left on their quota, they might have done something. I'm bitter this morning.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the 13th!
After a three day hiatus/spending my time moonlighting responding to the blog of another, ZombieFood is back screaming with a vengeance featuring Round THREE of questions from Tritia! As usual, her questions are bolded and my answers are in plain text. Now go watch a slasher flick.

1. Yes or No?
Maybe.

2. Would you rather be stranded in the middle of the ocean or stranded in the middle of the desert?
Interesting. Even though I'm not fond of the heat, I'd have to take my chances in the desert because I can't swim very well. For some reason, Cuba Gooding, Jr. from "Rat Race" comes to mind... Well, so does the movie "Sahara" but I don't think my experience would be as adventurous if I were stranded in the desert.

3. What did you have for dinner last night?
Mostaccioli in Classico Sun Dried Tomato sauce with ground beef. Sierra Mist to drink. Hershey's white chocolate dulce de leche kisses for afterwards. ... all the while doing chapter stops for "Best of Youth"

4. Finish this sentence: When life gives you lemons . . .

When life gives you lemons, stab its ass then cut the lemon open and smear it inside the wound.

5. Would you rather lick the floor of a public bathroom or lick the foot of someone who just ran a marathon?
Depends on how public and depends on whose foot.

6. What's worse -- headache or tummyache?
Well, I know of a certain plant that will take care of both problems...so bring it on!

7. What are you going to get Tritia for her birthday?
A bunny...but only if you promise to call it Whore Monger.

8. You're going to the moon for six months! What three items will you take with you?
DV camera, zombie make-up, Smallsac.

9. Complete this sentence: I hate people who ___________.
You totally had me up until "who__________"

10. If you were a superhero, what would your super name be?
Bruce Campbell

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Spookshow International

I called in to Rob Zombie's Spookshow International radio show last night attempting to answer a trivia question to which I had no idea what the answer was. It was a 'Guess the Quote' thing where the quote involved some 'beautiful' actress who was commenting on the 'Greek bump' on her nose which she got from her mother. Who was this actress? Before revealing the real answer (which I didn't get right) I will say that when I called, Rob Zombie's wife picked up the phone and I was on the air; I thought there'd be a screener/switchboard operator or something first before going on air. So after saying 'Hi' she told me 'Turn down your radio' next...I had it on in the event someone else answered the question so I would know if I needed to just hang up. I also paused and stuttered for a second because I thought 'Holy shit, it's Sheri!' (some of you may remember her as Baby from "House of 1,000 Corpses")...I was totally stoked. My guess to the which 'hot actress' has a deformed ass bump on her nose question? Jennifer Aniston...whom I always thought had a weird looking nose, but it was the fact that she is of Greek heritage that fueled my answer even though I wasn't sure if her mother was Greek as well. After Sheri informed me that my answer was incorrect and before they hung up on me the last thing I heard in my phone was Rob saying 'Oh, but she DOES have a thing...' So in a way I talked on the phone with Rob Zombie...hehe
Oh, and the answer? Penelope Cruz. Yeah, I said 'What the fuck?' as well when they confirmed the answer with a listener who got it right.

Star Wars Fever

The best comments I read about the craze behind Episode 3, Movie 6 (Flat 3, Murray Road, London, West 9...hehehe) came from none other than MTV.com (a Viacom company!)... It doesn't try to trash the movie or anyone's infatuation with the series, it's just an honest look at Star Wars from a guy who grew up watching all the flicks but I guess you could say he moved on. What really got me to dig this 'review' was the realization brought upon me by the final comment:

"After all, when you string all six movies together, it still ends with a freakin' teddy bears' picnic. Yeeesh."

So true...everything else is just foreplay leading up to a Muppet clusterfuck...here's the full story:
Rewind: A Heretic Speaks — 'Star Wars' Kinda Sucks

Monday, May 09, 2005

Contemplating the Fate which May One Day Befall Me...

Here's a little something posted on Defamer.com regarding their prediction of how the relationship of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may one day affect Jolie's adopted son Maddox. My concern lies with the text I have bolded at the end of the story. Although I suppose I won't have much of a problem with this possible outcome if what the folks in the industry say is true in regards to that no one really stays at the same company for more than 3 years. Hmmmm... I have also included a link to the story below.

From Defamer.com:
Lost in all the excitement over Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s public sex tour through the jungles of Africa and Moroccan bazaars is the psychological effect a single mother’s relationship can have on a child, especially one who’s been saved from a Cambodian orphanage and transported to the fast-paced world of Hollywood. If young Maddox doesn’t one day wind up clutching a sniper rifle atop the Paramount water tower, consider it a miracle.

http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/gossip/angelina-jolie/index.php#brad-and-angelina-the-maddox-factor-102824

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Sin City

Bruce Willis is THE MAN!!!

Friday, May 06, 2005

There Goes the Last DJ

The Lonesome L.A. Cowboy, Jim Ladd, gets his much deserved and long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today in front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel! Lord have mercy!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

If you're 555 then I'm 666

Happy This Sequence of Numbers Won't Come Up Again for Another 100 Years Day!

All I can say to sum up the way I felt on this day can only be described by a quote from Jean Paul Sartre:

"Hell is other people."

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Questions...Round Two!!

Here's another installment of questions sent by Tritia for me to ponder, which I will respond to in today's edition of my 'blah'g... Her questions are in bold and my responses are in plain text. So here goes:

0. Why?
Because.

1. What is your least favorite letter of the alphabet?
Fuckin' Q!!! Because when you're playing Scrabble you can't do a damn thing with that letter unless you have a U!

2. If your diet only consisted of a single food item, what would it be?
Chili. Or is that not a valid response since chili is comprised of a few different food items and hence not essentially a single food item?

3. Half empty or half full? (aside: my answer to this question has always been "Too big.")
Empty as the soulless shell I call a body...which houses the black and wilted stump I call a heart.

4. Would you rather be crucified or buried alive?
Not basing my answer on the fact that 'Buried Alive' is one of the greatest Mercyful Fate songs ever, I'm going to go with buried alive because at least there's a possibility of escape without much damage (anyone seen Kill Bill Vol. 2? If you haven't and/or are planning on purchasing it, you might want to wait until September because Miramax has a Special Edition DVD of Vol. 1 & 2 slated to come out at that time). Even though I get anxious and hence claustrophobia would emerge in said situation, I would at least feel comfortable that I've got a shot at getting out of it, be it by rescue or my own adrenalin-crazed insanity before I run out of air and suffocate. Crucifixion is a problem for a few reasons. Since you are being NAILED to a cross, then even if you managed to be rescued (I highly doubt you'd escape) the chance of you living a functional life are pretty much next to nil. However, on that note, crucifixes are the kind of public execution tools that are guarded when in use, so good luck on the rescue/escape end. The idea that most people have is that those who are crucified die from hunger while in pain. The truth is that most who died from crucifixion actually died from suffocation despite the fact that they were out in the fresh air. It's the way they pinned the people to the wood. There was no support beneath the feet so there was always a need for the crucifixee to push the body up and in doing so led to lack of air and ultimately suffocation. So in both situations, be it the cross or the box, your lungs are going to be gasping and thine tummy shall be screaming with a vengeance...but crucifixion causes irreparable damage while starving and suffocating you...in this case, better two out of three than three out of three...

5. If you could only watch one movie, over and over, for the rest of your life, what would it be?
What's with the tough questions? I'm torn. Evil Dead 2? Army of Darkness? There's also Shaun of the Dead or House of 1,000 Corpses... I'll go with Army of Darkness because not only does it bring back some fond memories but it also lacks any scenes involving protruding/flying eyeballs.

6. What do you want on your tombstone?
Pepperoni, sausage, and Canadian bacon...but NO CHEESE.

7. If you were an animal, what would you be?
An animal.

8. If you only had one month left to live, what would you do?
Anything that moves...

9. If you could be anyone else for just one day, who would you be?
Anyone else. Although my less asshole-ish response would be Bruce Campbell.

Monday, May 02, 2005

In Nagasaki They Go Spunky For Your Love

I had the day off from work today so I ran a whole lot of errands and wasn't really in front of a computer all that much. Since I didn't have enough time to come up with a post of my own, I figured I would share this little flash music video with you.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/bukkake

It's not pornographic in any way, other than the fact that they say 'bukkake' a whole lot in the song. Alls I can say is that if I'm ever in a band again, we're so covering this song. It's seriously the most hilarious thing I've seen in a while. Just be mindful if you're opening this link at your office...

Original post to come tomorrow...possibly even answers to more of Tritia's so-called 'lame' questions.