TheFranciscos.Net

New Webhost

I decided to switch webhosts since WinSave just wasn’t cutting it for me. Their packages just don’t lend itself well to growth and scalability. Not that there’s a lot of need for that on my personal site, but it’s just convenient if you didn’t have to worry about running out of room for pictures. I couldn’t understand that – aren’t hard drives getting dirt cheap anyway? What was the big deal with adding another 50MB or so? So I decided to leave and started looking at two webhosting companies. I checked out Burlee, which my brother uses for his Gameophilia site and M6, which was recommended to me by my friend, Eugene. I just decided to go with M6 because they’re cheaper (starting at $8/month) and they are very generous with webspace at 500 MB. Their bandwidth is limited to 3GB per month though, but I don’t imagine I’ll ever go beyond that. So in a few days, the site will be transferred over to my new webhost, M6 and hopefully, this will be my new web home.

On my CD player – Anita Baker-Giving You The Best That I Got

Punishing Yourself and Jinx Alameda

My body hurts like hell. I’ve been going to the gym semi-regularly for about 4 weeks now and last night was the first time that I really exerted myself. I did about 20 minutes on the treadmill (while reading the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly with ET on the cover). Then I proceeded to do weights, concentrating on my upper body. I spent like a total of an hour in there punishing my body. It’s worth it though because it really makes you feel good about yourself, mentally as much as physically. Since Aileen is on call tonight and Zoe can stay with the sitter for a while, I’ll swing by later to do the treadmill again and work on my lower body.

The great thing about my gym is that it isn’t like most gyms. A lot of gyms have as its regular and only clientele these people who look like they’re on steroids and about to apply to the WWF. For me, it’s depressing to go to gyms like that. 95% of people just aren’t built that way (at least naturally). The one I go to is full of regular people who are just trying to get healthier like me. Of course, it helps a bit when there are good-looking women to look at while you’re sweating away . Thankfully, my gym has it’s own fair share of those.

Exercising is good, but when you do it to lose weight like I’m doing, you need to combine it with something else…. dieting. I hate dieting with a vengeance. That’s something that I can’t bring myself to do as of yet. It’s just that I love food so much that I can’t give it up. And according to the diet books, I do have to give up a lot of the things that I like. Less carbs, which means I get to eat less or worse, no rice – a staple food for me, and basically, I just can’t eat the food that I like. It’s not just for a while too… in most of these diet books, it will tell you that you will have to eat these foods regularly from now on. As in permanently…. as in for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. That’s like a death sentence to me. What’s the point in living if you can’t even enjoy your meals? Aileen tells me that I should just cut down on my intake of food. Measure the rice that I eat and eat all the protein that I want. And she’s a doctor (and more importantly, my wife), I’m going to listen to what she says.

Finally finished Jinx by Brian Michael Bendis last night. It was pretty good, and I enjoyed it, but it’s not as great as his Powers series. It’s basically a skewed love story between the main character, Jinx Alameda, and Henry Goldfish that’s set in the crime world where bounty hunters, cops and criminals exist. The dialogue is very good and it really lends itself well to being adapted for a film. The book is huge (about 300 or so pages), and in black and white, which seems to be becoming the norm for crime books. I guess B&W just lends itself well in showing the dark and gritty world of crime. Some credit definitely goes to Frank Miller for that! I’ll be picking up some more Bendis books eventually – probably Goldfish will be next on my list. The folks at Phantom of the Attic (my local comic shop) also say that the Ultimate Spider-Man books are very good… I just might have to try that as well.

Currently playing – Ballads by Jim Brickman (best-of collection only available in the Philippines)

…bring back the old songs and bring back the old times….

Do you ever find yourself looking back and reminiscing the past years? I often do. I guess I’m just nostalgic by heart. I’m the kind of person that can hardly throw old ticket stubs or programmes away. I take a look at old letters I’ve received every once in a while. But for the most part, it’s the music that I listen to that makes me remember the good ol’ days.

Why do I listen to old stuff a lot? I don’t think the reason is I’m not content with my life right now (which is sometimes the reason for reminiscing), because I’m very happy, but maybe it just makes me feel young. However, I’m not that old either. Maybe the real reason is that the current music scene SUCKS. For every good band or artists, there’s a dozen NSyncs or Destiny’s Childs. Don’t get me wrong, there are several noteworthy bands out there – some of my faves are Sleater-Kinney and The Connells – but they are pretty much unknown in this MTV-propelled music era. MTV defines the music landscape here in the States. I think that Filipinos really had a better and broader sense of music. We always had the best mix of music from the US, Europe, Asia and Australia to choose from. Ever heard of bands like The Lotus Eaters or Fra Lippo Lippi? How about The Pale Fountains or The Blue Nile? Heck, we were listening to bands like REM and U2 when Michael Stipe still had hair and Bono had a controllable ego. These were exciting times for music… very experimental. Very different, very new.

Nowadays, these bands and music are old and aged, but their power is still there… it still makes you reminisce and remember. Still makes me feel excited and brand-new. I guess that’s why they’re so fresh to listen to every single time.

I finished compiling a new Mp3 disc last night for work and for my car cd/mp3 player (a Rockford Fosgate RFX9000 that I really love). It’s full of those old power ballads. You know… from the metal days. Lots of classics like “Dreams” by Van Halen, “The Flame” by Cheap Trick, and “Is This Love” by Whitesnake. Man those are good tunes…. nothing like singing to these great power cheese songs on a rainy day

On my CD player – Love Bites-Various Artists

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back starring Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and by Kevin Smith

I have never ever heard the use of the f**** word in a movie as much as I did in this one (except for South Park:BLU and porn films)… so it’s definitely not recommended for people who are easily offended. That said, it’s one of the better films done by Kevin Smith. It’s got the usual funny and witty dialogue, but unlike his other films, this one didn’t have much “profound meanings” to preach. Chasing Amy partly dealt with gay and lesbian issues and Dogma had a lot of insight into religion, but JASBSB was just mainly out to give you laughs, and it achieves it in a big way. One of my favorite scenes was the one at the Mooby’s fastfood diner where Jay had a torrid kissing scene with Shannon Elizabeth (the lucky SOB). I think that the part when Jay was trying to feel her up was unscripted (Shannon just waves his hand away and gives the camera a strange look, probably thinking “Aren’t you going to stop this, Kevin?”), but Kevin just let the film roll on that one and it made for a very hilarious scene.

Be warned though that the film makes a lot of reference to his older films so if you want to experience the movie fully, you should check them out. For fans though, it’s definitely a must-see!

JASBSB: 4 1/2 stars!!!! (at least one star added just because Shannon Elizabeth was in the flick)

On another note, also regarding Kevin Smith

I’m just wondering though, now that Kevin Smith says that this is it for the “Jersey Trilogy” as he calls it, what’s next? He really hasn’t tried his hand at anything besides this kind of movie. His claim-to-fame-to-be was the Superman script that got scrapped by the big boys at WB. Can he really direct any other sort of movie? That remains to be seen.

In the meantime though, he seems to be having a great time doing comics. His “Daredevil” series was really a great take on the character…. perhaps the best writing stint on it since Frank Miller was writing it. Critics say that Green Arrow was very good as well, and I’m really eager to read it. The hardcover’s been out a few weeks already, but Amazon seems to be lazy in sending out my copy. Anyway, just my $0.02… maybe the best move for him next (film-wise) would be to try his hand at another comic-book adaptation. Maybe he should try bringing Green Arrow to the big-screen… I, for one, would love to see that if it ever happens.

Bounce starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, directed by Don Roos

I was never one of those guys who hated to admit that they enjoy romantic comedies… actually, some of my favorite films – When Harry Met Sally, The Cutting Edge and even What Women Want are of that genre. But there are always bad movies that go with the good ones.

Granted, most romantic comedies are very predictable in its plot, but the best ones always are memorable mainly because of their wit and chemistry. “When Harry…” had that famous big-O scene that was preceded by a hilarious exchange of views on sex between Harry and Sally. “The Cutting Edge” had that great love-hate relationship and rib-cracking one-liners between Moira Kelly and DB Sweeney. Sadly, Bounce doesn’t have any of these elements. It seems like it just drags on and on.

I don’t know what it is, but for me, Ben Affleck just doesn’t quite cut it as a romantic leading man. Sure, he has the looks for it, but he just can’t carry a film by himself. Gwyneth Paltrow is also a good actor, but she’s just not in the same league as Julia Roberts or even Meg Ryan when it comes to leading ladies. I think she should just stick to supporting actress roles.

It was worth a watch, at least… but definitely not a keeper.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give this a 1 1/2 at best.

Hi babe… so this is my first post to our own private little blog (blog is short for weblog). Think of it as our old little notebook gone hi-tech. I loved that whole notebook thing we had going for us before and this is my own way of trying to revive it. I hope you get to read this soon… I know you don’t go online too much, but hopefully sometime down the road, you’ll get to read this and write your own little messages.

Ewww…. Zoe just let out a real stinky-poo in her diapers. It’s so bad that I think I’m going to need to give her a bath… she’s just about due for one anyway. It’s of the liquid sort though… maybe she ate something that didn’t agree with her.

You just called saying that your patient has finally gone into labor. I hope that you don’t have a hard time delivering her baby, and that you get home soon. Just for the record, I think it’s amazing that you actually do this sort of thing…. delivering babies, saving lives, etc…. all the while being a wonderful wife to me and an amazing mother to Zoe.

BORDER’S and SUSHI@TAIPEI-TOKYO

Yesterday was another cold day here in the Burg. It was 14° which was very low (near record low-range), especially for this time of the year. The weatherman was commenting early in the day that it should go up to around the low 20’s come midday, but 14° and 20° isn’t really that much of a difference.

Aileen and I spent the whole day together yesterday with both of us calling in sick. The difference was that she was really sick (with a bad migraine), and i was just sick of work .

In the evening we went to Border’s to pick up a few books. UPMC had a 20% discount for the weekend and we made the most of it. I picked up a stash of comic books (Daredevil, Ghost World, Hate, and Banner) and she bought a fitness book called “Body For Life”. We also got Zoe a book of children’s stories, which she seems to like.

Since it was Friday, another abstinence day for us, we decided that we wanted to go for sushi (two weeks in a row). Aileen wanted to try out Shogun, but I’ve read some bad reviews about it on the web. I suggested to try out a small place which we saw near the Monroeville Mall. I seem to like going to small places, especially since sometimes these “hole-in-the-wall” places turn out to have some of the best food in town (like Yuki’s place). The first thing I noticed when we got in were some plaques on the wall declaring that they were one of the best in Pittsburgh, so that was a good sign. We then sat down and scanned through the menu and saw that it was mostly divided into 2 sections – first part was the Chinese menu and the second part was the Japanese menu. I thought to myself that it was pretty strange to have a combination like this in one restaurant, but judging from the number of people in the place, the food was at least decent. Aileen and I ordered the sushi special for two and a rainbow roll. We also got some chicken nuggets and fried rice for Zoe. Our sushi special came in a huge sushi boat that took up most of the space on our table. It was pretty good in general , especially the eel, but she commented that the fish was a bit dry (especially compared to the Fish Market). Our rainbow roll was also okay, but I’ve got to admit that I enjoyed the Wholey’s version better. All in all though, we enjoyed our meal. But in the Pitt area, Wholey’s is still my favorite.

Reviews for Taipei-Tokyo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Last good movie seen: Ghost World starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. Based on the comic book by Dan Clowes. It’s an excellent movie and worth watching if you’re tired of the standard teen fare. The dialog is very witty and had me laughing constantly from beginning til end.

On my CD player: Swing Out Sister-It’s Better To Travel

Argh!!!! It’s starting to snow again… why does it feel as though spring will never come? Here’s hoping that this will be the last hurrah of the winter season. I guess it’s not so bad though… according to this chart, the record low for March 21 in the Pittsburgh area was 5°, and the average for this time of the year is 42°. So 36° is probably reasonable. Anyway, it’s nothing a cold beer can’t fix .

Just found an interesting site – “Pittsburgh Slanguage”… do I need to learn how to speak like this to blend in? Listen up Yunz….I wanna drink some Eye See Lite…. and Quit Jaggin Dat Jumbo! I’ll never pass the GMAT if I start learning to speak like this now.

Currently listening to: The Cocteau Twins-Heaven Or Las Vegas

WEB HOSTING

After about 5 days, I’ve already exceeded my webspace limit of 50 MB… I had no idea it would be so easy. 50 MB looked like a lot of space at the time (especially after coming from FreeServers). I just tried loading several pictures which have been piling up on my drive at home since late last year. So while uploading my files, the server came up with a message that said I’ve exceeded my limit. So I now have to either delete some old pictures or move to another web host. Siteturn looks real good, but folks at WebHostingTalk say that they’re a terrible company with no idea of what customer service is. Oh well, for the meantime, I’ll stick with WinSave, until at least the 3 month lease expires (which would be around mid-May)… then it’ll be time to move on I guess.

On my CD player: Lloyd Cole-The Negatives (great CD from Lloyd, a wonderful follow-up to 1996’s Love Story)

The Authority-Relentless (V.1) and The Authority-Under New Management (V.2)
by Warren Ellis, Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch & Frank Quitely

One of the more influential comics that have come out in recent memory is Warren Ellis’ (and later on Mark Millar’s ) The Authority. In their world, they don’t wait for a disaster to happen before they react…. they go to the source of the potential problems and act on it before it causes any trouble. The writing in the series is excellent. The ideas may not be totally original, but they are executed in a very different and twisted way. Case in point – the alien invasion. This has been a zillion times before… but having the aliens as the “owners” of the earth and humans as “squatters” fighting for survival… that’s a very fresh take on the old concept. The characters are very believable, especially their relationships with each other. When reading this you would say to yourself “Yeah, that’s exactly how I would feel” or “That’s what I would have done”. Just like the real world, you don’t get along well with everybody and there are the same kinds of friction in this supergroup.

The art is also breathtaking. Bryan Hitch and Frank Quitely (from JLA: Earth 2 and now the New X-Men) do an excellent job in showing the vastness and grandeur of the stage that Warren Ellis directs. The Authority is a superhero team that defends the entire planet, and the art exceeds in depicting that. Unlike a lot of comic books artists, Hitch and Quitely makes New York City very different from Tokyo, and Tokyo also doesn’t look like London. The enemies look extremely menacing and the heroes look like are the icons they are.

Great writing and great art. What more can you look for in a comic book?

On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, I’d give The Authority a solid 4.