Voldemort really should win

"No! You don't know how it feels! Your parents are dead! You have no family!"

Whoa! Since when does Ron ever say shit like that? Crazy, crazy hormones...

Yes, I watched the latest Harry Potter adventure turned into a movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part: 1. This two-parter of the last of the boy-who-lived series is finally coming to a bitter-sweet end. All of you must know by now that Snape killed Dumbledore and Potter, Granger, and Weasley must set out to collect the Hocruxes and hope to destroy the most evil and powerful wizard of all, Voldemort.

I must admit, I rather enjoy the Potter series for few reasons, but one above all. The story has no religion. Unlike the Narnia series, Harry Potter's world has politics and bureaucracy but no religion. There isn't some Christian values jammed into the viewers/readers from every angle. Not that the Christian morals are bad, just that I don't think it has a real place in a fantasy world full of wizards and witches and muggles. By doing away with religion, author JK Rowling truly broke barriers and created a story that is appealing to everyone that don't think magic is stupid.

Side note: Thanks to this decision to do the last book in two parts, not only did Warner Brothers managed to get every bit of money out of movie-goers with the Potter series, it gave way for every stupid finales to have a two parter. Most notably, that giant waste of time, Twilight. Yes, that got a f*cking two parter finale. Seriously, WHO GIVES A RAT'S ASS!?

Now then... on to the movie review...

Synopsis... Pardon me, but I didn't read the books after the first one. Mainly because I thought the books for more for kids, but mostly because I heard they were making movies for them. As soon as I heard that, the books were a history. Why would I really read something when I can just watch the damn thing? Imagination aside, I'd rather spend 120 minutes watching something than read something for 2 weeks.

The story follows our heros, Harry, Hermione, and Ron through their journey to destroy Voldemort and save humanity. Why humanity you ask? Voldemort apparently has a thing against the muggles. Why? Well, the movie never really reveals the real reason, but he thinks muggles and wizards/witches breeding with each other is... really really disgusting and bad. Voldemort was able to come back to life, because he created Hocruxes to sustain his soul in portions in objects hidden away with heavy protections for all of them. Only he knows where they are, so that makes it really hard for Potter and the gang to find them, since Voldemort and his deatheaters are after them like US is after Osama.

Side note: Osama is 6'6" and Diabetic. Exactly why can't we find him?!!

They experience all the emotions of going with the seemingly impossible mission by themselves: loneliness, depression, exhaustion, and anger and frustration. Sounds bad? It is. Remember what Yoda said about anger and hate. It leads to suffering. Tensions build so much that Ron leaves. What a 'tard. Honestly, is it me or does Ron remind you of a certain character from The Lord of the Rings ? Like.. Sam perhaps? Overweight, potentially useless, but has a good heart and bravery when it counts? Yeah, nice try Rowling, but Harry is Frodo with a scar and no parents. Terrible.

The movie is slow and there are some close calls, but they always seem to find small individuals and windows to crawl out of the situation. The movie itself ends on a rather solemn note, which makes the part 2, that much more exciting to wait for, since that movie better have some one-two punch scenes.

Daniel Radcliff has mentioned in the recent interviews that the build-up is totally necessary for the finale of the franchise. He told the interviewer that the part 2 will be all out bombardment of magic and shit blowing up and people dying. He said it. Not me. I can't fackin wait.

Cast... Everyone's back. Down to littlest characters. They all have a line or two. Not really worth mentioning anyone really except for Bill Nighy. Why was he necessary to be in the movie? He's in the movie all of 5 minutes and then he gets replaced by one of Voldemort's goons. Why join now? Oh well. I liked him as Davy Jones. Carved your own heart out because one woman wouldn't love you back? Pirates ARE crazy!! Hahaha. What a weirdo.

Daniel Radcliff can't act. He pretty much just got the role in the first place because he looked so much like Harry Potter. In the end though... he can't act for shit and he must accept that. Watching him get mad is like watching Nicholas Cage acting sad. It's that painful. Rupert Grint is good for Ron but I wonder what he can do after the Potter series. That kind of goes for all of the main characters that were involved with the series. What will they do after this? I don't know if anyone can take them seriously as an actor after the magic and wizardry... except for Emma Watson.

Why you ask? Simple. She played her game aside from the movies. She models for Burberry and goes to fashion shows all the time. She gets front page shots on magazines. Oh yeah, I forgot one little thing: she's pretty. She keeps getting prettier and who doesn't love a child actor growing up to be a man/woman of their own? A perfect example is Natalie Portman. She grew up fine, and is a good actress, AND she doesn't have drug problems. Unheard of? It is.

In a world of Lindsay Lohans... someone like Emma Watson comes in handy. Hollywood needs more role models like Emma to step up and show that not every child actor or actress needs to resort to drugs. Good shit.

Director... So the same director has directed three films of the Potter series, including this one I'm reviewing. I don't have much to say, since I want to see what he does for the Part 2. Until then, I liked what he's done with Potter so far. Way to make it less bright and much more darker and relatable for people like me. I guess what drew me into the movies more was the introduction of Gary Oldman. I love him. I really do.

Conclusion... Since this is a two-parter movie, and the movie reviewed is the part 1 of the series, I cannot put a conclusion to it, since it hasn't happened yet. I honestly don't even know how the story will end. I have effectively stopped myself from using the internet to find out the story's finale. No doubt the Good will win out, but the important thing for is HOW that exactly happens. I shall wait for it. I am waiting for it already. Better be good.

But wouldn't it be nice if Voldemort won and we have to have another movie that's outside of the book series?

Don't joke about that. Hollywood could do it. They have all the keys to all the doors.

K.

Status Update: Kiwon watched The Social Network

"I'm six-five, 220-pounds, and there are two of me."

Sorry for the tardiness of this post. Let's just say that I had a long month.

Let me start out by saying this. If you haven't seen the movie, listen to the soundtrack first. It is absolutely fitting and it is absolutely great. Remember John Williams and the little movie called Star Wars? Yeah. That great. If you don't agree to that statement because you're much of a Star Wars geek as I am, then remember John Powell and the little movies called The Bourne series? Yeah. That great. Listen to the soundtrack. It is worth it.

The ever-so-finicky and totally random waters of internet and its intellectual property and idea laws baffle me to this day. I have said this a thousand times and I will gladly say it again; it's not about the idea that counts, it is the execution.

Granted, the movie does make you want to block the characters. All of them. From a super genius geek opportunist with self-esteem issues (Mark Zuckerberg), to ridiculously jealous and absolutely crazy Asian girl with more issues than I can name (Christy); the whole movie is about bunch of people that are just out to get each other and shows that MONEY is more important to my generation than friendship and loyalty.

Basically sue his ass if he broke your trust.

Written by Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) and directed by cult-loved David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room, Se7en, etc.), the movie was almost destined to be good, if not great. David Fincher knows how to create a setting and totally immerse viewers within it, and keep you there till the end of the movie. He is, after all, notoriously known to Hollywood actors and actresses as "that director that makes you do 60 to 80 takes per scene". Which of course... is crazy.

Synopsis... Based on a book called Accidental Billionaires, this film is about the creation of Facebook; a social networking website that half billions of people enjoy today. I remember Facebook when it was first introduced to University of Wahington. The exclusivity movie talks about so much was apparent and you actually felt superior to those who did not have it.

This dramatic version of Facebook's many lawsuits and the fantasy of how it all came about is, in itself, facinating to a lot of people. But I think the real interesting thing for me about this movie is that, this movie is a portrayal of the web 2.0 generation, also known as MY GENERATION.

This brings up a lot of questions. Almost every character in this movie is out for him/herself and will do whatever is necessary to get what they want. Also, they are way too sure of themselves and is willing to step on anyone to get to the next step. Oh and the worst part? They can't seem to shut up about themselves. I gotta be honest. In real life, I wouldn't be friends with any of these people. All of them think so highly of themselves, and do no realize the possibility of co-existing in any way that involves the obvious meaning of right and wrong.

The plot is simple in its core, which is a theme in all of the movies: human emotion + the concept of right vs. wrong. This movie shows the superficiality that is the internet. Without feeling and without a soul, the movie shows the viewers that when pushed to the brink, everyone is out for themselves. A sad truth about human beings, and apparently that is very much true to my generation.

Cheap thrills and fast success in this movie cannot possibly account for the personal hurt and the damages that the lawsuits does to these egotistic people. Their whole world is upside down because not everything went the way they thought it did, and quiet frankly, the only character that admitted defeat was Mark Zuckerberg, and why not... he had the money to settle.

Cast... Whooray for Jesse Eisenberg. He was haunted by people because he looked too much like Michael Cera for all these years. No More! Eisenberg stands on his two feet and exceeded my expectations. He definitely knows how to play the socially-awkward-guy-that-wants-a-girl thing. The fact that he creates the facemash because he was dumped by a girl was understandable, but keep going with facebook in order to impress her back was kind of a stretch. With all the character flaws aside, Eisenberg definitely is an acting force to be reckoned with, and I just hope he doesn't take himself too seriously... and do more movies like Zombieland, which I love.

Justin Timberlake, everyone. He is doing it all. More platinum records than I can remember, and now a mega-hit movie playing one hell of a creep? Good going, JT. He plays Sean Parker, the business mind behind Napster and served as president of facebook for a little bit until he was caught with heroin and was fired. I hear he still has ownership of some percentage of the company though... which means that he's still rich.

Other characters worth mentioning for me are the Winklevoss twins. They were hilarious. I sorta enjoyed the fact that these gigantic rowers got totally punked by a computer geek and couldn't really do anything about it. Played by Armie Hammer, they had another body-double play his twin brother, and digitally put Hammer's face onto the body. That poor bastard.

Lastly, WTF Brenda Song. Stop that shit and get back to Disney. Playing a crazy jealous bitch doesn't help anyone's career. Ew.

Director... Have to talk about David Fincher. I admire anyone willing to put Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box for Brad Pitt to see. He has done so many cult favorites, as well as big studio hits and flops. I like him because he knows how to paint a picture and knows how to tell a story. This may seem like an easy thing to do, but search around your group of friends for a second or two. You know the people that absolutely suck at telling stories. It's a gift.

The movie is very dialogue-heavy, thanks to Aaron Sorkin. In his defense, Sorkin doesn't know how to write any other way and he is brilliant at it. What is amazing, however, is that Fincher took the scenes that Sorkin had written up and made it seem exciting and dramatic, through music and editing. Watch the process of Zuckerberg making facemesh. He has to hack into servers in order to get all the pictures and names of all the Harvard students. I was amazed, since Fincher made that whole scene look like someone was breaking into a bank.

Awesome.

Conclusion... This movie made me hate facebook for a little bit. Don't know why. If this movie is at all a portrayal of my generation, then the future is a bit more gloomy. Also this movie taught me one really important thing. When going into business with your friends, know the downfall... possible lawsuit.

In the end, there was no good guy, bad guy in this movie. They were all kind of bad and you just felt pity on them. That's life, I guess...

I will watch again on DVD.

K.

LipDubbin' It Up!

Q: What's lip dub?

A: Obviously you've been tuning into way too many of those election/initiative proposal ads to notice that in the first episode of the 6th season of The Office they did this cool new thing that everyone and their universities/high schools/etc. are doing!

They're actually pretty cool.  Click here to see the site that started this new fad!

" A lip dub is a type of video that combines lip syncing and audio dubbing to make a music video...Tom Johnson, a technical writer who blogs about Web 2.0's effect on communication, describes a good lip dub as having the characteristics, or at least the appearance, of

spontaneity: "It appears as if someone thought up the idea on the spot, pulled out their personal video camera, and said hey everyone, let’s all lip sync this Flagpole Sitta song."

authenticity: The people, production and situation appear real.

participation: "The video doesn’t consist of one person’s spectacular lip sync, but that of a group, all participating together in this one spontaneous effort, which seems to communicate the attitude and mood of the song."

fun: the people in the video are having a lot of fun. "

 
Though I haven't quite read into what the rules are for this lipdub competition; and if I were to grade their performances - some schools have it down! While others... lack a lil' flava-flave.

So, here are my thoughts, even though I don't want to do a lipdub with my alma matter, why don't WE do one!  Right?  Who's down for some good ol' fun?  I think it would be hilarious to see what we come up with.  So, who's with me (and Kiwon, he doesn't have a say, he's doing it)?!

If my plea for you to join me isn't working, I'll just have to pull out the big guns and show you what a one-woman show can do for you! 

There's no turning back now... you'll definitely want to lipdub with me after this!  Mind you, I did this in 4 hours... and yes, that was my old office, and yes it was during work hours. :)

I'm totally serious... so, let me know if you wanna.

I LOVE COMMUNITY!

A Kingdom of Concience. A Kingdom of Heaven.

Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong.

If you were thinking that I was going to do a review about the recent movies that I have seen (in the queued are The Other Guys, and The Switch), I will not be doing that tonight. Instead, I will take you a journey through time... to 2005.

Remember that year? I was a sophomore in the university, still drinking and partying away (although to SOME, I wasn't partying at ALL), and trying really hard not to be seen as a nerd, but epically failing. Bush was still president, running the country into the ground and Facebook was but a year into the launch date and was only offered to few selected colleges across the nation (UW being one of them, of course) and you had to be a college student to join (thus doing away with those pesky high schoolers and no real threat of your own mother finding out about your many blackout incidents).

Yes it was 2005 that Kingdom of Heaven graced the silver screens. Fresh off Gladiator's huge Oscar success, director Ridley Scott tackled a flimsy and possibly epic subject: The Crusades.

Don't forget, the script was written by William Monahan, whom went onto write The Departed in 2006, earning him an Oscar. You would think that this movie should not fail.... considering the talent already at hand, but it did. Terribly. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a mere 39%!! Ouch. This actually comes as no surprise since the film is led by the ever-so-delicate Orlando Bloom. This man played an Elf for the first three movies of his career, only to play a bitchy butt-pirate. His manhood in the Hollywood scene was at a devastating all-time low... until Kingdom of Heaven.

This movie is, and I will go on record saying this, the ONLY movie that makes Orlando Bloom even remotely seem like a man. Call it his greatest advantage or the greatest flaw; but the man looks and acts like a giant pussy. This movie redeems him of that manhood he lost probably during his school days "playing" with his best mates. Ew.

Synopsis... The story follows Balian of Ibelin (played by Orlando Bloom) and his journey through the heap of mess that is The Crusades. The time set is 12th Century, and if you know your history, it's around the Second Crusades. The great Egypt-Sultan Saladin conquers Jerusalem back for the Muslims. If you really know your history, Balian of Ibelin actually existed in the history books during the Second Crusades. It is also true that he was a crusader during the 12th century and was present during the siege of Jurusalem by Saladin himself. But the historical accuracy just about stops there. I'll get to that a bit later.

The plot is rather simple in its core: A man from nothing rises up to meet his destiny when life and God along with it threw him out of grace. This man-meets-destiny story has been told thousands of times and it is designed to be a fail-safe formula in Hollywood movies. Keep in mind that Gladiator was the same exact themed movie. People love to see good looking people go from zero to hero. This Balian goes from being a blacksmith to a knight, placing him in the pinnacle moment in history as the man who gave back Jurusalem to the Muslims in a respectable but rather peaceful manner. Whooray.

Cast... Orlando Bloom everybody. I won't go into too much with this kid, for I exhausted him earlier, but given the character, it definitely could have been someone else. Heck, I could have played the character and would have been more fitting. This is saying a lot because I would never look like a crusader from Tripoli. I mean what the hell. This movie only works because of the ensemble of great cast that aided Orlando. Liam Neeson is always great at everything he does (he was Schindler for god's sake... he saved shit-load of Jews!) and is always great at being a teacher to a lesser and unfortunate person (Orlando). The talented and underrated Eva Green plays Sibylla the Queen of Jerusalem. In the movie, she's the love interest of Balian, which is historically hella false and gives Sibylla a credit that she neither deserved or earned.

Sibylla actually teamed up with the bad guy (Guy of Lusignan) to overthrow the King of Jerusalem only to regret it later. That's about it. She was a no-good Queen the f*cked everything up.... but Eva Green was great.

Marton Csokas played Guy of Lusignan and he plays it great because he indeed is a hateful person that you wished would die already throughout the whole movie. He actually never does, but not to worry, Jason Bourne kills him (chokes the shit outta him) in the movie Bourne Supremacy. Justice is served.

Other worthy mention is King Baldwin played by the great Edward Norton. A lot of actors turned down this role simply because the character is behind a mask the whole of the movie. C'mon. Couldn't you act with your body language and the delivery of the lines enough to show the viewers that it indeed is you? Edward did.

Story... Completely fucked from the actual history. Within the history books, Balian was always a royalty, getting Ibelin from his brother. Which means, no Liam Neeson. Secondly, as mentioned above, Sibylla never had a thing to do with Balian, because Balian was happily married to a wife and had kids (unlike the movie, which states apparently Balian is a blacksmith and his wife killed herself after losing a child... WTF? That's some 180 degrees shit right there). Sure, Guy of Lusignan was a conniving and ridiculously bad man, but Sibylla was in that shit with Guy. And other knights helping Balian in the movie were actually fighting with Guy for the possession of Jerusalem the whole time the Second Crusades was going on. No wonder Saladin just waltzed right in.

Want to know a damndest thing? King Baldwin was actually Sibylla's son, not brother, like it was portrayed in the movie. Was making Sibylla old seem that bad of an idea? I genuinely think that if pressed, William Monahan can write up an interesting and compelling story line out of an existing history!

Conclusion... Overall, my negativity toward the movie was more on the historical side than the fun. I actually love movies like this, taking religion apart to make you think of it a bit more. Sure, the movie never delves into religion deeply enough for you to truly disagree or agree with anything, except for the fact that people believe in different religions and the extremists of any religious denominations have existed as long as religions themselves have been around.

Moreover, this movie, being a time-frame set around the Crusades, I would like to point your mind to those who would use religion as a weapon to vanquish all that they are not, and also all that they cannot be. Hate almost always is born out of ignorance and the fear of being unaware of something else and new of the world. It is truly sad to see that even today, religious factions spill blood over the holy land. There is a quote from the movie that I want you to read...

What is Jerusalem? Your (Christians) holy places lie over the Jewish temple that the Romans pulled down. The Muslim places of worship lie over yours. Which is more holy? The wall? The Mosque? The Sepulcher? Who has claim? No on has claim. All have claim!

I actually think that line alone makes the movie good enough to watch from time to time. What is holy? If you ask me, it's entirely up to you. One's soul is for the one to keep. It is in your heart and in your mind. Someone once told me that faith is a gift and that should you receive it, you should treasure it for all of your life. Why? Faith gives something so pure and powerful: Hope. Hope is incredibly underrated yet constantly talked and reviewed over, because it gives people an undying strength to carry on when not even a string of light is being shined upon them.

Religion should be about faith and faith alone.

K.

Who's your favorite?

Who's going to be your best man or maid-of-honor?

Good thing I have a sister... haha.  

That's not to say she's the default... :)

Move out of the way Donald Trump's Apprentice...

I'm onto bigger and better things! 

The AMAZING Race.

How amazing will this be?

It could go one of two ways... they may end up being the underdogs that make it close to the end...

or they may just get weeded out in the beginning.  We'll just have to watch and see!

Instant Google

Wasn't it always instant? No. You had to wait for that tenth of a second to get your result. Well not anymore.

Google just announced today (09.08.2010) the instant Google search engine. You might have been confused about the bouncing balls as Google Doodle yesterday. I know I was.

It's the new ajax based search engine method. Simply put, Google searches the internet as you type in your inquiry instantaneously... with you... telling you what next letter will be and should be...

That's a bit too smart.


Take a look at the accomplishment though. I commend Google for pushing the limit of the internet again and again. Not this Bing bullshit, or any other Microsoft bullshit. Time and time again Google wins the race of technology with Speed, Simplicity, and Security.

As a native fluent Korean, I naturally went to Google Korea and found something pretty unheard of in the past. Those crafty Korean developers have programmed the search engine in a way that you no longer need to have Korean keyboard component installed on your computer anymore. Don't believe me? Observe below. What looks like a jumbled letters in English is actually my name on a Korean Keyboard. What's amazing is that Google Korea still gets it right and searches for my name. WTF... It's SELF AWARE! Cue the Terminator music.


That's it for today. I was bored and thought I'd share that with all of you. I have more things to review and I know that. Got some ridiculous requests like reviewing a turd of a movie called "Scott Pilgrim..." something-other from a weird Canadian-dwelling female. No. I don't want to see that movie anymore.

K.

MIA

Dearest Kiwon,

It has been weeks since your last post about how you're going to start watching movie trailers.  I, and our views and readers, would like to know why you've been MIA on our blog.  Please respond to this post posthaste so we know you haven't forgotten about us.

Sincerely,

Either you or I is in Hawaii...

and if you're reading this...

then it's definitely not you.  :)

ALOHA HONOLULU! 

We've arrived.  

Watch out because we're crazy ladies out and about!

What will we be listening to 20 years from now...

This last Sunday on my hour drive back from Bellingham, I had my radio tuned into 106.1 KISS FM.  When songs I didn't like came on, I'd channel surf to something more to my liking.  However, once I reached Lynnwood this song came on.

Not being the first time I've heard this song, and every time it comes on I either skip or change the station, but this time I heard it in it's complete entirety and have come to realize this is, absolutely, one of the worst songs. 

My, chick bad, my chick hood

My chick do stuff that yo' chick wish she could
My, my chick bad, my chick hood
My chick do stuff that yo' chick wish she could
My, my chick bad, badder than yours
My, my chick bad, badder than yours
My, my, my chick bad, badder than yours
My, my chick bad, badder than yours

You don't need to tell me more than once. I got the picture.

I'm sayin' my chick bad, my chick hood My chick do stuff that yo' chick wish she could
My chick bad, badder than yours
My chick do stuff that I can't even put in words

Again? I heard you the first 3 times, and I didn't say I didn't agree.

Her swagga don't stop, her body won't quit
So fool pipe down; you ain't talkin' 'bout shit
My chick bad: tell me if you seen her
She always bring the racket like Venus & Serena
All white top, all white built and all white jeans
Body lookin' like milk

What does "looking like milk" even mean?  She's liquid?  Yeah, I don't know anyone else who can turn into liquid... he's right - his chick bad.

No time for games; she's full-grown

If she weren't full-grown, you'd be in jail.

My chick bad; tell your chick to go home!

See what I mean?  Worst song ever.  Not to mention the "beat" isn't good at all. 

Now, follow me into my thoughts for a moment.  Granted not everyone in the whole world listens to this, but let's assume 75% of America listens to this genre of... music, and then ASSUMING, again, that our children would end up falling into this 75%, can you imagine what kind of music they would be listening to??

Our parents grew up with Elvis, Patsy Cline, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles... We grew up with Madonna, -the- Macarena, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, N'Sync... and now listen at what majority of America is listening to.

Now think about what our children, nieces and newphews could be listening to!?

Can songs of sex, drugs and violence get even more explicit?  I cringe to think of what we might be listening to 20 years from now... imagine, when you're driving your kid to soccer practice and they reach over for the radio dial and put on the newest, sickest, baddest music all their friends are listening to.

Oh, music.  How you've evolved in such a short time.

This is for all of you who remember square dancing class in elementary school.

Wasted enough time, back to work.

Kiwon's New Way of View Previews!

All,

Here's a preview of a movie that you may enjoy in the near future. BUT WAIT!! Before you view the clip, mute your speakers. Trust me.

Like the clip? It's mysterious, weird, and also intriguing for the most part. And why wouldn't you like it a bit. Paul Haggis directs the movie (Crash, if you haven't seen it, to me, is a product of many many Asian dramas) with an all-star cast: Liam Neeson, Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, even RZA!

Now why did I make you watch the clip without sound?

In our media heavy world, our senses are being constantly stimulated; from TV to youtube, and almost most of the time, it's absolute JUNK!

So, why suffer with movie previews? Previews are designed to show you a snip of the story and characters so the movie-goers like yourself will be interested paying $10 out of your pocket; which I personally find to be extremely expensive.

Side note: Remember when movies were $5? Remember that?! Remember!!!!?

So about my new way of viewing previews. It's a deaf way of deciding if you will (no offense). Actors are designed to act out different characters, right? What does acting compose of? Sure you hear the emotions in the way they deliver the lines, but like with any conversations, body language counts for the 80% of it.

So watch the preview with that in mind, look at the "acting" clips that are presented before you. This way, you are left imagining what they have said, how they said it, and how real it seems by just looking at their body language. Is it a sad movie? a love movie? Why is that guy so happy?

So after all of that, if you are still left with questions about the plot, or you are still interested in seeing the movie, you can do so with that $10 you were gonna spend on something else frivolous.

That's it. Try it next time.

I still have to review couple of movies that I saw in the past two weeks. I have been lazy, partly due to both of my laptops giving me one hell of a time.

K.

Toot It 'n Boot It!

WTF??  Please tell me what this song means.

How's about this ladies and gentlemen? 

We'll even throw in the six bedroom mansion that the pool belongs to!  

For the affordable value of $6.5 million, you may dip those toes of yours into this pool.

Contact me ASAP if your wallet is overflowing with cash.

Is it Friday yet??

It's time to rant.

I'm going to assume most of you don't know much about working with real estate agents... but most of them are incompetent.  Not to make them sound bad, but some people lack a sense of time, humility and manners.

Let's go back to where this all began, yesterday.  Side note, usually homes have keyboxes on them with a key inside and agents can access the keys with a keypad they own, but our office doesn't use keyboxes, so someone from our office has to show up to the showings to let them in...

I usually get off of work by 5:30pm, my collegue and I lock up and walk out of here no later than 5:31pm, if possible.  Yesterday even was an exception - my collegue was out sick and I was faced with a little more of a work load than normal.  As I'm trying to wrap up what was on my plate the phone rings.

Agent: Hi, I'd like to make an appointment for a showing at 1234 XYZ st. for tomorrow afternoon... between 2:45pm and 4:30pm.
Me: The house doesn't have a keybox on it, and we usually show up to all of our showings, do you have a tighter time frame for us?
Agent: Well... let me sort out my schedule and call you back.
Me: Okay, thank you.

10 minutes later...

Agent: We can do 2:45pm, if that works for you.
Me: That would be fine.  We'll see you there at 2:45pm.  Thank you.

TODAY

The same agent calls back today and asks if we can let her into the house at 3:45pm.  My collegue, who answered the phone, said "we actually have you down on the calendar for 2:45pm." The other agent goes on to say "I didn't get a call back from you confirming the time."  YES SHE DID!  I SPOKE WITH HER AND CONFIRMED.

Anyway, whatever, moving on, she's on now for 3:45pm.

As the day goes by I get calls for a rental showing, which are near my work for 3pm.  I'm thinking... I can just do the two rentals and then head over to Queen Anne for the other showing.  Since I might be tight on the schedule I called her to ask if we could push the appointment to 4pm, but no answer so I left her a message...

It's now 2:30pm, with an hour to spare until our meeting, I figure I'd call her again and see if we can push it back otherwise I'll be racing down the streets of Seattle to get to the other showing...  no answer.

5 minutes later, she calls back and I asked if we could push it back, and she said, "no, we're actually all done now, and we're heading over there... we set it for 2:45pm."

MY JAW DROPPED.

Me: We got a call from you this morning saying you wanted to change it to 3:45pm...
Agent: You must have mistaken, I didn't call you this morning.

B*TCH.

Needless to say one of us only had 10 minutes to go from Madison Park to Queen Anne.  How ridiculous. 

Some agents are psycho.  If you're looking to buy a house or rent a place... pick the right agent.  It makes ALL the difference.

Steamin' and now heading out to my rental showings,

Astro Blaster

HECK YA!

This Disneyland ride was one of my favorites!  It's fun, but difficult to tell which is your laser beam.  But, it's kind of lame, if you compare it to the other more intense rides.  However, I loved it nonetheless. Just look at my face.... hahaha.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland. Almost all of us have been there once or twice in our lifetime. Almost always fun, and almost always amazing. Disney, I forgive you for being a racist (somewhat). I know I usually do movies, but I can't pass up this opportunity to dissect the one of most beloved theme parks of the world: Disneyland

Background... Located in Anaheim, this California city was about 40 minutes from our hotel, the Westin. Side note: whatever you do, do not stay at the Westin. The room was okay, but service? What service!! I had a terrible time just getting more towels. Do yourself a favor. Serious.

Moving on. Disneyland opened on July 18, 1955 to a record breaking 15.9 million people visiting in that same year. The park has grown since then, adding on the Disney's California Adventure and also the Disney Resort. Within the park there are seven main "themed" areas; Main Street, USA, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, along with Frontierland, Critter Country, and Mickey's Toontown.

The park boasts an impressive fireworks show every night, along with many other live shows you can catch. The rides are awesome, and the rest? Go to Wikipedia yourself and find out.

Rides... We started out in Tomorrowland. After getting our first "Fast Pass" to Buzz Lightyear: Astro Blasters, we waited for our first ride, Space Mountain. We passed by EO, the Michael Jackson ride... and we didn't want to go on it, because from the poster itself, the ride looked really creepy. Space Mountain is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland for one reason: the whole of the ride is in the dark. completely. This makes it just amazing. They dip you, flip you, sink you, the works; all the while you not knowing where the hell you're going. They used to have two carts going on at once, allowing you to pass by the other cart (making it THAT much better) but to my disappointment, they are not doing that anymore.

Astro Blasters was a simple shoot-up ride, mostly for kids. You basically shoot at various targets for various points. I got a whopping 174,000 points with nothing to show for it, for the system never took a picture of me. WTF Disneyland.

We then ate lunch and walked over to get a fast pass to Indiana Jones ride. Rode the It's a Small World ride, which frightened the hell out of me. On another note, I didn't know prior to riding It's a Small World that the whole ride had the song repeating itself... which torments my dreams to this day.

Then we went to Frontierland for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride. This wasn't that fun, but it was short wait.

After, we shot over to Adventureland for the Pirates of Caribbean and Haunted Mansion rides. Remember this when you go to Disneyland next time, you WILL get wet during the Pirates of Caribbean ride. We didn't know.

Before going on the Indiana Jones ride, we had some time for Splash Mountain. Tina wasn't happy about this, but we forced her anyway, and we got soaked!

Side note: Good job Disneyland, for making all those characters move and feel real when riding just about any ride (minus It's a Small World). This kept the interest going, not to mention the fun. Good job for warping me into a different world every time I went on a ride. This has to be the reason people keep coming back to Disneyland. It's just plain old fun. For the whole family. Oh, speaking of families... I'll get to that later.

Then before we knew it, Indiana Jones. Had to be the favorite for the whole group, and was a great ending to the rides for the day. The lines leading up to the ride is fantastic in itself, with all the markings and engravings, props along the way; no doubt George Lucas had a hand in this. They did a really good job pulling you into the world of Indiana Jones and keeping you there. The ride itself? Just entertaining as all hell. You sit in a Jeep that takes you on a really cool ride, filled with all of favorite parts of the movies. Indiana makes a few appearances as well.

Another side note: For some reason, I thought the ride was longer. I remember from last time that there were a lot more components. Was I tripping? We'll never know. After further research, no, they didn't change it. Weird.

After all of that, we shot over to Toontown and met Mickey and the whole bunch. Bought a lot of stuff, too. While I was there, two different moms were terrified because they misplaced their children. Amazing.

To top it all off, we waited patiently for the fireworks. Disney didn't disappoint. I won't tell you much about it, but the synchronization of music and fireworks was dead-on, and the show was entertaining as always. It really is a must. I recommend.

Bad Parenting... You will see plenty of that at Disneyland. First off, strollers EVERYWHERE and with that territory comes moms and dads yelling at kids to stay with the group ALL DAY LONG. You will see one of those animal leashes for the kids, or just plain ropes (not lying). You will see family reunions wearing same shirts and being really hella loud. You will see pissed off dads or moms waiting in line for a ride and not wanting to put up with their kids.

Side note: Why don't you NOT bring your kids if they are too little to ride any of the fucking rides?! I mean... WTF! What, did you come for yourselves and not the kid? And how about playing with your kids during the line so they don't get bored? Oh, I'm sorry that you have to do that at DISNEYLAND! It's obvious that you came for your kid, so how about letting your kid have everything for the day? I mean Jesus Christ! I saw a dad yelling at the mom for not wanting to carry her purse while the mom rides one ride with their daughter. I saw a mom yelling at a kid for wanting an ice-cream. I saw a kid crying on a bench while his mom talked on the phone. Wow. Wow.

But there were happier notes to also state. I saw family reunions genuinely having fun just being around family. I saw countless couples having the time of their lives. I saw a dad doing all that he can to make his daughter laugh while waiting in line for 75 minutes. I also saw a man (me) convincing a frightened woman (Tina) to ride one of the biggest ride in the park. Good memories have more impact every time over the bad. It was a good day.

Conclusion... Disneyland indeed is the happiest place on Earth. Even with all the yelling and screaming, with having to wait for just about everything, we had a great time. We were so tired by the end of the day, but I welcome that type of tiredness any day.