Oh Roger Ebert! THIS THIS THIS is why I love you. This is the funniest review of Twilight/New Moon I've ever read especially coming from an exprienced and respected film critic.

I have to do a 10pg paper comparing different views about the samurai in different forms of media but the only thing memorable I can come up with would be:

1) They ruled Japan for more than hundreds of years with the Emperor having no say
2) They must have honor and because of your honor you have to commit suicide if you have lost your way - to live on will only mean cowardice
3) Male lovers are common and interestingly enough this inspires the makings of comic books aka manga aka anime.
4) During the Tokugawa period Japan was in peaceful for about 400 years. The Samurai was considered a noble class while merchants were the lowest class. You can't move down or up in your class - so no "Ronin" samurai existed

Ah whatever. I'll get this done hopefully. I have to pull an all nighter. I'm just glad classes end in about 3 weeks I believe.

It's so hard getting back to things after so many years being OUT of it.

My mother keeps watching all these filipino soap operas that are way too corny. I hate it. It's eating my brain. I try to avoid it as much as possible but I just can't. At least it's not as demeaning as "WOWOWEE" Where all they do is exploit people who don't know any better. I hate that show so much. I hate the hosts who are so trite and talk down on the constestants. I don't even understand most of what they are saying sometimes because they talk too fast but for someone who can see how demeaning it is without really understanding, that says alot. But those people don't see it. NOT one bit.
But then again, I can be describing those awful reality shows like the "Bachelor" - where people just don't see how ridiculous they are being. I guess, everyone just likes being on TV despite having lost their dignity.

SNL is somewhat actually funny nowadays but Taylor Swift? I don't get it. At least she was a better host than Megan Fox. That was truly a nightmare. Love this short though:



haha Twilight or should I say Firelight?

I think I might be waay too obsessive with Youtube lately instead of writing my final paper. I really need to focus on important things and get my priorities straight but that is so hard to do when you're easily distracted.

It's strange how I absolutely HATE going around Vegas when I'm by myself. I don't even know half the things that are going on around the place I work but when I get to have an opportunity to show someone around or just hang out with friends I love the strip. Maybe it's that home town pride kind of deal not that I actually like living in Vegas which in all honestly I don't but you sort of have to stick up for it. Does that make sense? Appleton wasn't so great either but I miss it to death and how small it was and is and everything is the same but different. I want to visit again just to see what it's like.

3 Things

1 - Puck from Glee



Aww who knew Puck was so shy (although Wendy Williams is rather an annoying host but...)? It sucks I've been Glee deprived for two weeks because of the the finals/World Series although I am happy for the Yankees but STILL... they did deprive me of my favorite guilty pleasure.

2 - Old Conan O'Brien skits



One of the funniest ever! Good thing I went during the summer because it wasn't windy at all @ O'Brien's Tower. haha

3 - Fresh Prince of Bel Air



Ahh the memories

Glee cast were at the World Series and Amber/Aretha/Mercedes rocked it. I wish I've actually had a chance to see it live but no... instead I was reading and trying to glomb down my extra large serving of strawberry and banana crepes while trying to answer phones. Well, that's what you do on a slow Sunday at work I guess when no one's really doing anything but talking and eating things that aren't very healthy. I'm so glad however that the shouting has stopped for a bit... I bet tomorrow will be worse considering people aren't glued to their TVs anymore watching baseball or football.

The thing I've missed most of all though was the Packer/Viking game!! Keeping up with the stats on your phone is not exactly as exciting as actually watching Favre get booed at and getting called Judas and Traitor. I'm still a loyal Favre fan though. I would never think in a million years I'd be cheering for the Vikings or rooting for another team other than the Packers but here I am doing it now. And it's the VIKINGS of all things. The one team I hate more than the Cowboys would be the Vikings and it's just... well I think part of hell just froze.

Speaking of that... I shall not tell anyone their team sucks because it's just going to bite me in the ass in the end. Who knew the freakin' Doplhins were going to win this week when they suck like 90% of the time. I mean just last week they blew out wide lead and managed to loose while being ahead a trillion points.

And to end this rambling nonsense post I want to ask what just happened to the weather??? It's was so COLD and nice last week now were back to hot 85degrees. Not cool Vegas. I was getting used to wearing my coat.

I really must be getting old because I just don't understand the appeal of these new actors anymore nor anything related to what is supposed to be in and what is supposed to be out. There are loads of gossip mags thrown about at the our office so when I'm bored I flip through it for the pictures but half the time the picture I'm looking at is some actor or actress I don't even know. Like who the hell is Joy Bryant anyway? And why is Kristen Stewart so popular? Or why does Miley Cyrus have such a big fan base? She just looks sort of freaky to me. Then again, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears' and her amazing (in)ability to lipsynch through her entire tour are still lurking in our world so I shouldn't start on other people and my strange problems with them.

Like this whole Robert Pattison/Twilight/blah blah blah thing. For one, he's not attractive (especially when the he tells the whole world he doesn't wash his hair for months) and the book is horrible. It's even sadder when legitimate writers like Stephen King critises it and calls it crap. These poor kids today just don't know what a GOOD book actually is anymore. Maybe that is just based on my opinion but come on. Twilight over books like Jane Eyre or Dracula? That's just tragic. TRAGIC.

I am so glad it is my weekend finally. Six straight days of working burned me out. Not exhausted but I'm just plain tired of people shouting at me when I'm just a lowly office worker and the higher ups are at fault. It's not my problem. Don't give me all your stories and lementing to me about your worries because it's not me you should be shouting at or complaining to. Knock on wood but at least I really didn't get that many upset people on my end, all because I guess, I tried to calm them before they shoot at me while other people around me were just being rude or so the guest claims. I just don't want to go back Sunday and get the same thing again. I want it over and done with.

And speaking of Sundays, I miss being off on Sunday. I miss watching football games and cheering and being a dork in front of the TV - But I guess I shall not be depressed because I can't do anything about it anyway.

3 THINGS

1) Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Beer!



I was hanging out w my long lost twin Melissa when she came out and served this. It's not really girly I don't think. I love beer and this is so delish. I think I may have another favorite beer other than New Castle. What's up with the imported beers that taste so good? Although I do like PBR's and people think that's horrible but it's from Wisconsin so I really can't hate it.

2.) Glee

Why do I like musicals so much? I swear I must have been a gay man in another life. Glee is so gay it's addicting. I can't help but LOVE it do death. It's the only thing I watch other than BigBang Theory nowadays. TV sucks now. They are all cliche and are full of stupid brain dead reality TV shows but this show at least is different, totally forcing in the stereotypes and wow, there are minorities on the show too. How exciting. I hate it when a show is set in a place where minorities are the 'majority' (is that an oxymoron of some kind) like Hawaii for example, and they are hardly shown at all. That's what got me irritated with Friends. Anyway GLEE is LOVE! And the VOICES are even more love. Wow!

3.) Merlin

God help me. I'm in love with this show. I don't really go for strange family (british) shows but for some reason this got me to become a shameless fangirl again. I quite like the idea of the characters of Camelot in their early 20's mingling with each other. Young Prince Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere and Morgana? I'm for it. Plus there's a talking dragon too. Move over Dr Who. I am such a GEEK.

Gah! My last post was in May and now it's OCTOBER! How on earth did things happen so fast when I'm not ready for the year to end?

Let's see after that last post...

I've been to a "memorable" Killers concert which I can only remember the first song and nothing else. I remember dropping my friend off at her house but I could not remember how I OPENED the door to her house nor did I remember throwing up during the concert until she don't me I did. I regret it. I loved them and I didn't remember a thing. That's what you get for suddenly getting tickets over at the VIP area and it's open bar. NOT good.

I finally got to IRELAND which I've been wanting to do since I was in highschool. Although I can't see myself living there, I wouldn't mind visiting again. Luckily my friend knew people there and we had places to stay. We rented a car and just drove around the whole country. Thank god Ireland is small right? The people were so friendly and I've even got to go to a football match. Gaelic football is SO different but it was so damn exciting. The weather was cold in June over there and I found myself wearing a jacket most of the time. I miss it. I really do. I miss how very different it is from Las Vegas.

The next month after another friend and I explored BOSTON. Another place I've always dreamed of going to since FOREVER really. If it wasn't so expensive I would so live there. Everything is so convenient and so full of history. If I lived there I can get rid of my car. The FOOD is so yummy too. I don't really like Italian food but this little restaurant my friend and I went to had the best risoto ever! Downtown Boston was madness, the lobster, the acc, ents, Salem, Cambridge, all those old cemetaries... to satisfy my morbid mind. I loved it.

Goodness, How is it possible that I've not written here since January? It's not like I've been busy although these past few months have gone by so fast. I don't even know what happened between Feb to May. Seriously - I have no idea.

BUT

Since I'm here now, I just have to write my usual 5 things.

1) The Big Bang Theory - Because I can finally identify with fellow nerds who totally rock. I love Sheldon to bits because he's sarcastic and to the point but has no idea of sarcasm when it is thrown back at him. He and Penny are made for each other but I think that's just the typical nerdy fangirl in me.

2) Spock/Uhura from Star Trek What is up with me joining millions of fangirls in shipping couples? Plus, my vocabulary has been awakened by using 'ship' and 'fangirl' in this post. Words I haven't used since I had the brilliant idea long ago of reviewing websites for fun. NuSpock is great. Zachary Quinto did an awesome job and I'm glad Leonard Nimoy liked his portrayal as well. Plus, Spock and Uhura are very 'For The Win!' - That turbo lift scene was just so touching. It was nice to see young 'emo' Spock put his head on Uhura's shoulders for comfort. It was completely logical to have them be together. I hope if there's a sequel in store, their geek love will continue to prosper. I'm so glad the main guy did not get the girl but it was a nice homage to have Kirk get with an Orion chick. Chris Pine did a wonderful job too as did Zoe Saldana. I still remember her as the Star Trek fan in The Terminal where she married Diego Luna's character who was also an ST fan.

3) FUN! My cousin just got married this past weekend and stayed in Vegas for the whole week, so for the whole week I think I've only slept for about 8hrs. It was so much fun hanging around with family though especially ones you haven't seen in such a long time. I don't usually go to clubs nor walk around the Strip like tourists do but it's so much fun and meaningful to walk around the city with family or friends beside you. It's the little things that count and I love having conversations with them because no matter how many friends you have, your family is really the one who knows your embarrassing little secrets that can come back to haunt you.

4) Starter for 10 by David Nicholls I'm still in the process of finishing it but the book is hilarious. And so true. Even though its a point of view of a young college guy still trying/pretending to find himself, it's so very universal. The main character Brian is just so normal and is faced with problems we all suffer from. I can so relate. It's embarrassingly honest.

5) Maple Sugar Cookies Cause I love food and most importantly sweet sugary stuff and maple sugar cookies are so good and indulgent and bad for you but what can you do. It's so tempting.

Happy New Year to All!!
Let's see what's new?
-My computer completely shut down New Year's Eve and so all my files including my 200 plus story are now somewhere in software heaven. I had to completely restore everything. At least I've typed everything up so I didn't loose anything really important. Lost pictures, movies, TV shows, and a load of music... BUT that's OK... I can live. BITTER bit I can live.
-It snowed in Vegas but we only had about a month of winter and after that... well it's January and it's 65degrees. Enough said.
-Our new load of concierge suck! They are completely incompetent and have no brain cells. What has my GM done? It's irritating and one of them is named "Bambi" seriously... But more seriously... can you take a girl named "Bambi" seriously?

Anyways I shall stop ranting.

Here are my usual 5 things
-Just so I will read this in the future and remember how stupid I was for being obsessed with them in the first place.

1. SLASH
Well, I'll always love Slash. I've loved Slash since I was in 5th grade when I first heard Sweet Child O Mine for the first time. He's awesome and his BOOK is amazing. I can't put it down. He tells it like it is and is damn funny! His mom had an affair with David Bowie, he shared a bed with Axl, he saw little green men when he was shooting up heroin, he stole snakes from pet stores... and that top hat he always wears? He stole that too. And on and on... I love it.

2. Cookies and Cream Martini
Happy hour over at Blue Martini is GREAT. Every night from 6pm to 8pm all martinis are half price. Enough said. Love Cookies and Cream where they cover the rim with crushed Oreos it's heaven... though when you wake up in the morning it feels like hell on earth.

3. Slumdog Millionaire
I still can't believe Dev Patel from Skins is in this movie. Anwar in a serious movie? Anwar who will do anyone standing on two legs? Anwar who spent most of Skins jumping around and being stupid? Wow!! It's a great movie but then again most ... 4. Danny Boyle films are. Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Millions, 28 Days Later and now Slumdog. Being a Boyle fan though, you immediately notice his signature film making style. Fast paced, toilets, chases, unchronicled order, closeups of people lying down, trains.... I think Millions though is a movie where Danny Boyle toned it down a bit. I love Millions... it was so innocent. I loved the character of Salim the best in Slumdog. He's very complex and played the part of the blacksheep well. The three actors who played Salim from child/teen/adult were amazing.

5. Mob Wars/Hitman on Facebook
God help me, I can't stop playing it. And this is coming from someone who a few months ago didn't even understand half of the applications on facebook. It's so addicting!

The Usual Five Things

1. Echo And The Bunnymen
-I've been a fan of Echo and The Bunnymen for a long time. They're another reason why I want to go to Liverpool someday just to check that place out. Of course there's also the Beatles but hell that's not the only reason to go to Liverpool. I want to hear the accents too. Hard to understand them sometimes though but at least those Liverpudlians aren't as hard to understand as those Gallagher brothers from Manchester.

So here are two of my fave Echo and the Bunnymen songs for you to download.

A. Bring On The Dancing Horses
B. Lips Like Sugar

2. The Weather
What is it with Vegas? It's December and it's 70 degrees. I actually want to wear a winter coat for once but I guess I'm not complaining - it's pretty nice out. It just doesn't feel like it's 24 more days til Christmas

3. Newcastle
My new drink of choice. So much for Miller Light.

4. Facebook
I actually like Facebook although I don't get it most of the time. I guess I'm getting too old but the application stuff blows my mind. I like it better than myspace - myspace sucks and it's a lot more private and it's easier to communicate with friends. Although I can't really find most of my high school friend.

5. Brett Favre
Because he still rules and I can't believe he lost on Sunday. The Jets have a better record than the Packers so it's a good sign for the playoffs. Unlike the NFC where it's ruled by teams like the Giants and the Cowboys - the AFC doesn't really have anyone other than the Steelers. The Colts and the Patriots are surviving but they are not as great as they were last year. The Titans have the best record but are they really Superbowl bound? Eh.. maybe the Jets have a chance.

Is it November already? Where has 2008 gone? This year has been the fastest yet, it just flew by me like some kind of tornado. Maybe it's because so many thinks have happened and sometimes you just want to pretend it didn't happen at all.

Both my grandmothers are gone, my job prospects are slim as for now because of this economy. It's really good news though that at least the hotel I'm working at is the only hotel in Vegas where they don't do any lay offs. It's been so slow in the hotel industry that so many are losing jobs faster than you can say, "I've been laid off."

About a month ago I was in Cali to visit shigure up in Cali again going to SF (my strange fascination with Hippies took us to Haight/Ashbury which was cool), Napa (where I got sick after all the wine tastings which was rather sad but nonetheless, Napa was so beautiful I loved it), Berkeley, Salinas (because I had to go pay my respects to John Steinbeck and my favorite book of all, East of Eden), Monterey (it was nice cold weather there, Cannery Row, The Aquarium and just the people everywhere) and last but not least, Pebble Beach (which was also nice and cold and very pretty with all the cyprus trees.)



4 Things I'm Obsessed With At The Moment

1) - Bookmooch.com
It's the best website ever created. You give the books you don't want away and in turn, you get the books you want all for free. You just have to pay for shipping to send to the recipient. I've gotten books from the UK, Israel, Ireland... It's interesting to see the stamps and and shipping notes from other countries and the different addresses.

2) - 30 Rock
Tina Fey is my hero and this show is so funny. When Arrested Development got canceled, I thanked my lucky stars 30 Rock came along. I love how realistic and idiotic it is with so much sarcasm too.

3) - Spam Masubi
It's so yummy. I always have to order it whenever we go to any Hawaiian BBQ res. It's filling but I can't get enough.

4) - Mr. President - Elect
Since 2004, I think everyone had him in mind as a possible President. He became Mr. Rock Star and I'm so happy to witness something great. Whether you don't like him or you're a Republican, or didn't even follow politics in the past, we all have to thank him for making most everyone interested in politics and its policies for the first time, especially for all the young voters who were so excited to vote for the first time. I've never seen so much enthusiasm over a Presidential election. More than 60% of 18-29 year olds voted for Obama. That shows you a lot that we as the "youth vote" can really make a difference and that we count. Obama received more than 65 million popular votes. He received more votes than any other USA President. Hopefully, "change" will come. It may take him awhile but we're all when it happens.

5 things I am obsessed with for the moment

1. Miss Vicky's lightly salted potato chips YUMMY!

2. Tina Fey's parody of Sarah Palin because it's like quoting the actual Palin. What a sad country we are if she somehow gets to be VP. I can see her now as VP, where she's somewhere in Afghanistan meeting with various world leaders and talking about "Joe Six Packs" and "Hockey Moms" not knowing what to do but check her notes people prepared for her and avoiding questions and talking about how she's a maverick (if she even knows what that means). Clearly she can't see Afghanistan from her backyard. I thought Dan Quayle was bad but she takes the medal for the most ridiculous VP candidate ever.

3. Pat McCabe's "Breakfast on Pluto" because it was so funny and I couldn't put it down and Neil Jordan's film depiction of the movie as well. Cillian Murphy makes a great cross dresser.

4. Dirty Sexy Money!!

5. FOOTBALL!! I'm so happy Sundays aren't so lazy anymore.

Well, my 50 books a year... isn't really working out. Maybe I should just lower that figure to 25 or 30 or something but hey - 17 books so far is pretty good right? Here's the list and maybe some recommendations for those of you who need another book to read.

I loved my experience in New York this past weekend. Although I only saw sunshine for about an hour and rain the rest of the time it felt great coming from a place where rain doesn't happen very much. We were at the Yankee game on the 4th and witnessed that whole Damon episode of him smacking against the wall and the baseball just stood there on top of that wall. It was so disappointing.

During the game we also witnessed the ultimate East Coast Italian stereotype. The stereo type called "the Guido." For reasons unknown to us, we were in the "alcohol free" section of the stadium (that's what you get for accepting tickets without looking at the seating chart)and the Guido comes up in his Jeter shirt and starts yelling out "Shut the Fuck Up" whenever the Red Sox fans started cheering (which was most of the time). He then sneaks beer up the stands, starts yelling "shut the fuck up" louder than before and eventually got thrown out of the stands. He was hilarious. I was paying more attention to him than to the Yankees losing another game. Why is it that whenever we go see/or watch a Yankee game they always lose? We should have gotten tickets to the game that was on the 5th. I mean, how cool was that game?

Next time, I'm going to wear a "MadRod #13" jersey just cause I know everyone else will do the same thing.

Speaking of those Italian stereotypes... here is the infamous "my new haircut" yahoo vid.

Hey my Friends - Let's make this summer fun with some somewhat old school Hip Hop!

I uploaded some songs for you including my lame attempt with cover art :)



Hip Hop Hooray

It's a rare weekday off for me so here I am writing in this here journal. It's been such a strange beginning of the month. It's getting hot again (but what's new?). I find it funny when people from up north have weather that is hotter. I was speaking to a lady from Maine the other day and she said it was 95degrees over there while the weather here was a rare 85 in June. I still can't get over the gas though. I can't see myself buying $4 plus gas. Last year, I was complaining about $3.50 gas, now I'm praying for that price but unfortunately, the $4.00 is here to stay until next year.

I had a friend tell me about an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry did everything the opposite of what he usually does and by the end it became a "happily ever after." She in turn followed on that philosophy and became lucky in love. I figured I need to do that as well. Not in love exactly because I'm not really interested in that part of my life right now but in everything else. Now I'm thinking "What would I normally do in this situation and how can I make this the opposite of what I usually do?" So far, it's been going well. I really like that advice. Do everything the opposite way and maybe you can play with destiny a little bit. Thank you Seinfeld!

OMG!!!
New Kids

On The

Block!!

Awwww - I feel like I'm in 4th/5th grade again.

They still look awesome-
Thank you Today Show for making me a big ass NERD today and screaming over Joe McIntyre.

>> Some insignificant rambling<<

I've never met a beer I didn't like (I am from Wisconsin after all) until last Saturday when my friend Melissa and I went to some radio promo sponsored by Fosters. Since the radio station was 102.7, the gas station where the promo stuff was held, was selling 12 packs of Fosters for $1.02 - not bad actually so we got a pack and it was disgusting, it was so disgusting I couldn't even finish half it and that's saying a lot!

Later on that night we played beer pong @ O'Sheas and I only lasted two rounds when I was the first to upchuck and that is just not cool when playing beer pong for about 2-3hours.

I blame it on the fosters.

Besides that though, I really like the smaller casinos here in Vegas. You meet so many interesting people. O'Sheas is just a little place (if you're just walking down the strip taking pictures, let's say, you'd probably miss it) but I've had more fun there than when going to places like the Venetian and Bellagio where I feel like I don't fit in because there are just too many plastic people. Where is all the normalcy? Then again this is Vegas so nothing is normal really and those places are just boring to me because though they are big and outlandish and beautiful they have no personality.

AND FINALLY....

--> Some Short Stories posted at afractured_tale

It's been awhile since I've kept up with 20th Century Boys but here is the official cast. I so can't wait to watch it. I just hope it won't turn out to be like my fangirl obsession over Battle Royale again.

It's a little strange how I had forgotten about this little HP story I wrote about Lupin and Snape. I don't even remember writing it really but I do remember writing the last line though. I still think Ewan McGregor in his "A Life Less Ordinary" days would have made the perfect Remus.

And after three years of fanfic haitus I actually wrote something again! afractured_tale will have a link with one of them. I'm going to post some originals soon, some I've written long ago.

It's a little strange reading stuff you wrote way back when. I'm constantly asking myself how in the hell I wrote some of them and what I was thinking when I wrote it.

So I've had a cough and cold for about two months and figured it was just allergies. I didn't really take it seriously until I started coughing a lot and everyone else started worrying about me. I finally went to the doctor on my day off and she told me I had bronchitis and asthma, which is kind of strange since I live in Vegas. But it's allergy season so... now $140 poorer after buying all kinds of medication - my cough is gone somewhat but it still has yet to heal all the way. At least I don't feel like I've been hacking my lung or something. It's all good.

-I've bought tickets for NY! yes! It'll be the shortest trip and most expensive ticket I've ever bought but hey, at least I'll get to see NY with a friend who will show me around the city, I have free accommodations and I get to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox in Yankee stadium, so it's all good I guess. Now all I really have to do is one day watch a Packer game in Lambeau field. Too bad my Brett Favre won't be the quarterback anymore but it's the Packers. It's still worth it, even if I have to wait for 60 some years for ticket availability.

Happy Post Earth Day!