TheFranciscos.Net

Got to finish Ghost World during the past week. I thought it was very good, much better than the movie in fact. I need to pick up some more stuff by Dan Clowes. I’ve heard good things about his book, David Boring, so I might get that one next. In the meantime, I dropped by my favorite comic shop and got a couple of new things to read:

1. Hate Vol.2 (The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories) by Peter Bagge
2. Captain Marvel by Peter David and Chriscross
3. Ultimate X-Men Vol.1: The Tomorrow People by Mark Millar, and the Kubert brothers

The NBA Playoffs

The conference finals have begun and the Lakers and the Nets have taken the early leads in their respective series. With the Kings losing Peja Stojakovic for at least 2 games, it looks like the Lakers have this one again. Their reserves really have to step up to pick up the slack, especially Turkoglu. On the other side of the fence, the Nets have one up on the Celts, but I have a strong feeling that the guys in green will be able to squeak by this one.

With 80s retro coming back in style, I think the NBA Finals will be following suit. A Lakers-Celtics finals, although most likely one-sided in LA’s favor, will be pretty interesting to watch. It surely won’t be the spectacle it was during the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird era, but it will have some interesting match-ups.

Bond & Matrix

There were a couple of interesting previews last night before the move started. The most interesting were James Bond #20 “Die Another Day” and the two Matrix sequels. Aileen commented that the makeup artist for James Bond deserves an award. Pierce Brosnan just keeps looking younger and younger in these films. Also, Halle Berry as the next Bond girl? I just hope that this won’t be the kiss of death for her career, like what happened to a lot of these women (remember Teri Hatcher?).

I also don’t get what’s up with releasing the two Matrix sequels in the same year. Why don’t they just release one this year, then the other one next year? Seems kinda too closely spaced to me. Still, it looks extremely cool and I’ll be in line for that one when it comes out.

Some other previews we saw – Lilo & Stitch (looks promising, in the same vein as the Emperor’s New Groove), Men In Black 2 (looks like a can’t miss – Will Smith should just stick to movies like this instead of doing crap like Ali and Bagger Vance) and Austin Powers: Goldmember (looks horrid, like a joke that everyone’s heard a million times before).

The Force is with us once again

DAMN, that was a GOOD movie! Aileen, Zoe and I watched the latest installment of the Star Wars saga “Ep. 2: Attack Of The Clones” last night and it surpassed all my high expectations. Aileen thought it was a good movie but a tad too long (I think it clocked in at 2 1/2 hours). Zoe loved the scenes with Yoda (probably because he sounds like Grover) and also the tub of popcorn we got. I loved the jedi battle scene, the huge amount of different settings used and also C3PO’s hilarious quips. Sure, there were a few awkward lines of dialogue and some things that bother me, but the movie as a whole worked very well.

My favorite line was from Obi-Wan speaking to Anakin – “You’re going to be the death of me”.

This installment has raised the trilogy back to an “epic” status. The “Star Wars aura” that was sorely lacking in The Phantom Menace was restored in this episode. It restores the sense of awe in the kid inside you.

BTW, if you think the coolest Jedi ever was Luke, Anakin, Obi-Wan, or even Qui-Gonn, once you see this movie you’ll agree with me that Yoda kicks all their butts! We finally see why he IS the master. Everybody in the theater was cheering for him while he was dueling with Count Dooku. The last 30 or so minutes of this movie was simply amazing and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you, George Lucas for making us remember why millions of our generation became devoted Star Wars fans! It’s going to seem like an eternity waiting for the next installment.

<road rage mode>

P**** INA niyong lahat! That’s all I can say to you people – you rubbernecks, you uzis (short term for “usiseros” or nosy people) out there who made my drive home yesterday so miserable. What already was a long 1 hour 20 minute commute lasted almost 2 hours because you f***ing people can’t mind your own business. I refer to you people out there on the highway who just HAVE to slow down and look at an accident on the OTHER SIDE of the highway! I swear…. Pittsburgh drivers have to be some of the worst. Thank God I’ve been trained to drive in Metro Manila, or else I don’t think I would be as tolerable.

</road rage mode>

Click here for some articles about road rage, the psychological phenomenon of the late 20th century.

I’m having a terrible day today. Nothing extraordinarily horrible happened but my energy level is just so low that I don’t think I’m going to make it through my call tonight…more so my ICU rounds tomorrow! i’ve been working for 14 days straight already and it’s taking its toll! I’m glad my internship year will be over soon. (huge sigh of relief!). Times like these, i envy people with a 9 to 5 job…

How come my name has the same meaning as Zoe? Does that mean she’ll end up just like me? (God forbid!)

What our names mean (from Kabalarians.Com)

Edu –

Your name of Edu indicates qualities of a leader and organizer but a difficulty in concentrating and systematizing your efforts interferes with achieving your goals. You desire a good standard of living and the best quality in all your material possessions. You have a friendly nature, well-liked by others for your sense of humour and pleasant personality and you love parties and socializing in general. You could be musically or artistically inclined and may often be the “life” of the party and would enjoy finding expression in the entertainment field. You have a pleasure-loving nature, and although you have an ability to meet and mix with people on all levels, you tend to become involved in awkward emotional situations to your detriment. Deriving pleasure from giving to others, you enjoy spending money on them, but tend to be a spendthrift, and not build up a reserve for emergencies. You have a good appetite, and appreciate the best and richest foods. For this reason, you could possibly suffer with an over-heated bloodstream, which in turn affects the skin, causing rashes and eczema.

Aileen –

The name of Aileen creates a friendly, sociable, charming nature, but causes you to be too easily influenced by others. While you find it easy to meet and mix, and can appear agreeable and compromising in conversation, you can become dogmatic and forceful if pressed too far. Others learn that you cannot be told what to do and you seldom change your mind once it is made up. You prefer situations that allow a degree of independence, but are reluctant to take on a demanding work-load or responsibility. In a position dealing with the public, you could do well because of your friendly personality, interest in people, and desire to please. When asked, you are able to give others good advice that you would probably not follow yourself, but must guard against being too opinionated in controversial matters. The physical weaknesses due to this name centre in the fluids of the body and the senses of the head, causing headaches, eye, teeth, or severe sinus conditions; also, kidney or bladder weaknesses.

Zoe –

The name of Zoe creates a friendly, sociable, charming nature, but causes you to be too easily influenced by others. While you find it easy to meet and mix, and can appear agreeable and compromising in conversation, you can become dogmatic and forceful if pressed too far. Others learn that you cannot be told what to do and you seldom change your mind once it is made up. You prefer situations that allow a degree of independence, but are reluctant to take on a demanding work-load or responsibility. In a position dealing with the public, you could do well because of your friendly personality, interest in people, and desire to please. When asked, you are able to give others good advice that you would probably not follow yourself, but must guard against being too opinionated in controversial matters. The physical weaknesses due to this name centre in the fluids of the body and the senses of the head, causing headaches, eye, teeth, or severe sinus conditions; also, kidney or bladder weaknesses.

Job Interviews

Had a job interview this morning with McKesson Automation in Cranberry Township so I had to wake up early, get the interview gear on (consisting of a suit and a briefcase), and drop of Zoe at daycare. I got there at their offices about 20 minutes before the interview was scheduled so I had time to prepare, reading my resume and remember what the hell I wrote in it.

It was done in two parts, the first one being with Julie and the next part was with Greg. Julie (who is my potential new project leader) asked about my experience and gave me some technical questions as well. She was very nice and personable, actually coaching me through some of the techie stuff. Although I thought that I did pretty badly in the technical interview (I only got about 75% of her questions right, and they were pretty simple ones), Julie told me that I’ve been the best among all the people that she interviewed so far. She said that she would recommend me for one of the two positions available. I guess my charming personality worked on her…. 🙂

The next interview was with Greg (the project director who is Julie’s boss), who informed me that I must have impressed Julie because out of all that she’s interviewed so far, I was the only one that made it to him. Greg and I had a very nice conversation about my past work experience (and also his). Anyway, before we knew it, it was already almost an hour and the interview ended.

It was almost 11 AM when it was finished, which is probably the longest interview session I’ve ever done. Julie walked me out and asked me when I could start (which I took as a good sign). I told her that I need two weeks notice before I could leave my current job.

I feel pretty good about this interview and think that the job will be a good fit for me. It also means more money, less commute time, great benefits, and more importantly, stability. I’ve still got a couple of more job interviews lined up next week, one in downtown Pittsburgh and another one in the North Hills area, but I think this one will be hard to beat. They did say that they have some more people that they’ve scheduled for interviews and would be doing them in the next week. I should hear from them sometime late next week or early the next if they want to take me on.

Things to do this weekend –

• Watch Star Wars (why do I feel that the whole world has seen it but me?)
• Wash my car
• Clean our house
• Go to Best Buy and check out refrigerators, washers and dryers
• Check out what’s new at Old Navy (20% off everything sale!)
• Watch Star Wars again