A Journey into my Sick Psyche

This year’s Independence day has had a profound influence on me. I stayed with friends at San Jose, and realized that keeping in touch with your friends is another way to a fulfilling life. I’ve known this since high school, but I haven’t thought about it’s importance until recently.

It comes as no surprise that social networking sites are the buzz of the web right now. Connecting and keeping in-touch with your old friends has never been easier. Meeting new ones is also one of the perks. There are many of these sites, and Friendster is just one of them. Friendster happens to be the most used in asia, that’s why you and I use it.

If you can keep up, I invite you to open a facebook account for US dwellers, and add me up. I’m trying to be as active there as i am here - which is not going to be a stretch.

I have to say goodbye to two things that are dear to my heart today.

I worked at Bob’s Big Boy Wilshire from 1995 to 2000, first as a server, then later on as manager. Although I had a one month stint at the basement of a Robinson’s-May prior to Bob’s, I considered Bob’s to be my "official" first job.

Bob’s Big Boy of Wishire officially served its last meal as of yesterday, June 22, 2008.

Their landlord did not wish to renew their lease, and they plan on converting the space to a new BMW dealership.

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George Carlin, May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008

I’ve always enjoyed the honesty and the ensuing controversy that this guy created. He had a no-nonsense approach to his comedy, and that will always be cool in my book. And as one streamer said in his YouTube channel, "Rest in peace, you foul-mouthed son-of-a-bitch."

For those with an open mind and are not easily offended, the following link is for you:

George Carlin - Religion is Bullshit

Those who are close to me know that I am a movie collector. I have amassed about 150+ DVDs, and with the exception of a few titles, I practically stopped adding to my collection in the past year. The reason for the hiatus is the format war that begun two years ago.

There’s a major shift in the industry to move to a new format when it comes to movies - high definition. Unlike the advent of the DVD media, the HD format brought out two major players in the forefront: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. What this meant was consumers had to pick a format to invest on, but there is a 50% chance that their choice might go the way of the Betamax.

Although I’ve been getting HD for most of my television shows via Dish Network, I felt I had to wait this format war out until the end. Turns out, I didn’t have to wait long.

As of today, HD-DVD is officially dead. This means I can now invest in a Blu-Ray player, and continue adding to my movie collection. Granted, I would need to repurchase certain titles, but I’m pretty sure it will be worth it.

For those in the same boat, if you are planning on buying a Blu-Ray player, and you can’t find one under $400, do yourself a favor and buy the Playstation 3 instead. It does not matter if you are not a gamer - the PS3 is considered to be the best Blu-Ray player right now. Just get the $400 dollar one though. Do not let the salesperson talk you into buying the more expensive version. If your main intention is to watch high definition movies on it, just stick with the cheaper PS3.

Happy new year to everyone.

Let me start my 2008 blog with a new installment of what I hope to be a running series: Proud Daddy Moments.

The main focus of this post is academics, but I just want to follow-up on the Samus post real quick.

My Samus post got featured in Joystiq, and I was surprised to get an email from Mike Wikan, the Senior Game Designer for the Metroid Prime series saying:

"Your son is my hero. Thanks for appreciating our hard work."

It goes without saying that the sentiment is mutual, Mike. You guys at Retro are  our heroes as well.

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Alvin and Hazel started attending a new school this year. They go to Valley View Elementary School. A public school that is part of the Sulphur Springs School District in Newhall, California.

We got a letter mid-November stating that Hazel is to be given an
award at the end of the month. They did not specify what award it was,
but apparently, she was the only student in her class that perfected
their math exams.

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Alvin was quite bummed out that he did not get an award while his little sister did. Little did he know (or the rest of us for that matter) that they schedule these awards on a grade basis. Alvin’s "Spirit" award came a month later, just before Christmas.

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Congratulations, Alvin and Hazel. You both make your mom and dad proud. We love you.

The firestorms hit too close to home last Sunday. Attached is a view from our bedroom window around 630 PM.

We had strong winds the night before, and my mom was forced to sleep downstairs because the banging of the gutters and the whistling of the window screen kept her awake. We awoke to one of the clearest day in Southern California, no doubt brought about by the strong winds that cleared the skies of pollution.

I stepped out back to find out my potted cherry tree lying on the pavement, with most of its leaves gone from its branches. I moved it to the garage to protect it from further abuse, then I saw the skies slowly get dark.

That’s when the "Buckweed" fire started. From Agua Dulce, it snaked its way down to Canyon Country, and burned five houses before the sun set that day.

Our area is back to normal, but the firestorm still ravages other areas of Southern California. I can’t imagine what it is like for those who lost their homes, but I can’t help but be proud of our firefighters.

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption was released yesterday.

I woke up this morning  to a concerned wife telling me that Alvin was up while "it was still dark." I replied casually to let it slide, since the kid was excited.

Moments later, Alvin , my seven-year-old third grader, slid up next to me, telling me that his mom told him to go to bed. What? It’s 7 AM, and we’re off to school in an hour!

I asked him why and it was because he was playing MP3 when her mom came down to fix breakfast.

"What time did you start playing?"

"One o’clock…"

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OK, now I’m awake. Normally I would have been mad at him as much as my wife, but something about this tugged at my heart, and I just can’t bear to be mad at the kid. He’s been all-Metroid the past two months.

He has beaten Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime Echoes - I haven’t. He used a strategy guide book for Prime, but since I don’t have the book for Echoes, he got by with GameFAQ’s 200 page text file walktrough. TEXT! While waiting for the release of MP3, he started and finished Super Metroid. He’s been asking me time and again when the third installment will be released. He’s been frequenting YouTube (on the Wii) mainly to watch anything Metroid related.

I got a call at work around 2:30 yesterday afternoon, and it was him. He was asking me if I were at EB Games buying Corruption…

On the way to work this morning, I realized that while my wife was mad at what happened, I was proud and envious at the same time. Proud because I see my gamer-self in him, and envious because it used to be me who stayed up for a new game.

I later found out from Lanie that Alvin had already beaten two bosses by the time she made him stop playing. Too bad he has to wait until the weekend to continue.

Waiting would be unbearable, but it’s a sacrifice he has to bear for love. We both love Samus Aran. You would, too.

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Image credit: transfuse

Met up with an old friend last month. I wanted to write about it that same day for the benefit of our mutual friends, but here I am, blogging a month later. Now I understand how Stephen feels when he said he got tired of blogging.

Carmen was a college buddy from UP Manila, however short-lived that part of my
life was. We were (still are) part of Block 5, which may loosely be translated as a class section for freshmen (how I got into the Behavioral Studies section is another story altogether).

She visited the states for a job training on the east coast, but visited her family here in Los Angeles and Las Vegas before making her way home. It was before her Vegas trip when I picked her up for a quickie. Ha!

However short the time, I was able to show her Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Kodak Theater, Rodeo Drive, and a small part of Melrose Blvd. If not for the new reservation policy for Griffith Observatory, we would have gone next to the Hollywood Sign for some photo op.

The day ended with me dropping her off to her aunt’s a little late for their Vegas trip. A little picture taking ensued, and several veiled questions from the aunts about me and my wife reassured them that Carmen and I were friends.

To Carmen, thanks for the visit. Now what’s with that post title?

I’m sure most, if not all, of you have received a forwarded message. I just got another one from someone who I consider to be more of an acquaintance than a friend. Unfortunately, it was one of those "forward this to ten of your closest friends and you will receive a miracle" kind of emails.

There are numerous versions of these forwarded emails. Some make you feel good about yourself, some make you less guilty, and 99% of it make you look like a total SUCKER!!!

But I digress…

When bit by the forwarding bug, please (and I can’t stress this enough), please use the BCC field for your recipients. Some people consider their email addresses private, like a cell number, and do not wish to divulge it to strangers.

That’s the etiquette part. Now for the rant.

If you really consider me as a friend, and want me to get showered with the blessing of the lord, or to feel guilty because I don’t care about a sick kid, or warn me about a computer virus, etcetera, etcetera… get this through your thick skull: WE ARE NOT REALLY FRIENDS.

Friends email each other asking "How are you?" and mean it.

I just want to announce to everyone that someone was able to tolerate me and my nonsensical whims for ten years. Lanie and I celebrated our tenth anniversary yesterday.

It was ten years ago (plus one day) that we were accompanied by some of our closest friends up the steps of the Los Angeles Superior court to get married. This was followed by a very sumptuous meal during the reception at Full House Restaurant! Now that’s how to get married.

Kidding aside, I apologized to my wife for the suddenness of it all. I told her I realize that having a lovely wedding is one of the most important things in a woman’s life, and that I deeply regret not being able to give her one. We planned getting married as years passed, but somehow those plans were always set aside for something else.

So here we are after ten years. Two kids, five different jobs, one apartment and nine Zelda games have passed, and I still haven’t been able to marry my wife. My simple anniversary gift won’t replace a wedding, but I hope it shows her how much I appreciate her being in my life, and how thankful I am for the gifts she has given me throughout the years.

I love you, Lanie.

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Special thanks to Millie and Bruce.

I’m taking a break from saving Zelda and trying my hand on this blogging thing. I know it’s not a new phenomenon, but it is cool having to do it on a game console. I’m blogging on the Wii. Granted, the typing is literally point and click, but it works. As a public service announcement, I would like to suggest you get yourself a Wii if you can (supply is scarce and demands are high). It’s a fun machine.

Like I said in my previous post, I went in line for it on launch day, and seeing my 67 year old mom and my 5 year old daughter playing together and having fun made the 16 and a half hours in line worth it.

OK, now on to Hyrule Castle!!!