Why can't our commercials be this great?

This is the most adorable video I've seen in a while.



Now I want to go to Disney Land...

Got my Comic-Con 2012 ticket!

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you guys know that I managed to grab a ticket to San Diego Comic-Con this morning and I'm planning on attending on Sunday, July 15th. Should be a blast. Also, the day before that I'm going to the Sonic Boom event at the House of Blues, so that should be cool too.

Comic-Con is huge now, so most of you probably know what that is, but for those of you who don't know what Sonic Boom is, it's basically a mini-convention for the Sonic the Hedgehog video games series. Also Crush 40 will be attending again this year, and we'll likely get another concert, so that should be cool.



And while I'm on the topic of conventions, I'm also planning on going to AM^2, a free anime, manga, and music convention in LA sometime between June 15th to the 17th. So if any of you happen to be going to any of these events, hope you guys have fun too, and maybe I'll see you there!

RAJKP35Y872X

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games. What can I say... it's basically the next Twilight. Except better, from what I've heard. I've never actually seen Twilight. But anywho, The Hunger Games is based off of a popular teen novel by the same name. It's about a futuristic government that controls everything and every year makes 24 children fight to the death. Also let me just say that I did not read any of the books, so I had absolutely no expectations when going to watch it, and I won't be rating it based on how well it adopted to the book.

I liked the Hunger Games. I thought it was an interesting story that was pretty well presented. I don't think there was anything particularly special about it, and the camera shaking really bugged me at certain parts, but other than that it was pretty good.

The soundtrack... nothing memorable. Seemed pretty fitting at the time though. The characters... eh, you'll like some of them, and then you'll like seeing some other ones die. Overall I'd say it was an interesting concept presented in a pretty average manner. I give the Hunger Games a 7/10.

30 Day Drawing Challenge: Day 17

Day 17: Favorite Plant

I don't really have a favorite plant, so I just drew the flower from Sonic the Hedgehog instead...Yeah, this did not turn out as cool as I thought it would. Oh well, good coloring practice I guess... maybe? I dunno.

So, just curious, what's everyone else's favorite plant?

Video Game Review: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded is the Nintendo DS port of a cellphone game only released in Japan, Kingdom Hearts Coded. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it's a mash-up between the worlds of Disney and Square-Enix (namely Final Fantasy). So that's right, Disney characters fighting monsters/demon-like things alongside anime-styled characters.

While the Kingdom Hearts franchise usually relies heavily upon its story, this particular game in the series was more or less completely filler. Literally the only bit of valuable information learned from this game in relation to the rest of the games is what the letter said that the main character, Sora, received at the end of Kingdom Hearts 2.

So while the story is not the strong point of this game, it does have excellent gameplay. I personally think the gameplay of every KH game post-KH1 was amazing. It's always very fast, flashy, and action-oriented. There were a few tedious parts to this game, but overall it was very fun to play.

The music in this game was almost entirely rehashed from other games in the series. That's not to say that's necessarily a bad thing. The music in these games is great, although some of the tracks are starting to get a little old...

The graphics in this game really surprised me. It's been a while since I've played since I've played through a DS/DS Lite game since getting my 3DS, so I was starting to remember the original DS as that portable system that only had two 3D games, Mario and Animal Crossing. But I digress, the graphics in this game were great. They definitely pushed the Nintendo DS to its limits, even causing it to lag at some parts - this was not nearly often enough to have any impact on gameplay, however, so I won't dock it for that. If you want to see a great looking DS game, I definitely recommend this one.

So for the overall rating, I give Kingdom Heats Re:Coded a 7.5/10. It certainly would have gotten a better score if not for the somewhat poorly thrown-together storyline.

Movie Review: The Lorax

This movie was so great. The animation was amazing, the music was fantastic, the story was entertaining. This is quite possibly the first non-Pixar film I can actually say is truly on Pixar's level, if not better. The Lorax is based off a Dr. Seuss book by the same name and was made by the same people who made Despicable Me.

The Lorax is about a magical guardian of the forest who is forced to descend down to Earth when a young man with high hopes, the Once-ler chops down a tree in order to make his "thing that all people will need," the thneed. This seems harmless enough at first, but soon the Once-ler is chopping down trees left and right, until there are no trees left in sight. Hey, that rhymed. Maybe I'll be the next Dr. Seuss, haha.

The Lorax reminded me of this guy.
Probably because they were voiced by the same person.
Anyway, after this the movie suddenly takes a really dark turn, and the Once-ler starts singing maniacally, and... well, I won't spoil the rest of it. This movie had excellent character development, beautiful and colorful animation, a very well-paced story, and some excellent musical numbers as well. So all in all, if you're into animated musicals, the Lorax is a must see, obtaining my ultra hard-to-reach rating of a perfect 10/10.

Socrates

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST CONTAINS RANTING AND BASHING AIMED TOWARDS THE SUBJECT OF PHILOSOPHY. If you are a fan of philosophy and are easily offended, I suggest you don't continue reading.

This guy is an egotistical prick. In a dialogue recorded by Plato between Greek Philosopher Socrates and supposed "religious expert" Euthyphro, Socrates asks Euthy-whatever-face what he thinks "holiness" is. In response, Euth-man tells Socrates that holiness is the prosecution of those who commit crimes. Now most people would be just fine with that definition, but not this guy. Socrates has to be a smartass about it and is like "Well jeez, Man. That's not a definition, that's an example." (Note: that is not an actual quote)

Anywho, I guess he's right, that is more of an example than a definition, so the guy gives him another definition. This time he says that holiness is what the gods love. Socrates, being the smartass he is, is like "Okay, well, if holiness is what all gods love, then how come the gods still had arguments about virtues n' stuff?" (Note: this is not an actual quote either)

Alright, so, he does have a point. Going by their views of the gods, that definition doesn't really make sense either. But then it's this third rebuttal that got to me. Euth-a-lama-ding-dong adds some more BS that doesn't really make any sense to his second definition, saying "what some of the god's love or what some of them hate is either both or neither." It's then that Socrates asks "Is the holy loved by the God’s because it is holy or holy because it is loved by the Gods?"

...

No. Freaking philosophy. Forget you, Socrates. You were just a guy who got too much credit for being a little smarter than the other idiots who were alive during the time.

Padbux

Although I've been busy with midterms this week, there's always time to make a little bit of extra money, right? I found a new website yesterday called Padbux that actually seems pretty decent for a pay-to-click site. If you haven't heard of these, they're basically websites that pay you money to click on their ads for other websites. The catch is you usually get less than two pennies per ad. But hey, at least its something. If you're interested, go check it out by clicking the link below.

Midterms

Sorry guys, I've sort of been lacking on the updates recently. I've got midterms this week, and my professors have been giving me a whole bunch of busy work this semester. My last midterm is due by the end of the week, so expect fewer and shorter blog posts until then. Something you can look forward to though is a review of the Lorax which I saw at the theater yesterday. So yeah... also here's a comic.

I didn't make this btw. Don't know who did.

NOBODY LEAVE THE ROOM!

We had to solve this puzzle for my philosophy class this week. I don't know whether or not my professor came up with this, but I figure it's unlikely, so I'm not sure who to give credit to. Anyway, see if you can figure it out. It took me a piece of scratch paper and about 10 minutes.

NOBODY LEAVE THE ROOM!
Smith has been found dead in the bar, his drink poisoned.
Four men, seated on a sofa and two armchairs in front of the
fireplace (as shown above), are discussing the foul deed. Their
names are Lee, Jones, Garcia, and Green. They are, not necessarily
respectively, a mechanic, a restaurateur, a teacher, and a doctor.
1 . The waiter pours a second glass of whiskey for Garcia and a
second beer for Jones.
2. The mechanic looks up and, in the mirror over the fireplace, sees
the door close as the waiter leaves the room. He then turns to speak
to Green, next to him.
3. Neither Lee nor Jones has ever been married
4. The restaurateur is a teetotaler.
5. Lee, who is sitting in one-of the armchairs, is the teacher's
brother-in-law. The restaurateur is next to Lee on Lee's left.
Suddenly, a hand steals forward to put something in Garcia's
whiskey as it sits on the table. It is the murderer. No one has left his
seat, no one else is in the room, and Garcia is not suicidal.
Who is the murderer? What is the profession of each man, and where
is he sitting?

Hints: It's not the waiter.
Only someone sitting in the sofa can see the waiter through the mirror.
A teetotaler is someone who doesn't drink alcohol.

Highlight below with your mouse below to see the answer:
Lee, the doctor, is in the armchair on the left of the picture.
Green, the restaurateur, is to Lee's left on the sofa.
Jones, the mechanic and murderer, in also on the sofa.
Garcia, the teacher is in the other armchair.

Movie Review: The Fly (1986)

Oh boy... this movie... It was pretty bad... not as bad as I thought it was going to be, but pretty bad. This is a remake of the original 1958 film by the same name, and although I never saw the original, I can safely say that it probably wasn't as weird as this one.

Chaos ensues when crazy scientist Seth Brundle accidentally splices his own genes with the genes of a fly, turning himself into some kind of crazy fly man. Also there's some romance involved with the crazy fly man. That was weird. Anyway, that's really all I have to say about the movie. It's maybe worth seeing if you really want to see something weird, and it was actually pretty well made for an 80's film, but otherwise... no. I give The Fly a 5/10.

30 Day Drawing Challenge: Day 16

Day 15: Inspiration

I was having a conversation with my girlfriend yesterday, and somehow classy motorcyclists came up. So there you have it, my inspiration for drawing is random discussions about random silly things.

Anime Movie Review: The Secret World of Arrietty

WOW. This was the best anime movie I have seen in a while. The Secret World of Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietti in Japan) is a new Studio Ghibli film that recently hit theaters here in the US. It's about little people that live under the floor. Yeah, I'm not joking. Pretty great though. This was probably the easiest Studio Ghibli film to follow and also my favorite.

The soundtrack for this movie was incredible. It wasn't super intense, or even very memorable, but the music was extremely atmospheric. It really made you feel like a part of the experience. The animation was also fantastic, although this is basically a given for Studio Ghibli films.

The plot... while not incredibly deep or anything, it was still very entertaining. The somewhat lighthearted story about an ill boy who meets a (really) little girl is presented in a pleasant manner, and the major conflict of the film doesn't seem forced like it does in so many other movies like this. All in all I have to give the Secret World of Arrietty a 9/10.

So I found a pretty entertaining webcomic today...

The comic is called Omake Theater and it can be found at omaketheater.com. It's funny, well drawn, and best of all, it has no words~! So yeah, go check it out.

Btw, this one was my favorite.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Remember the Top 5 Video Games list?Well here's a notable mention...

Notable Mention: Mega Man Legends

This game itself is basically a legend now in the Mega Man community. Many fans still say it's their favorite one in the franchise, while others couldn't care less that there were only two (and a half) games, destined to never be continued. This game and its sequel came out in the late 90's/early 2000's. There was also a spin-off game called "The Misadventures of Tron Bonne" starring the comical band of thieves from the the series. I can easily say that this game is my favorite third-person shooter of all time.

Unlike other titles in the Mega Man franchise, Mega Man Legends is a game where you run around on a 3D playing field shooting up "reverbots" in attempt to find treasure and progress in the actually-somewhat-captivating-story. The story is enhanced by full-on, humorous voice acting in the PS1 version of the game as well as some well-animated and well-presented cutscenes.

The reason I chose this game over Mega Man Legends 2 is in its simplicity. Mega Man Legends is a completely solid, even if somewhat short game. It can be completed in around 6 hours. But I could replay this game time and time again. The second game... not so much. It branched out into some pretty crazy plot twists and delivered some not-so-necessary "improvements" into gameplay. Still fun though. Anyway, yeah. Mega Man Legends. Great game. Not good quite good enough to make it into my top 5, but certainly in my top 10.

Oh, also Data is awesome.