Hawks vs Cavs
I’m happy the Hawks made it to the 2nd round, but I think is about as far as they will head. I know that they won one game in Miami, but they are too different a team away from home than they are in it. They are not going to win a game in Cleveland, and seeing as how the Cavs have home court, that in itself pretty much means the Hawks will be going home this round. They went 7 games against a team that pretty much just has Wade. They will soon learn that the Cavs are not just Lebron James. The Cavs might break a sweat in this series, unlike in their 1st round match up, but they will not be seriously challenged. The Hawks half court offense is not very good, and so the Cavs will not have too many problems stopping them. Cavs in 5.
Magic vs Celtics
I saw the last 3 overtimes of that one game with the Bulls and Celtics, and that was it. Sorry, I hate the Celtics so I usually have better things to do than to watch them play. I just happened to be eating dinner that night and my brother was watching it, so I just watched while I ate. Yes, I guess it was exciting. But for all those people who say it was the best playoff series ever, ummm, can I just say it was a first round match up, and it was between 2 teams (assuming KG doesn’t come back) who will not win the championship? I’m happy the Bulls showed us that they really can play, but I think it just showed that the Celtics are not the same without their superstar. Pierce and Allen will soon learn that the Magic are not the Bulls. Howard is not Tyrus Thomas/Brad Miller. Unless KG comes back, and comes back healthy mind you, I just don’t see how they can beat the Magic. Magic in 6.
Its summer time, and that means at least a movie a week for the next few months! First up on that list? X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Anyone who knows anything about the X-Men knows that Wolverine is its most popular character. As the title says, this is the story his origin. For those that don’t know, Wolverine is a mutant, and his ability is to heal first fast. He has metal claws that pop out of his forearms, but they were not always metal, and this tells the story of how that came to be, where he was originally from, and why he lost his memory and never remembered where he was from.
Many of you know that I thought the 3rd X-Men movie was terrible. Just awful. So, using that as a lead in, I will say that this movie is definitely better than that one. However, its not a great movie though. The non-action scenes were very slow, almost hard to watch sometimes. I don’t know if its because of poor acting or poor writing, but it just dragged. The action sequences were nothing out of this world, but were not bad. Some of the CG I thought looked weird, and my friend told me after the movie it was because it was poorly done CG, so I guess that explained it.
This was not a bad way to start the summer. But, if its the best movie that I see this summer then I will be not only surprised, but very depressed.
Why is it that when you like a girl, pretty much anything she does, says, wears, etc. is cute and endearing. Her jokes are funny, her talks are interesting, her hair is pretty, her outfit is cute, her smile is amazing. You can’t stop thinking about her when you are away and when you are with her, time just goes by so fast, you have tons of fun, and you just can’t get enough.
And then your feelings for her fade. Whether it be because she’s not into you, she found someone else, etc. They fade and then you talk to her, and she doesn’t seem as fun as she used to. Her dialog isn’t as engaging or intellectual as you once thought. Her jokes are actually pretty dumb and not funny at all. She’s cute, in a way, but if you her twin passing on the street you’d not give her a 2nd look. And her taste in clothes leaves much more to be desired than you once thought.
What exactly happens here? Do you only think bad things about her now because she is not into you like you were once into her? Or is it that when you did have feelings for her, you put her on such a high pedestal that she could do no wrong. I think that while the former is partially true in that its human nature to look negatively upon those who have scorned you, this comes about due mostly to the latter.
What brings me to this conclusion? The very same reason why everyone always says that the beginning of a relationship is “the best” or the most exciting. Why more than half of all marriages end up in divorce. Why the vast, vast majority of relationships end in break ups than eternity. People love the new and exciting, so much so that they look past what independent observers notice, even if its so obvious. You cannot always trust yourself when first meeting someone, especially if you are head over heals for her because you do not know what those feelings are causing you to overlook!
So, what does this mean for everyone? No, it does not mean to stop dating since you are going to end up breaking up anyway! Although…..haha, j/k. Firstly, do not rush to get married! People don’t tell you to take things slow for nothing. Secondly, introduce her to your friends/family. And ask them what they think. Do not just ask them to be nice because if they are, they’re not doing you any favors. And thirdly, talk and converse with her. About real stuff. You are not going to get to know her, who she is, what she believes in, without talking to her.
LOL, look at me giving advice to stuff as if I know what I’m talking about at all or that I’m probably not going to listen to myself. Haha.
We’ve all been in situations where we are talking to someone, they ask a question or bring up a topic, and you just feel uncomfortable, thinking it inappropriate, rude, etc. But, what that topic is differs for different people, or different situations, or different venues, or even with certain people. Obviously, there are some things you can feel totally comfortable talking about with some people, but would not be caught dead talking about it with your mother. So, here are questions, topics or statements I will make up. Let’s assume you are talking with a somewhat close friend, in a public place where people can hear you only if they try to. And then your friend says the following to you:
1. I gotta take a crap.
2. I have the worst diarrhea right now.
3. It burns when I pee.
4. I have genital warts.
5. I just had sex last night.
6. Have you slept with your bf/gf yet?
7. What’s your favorite sexual position?
8. Do you masturbate a lot?
9. Abortion is so right/wrong.
10. Do you think gay marriage should be legal?
11. Did you just fart? (And you did.)
12. Dude, your sister is hot.
Of these, the only ones I would not feel any discomfort at all, no matter who I was talking with, would be 1, 2, 9, and 10. All the other ones, it would depend on who I’m talking with, but there is no topic there that I’d not talk about with anyone. It doesn’t even have to be someone I’m close to. I think you get a sense, when talking to people, what you feel comfortable sharing with them. If they are open, honest, and comfortable with you talking about something, then I usually am the same. There have been times when I’ve talked to people about the topics above and I didn’t even know them all that well, when I would not share them with close friends just because I know they would feel weird talking. Anyway, there’s my list. Next time I see you, I will randomly pick 1-12 and say that to you!
Firstly, there will be no spoilers here. Secondly, I want to preface this with saying that I have never, ever seen any episode of any Star Trek series or any of the movies. I know pretty much nothing of Star Trek other than Kirk and Spock. My friends were all excited about watching this movie, and since we always watch one every weekend, and this movie was a reboot about how it all got started, I was like sure. Had no expectations. And what did I think?
I thought this movie was great! Seriously. I’m not a Trekkie, as you just read, so I don’t know if they butchered any of the classic characters or anything like that. All I know is that this is a great science fiction movie with likable characters, a nice story, and great action. J.J. Abrams directed this, and you can definitely sense some of that influence if you have seen any of his shows like Lost. With the exception of one scene in which I thought they threw in just to show off and spend some of their FX budget, the movie was very entertaining. My friend told me there were a lot of Star Trek jokes in there, but all that flew over my head. All I noticed was a very fun movie that all people, Trekkie or not, who enjoy action or sci-fi movies should watch. If they come out with another movie with this cast and director, I will definitely watch it.
My cousin is getting married, so a bunch of us went out last Saturday for the bachelor festivities. We did various activities, the first of which was airsoft. I will write about the other things we do as well, maybe later this week or even tomorrow. But, airsoft first. What is airsoft? Its pretty much the same as paintballing, except its with these small plastic bb’s as bullets. Before that day, I had never done airsoft or paintballing, so I had no expectations really. For those who have not done either as well, basically everyone gets a gun, and you try to shoot people on the other team. If you hit them, they are out of the game.
The place we went to was like big warehouse in El Monte. It cost us overall about 30 bucks to rent a mask, vest, gun, and buy some ammunition for 3 or 4 hours. There were different obstacles and walls you could hide behind trying to shoot the other team. Basically the rules are such. There are 2 teams. Once every member of one team is dead, the game is over. You cannot shoot anyone who is closer than 10 feet from you, which is a safety thing. When you shoot someone, the bb’s are so small that you can’t really tell if you hit them or not. Thus, when you are hit, you have to yell out that you were hit, and then you get out of the game. Thus, it is all by honor system. Since we all know each other, not a big deal. But, if there were a bunch of strangers playing with each other, I wonder if this is ever an issue.
Now, what does it feel like to get hit by one of these? It doesn’t hurt too badly, kind of like a hard pinch. I wore a long sleeve shirt and jeans, so the only part of me that had skin exposed was my hands, and tiny bit of my neck. When I took a shower later that night, I saw many bruises on my arms and lets where I had been hit. They didn’t really hurt, just marks mostly. I did get hit on my finger once, and that drew blood. My brother said that paintballing hurts more, but it doesn’t draw blood. These small tiny pellets when they hit you do. All of the guys there that wore short sleeves had some pretty nasty wounds with blood. For that reason, if you ever go, I’d totally recommend long sleeved shirts and even gloves if you don’t want to bleed. My brother also said he likes paintballing better because you can tell if you hit someone when you shoot.
Overall, it was fun, but its not my thing. I’m not very good, and if I was ever in a real gun fight, I’d die instantly. I expose myself way too easily and get shot cuz of it. I can see why people have fun with it, but I just don’t enjoy getting hit with bb’s. I’m not in bad shape, but my knees and thighs were really sore afterwards, not from the bullets, but because I was running crouched a lot, and crouching behind walls and stuff. When I run, I never do that, so I was using muscles I don’t normally use, thus the soreness. I have another bachelor party in a few weeks and they are paintballing, but I don’t know if I want to go. We’ll see. Oh, and the one time that I did get hit and it hurt and I bled? Friendly freaking fire. WTF. And one last thing. There were some people who brought their own guns, and so it was totally unfair. My rental sucked. Sometimes I’d hit the trigger and nothing would come out. Its not fun when you know you shot the guy before he shot you, only his gun had bullets coming out while yours just made noise!
The other activity we participated in for my cousin was Flightdeck, which is flight/air combat simulation in Anaheim. Basically, you are in a makeshift looking cockpit with a big monitor in front of you and two joysticks to control your F-16. They teach you how to take off, how to turn, how to fire your guns and missiles, and how to land. Its actually quite fun while you are playing. There are no hydraulics or anything, so its strictly just a computer simulation.
I don’t know how realistic this is, but its quite hard to fly a fighter jet. As you can see from my score above, I did have more kills than deaths, barely. Basically, they have 7 simulators. You take off, practice for about 5 minutes, then its just a free for all dogfight for about 25-30 minutes. Then you land first on a regular runway, then on an aircraft carrier. I crashed into the ocean on the latter. Haha. I did, however, manage to shoot down a plane with a missile while having a damaged plane and no radar! So, that was cool and lucky.
Overall, I think its fun to try this out. But, its quite expensive and I doubt I’d ever do it just for the hell of it. It’d probably have to be another even like someone else’s bachelor party or something. For the 45 minutues or so we were flying, it cost about 55 bucks. For 55 bucks I’d rather just buy my own Xbox game, but that’s just me. Fun and interesting, just a bit on the pricey side.
In between our activities for my cousin, we all ate at a place called Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Cerritos. Apparently this chain is pretty big on the east coast. Their version of In N Out?? After trying the place out, I’ll stick with In N Out any day. Its not a bad burger, but I just didn’t think it was as tasty. Basically, you order your burger, and I think that they are all double patty burgers unless you get the little burger. And then you get get all the toppings you want. You can choose from things like mayo, relish, mustard, onions, grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, A-1, BBQ sauce, and some other stuff I can’t remember. I know it sounds blasphemous, but the burger I got was almost too much meat.
What?? Well, I didn’t think their meat had as much flavor and was as juicy as they said it would be. They advertised there that all their meats are well done and juicy. Maybe I didn’t get the right sauces to put more flavor in my burger? Who knows. I just know that I like an In N Out burger, or even a Fatburger more. I did like the fries there. You can get regular or cajun seasoning, and both are good. You get a lot too, so get a large if you have more than one person and are going to share. Also, they serve unsalted peanuts with their shells there, so you could get as many as you want. If you like peanuts, that’s a plus.
Maybe I’m biased and I grew up on the West Coast, but I didn’t see what all the rage was with it. Like I said, its not a bad burger. But, if you look at all their awards from Zagat and newspaper articles and such…I’d go again just to bring my friends so they could try it. If I did, I might get the little burger or add bacon to it, or maybe try out their hot dog. Anyone else try this place out? Agree or disagree?
Lakers vs Nuggets
To say I was less than impressed with the way the Lakers played against the Rockets would be an understatement. I know that I was not the only person that was surprised by how many games it took to beat an injury riddled team. The question that has to be asked is, did it go 7 because the Lakers didn’t try in many of the games or did it go 7 because the Lakers just aren’t as good as everyone thinks they are? That will be answered against a rested, healthy, and better Nuggets team. Denver has probably been the 2nd best team in this playoffs outside of the Cavs. However, is that because they’ve played lower quality opponents in the beat up Hornets and Mavericks or because they really are that good? I do not think the Lakers will have as many lapses in games as they did against the Rockets. They have shown that they can beat the Nuggets both last year and this year, and although everyone says they are better with Billups, I don’t think they have what it takes to beat a Lakers team putting their best efforts. If the Lakers were playing their best every single time, I’d pick them in 5 games. However, I don’t think that will happen. Lakers in 6.
Magic vs Cavs
The Cavs have skated by in both rounds, and they have done it convincingly. I thought that they would kill the Pistons, but didn’t think they would so dominate the Hawks as well. Though, the Hawks to play a pretty undisciplined style of ball, which does not usually fare so well when trying to get far in the playoffs. The Magic? They should never of gone to a game 7, having pretty much given away 2 of the games they lost. Yes they did win game 7 in Boston, but the fact that they choked away two games in the end does not bold well for them as they play the #1 team in the league now. The Cavs will win this series because Lebron James will be the best player on the court, but they will not sweep them like they have the first 2 series. Cavs in 6.
There are no spoilers here, just what I think of the movie after watching it last Saturday. Angels & Demons is the 2nd movie starring Tom Hanks as symbologist Robert Langdon, following a couple years after the 1st movie, The Da Vinci Code. This time around, he is looking for an ancient secret society called the Illuminati, who have escalated the war between science and religion to an all new level. Can Langdon follow the clues left by the ancient society to stop the murder of innocent Cardinals?
I don’t know if I was expecting all that much from this movie. Because of that, maybe that’s why I thought it was a pretty decent movie. It was definitely better than the 1st movie, which I thought was just really boring. Then again, I thought this book was also better than The Da Vinci Code book. So, as my friend said, with better starting material, you will get a better movie as well. Oh, and if you are wondering, despite Angels & Demons being a decent movie, the book is still way better. The movie does actually change quite a bit from the book, which can usually be expected since often times things in books just don’t translate well literally to film.
This movie, while not great, is still pretty entertaining. Kind of like a more serious version of National Treasure, if you like that kind of movie. I’m looking forward to reading Dan Brown’s next book, The Lost Symbol, once again starring the only symbologist that Americans know of.
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