The Missed Adventures of Chin

^_^

2011-07-12T17:12:00.002-04:00

TeamID Thanksgiving: Miami Edition

2010-10-08T07:43:00.001-04:00

Sun. Sand. Surf. And oh yeah, Carnival! Did I luck out this time or what?

I can't wait to see the zany hijinks we get into this time. Last year in the California Edition, we found out Shaun uses eye makeup - errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr medicine for his puffy eyes (due to staying late. Which is due to facebooking until 3am local time). Who knows what's in store for this long weekend. Hand chomped off due to alligator taunting? Defication from bad empanadas? Bad hip from too much wining? All of the above? Who knows.

So far I know the drama is if Dr. T and Shaun will be bringing in check in luggage. Part of me wants to punk them for being really gay - cmon, we're there for four days! And the other part of me wants to accept them for being gay - I realize they need to look their best and require 18 different outfits... for four days... They really need a nickname. But it all depends if Chris has check in luggage too.

WAR TeamID Thanksgiving Trips
WAR TeamCheckIn vs TeamCarryOnOnly
WAR Four days of minimal sleep and maximum fun-age

Friends don't back stab friends

2010-07-27T08:14:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time…

Sometime between 1998 and I’d say… 2002ish, a bunch of high school friends loved playing Starcraft.

They would sometimes play against each other and time times teamed up together.

One night, a few of the friends teamed up together to play against the computer in some cooperative fun. With the game already in hand, one of the friends, Chin, decided it would be funny to begin attacking his allies’ forces. Most of his mates thought it was humorous except for one. He thought Chin’s actions were that reserved for only scoundrels and famously said “Friends don’t back stab friends”

The End

So what’s the point? Well…

Changing your status on Blackberry Messenger prompts a lot of “drama!” and “U okay?” messages. Especially from contacts who usually have a lot of drama themselves!

(Extra point, my sister saw my update and right away knew it was for SC2. “How sad is that” she admitted. “Kuya is such a loser”)

Also, it’s amazing how the brain works. I totally forgot about the epically classic line “Friends don’t back stab friends” until I heard about the sequel to Starcraft. Who knows what else is laying around in my melon waiting to surface?

Goes with out saying, but friends really don’t back stab friends. I mean, if you were *really* friends, why would you back stab your friend, right? You could say “Non-friends back stab non-friends” but that doesn’t roll off the tongue as nice...

And although I’ve already attacked my friends during the beta test phase of this game a few times, I promise to not do that during real games. >cough< Friends don't back stab friends >cough<

Nerdgasm

2010-07-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

because frying plantains

2010-06-22T21:08:00.000-04:00

is what i do

...

2010-05-20T22:56:00.002-04:00

Never Thought I'd Laugh...

2010-04-27T08:37:00.003-04:00

at a baby fist pump, but Roy Williams made me do it. Soooo good.

LAWL

2010-04-25T17:18:00.000-04:00

DB x2

2010-04-04T12:39:00.001-04:00

What's more douche bag than WashingtonHuskieFan wearing a polo shirt and popping his collar?

A WashingtonHuskieFan wearing TWO polos and popping BOTH collars...

... and the Huskies losing.

Good Job Channing Frye

2010-03-25T06:22:00.000-04:00

My Valentine's Day Plans...

2010-02-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

... if the NBA All Star Game wasn't on
... if I lived in Detroit
... if the gf liked White Castle
... if *I* liked White Castle

Do you come with the car?

2010-02-04T20:43:00.002-05:00

Jan. 16, 209. Detroit, Michigan - North American International Auto Show aka The Most Boringest Place on Earth

While Shaun was busy getting a boner for stupid cars, I enjoyed the view...

for a white girl...

If They're Sellin'...

2009-11-18T16:22:00.002-05:00

I'm buyin!

The First One's Free

2009-11-01T19:29:00.005-05:00

The NBA is offering a free trial to their latest digital distribution service, NBA League Pass Broadband, until Nov. 3^rd.

Although at first, it seems a bit pricey at $134.95 for the season. But it is a LOT cheaper than what I’d have to pay for Rogers Basic + Sports Pack + Sports Pack HD over the same time period. True I wouldn’t have access to watch regular TV, but aside from Departures and ManTracker, I really wouldn’t be missing much.

Another problem is local Raps games seem to be blacked out which is a problem for us RaptorFans.

And because I’m running the video off of my laptop with a regular VGA out cable, there’s no HD. But as a wise man once said, “There’s good. And there’s good enough!” And this, is good enough.

But the great news? You can watch three games at once!!

I’m seriously considering this. If they’re selling it…

Oh no he di'nt!

2009-10-29T16:44:00.004-04:00

Laughs @ Melissa Joan Heart

The Tetris Solution

2009-10-22T11:23:00.000-04:00

The problem when traveling from hotel to hotel with two other guys is getting stuck with two queen sized beds which means one sleeps solo while the other two get to share.

But with many TeamID problems, Tetris on the DS is the solution…

but even better than the DS problem solver is the Tetris smack that comes with it.

“I know you think you’re a tetris champion, but you’re not” - ai to Shaun, Oct 9

“I owned you in Tetris, so shut up” – ai to Shaun, Oct 10

And as full disclosure, I’m not posting up on here like I won anything. In fact, I got handed quite hard. Lost 4-1 to ai and 4-0 to Shaun. >sigh<

California Here We Come

2009-10-12T10:01:00.004-04:00

We’ve been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number one

After flapping our gums about this trip for two years, we’ve finally flown out to The Golden State, California for the annual TeamID Thanksgiving long weekend road trip… and all on the cheap!

Hustlers grab your guns
Your shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101

Thanks to Shaun's ability to wrangle up enough votes to win a contest on Facebook for a trip for four, a free night stay at a hotel courtesy via air points and ai's uncanny ability to uncover rock bottom prices on hotel/car rentals, this trip is practically free!

On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing’s gonna stop me now

The only hard part was making it across the border to B-Lo for a flight at 6am. That meant departing from home at 2am… which also meant little to no sleep. .:orders a pair of grumpy pants, size three:.

Pedal to the floor
Thinkin’ of you more
Gotta get us to the show

California!

From Cali 2K9

Chin's Shawarma Palace - Home of Chin's Shawarma

2009-10-01T10:31:00.002-04:00

Believe they hype!

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

"Real Talk" (c) Kells

2009-09-25T13:57:00.000-04:00

talking to my cousin who works at Winners, he goes

bitches go crazy when they see the shoes we have sometimes, its a jungle

fucking right they do, sir. fucking right they do.

Want Courier

2009-09-23T09:51:00.000-04:00

Although i have 0 practical use for this device, i'd most definitely want to get one! If the actual product is like the prototype video below, that'd be awesome. I could see Shaun with one of these. He'd love it. It's so flashy!

He's Still for the Children

2009-09-14T09:50:00.000-04:00

Sure, I feel bad for Taylor Swift for what happened, but let's be real. Kanye's feeling himself a bit too much.

That and his interruption can't see ODB's. So good...

The gf wears high heels, ai wears sneakers

2009-09-04T10:19:00.002-04:00

I only know of this Taylor Swift through two different instances.

My cousin enjoys her.

And the second would be the roadie to Baltimore.

During the road trip, Shaun’s satellite radio was tuned to the pop station and, well, there’s absolutely nothing funnier this trip than seeing ai point at me while mouthing the words to Swift’s “You Belong With Me” song.

ai: "she doesn't get your humor like I doooooo"

Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

Well, maybe the closest funniest thing would be ai mouthing the words to it a second time! Fucking hilarious! Works on so many levels!

ai repeating “she wears short skirts, I wear t shirts” and pops collar.

Whispers of Sweet Nothing

2009-09-02T08:37:00.005-04:00

Downtown Baltimore has a really nice harbor area. Great for tourists. Old naval ships, aquarium, submarine, shops and Irish restaurants that sell pho (gah?)

Also located in the harbor is Maryland’s Science Center. And just outside the front entrance are two pieces of plastic concave… things.

Apparently, one is supposed to be able to stand in front of the circle with another person behind them. The person behind (aka the 2nd person) whispers something and thanks to technological advancements, the person facing the concave disk is supposed to hear what the whisperer said.

The Bromance tried, but we failed. Even with the directions printed on the back, we couldn’t figure out how to make it “work”

My grade 10 science teacher Mr. Brogly is rolling in his grave.

From Balitmore, Maryland - 08.29.09

funny, if you look at the picture above, the lady in the background has a screw face on. She is not impressed by the monkeys failing at science. "See son, that's why you have to finish high school"

How to Eat The Spiders of The Sea

2009-08-31T18:03:00.002-04:00

The only reference of Baltimore I really had is from that episode of The Cosby Show where Vanessa heads to Maryland for a concert. (Clair Huxtable gets her black on when ripping ‘nessa a new one. “Bawl-ta-moar!” Ms. Rashad’s acting is truly epic. >golf claps< Sooo good!)

So when Al suggested we do a roadie for some crab, I was down!

We get into Stoney Creek Inn and right away see the poster for Diner, Drive Ins & Dives. Yup, we got the right spot.

Went through the menu and settled on some Cherry Pepsi, crab cakes and a dozen large steamed crabs.

From Balitmore, Maryland - 08.29.09

Armed with our little mallet, a plastic knife and a whole roll of paper towel we went to work. The food was great and we were all very satisfied.

From Balitmore, Maryland - 08.29.09

Good thing I learned how to eat crab in December or else it would’ve wound up with Shaun and I fighting over crab claws (although our table was way more messy than other customers)

From Balitmore, Maryland - 08.29.09

After clearing mount crab, we all noticed some sort of "funny" feeling. (for ai, it was probably the runs) Does crab have hallucinogen properties?

The Bromance in Baltimore

2009-08-29T09:31:00.002-04:00

Before TeamID hit up the state of Maryland, we needed to make a quick stop for some snackage at the friendly neighborhood WalMart.

From Balitmore, Maryland - 08.29.09

Now I don’t know who said it was a good recipe, or idea, or QA test allowance, but the house brand chocolate covered almonds that were purchased is pure disgusting (in a bad way). The ingredients list have ‘cocoa powder’ as the eighth ingredient. Eighth! No wonder this shit tastes like shampoo!

On the ride down, I don’t know what was up with Shaunjay, but he must’ve just finished up watching some gay porn (which would explain the sore arm and late night he had). He mentioned on two separate occasions that he wanted me to give ai a blow job.

What? Really? Do you want to watch or something? That’s disgusting!

From Balitmore, Maryland - 08.29.09

After getting there at night, we drove around downtown coming across funny street names, looking for some gel (not sure why I got in trouble for not having any considering my hair isn’t long enough to actually style) and noticing the separation between black and white party districts (with a police department conveniently between them).

Finally reaching our beds some time past 1am, I quickly fell asleep only to be woken up by Shaunjay “I don’t snore anymore”/”I don’t snore as much” ‘s…. yup, snoring.

I admit, I was kinda mad. I threw my pillow at him and it shut him up for about 10min which was pleasantly a lot longer than I expected. But then, back to his snoring.

So then I get up take a look at his topless body and kick the side of his mattress.

Startled he gets up. “Chin?!?” followed by a confused pause.

“Yo, sleep on your stomach” I replied. (*apparently*, if he does that, he doesn’t snore anymore)

Dazed, Shaunjay says, “I thought someone was going to get me”

I laugh, “Sleep on your stomach, man”

“Sorry, yo” He lays on his stomach and 30 seconds later…. “snnooooooore”

ai and I woke up early (because Shaunjay was still snoring) and noticed that the snorer’s thumb was in his mouth. Which led me to wonder: how does a person snore when he’s sucking on his thumb?

As revenge, a picture was taken of the "snoring manbaby" but I won’t put it up on here. That just wouldn’t be right. But if you want it, let me know I’ll let the graciousness of the internet show you the photo.

Today: The Bromance goes to look for some grub and to a ball game, but most importantly, two pairs of ear plugs.

What. Thee. Fuck.

2009-08-18T11:22:00.002-04:00

my boy X from my previous place of work messages me:

X says:
guy...i found a job
for you

me says:
word?

X says:
Technical Support Analyst, IT
DUTIES:

- Follow established Help Desk procedures in problem determination and resolution
- Assist PC support team with PC configuration and setup
- Maintain computer inventory database
- Coordinate purchase requests with IT staff and vendors
- Assist in operations documentation
- Produce monthly reports of help desk statistics and distribute to IT management

me says:
whwere dis?

X says:
Notify user community whenever system issues arise
- Other duties as required

QUALIFICATIONS:

- Post-secondary education (university degree or college diploma) or a recognized IT certification
- Minimum 6 years experience in a similar role
- Experience in Pharmaceutical IT or related (validated systems)
- Strong knowledge of Meridian PBX, Veritas Backup, Exchange, Anti-Virus, Windows Server a
- Strong problem solving and analytical skills
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Working knowledge of Cisco skills (non-expert).
- Ability to configure switches.
- Dedicated and self-motivated person who can interact effectively with all levels of the organization.
- Ability to learn quickly in a challenging environment
- Demonstrated commitment to our fundamental principles of I

PATHE0N SON!

me says:
:|

X says:
they just put up this posting.
i fucking dare you to apply

m says:
fuck!
like what the fuck

****

seriously, they let me go with severance just so they can turn around and hire for the same position? how fucked up is this? Really? That place is so fucked. No wonder FUCK! that's all i can think of right now. Fucking fuck!! i'm so fucking heated...

.:bored:.

2009-08-11T21:15:00.001-04:00

so i went out and took some shots...

Is Life Going to Be Like Firefly (that scifi tv show that Dr. T watches)

2009-08-10T12:45:00.003-04:00

As i continue my search for a jay oh bee, i head over to GE's website and do a search. I was just about to fill out the location list box when it asks what US State or "Chinese Provice" Wow! it's like that now i guess....

Ice T Breaks an Apple Laptop

2009-08-09T21:55:00.002-04:00

Before Al gets all defensive, this is not an apple hate post. Put. The. Knife. Down.

you know what the best parts of this video is?

the second best part is when we first hear Coco and she goes "ohhhh"

but THEE best part is when T smashes out one of the fans and goes "Cooling prongs" hahahaha, so funny. "Kooling Prahngs"

Maps, yo!

2009-08-04T15:53:00.002-04:00

In my search for my next company to work for, i came across this BAD ASS map.

Caribana 2KWine

2009-08-02T16:58:00.005-04:00

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

This year’s Tribal Knights theme was Birds of Paradise. Our section in the band was Hummingbirds which was blue and white. In order to jazz it out, I could only do one thing that related to birds and the colour blue. And that would be:

BIRD. NATION. (waves arms like a bird) Hahahaha.

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

Highlights:
Cup + vodka + free red bulls = rum + coke = good time

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

I don’t know what “Falundafa” is, but I’m guessing it stands for “Chinese Marching Band That Seems Awkwardly Out of Place”. No, I didn’t get a chance to speak to them, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t “Chiny”

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

Apparently they were part of one of the bands playing but not sure which one. Later on in the day, I noticed them trying to escape and file through the rammed parade route. Since I was going in the same direction, I figure I’d walk with them. It was so packed that when i was walking with them, I could feel my butt sort of sitting on the drum of one the Falundafa drum folks. With the soca playing from the trucks, I was dancing as i walked, bumping my bottom up and down on the musicians drum for about thirty seconds before she moved it off to the side, hahaha.

Saw my girl Nalini doing some Live On Location stuff (and no, she can’t dance to this type of music. In fact, she was quite terrible. But its okay cuz she still gots her looks) Later on at night, we were watching the recast of CP24s coverage and I actually make it on TV for about a minute.

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

(sorry for the poor quality. I really need to stop using my cell phone’s video capture) Funny how the two Filipino girls can’t get as low as our Grenadian and Guyanese friends.

And of course, Pervert’s Row. Oh, everyone sees you trying to be all nonchalant with your zoom lens pointed at woman grinding up on each other. You guys aren’t fooling anyone, creepy as muthas.

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

Hilarious: this golf cart was making its way against the parade route when it had to stop for a brief minute…

Had a blast this year once again. Great music with lots of girls dancing it up. Great vibes but I've only got major gripe: folks really need to stop coming onto the parade route. It really fucks up the flow and nothing moves. Its just a jammed up mess of people with no one moving anywhere.

How I Spent My Wednesday Evening

2009-07-30T09:40:00.003-04:00

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

Caribana is only a couple sleeps away which means the band camps are insanely busy. Playing again this year (again with Tribal Knights) I decided to volunteer some time since I’m still unemployed.

Drove over to Scarborough at 5pm and didn’t get home til 3am this morning. I guess this is what factory/slave labour is like. A factory space filled with people and rows and rows of the same product.

But I’m not complaining. They had soca on the stereo All. Night. Long.

I’m sure a child labourer in Jiangxi Province could appreciate that!

All in all it was fun and good to actually do something productive.

Also i should mention this interesting tid bit to all my single guy friends:

there are 150 people in our section alone (the blue team)
there are a total of 15 guys in the section
Caribana can involve dancing and wineing up on gals in lovely outfits for a couple of hours
interested in playing next year, gents?

Next: My Caribana Costume Preview

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

My Friend Jon is a Retard: The Movie

2009-07-26T21:21:00.002-04:00

Here is my movie adaptation of Al's classic My Friend Jon is a Retard post

Playing Al will be a Billy Dee Williams type of robo actor and for John, a young Aussie Charleton Heston. Enjoy.

Got the idea from my cousin's CB4 vs Andrea movie:

"Living crazy, that's the only way!" (C) Michael Jackson

2009-07-20T20:43:00.003-04:00

I hate white, don’t you?

It’s so boring and plain.

Life should be about flavour and this is what happens when ideas in my brain get painted on my walls.

btw, my dad saw the progress of the blue walls, some of the stripes and the orange wall. when asked "what do you think?" his only response was "wild." hahaha

World of Goo Review: Like Sitting on a Toilet

2009-07-02T21:41:00.002-04:00

Usually whenever I make a reference to pooh, its something bad.

“That’s shitty.”
“It deserves to be defecated on”
“Craptastic!”

But not this time! Playing this game feels like a satisfying session of sitting on the throne.

Let me explain.

World of Goo is a quirky puzzle game on Nintendo’s Wii (also available for PC)

At its most basic level, it’s a highly addictive bridge building game where the goal of each of the 30+ boards is to build a bridge from one end of the level to the other.

The level design is extremely clever and each proceeding one ramps up the difficulty at a comfortable rate while at the same time introducing new concepts.

With an excellent physics engine, each Goo ball reacts and stretches and supports and bends as you’d expect it to.

Levels are challenging enough to keep you guessing and trying out different approaches, yet easy enough to complete that you never want to throw the Wiimote at the TV (at least not on purpose).

And this is why I the only way I could explain the satisfaction of completing a level is like taking a really really good shit! (Yes, you know the ones I’m talking about. There’s that sense of relief once you flush the toilet, wash your hands and leave the commode.)

As for the art style and music, the best way I could describe them is whimsical. (the soundtrack has been getting regular rotation lately) This totally fits the game’s narrative and story. Original and clever.

And what’s just as amazing is that this was essentially created by two people! Two! If you have 1500 WiiPoints or $20USD, you HAVE TO try this game. It absolutely deserves it. If you still have reservations, you could always download the demo here, or come over and try it out at my place!

Rating: four ply toilet paper out of four

Video Games | World of Goo | Exclusive Launch Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T09:01:00.001-04:00

Holy Blast From the Past, Batman! Caught this video off Spacing's website this morning. Who remembers this video, throw your red and white flag up!

Peace Out Iran!

2009-06-26T14:54:00.004-04:00

Hope you enjoyed your two weeks of news headlining because its all over.

Why?

Cuz Jacko's dead. Ah USMedia coverage...

Photos

Hello Summer

2009-06-21T20:15:00.001-04:00

From The Missed Adventures of Chin

I welcome summer the best way I know how. With some halo halo.

Didn't Go Out Like Willy Lump Lump

2009-06-18T09:37:00.004-04:00

You know how some of your coworkers hate their job and joke around on how awesome it'd be to get a package and never have to come into work anymore? Yeah, that was fun. Good times even.

Good times until it really happens that is.

I got the pink slip this morning and now I'm officially unemployed due to "restructuring"

Boy i wish i could've seen the confused look on my face in that HR room. I didn't see that one coming at all!

In fact, i thought i was untouchable. Teflon coated, son. "Are Star Trek phaser couldn't phase me" (C) Meth

Obviously, i was wrong.

The worst part though was not being able to say bye to my friends at work but that's the way it goes i guess.

(Instant Realization: FUCK i should have stolen a laptop! To reiterate WiseManJohn: the company isn't loyal to you. So do them before they do you!)

So what now?

No buying anything from Adidas' online store even though the shoes i wanted to pick up were so sweet. Pass on Mexx's 50% off sale this weekend. Cancel as much of my cable as possible. Fire up the resume machine. Get back into the gym. Listen to some Romey (where ai at?)

Oh, and only one more week before hanging out with Cathy on the daily. laugh

Woofstock pt 2: Thoing-a-thoing

2009-06-18T09:34:00.002-04:00

As mentioned two posts ago, this is an example of what was on display this past weekend.

Fergie vs Rihanna?

2009-06-17T21:04:00.002-04:00

At work, we’ve been getting a lot of spam email. Pretty much all of it for Viagra sales. Most of the time they’re a minor nuisance, but sometimes, the subject line makes me laugh.

This morning I got these two emails titled “Scandalous Fergie’s silicon” and “Naked Rihanna in bath”

Fergie vs Rihanna? Is this even a competition?

I mean really, do I need to expose myself to ManFace (aka Fergie) like that? The answer is no. No I do not.

Another Reason Why We're Hated In The West

2009-06-16T21:27:00.005-04:00

We treat our dogs like people. At the past weekend's Woofstock, I saw a dog in an actual human baby stroller (as opposed to dog specific strollers which there were plenty of) AND it had a bib on. Again, I saw a dog in a baby stroller with a bib on. A bib! AND it was being fed by hand by its owner whenever it yelped. Fed some Quizno's. Which I can't even afford! >face palm<

From 06.13.09 - Woofstock

And just as bad, I present to you, a dog which is possessive over its rideable toy car. Whenever another dog came up to it, it barked until it the other dog went away. This is probably the most selfish dog ever.

From 06.13.09 - Woofstock

But on a brighter note, there were mad hot bitches there. I would've mentioned this to my single guy friends, but they hate dogs so that's their own fault.

also, Rudy was doing lots of butt smelling. Oh Rudy.

From 06.13.09 - Woofstock

Hanging Up The Whistle

2009-06-11T20:27:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to be asked by Chris to help him coach a youth basketball team this past season. Along with Al and John, we led the Mississauga Pilipino Athletic Association’s Wildcats team to a disastrous 2 – 7 record… with our two wins coming from default. >fog horn<

Although our record left a lot to be desired, hanging around the kids was pretty fun. They were funny as >ahem< ‘heck’ (Having to check my foul language at the door was a challenge) Yes, they could be somewhat annoying at times, but as a whole, they’re a pretty good bunch and I’m definitely looking forward to helping coach next season... hopefully to a better record

Also, I should mention that the games let me practice my fast action/sport photography. I’d post pictures, but I think its kind of creepy putting pictures of random kids so instead, here’s a picture of John and Al playing ball. They both suck by the way.

Salt & Pepper Review: Pray for My Butthole/ROLL IT GAL!

2009-06-01T19:18:00.001-04:00

I’m a MingRoom guy. Everyone knows that. It’s my #2 favorite restaurant and I love the way they do their Manchurian Paneer/Manchurian sauce. Hot and great coriander flavour.

CathyAl aka TheEntity (soon to become TheEntitree, which I’m claiming gloss credit for) hipped me to another Hakka place called Salt&Pepper up on 10 and Britannia. Since I was doing some IT training in the area, I decided to give it a shot based on their recommendation – and their hot warning.

In order to properly measure it against my precious MingRoom, I ordered the hot and sour soup and the Manchurian Paneer.

The H&S soup comes out first and I was REALLY impressed by the execution of this dish. It was semi clear and not thick and gluey that you’d get at a Chinese restaurant. Uniformly sliced cabbage and whole leaves of coriander were the only things that filled the soup and pretty much, that’s all it needs. Also, it was HOT! I was in full sweat-dripping/nose running mode even before I was finished the bowl.

At first I thought it was a huge punk when the waiter dropped of a FULL pitcher of water at my table until I saw him do that to other guests in the restaurant, hahaha.

Just as I finished the soup, the main came out and right off the bat, I wasn’t impressed. The paneer was heavily battered and there were only six measly pieces – compared to MingRoom’s heavily generous version. The Manchurian sauce wasn’t that good either. Yes it was hot – which is what I wanted – but lacked that cilantro flavour I expected.

Overall, it’s a nice restaurant which I’d like to go to again, but MingRoom still reigns.

Win: hot and sour soup; fire heat count

Fail: Manchurian Paneer dish, Manchurian sauce, what was REALLY fucked up was an Indian remix of Alison Hinds’ soca classic Roll It Gal. What. The. Fuck. !?!?!!

Ho-ohohoh- ohhhhhhhhh SHIT, son!

2009-05-20T21:50:00.002-04:00

$42.99USD is expensive for a 2gig USBMemoryStick...

... but $42USD is NOT expensive for a 2gig RavegeUSBMemoryStick

That New Star Trak Movie

2009-05-07T07:25:00.003-04:00

The fanboys are excited for the new Trek film. how do i know? Because a certain pal of mine (Shaun) decided to show his devotion to Starfleet by getting this license plate punched out

So how do i know this is Shaunjay's car?

i know that he now has a new ride.

we all know he loves the vanity plate.

this photo was taken outside a movie theatre on a weekday at around 1:00pm.

and of course, he loves star trek!

Introducing My theMikeWazowski Custom Arcade Stick

2009-05-05T07:07:00.006-04:00

February had the release of the hugely popular return to the Street Fighter videogame series, Street Fighter IV. And in conjunction with Capcom’s game release was an announcement from MadCatz to release SF4 arcade sticks.

When they dropped, the internets was set ablaze! A retail arcade stick would go for $180 for the standard version or $200+ for the Tourney edition (in USD of course)

And that’s IF one could be found!

Because of the popularity plus rarity of the sticks, prices skyrocketed to ridiculous numbers online. I remember seeing the standard stick on ebay for something like $350US.

Thanks to my new appreciation to frugalness, I decided that paying a mortgage payments worth of money for an arcade stick just isn’t for me.

So what’s the alternative?

A custom stick of course! After much research on the internet, I gathered all the material required and wound up with my very own custom made stick: theMikeWazowski, tada!!!

Once upon a time...

Bought a generic third party xbox controller and gutted it freeing the PCB I needed.

Some poplar wood and plexi glass from Home Depot for the housing of all the wiring/electric goodness.

Good thing the electricians at work are good guys. They let me borrow their extra soldering iron and gave me some lead-free solder.

Testing my soldering to make sure I got proper connections.

A close up of my handy work. The wires soldered and secured with some hot glue.

Everything connected and mounted to the box.

Finished product!

Cost:
Buttons, stick, wires, connections: $125
Wood & plexi glass: $24.01
Controller: 33.89
TOTAL: $182.90
Free: inner pegs to secure the box frame, art work, bottom board and top board to secure the art between it and the plexiglass

Looking back: it was a lot easier than I anticipated. I was pretty unsure on whether I would be able to finish this project. I’m not good at wood work – as you can see, the box is crooked (grade 8 wood shop teacher Mr. Moher is rolling in his grave) I’m photoshop illiterate and I’ve never soldered before. Three strikes but not an out.

Looking forward: I’ve got enough buttons, a stick and wires for another arcade stick. I know now that I’m going to get a different controller since the one I got for this project isn’t as well documented. I’d really like to get an eight button layout instead of six, just to see if I can get the analog triggers to work. Also, I’d like to make the entire case smaller. theMikeWazowski isn’t heavy, but I think a smaller stick would be a bit more comfortable. Clean up the wires – they’re way to long right now and everything looks messy. Also to help with that, I’d like to try to daisy chain the ground wires – which ties into a PCB that’s better documented.

But yeah, I’m satisfied with my first go round and its good timing. I finally got to get my copy of SF4, RType just came out on XBoxLive and a Raiden collection is coming out next week (I love me some shmups!)

Also Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles Arcade (the one from '89) is available on XBoxLive as well. All we need is some Final Fight and that awesome X-Men Arcade game on there too (I also love me some Beat Em Ups!) Oh snaps! I just realized I have Streets of Rage 2! >rushes to plug in arcade< stick<

That’s How I Roll

2009-05-03T21:02:00.002-04:00

Almost two months ago, I had the most basketballest weekend that I ever basketballed! MarchMadness started – four straight days of college hoops. Some NBA games sprinkled here and there. And finally three nights of actual ball playing on the Saturday (we got waxed), Sunday (didn’t play so bad) and Monday (was doing great…).

Unfortunately, disaster struck Monday night. I jumped up to challenge a shot and landed on my teammates’ foot. >c-c-rack<

Down like a sack of rocks (or like Hatton Hangover) I knew it was a bad sprain instantly – and it wound up being the worse sprain I’ve had in a few years.

Since then, life’s been shitty. “Friends” not calling me to ball simply because I could barely walk (selfish!), the kids who I help coach are beating me down the court during practice, or even having to use the elevator at work to go up or down one floor. Really, have I been reduced to this??

I know I needed to get this take care of asap, so at the suggestion of my coworker, I went to go see someone a couple weeks back. He makes an appointment for me to go see a "doctor" (which i mistakenly confused with "physician") at Central Parkway Mall. I head over there looking for a doctors office, but wound up in one of those Chinese holistic joints... yeah...

Doubtful? Yup, I sure was. But since I was there, why not? The practitioner started to aggressively massage my tendons and it hurt like the hell! Then he asks me “have you ever had acupuncture?” Wow, I didn’t know it was going to go down like that! I’ve never had that done before, but if it means fixing up my bum wheel, I’m all for it.

Result: coming out of it, my ankle was super tender and sensitive. But I got some free topical medicine written completely in Chinese!

The Sequel: went back yesterday to get some more treatment since it kind of helped out the last time.

Same routine but the kicker was the guy asked if I wanted my injury to hurt less. “Sure!” I said. “Okay, we’ll do a big needle to get the blood out”

Me thinking “OOOOOOoooooooooooohhhhhkay” Definitely didn’t see that one coming. "Will it hurt?"

On his face, he had that half grimace half smile (but not really a smile) sort of to say "i'm glad i'm not getting done to myself" "Yeah?" i ask. He confirms "yeah..."

He leaves and comes back with a thick ass needle, a barbecue lighter and a pair of forceps gripping onto a wad of dirty cloth. :S

I’m not even going to lie, I was more than concerned. Scared even.

But all was fine. Turned out, he just used the needle to poke a hole big enough for blood to come out, the lighter to light the wad on fire and the fire to heat up an unnoticed a glass bowl thing so that when he places it over the wound, it just SUCKS blood out, which was kinda gross actually. When done, the bowl had a fair amount of my blood and what looked like some slimy faux blood clot-ish stuff…

So does my hurt less? Not right now, but hopefully soon... uhm... yeah...

What Barack Obama Taught Me

2009-04-12T21:04:00.001-04:00

Change.
Hope.
Success.

Change my record. No longer, will I come in second to my sister in a MarchMadness pool. Five years of always coming up short is long enough.

Hope that in the FinalFour game, my Michigan State pick beats her UConn pick.

Success! Now I know what it feels like to be a winner! The monkey is finally off my back and nothing feels better than saying “Tell ‘em who won TheLiz. Tell em!” whenever someone asks me who won between the two of us.

Like many, I never thought I’d see a black president. Just like TheLiz never thought she’d lose to me. He’s got a lot of work to get done and I have a lot of smack to run.

WAR getting over
WAR Michigan State
WAR being a winner

“Deferred” Is Just A Nice Way To Say “Blacklisted”

2009-03-14T00:29:00.004-04:00

Donating blood is something I’ve been doing for a few years now. Not exactly sure why, but I guess its similar to Chris’ goal of “Helping the world”

Maybe it was my Christian upbringing. Helping each other out like Jesus told us about like The Good Samaritan.

Or maybe I was trying to be like my dad when he used to donate at his old place of work.

Spiting Jehovah’s Witness’ might’ve been a good reason if I knew about their anti-blood donating stance, especially when they’d wake me up on Saturday mornings.

Whatever the reason for starting, I knew I wanted to keep going until I got 50 donations under my belt. Especially when I saw that they had pictures of the gold donors hanging on the clinic walls. “I want my pic up there. And they need some people of colour up in this piece!” All of them were of the 100% AngloSaxon type, if youknowwhati'msayin...

Right now, I’m closing in on the 40 donation mark. I figure that if I give as much as I’m allowed, I’ll reach my fiddy goal in about three or four more years (and reward myself with a couple of piercings and/or tattoos, which i've been waiting for).

Unfortunately, a little monkey wrench the size of the Philippines put a temporary kibosh on my plans.

I went in for my next regular blood drop off and filled out the forms as usual. When asked if I’ve been anywhere in the last year, I noted that I went to the Philippines a month ago.

The blood nurse lady had a screw face and had to pull out this thick ass book. About 30 minutes later, we figured out that I went to too many rural areas (Yo, my dad’s from a ghetto fishing village!) which means that I can’t donate for a whole year aka "deferred".

“A year?!”

A. Fucking. Year.

Well, there goes my tat/earing plans for another 5 years…

On a brighter note, Resident Evil 5 came out today and Capcom was sponsoring a blood drive out in Cali.

RIP Thai Terrace

2009-02-19T22:50:00.002-05:00

Thai Terrace was my ‘go to’ spot whenever I needed my Thai fix. I think it opened four years ago at its location across from TLKennedy in that small mall. (the same mall that has dirty ass Aladdin’s & the nice stall that makes fresh tofu/soy milk) The food was solid and the prices were fair. It was a nice quaint place to eat. I guess I should’ve been there and pimped it a bit more than I did.

But when one door closes, another opens…

In it’s place is the new location for MingRoom. Yup, my most favoritist restaurant EVAR open in two locations – one by my work and one by my residence. In the last seven weeks, I’ve been there three times already. The Manchurian paneer is untouchable (want to talk about "heatery?" both my tongue and unfortunately my butt hole, knows about "heatery").

You haven’t been? I’ll take you. I can’t pimp this place enough! I’m even considering bidding on their gift certificate on Mississauga Auctions (yeah, I didn’t know this shit existed either!)

Who's got $6500 they can spare a brother?

2009-02-08T22:23:00.003-05:00

Coraline is hot. how hot? So hot that there's a pair of $6500 Nike Dunks. Certified Heatery my friends. Certified. Heatery.

Coraline 3D: A Strong 9 out of 10

2009-02-08T22:02:00.002-05:00

Went to see that new animation movie Coraline tonight and everything that’s been said about it is true: it’s a must see. I’m a sucker for this type of craftsmanship... the fluidity of this flick is REdiculous. The stories pretty good as well. So much, I want to check out the original book.

If you’re gonna check it out in 3D, let me know, you can borrow my glasses. EmpireTheatre (at square one) charged me $3. Although it was worth every single one of the three hundred pennies, its always good to save some cache during these tough economic times… shit will blow your mind.

"owww" face

2009-02-06T07:19:00.002-05:00

couldn't find a higher quality vid than this, but if you could see JETs face, he had the "aw shit this hurts!" face. don't call him de-ron...

Best YouTube Clip of 2009 (thus far)

2009-02-04T18:50:00.003-05:00

People say that they actually've seen the best clip ever all the time. But this here, this is the best one i've EVER seen (so far this year)

I want this toy!

2009-01-27T06:57:00.005-05:00

guys love toys and i want this one!

i stumbled upon this at the Fidelity website while looking for a new bag for my camera. i don't know what the hell these flying trucks are, but they look fun!

365 Days Ago

2009-01-25T15:43:00.003-05:00

TheGF and i have now officially been going out for one year and i'm pretty happy about that especially since it almost didn't happen. TheGF only told me last month that on our date a year ago, she wasn't impressed with something I had done.

Flashback to Jan08: Due to strong word of mouth, we went to go see Juno at the Cineplex theatre down on Winston & Dundas. It was a thursday night and the movie had already been out for a few weeks, so the theatre was pretty empty. Lots of seats to choose from.

We decided to sit up by the second last row since it was in the middle of the theatre. Perfect viewing. Eventually a group of teenagers came in and sat in the row behind us. I'd guess 14 or 15 years old. Eight of them or so. Half boys, half girls.

... and kids being the kids they are, they were a little rowdy and hyper. You know, boys acting a certain way to impress the girls. Girls giggling a certain way to attract the boys. This was all going down during the previews and i knew if i didn't put an end to this shit, it'd be going on throughout the movie - which i really hate! Plus i had to impress this girl i was with!

I look back at one of the louder boys and firmly say in the most passive-aggressive tone i could muster: "Yo, shut the fuck up!" Pretty firm enough to get the kids to be quiet and macho enough to impress my date. I didn't exactly pull an Opposite George Costanza but they were still a little shocked. One of the other guys didn't know how to respond except by nervously repeating "uh, yeah, 'shut the fuck up'" to the other guys.

Flash forward to a month ago when TheGF and I were talking about that night. She mentioned how VERY unimpressed she was with my comment/action. "I thought you were a nice guy, and then you did that! I was sooo unimpressed! Like, 'who is this guy?!'"

Good thing my game was on point for the rest of the night (maybe i'll write about that some time) because if the date ended right after the movie, who knows what would've happened to us, laugh.

Question: Why are shwarma stands here?

2009-01-04T20:44:00.006-05:00

Answer: OFW

A few days ago I went to the local grocery store with my cousin to pick up some water. Past the checkout, they have a few different food stalls: Fried chicken, Chinese dumplings, fried chicken, noodles, fried chicken (Filipino’s LOVE the fried chicken) and… shwarma?!?!

It took a while to figure it out, but I realized that there were a lot of OFWs in the MidEast. I guess they loved it so much, they thought they’d bring it back.

I tried out some at the Greenhills shopping area (which is redonkulous!) and it was a bit… different than what I’m used to. The bread is harder and flat; not one of those ‘pocket’ pitas. There’s only onion and tomato as the vegetable toppings. The garlic sauce is pretty much the same, but they have this hot version which is crazy hot (and my cousin generously slathered all over my sandwich because he thought it was mayo/ketchup. Op!). But the biggest difference is that its much smaller. The bread is only about 15cm in diameter…

… Greenhills shopping area is a popular spot for tourists to go and shop. Knock off kicks, bags, jewels, pirated games and software. Its nuts there!

We got there an hour early so we decided to chill at the McDonald’s. It was full of rich people. My cousin pointed out the country’s president’s husband was eating there. My mom wanted to take a picture of him, but we were too embarrassed so we made her stop. My dad also wanted to point out that Mr. Prez was cheap because he was just chilling there with a coffee the whole time was there.

… after Greenhills we went to the SM Mall of Asia which was a big disappointment. It’s supposed to be one of the biggest malls in the world, but it didn’t seem like it. Colour me not impressed!

The good thing about it is that it’s on the edge of Manila Bay.

They also happen to be building condos there. A one bedroom 28 square meter spot for about $60,000CDN. Yes, you read that right, 28. Square. Meters.

… went to the super fast food chain Jollibees. I ate two burgers. Shit was disgusting.

… last post I mentioned how dirty the air was at my mom’s city. I forgot one more minor detail: to add that extra hint of ‘au-de-something,’ they like to burn their garbage too. Below is a picture of my cousin Estong taking care of the daily trash. No wonder my boogers are friggin black!

… also, New Years was pretty crazy. They have something kinda similar to cherry bombs here, only they’re half the length and they don’t >pop!< These thing >BOOM!< … LOUD! And those are the lowest tier explosions. One of our uncle’s neighbours were lighting these explosives called 5Stars. Shit was so loud that after the loud as explosion, my hearing would fade out for about 10 seconds, the replaced by a ringing for the next 30. In the picture below, the Judas’ Belt are rolls of the smaller explosives, and the Sawa’s (or snake) are rolls of the bigger 5Stars. I mentioned to my mom that ai would love it there and she said I should bring some back. Beth and I had to look at her all cockeyed.

There’s a firework here you have to use away from windows because this one will shatter them. The name? “Good Bye Philippines” The ones we bought for about $1.50CDN shitted all over CityOfMississauga’s CanadaDay “show”

… I’ve seen a family of five people ride on one scooter.

… Manny Pacquiao sells EVERYTHING here! Medicine, Nike gear, etc. But the best thing he pimps? MagicMic! In the electronic stores, they have a karaoke video playing, and instead of crappy mid 1980s footage, they have Manny singing, dancing and most importantly, smiling!

… along the highways, they have massive billboards. They have super giant ones that’re ten stories high! One of my favorites is one about some obesity pill. The headline is “Tanatago ang taba?” which translates to “are you hiding your fat?” and it shows some fat chick trying to cover herself with her big purse and she looks sad. Its sooooooooooo hilarious! There’s other good ads, but pretty much, they just need some Anne Curtis on their and I’m good. Hello Anne Curtis!
… also along the highways, they have giant service stations full of restaurants. My cousin says that people come by and hang out there at night… sounds like the loser ginos that do that back home!

Happy New Years!

2008-12-30T23:32:00.002-05:00

Happy New Years All! (all the pics from my previous post are uploaded now)

I wish i had a few more pics to post, but unfortunately, my memory card got corrupted. i only lost a couple dozen pics, but still :S... but that doesn't suck as much as being sick. yup, last night i got the dizzies and the wobbles. I even bought a long sleeve zip up and wore that shit in +30 degree weather! thankfully i didn't get the dreaded mud butt like my sister.

right now, i'm back at my lolo's place, but the last few days i've been at my mom's side, Malolos. its more city there. more cars, schooters, buses & trucks. the problem is the air pollution. just imagine your car garage with a two cars in it with their engines on... then add in as many mopeds/scooters you can fit... all of their engines on... then on top of the cars, load up w/your neibours dirty ass lawn mowers... that's how it was there... and oh yeah, they were all burning deisel! >gag<

went to SM which stands for "SuperMall" yo, that's how rich filipino's live! everyones dressed in jeans etc. they even had a sign welcoming all "Overseas Filipino Workers" (aka Cathy)

confirmations: i knew third world countries treat animals like shit, but this just confirms it: they have people who sell baby chickens in small ass carts... but the thing is the chicks are purple and pink and blue. why? cuz they spray paint them that colour. WHAT?! Also, i went to my cousins place for a bit and he has a cage with his dog in it (a female dog w/its titties all droopy) Its the middle of the day and hot as fuck. the dog's looking at me sad and shit. so i go to my cousin "shouldn't you get her some water?"
"naw, i only give her at night..."
thinking that, 'okay, maybe my taglog/his english isnt that good...'
"i think she's thirsty"
"naw, she'll be okay"
:S I guess Rudy made me soft.

what i learned: what a fiveSix is. we saw a brown guy riding around. apparently he's a "fiveSix" which is a loaner. for every five pesos you borrow, you pay back six. damn browns!

new years here is going to be ridiculous. we bought some crazy ass fireworks in the fireworks district (just imagine five kilometers of just fireworks stores) they even have rules of "no smoking 10km near the area" ... but of course, what do i see? yup, muh fuckers smoking... oh Philippines!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-28T00:32:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone’s Christmas went well… Now’s some time for some pinoy mish mash updates:

The family and I landed in the Philippines two nights ago... Flying sucks ass. But I finally got a chance to see Ghost Town (which was >meh<) and Dark Knight (which was really good… but it feels like I’m missing something. Do they still have those “airplane edition” of movies??) That and CathayPacific has some attractive ass stewardesses!

We stayed at my uncle’s place for the first night. After taking a refreshing shower (is it still a ‘shower’ if it’s only a bucket of water?), I went to sleep on the floor on a banig. Yeah, I knew it was comfy chilling out on it at the Ex every year, but I’ve never actually slept on it. It’s totally different, right? But you know what? Shit’s comfy! My uncle’s got five big ass dogs which come with loud ass barks! They were our ‘gentle’ alarm clocks the next morning… at 5:30! I have yet to make physical contact with them… they seem a little… “aggressive”

The next day we travelled by boat through some dirty ass water (saw tons of garbage plus pieces of pooh floating around. But I also saw a boat ferrying a full load of San Migeul empties!) to my lolo’s house where we’re currently staying. It’s funny overhearing some people thinking we’re some sort of performers or musicians from Boracay.

It’s nice and hot here. 28 degrees. The funny thing is all the locals here think its cold! I see kids dressed in fleece hoodies, folks with toques and sweatshirts. My sister and I laugh about it, especially since her upper lip constantly sweats.

Went to bed at friggin 8pm and got awoken at 4. This time, its our neighbors rooster. (See all that garbage?) Today there was supposed to be a cockfight, but we missed it :(

I have a little game going with my sister. We’re keeping a tally of how many times people call her fat (thus far 3), how many times people ask my parents if they have grandkids/if I’m married (and why not) (7) or if Beth and I are married to each other (2)

I have yet to make my debut in the local basketball court. Based on stories from my cousin Ian who was here a year ago, the locals will be disappointed as I’m not as good as our other cousins James and JJ. I think I’ll let my sister post her impressions from that event when/if it happens. I forgot my contacts :S

So far, nothing’s really surprised me. The disparities of rich and poor haven’t yet been seen, just less poor and poorer. My lolo’s place is pretty poor (see rooster pic above?) Every part of my lolo’s hood could pretty much be the back drop of a WorldVision commercial… but over all, its not that bad i guess.

Today I also learned the proper way to eat crab during lunch. Initially I was going to share my sister’s plate of raw oysters, but after much concern from my lolo, aunt, parents etc, we decided against it (see “dirty ass water” comment above).

Right now, we’re watching the thrilling JazzRockets (double OT!) game. During the commercials, they have a LOT of ads for various boxing matches. Oh yeah, Manny Pacquiao has his own ‘reality’ tv show. Two Sexbomb (a pop musical group) stars have to compete in random events >shrugs<

WAR Cathay Pacific Airlines
WAR Banigs
WAR crabs

(where all the '***' are, should be pictures. unfortunately due to crappy connections, all you get is nothing. ah well. i'll add the pics later i guess)

The 30th Sense

2008-12-07T12:51:00.003-05:00

if i've said it once, i've said it a million times: yall's is old!

that and "30 is the new 20" is a retarded ass saying.

sincerely,
chin "i'm in my 20s"

Jade Raymod was on my flight!

2008-11-28T21:05:00.002-05:00

Sitting on my flight to Montreal w/the gf and I notice some lady walking down the isle towards us... >in my best D. Chappelle voice< "wait, is that... Jade Raymond?!"

Yup, THAT Jade Raymond!
Yup, that Jade Raymond that did Assassin's Creed.
Yup, that Jade Raymond that's every fanboy's wet dream.
Yup, the "Its a trap!" Jade Raymond.

^_^

UnGears of War 2

2008-11-07T00:37:00.002-05:00

Gears of War 2. One of the most highly anticipated games to be released this year came out today. I decided to pull a page out of Al's play book and book some time off work to get some quality time w/the new toy. Maybe even pull an all nighter...

I just got back from the midnight launch w/Dr. T (who i haven't seen since his bday thanks to Jubilee) (also, who didn't get a copy btw. G-A-Y) ... and right now, i'm sitting on my couch, thinking about playing the game, but i know better. After a full day of work, my ass is tired... i'm going to bed instead.

is this what happens as you get older? damn me and my prioritizing sleep...

CNN Uses the Force!

2008-11-04T21:09:00.004-05:00

Tonight's the big election thingy down south and the Maningas family's been channel surfing between the big Four (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN) + one (FoxNews). By far, CNN has the best presentation. When we first tuned in, we saw a >ahem< "hologram" interview with one of their correspondents. A hologram. A fucking hologram! The lady had a blue aura around her as the studio cam slowly panned around. It looked so shitty... yet so bad ass. It's like Anakin showing up at the Ewok party on Endor!

Not only does CNN FTW, but they were rocking a multi point touch screen with someone who knew how to use it...

... versus CBS who had Katie Couric who was finger pounding her screen so hard on her display even my dad could hear it!

On ABC, it looked like they had no idea how their computers worked... its like they were in total retard mode.

I don't know who approved the 1999 cg for NBC, but that set piece looked fucking old! A coliseum background? GTFOOH! Shit was terrible!

And FoxNews was well... FoxNews...

But by far, the best thing i saw all night was an brief interview in GrandPark where the 'Bama Party will be held. One of the field reporters speaks with a local citizen who drops this gem as she's thanked for her time "...and big ups to Obama"

Official: I Need More MS Live Points

2008-10-30T07:09:00.003-04:00

RockBand FTW!!!

The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks' Rock Band videogame series, according to several people familiar with the matter, a coup for the Viacom Inc. unit in its battle with rival Activision Blizzard Inc. for supremacy in the world of rock-and-roll videogames.

MTV Networks' Rock Band videogame series is to include songs from the Beatles. From left, the members of the British rock group: John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

The deal, which is set to be announced on Thursday by Viacom's MTV and the band's own Apple Corps Ltd., makes the Beatles the next and biggest major band to license its songs to a music-oriented videogame, joining Aerosmith, Metallica, AC/DC and others.

Rock Band and Activision's Guitar Hero have engaged in heated competition over exclusive rights to use music by major acts, entering multimillion-dollar licensing agreements with a handful of the biggest names in the business.

The games let players use plastic game controllers, shaped like miniature musical instruments, to simulate playing rock and pop songs. Players are scored on how well they hit notes.

The Beatles represent the biggest prize to date in the category. Not only do they have the best-selling album catalog of any band, they haven't yet licensed their music for sale by download services such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store.

A spokesman for Apple Corps didn't return a call for comment. Spokeswomen for EMI Group Ltd., the Beatles' record label, and for MTV declined to comment.

Speculating on when the Beatles will reach a deal to sell downloads of their catalog is a music-industry pastime. The fact that a videogame publisher beat iTunes and its rivals to the punch highlights the growing importance of music-oriented game titles. With recorded-music sales in a long, steep decline, videogames can be more lucrative for big, sought-after bands than traditional sales.

According to DFC Intelligence, which follows the industry, music and dance games generated more than $1.2 billion in domestic revenue in 2007; sales this year already had come close to $1 billion at the end of September.

For MTV, the deal adds luster to the Rock Band series. It made its debut a year ago, a couple of years after the original Guitar Hero came out for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 console. Guitar Hero initially included only a make-believe guitar, while Rock Band added drums and vocals to the game.

DFC estimates that Guitar Hero and its sequels have generated more than $1.5 billion in cumulative revenue so far, three times as much as Rock Band. However, the two games are competing neck-and-neck so far this year, with MTV's launch of Rock Band 2 and Activision's latest, Guitar Hero World Tour, this past Sunday. Guitar Hero has issued seven titles to date, while Rock Band -- distributed by Electronic Arts Inc. -- has put out just two titles.

Beatles songs available on a Rock Band game are likely to be popular, but analysts point out that the challenge will be in reaching out to Beatles fans, many of whom are in their 50s and 60s, and marketing the game in a way that will persuade them to buy a videogame console and try the game.

Key details about the Beatles game release couldn't be learned, such as which songs, and from what era of the band's career, are to be included. A release date and price also couldn't be learned. Rock Band is a product of Harmonix, a division of MTV.

Rock Band has taken on added importance to Viacom as its cable networks reel from the sluggish advertising market. The company doesn't break out Rock Band revenue, but in the first half of the year, the game drove Viacom's media networks to pull in $639 million in world-wide ancillary revenue, a 67% increase over the year-earlier period, according to filings. That growth appears to be continuing: In the third quarter, ancillary revenue increased at a "double-digit rate," even as U.S. ad sales on Viacom's cable networks, such as MTV, fell 3%, the company said.

The Game Happens Here

2008-10-28T21:51:00.003-04:00

Welcome back NBA season!

I feel happy that i get to watch some ball again... but what the fuck is up with Gooden's side burns & beard? I guess someone's gotta carry on the crazy-psycho-mental Scott Pollard look.

Also on Chicago's local WGN News preview suggests that Sir Charles will be running for a Governor title. As interesting as that is, I couldn't even imagine what Inside The NBA would be like. :S

Cheers to NBA Basketball
Jeers to Paul P's tears.

Rudy's Balls Go 'Bye Bye'

2008-10-23T18:17:00.003-04:00

Ruettiger got dropped off at the vet last night. Somehow, he knew something bad was going to happen. He seemed pretty nervous and had to get dragged into the patient room. Ah, poor lil'Rudy... I guess now you'll know what its like to have no balls like al.

Don't jerk us around TSN/Rogers!

2008-10-22T21:13:00.002-04:00

I finally return to semi-civilization yesterday by getting my cable reconnected only to find out that turning my brain into mush might not be as efficient as possible. Reports that TSN has a new digital channel, TSN2 (clever!), is EXCLUSIVELY showing 25 home games. AND TSN2 is currently not being picked up by Rogers. Are you fucking kidding me?!

I know it'll get added to the sports package, but why the posturing? You're not impressing anybody!

Classic Rock

2008-10-05T21:25:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted in a while, so i guess i'll put up something that everyone would enjoy: Shaun having a ball playing RockBand2. Here's Shaun playing guitar on Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer.

In the video, Shaun's sister Av is singing. She doesn't do that bad, but it wasn't good enough for the lead guitarist. "Don't let me down!" he pleads...

Caribana 2008 Preview

2008-08-02T00:15:00.004-04:00

Band: Tribal Knights
Section: Sealilies

My costume is pretty much a green basketball outfit underneath and on top are the decorative chest plate, belt with cod piece, crown, wrist and ankle bands. It was alright, but i needed something with more.... pizazz!

I had a spare green tshirt, so i decided to get rid of the green tank top (which would've matched my shorts) and replace it with my shirt... which i decided to add beads to. the result:

only a couple more hours to chip-chip-chip-chip-chip.

Practice:

if john...

2008-06-11T20:20:00.001-04:00

...had a dream sandwich, it'd be the burger made of ground bacon!

You can take the cat out of the jungle...

2008-06-05T19:32:00.002-04:00

After Obama wins...

I don't know who this Jayde Nicole is...

2008-05-10T10:19:00.002-04:00

(looks up Chris' girlipedia) but that's a hawt tatoo...

that is until she gets fat and old and gross

failure

2008-05-05T21:23:00.004-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised with my result for the 8k race this year. I made my best time ever, even though I wasn't expecting to.

My lungs were good. My muscles were fine. My right knee, which I initially tweaked during my 2K4HalfMarathon, acted up a little, but nothing major...

...until this past Sunday which was the fourth time i ran the YongeStreet10K. The pain started to nibble around the 2K mark, but became unbearable at the 4K.

I was really disappointed that i had to stop and let Chris down. We've never stopped before because had the "i'll stop if you stop" and "you'll stop if i stop" deal.

Fortunately, he gave me a pep talk: "its a hardware problem" which means i can get it fixed. Right? Right???

I'd better because there's the GreatNeighbourhoodRace on July 20 and the Nike10K on August 31st.

Let's Go White Water Rafting!!

2008-04-16T22:35:00.002-04:00

Okay, i want to go again, who's down? I went two years ago and it was fun! I know some people from work who is going July 25th, but my other co-worker who works there says that mid-to-late June is the best time to go since the rapids are 'killer' (see clip for example) The waves look violent and death friendly. Bad. Ass! Scared bridges stay on shore, fun seekers in the rafts and eventually in the water!

The plan is we get there friday night to camp, raft saturday, camp saturday night, raft again sunday and then head back home. price includes meals and rafting and camping. Two years ago when i went, it cost $220. Anyone interested?

Shaun's StarTrekRockBand Secret Exposed!

2008-04-15T21:18:00.002-04:00

The REAL reason why Shaun bought his PS3 was so he could play RockBand, then create his ultimate Rock... uh, Band...

SpringRunOff 2K8

2008-03-30T20:27:00.002-04:00

Same rules as last year: the two worst improvements by percentage pays for dinner and akahol (second worse pays for lower of the two bills).

Newcomers welcome. Their time is calculated against the sex average. Good luck to all!

Alexis
2K3: 50.06.6
2K4: 52.00.7
2K5: 54.06.6
2K6: 55.41.2
2K7: 53.03.7
Avg: 52:59.76

Anthony
2K4: 57.46.0
2K5: 57.15.8
2K6: 56.36.5
2K7: 49.10.8
Avg: 55:12.27

Chris:
2K3: 49.42.0
2K4: 48.26.3
2K5: 51.38.7
2K6: 52.37.4
2K7: 49:30.0
Avg: 50:22.88

John:
2K3: 52.53.0
2K4: 51.47.5
2K7: 50:18.0
Avg: 51:39.5

Chin:
2K3: 53.52.9
2K4: 54.29.4
2K5: 56.52.0
2K6: 51.21.4
2K7: 54:29.3
Avg: 54:13

Dooch:
2K3: 49:55.7

Cathy:
2K3: 1.07.08.3
2K6: 1.10.34.5
Avg: 1.08.51.4

Ruby:
2K4: 1.00.50.8
2K5: 59.50.0
Avg: 1.00.20.4

Sara:
2K5: 47:58.2
2K6: 47:36.1
Avg: 47:47.15

Men's Avg: 52:23.85
Women's Avg: 58:59.65

"WHO WANTS TO SEX MUTOMBO?!?!"

2008-03-21T07:58:00.002-04:00

Aaron Brooks' imitation w/the fingers is sooooooooooooooooo accurate! Hahahha, i find this so funny!

On The Eve of Madness...

2008-03-19T20:31:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again! Yup, March Madness is tomorrow and i can't wait! Got your bracket filled? I do! TeamID, you'd better sign up because time is running out!

And as a bonus, this is Easter long weekend. four straight days of worshiping Jesus in all his returning glory AND 32 straight games of college ball. What could be better to a holy person/true basketball fan?

The only down side to this season is i'm spending way too much on sport pools. Some for SuperBowl, VirtualGM, 3 MM pools, NHL pool when it drops, ditto with the EuroCup... i just need to make sure i cash in on some of them.

Blizzard of 08!

2008-03-08T18:59:00.004-05:00

I decide to make the roadie to Columbus, Ohio to catch the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Edmonton Oilers yesterday. (What? I can't drive eight hours to catch a hockey game? It's not like I >heart< hockey or anything. BTW, the Oilers won. After The Jackets tied the game at 1-1 with .8 seconds left in regulation - ghetto Oilers! - E-Town Strikers took the game in OT. Sorry C-Bus)

The plan was to leave this morning and head to Grove City, PA and get our shop on, but a little blizzard sweeping through mid-eastern US had different plans for us. The city and surrounding counties declared a Level 3 Snow Embergency - only emergency vehicles are allowed to be on the road. All other vehicles get tickets.

Over 20 inches of snow forced us to stay another day. There's no way RSXNation would be able to navigate through the streets. We saw SUVs and pick up trucks getting stuck!

The news said there was 2,000 accidents today. There was no way I'd risk being one of those! Stuck in a ditch on the side of an interstate highway for a few hours isn't a good look...

Now what to do while stuck in craptacular Columbus? Go outside exploring, of course! Damn, this place sucks. And the entire city is shut down. A whole bunch of stores are closed with no where to eat. The streets aren't even plowed yet. At least i have good ol' interweb!

Dear Chris and Jon

2008-02-22T22:18:00.003-05:00

what the hell? You guys were looking at porn on my laptop? I go to turn it off and i find this:

Giggles

2008-02-20T07:33:00.002-05:00

"I was mad at Dirk because he stole my point guard. I couldn't get him back no other way."

-- LeBron James, joking after the Jason Kidd trade about why he dunked on Dirk Nowitzki in the final minute of Sunday's All-Star Game.

He said what?

2008-02-13T20:19:00.003-05:00

From Gilbert Arena's Blog

On the East side, I don’t know if there were any big snubs. I mean, some people wanted Jose Calderon. Jose Calderon? Who? Come on man, this is All-Star, people. When I’ve seen some of the names that are being thrown around on the ticker as snubs, it’s killing me. I understand Calderon has the best assist-turnover ratio in the league, but you know what’s funny? All back-up point guards have the best assist-turnover ratios. Screw it, Kevin Ollie should be an All-Star then! For like five or six years, Ollie was No. 1 in assist-turnover ratio!

Recruitement Week Part 1: Raptors Game?

2008-02-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Going to Raptors games is fun, but not so fun when you stand. Let's go again. Who's down?

“We Win!”* (or FiL!)

2008-02-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

On previous occasions, whenever TeamID member brings a new girl to an event, Cathy would display her angry face/stare at the new girl making them feel uncomfortable.

Could it be her AlphaFemale syndrome? Or just concentrated listening? Not sure, but there are a few different opinions and theories (OP!)

Cathy doesn’t like it when we call her out on it – which we did Friday night – and she got pretty mad (which I’d like to apologize for) and almost cried in front of all of us.

While Cathy fought back tears of anger, Shaun brought real shitty small talk offerings (laugh, ghetto Shaun)

Saturday morning, I had this convo with Cathy:

Cathy: good morning, jerkface

chin: morning crybaby

Cathy: so what....you guys hurt my feelings
Cathy: that's okay i forgive you
Cathy: i'm not mad anymore

chin: what!? we should be the ones forgiving you!

Cathy: what!!!!???

chin: think about it

Cathy: i don't get it
Cathy: the only one i needed to apologize to was kev
Cathy: and i did last night

chin: what about looking mean at all the girls?

Cathy: i told him i wasn't thinking straight because i was upset
Cathy: i don't though

chin: but you do

Cathy: (at least not consciously)
Cathy: but you should know that i'm probably one of the happiest people for you guys when you have girlfriends/commitment partners

chin: we know you dont do it on purpose, but you have to stop that. laugh

Cathy: ic
Cathy: fine
Cathy: i accept

chin: "fall in line"

So what does this mean?

Well, hopefully it means Cathy’s not going to do “meanFace” no more. And if she does, well, fuck, I don’t know… I guess we’ll just punk her till she stops in typical TeamID fashion. Fall in line!

Now Chris can bring Ms. Africa out now!

*”We” as in “the guys”

He Speaks Better Tagalog Than Al

2008-01-31T07:07:00.000-05:00

(and me too! daaaamn... Hahahhaa!)

SAVE MONEY!!!

2008-01-28T20:51:00.001-05:00

sign up for the 8K race before the 29th to save some hard earned cache that you (or i) might to use to pay for dinner and drinks!

http://www.canadarunningseries.com/crs/index.htm

VGM Pick of the Week?

2008-01-23T07:22:00.000-05:00

Going through my morning routine of checking out our VirtualGM scores in our Basketball Fantasy League and I'm laughing at Milwaukee's Mo Williams for not playing.

Then worried about my Gerald Wallace for the same thing.

I decided to check out John's team and i get a surprise by the name of 'Ryan Gomes' "I don't know this kid .." (C) K.Bryant?

41 points? Seriously? Who is this guy?

Cloverfield = Fail

2008-01-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

The more I think about it, the more I get mad. Mad like Dave Chappelle’s limo driver. “No. NO! What the fuck!?!”

Why am I so mad at the movie? Cuz I don’t care about the dumb ass characters. ESPECIALLY the main guy. Are you fucking kidding me?

The movie’s about some guy who loves some girl and risks his life as well as his friends’ to go save her. So you’d think after realizing that he missed his opportunity to express his true feelings, he’d make up for it the next chance he got. Drop those three words. Right?

Wrong! (© C.Murphy)

Chump fucking waits until after they walk through two destroyed buildings… after they’re attacked my random alien monster… after they climb aboard a helicopter to presumed safety… after another monster kills his best friend… after they say ‘goodbye’ to a camera and after the bridge they’re taking shelter under gets blown the fuck up.

You love this bitch, but you go through all that shit first before you tell her so?

GET. THE. FUCK. OUTTA. HERE!

The only two redeeming things about this movie is a) Jessica Lucas and b) Odette Yustman

Gat damn!!

Al and Shaun had it right all along…

2008-01-20T21:32:00.000-05:00

… if you cry like a fucking little bitch, you’ll get whatever you want!

In the aftermath of the 2K7 version of TeamID’s Bad Santa Gift Exchange, I wound up with an iPod docking station (which also featured a CD player and FM radio*) which was purchased by Ruby. It’s a cool gift but useless to me since I don’t have an iPod (neither does Chris, Shaun, ai or Kev… Looking back, I wonder if there’d be enough votes to veto that gift… laugh!)

Disappointed? You bet! I tried not to show it, but allegedly, my face gives away how I really feel.

Eventually, I manage to get Ruby to return it in exchange for a gift card at FutureShop. “Yessssssss!” (© Kevin Arnold)

One movie (Pixar’s Ratatouille), one game (Zack & Wiki) and some MS Points later, I think I scored really good.

Thanks Ruby! :D

*no AM? how am i supposed to get my Romey with out AM Radio? I'd almost consider thinking about keeping it.... naaaahhh..

Dirty Thirty

2008-01-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

1978 was thirty years ago. Thirty! That’s a long time ago. A lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong ass time ago! There were a couple of people who turned thirty last year (looks at old ass John and Ruby), but this year, 2008, there’s a whole truck loads! Prediction: your liver will get a huge work out this year! Damn… thirty, son. Thirty... geez... Yall’s is getting old!

Chris Bosh FTW!!!

2007-12-31T08:35:00.000-05:00

The Family That Rocks Together, Stays Together

2007-12-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve was family day at my house and I decided to bring over my copy of RockBand for everyone to try out. I figured that some people would like to play, but I didn't count on it getting so much burn! From the arrival of the first guests, to the end of cleaning, there was always a group of people cleaning. From older aunts and uncles to the too young to read, everyone enjoyed rocking out with RockBand.

Based on one of my uncle's musical tastes (the one who gave me 90% of my vinyl) I assumed he would enjoy it the most... I didn't think he'd get snobby on it though "there's not enough classic rock!" ... he wound up playing over an hour's worth... with his wife singing.

Home Sweet Home... brrrr

2007-12-26T11:38:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve/Christmas i stayed the night at home. it was the first time i slept in my old bed since moving out. I woke up several times due to coldness. "Damn!" I thought to myself, "when did i get so soft?!" My current residences is a sauna compared to what I tried to sleep through on Christmas night!!

Final Push

2007-12-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

In less than a week, the 2nd Annual Team Indecision Awards Gala will be held. Will the biggest award from last year "Blog of the Year" be as big this year? Who knows. At any rate, I expect everyone's blogs to start churning out quality posts.

For example, with this post I'm guaranteed to earn at least one vote. That one coming from Al. The picture below has everything Al loves in it. A super hot Jessica Alba. A pug. And an Apple product. Sure you can't *see* an iPod or whatever, but just trust me, she has it up her vagina (or rectum, if you're into that sort of thing...)

Chin ver.29

2007-12-22T08:33:00.000-05:00

First off, this "drink Gatorade and you'll be fine" is 100% bullshit. I drank 710mL FruitPunch Gatorade and my head is fucking bumpin' right now!

It's pretty fucking early and i had to take my post drunk pooh which is always something i don't look forward to. Anyways, I had a good time yesterday from top to bottom. >licks freshly cleaned teeth and struts around in gear from RW&Co which has been reduced by 25% thanks to bornday privilege< Lots of birthday wishes (thanks everyone!) on Facebook and at work. It's funny when people find out how old i actually am. "Damn, you're *that* old??!!?" (memo to TeamID members: please teach me how you deal w/being as old as you are. since all of you are much older than me, i look forward to your wisdom and guidance)

But yeah, this is probably one of the best birthday i've had. not because i got some nice gifts ('preciate it!) but because pretty much all the people i care about and consider friends remembered and offered their birthday wishes. I don't know why, but i guess i didn't really expect it. (TeamID, does this jaded-ness come w/old age? school me!)

Last night was fun. How many shots did we have? Damn you Shaun for your CB-age! Even on my birthday?! Damn that's cold! What, you think i don't remember??

My sister has a hair appointment today at 12. she was pretty done last night too. she barfed. hahahaha, not sure if she'll make it. >meh< going back to sleep... >yawn<

WAR free quesadillas from
WAR Shaun getting a girl pregnant and naming the baby "Credit" (so it can play with baby Cash) due to holes being poked in his stash of condoms
WAR doing this again next week :D

"Look at him. He loves it!"

2007-12-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

Story on Kris Humphries from the Star:

It's difficult to protect players from their bad habits. Yesterday Humphries was complaining about how yet another scrum with the media was keeping him from a more attractive destination: the fast-food joint where he intended to procure a delicacy known as The Baconator before a flight to Indianapolis for a game with the Pacers. The club had laid out the usual healthy post-practice buffet for its players in an effort to keep them from just such a dietary choice, but Humphries said he didn't care for the team-endorsed pork chops.

"But I was wearing a condom!"

2007-12-13T21:29:00.000-05:00

is what my reply will be whenever anyone tells me that JAlba is pregnant.

Autism Pt.2

2007-12-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

So i was taking a dump and thinking: "boy, it'd be a great idea to call 'TeamID Skip Day' 'Autism Day'" Then i went online to look for the billboard and hey, there it is! Along with a story.

Eye-stopper:
'Buy a home for autism'

There it is, along a highway in Upstate New York

By Diego Vasquez
Nov 16, 2007

Billboard companies often get a bum rap from all manner of groups complaining about how their signs are despoiling the countryside. But that doesn't make them a heartless lot.

Look no further than I-190 between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Alongside the road, a billboard owned by Lamar Outdoor Advertising reads: “Buy a home for autism.”

There's a picture of Monica Moshenko and her 14-year-old son Alex, who is autistic. The two are pictured standing in front of their four-bedroom home in Clarence, outside of Buffalo.

It's been a rough couple of years. Moshenko lost her job at the University of Buffalo, where she had worked for 17 years. She hasn't been able to find a new one.

“So we came to the conclusion that we wanted to broaden our horizons, make lemonade out of lemons,” Moshenko tells Media Life

Their plan was to sell the house and buy a bus or RV and embark on a nationwide tour to enlighten people about autism. But the housing market being what it is, they received no offers.

Then they came up with an idea: advertise.

Moshenko called Lamar Outdoor Advertising. “I left a message, and then a wonderful young girl came to our house,” Moshenko says. “She said, ‘I’m going to do whatever I can to help you guys.’”

She meant it. Lamar agreed to let the family put up a sign for a month, waving the cost, about $4,000. Moshenko’s other son Nick designed the ad, and up it went in late October.

So far, no buyer has come forth, and that's left Moshenko a bit discouraged, but she has hope, with a week still to go before her ad is due to come down.

Since losing her job, Moshenko has devoted her time to “Disability News & Views,” a radio show she began at a local radio station before moving it online to DisabilityNewsRadio.com. The show focuses on various disability issues and has had featured big-name guests such as Jenny McCarthy, Henry Winkler and the most recent winner of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”

Its pretty heart warming i guess... It'd be nice if someone bought that house. If i win the jackpot in the lottery, i'd buy it. then i'd put up another sign saying that i "Bought the House for Autism" or something. yeah!

Hypothetically speaking…

2007-12-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

If I was to have skipped work today, it’d be epic. How epic? So epic that I nominate that every second Wednesday in December be The Official TeamID Skip Day. Reasons:

* Sunny ass weather!

* Cathy being unable to hear that her and Al’s room in their uncle’s place is too small to fornicate in.

* Not buying Shaun his presents. Righteously speaking, he has no business buying a certain someone a gift. One for his 'life partner'? Yes. One for his sister/John's gf? Yes. But not for that 'other' woman. >puts foot down<

* Picture this: a highway side billboard of a boy in front of a house. The caption says “Buy a House for Autism” A marketing campaign to raise some cash. Instead, Cathy mistakes it for “I thought the boy’s name was ‘Autism’” >insert hilarious laughter here<

* ROCK

* BAND

* Times three. Yup, we actually scored three copies of Rockband! In fact, BestBuy at Walden Gallaria had a whole pile of them! In honor of punkage, we decided to name our band "Autism?" Hahahhaa!

GREATEST. SKIP DAY. EVAR!!!