Just a second ago, the 49ers lost to the Cardinals through a goal line stand. Personally, I would have gone with a play-action QB bootleg to the far left of the endzone. Then again, with the luck of the niners...you never know.
Which brings me to today's look back...the True Legends of the NFL. I'm not talking about the current generation of so-so players. I'm talking about the 80s and 90s athletes. Back in the day when you could hit as hard as you could. When you could actually celebrate after you scored a touchdown.
Before Peyton Manning, there was Joe Montana, the best of the best. When he was in the game, you knew that the game would be over with another W for the 49ers.
Before Terrell Owens and Hines Ward, there was Jerry Rice and Cris Carter, the elite wide receivers of the NFL.
It wasn't just them though. Ronnie Lott. John Elway. Brett Favre (the old Brett Fav-ruh). Dan Marino. These were and still are the greatest players in the NFL. Even if today's players are matching up to the numbers, they just didn't have that mystical lure of Montana Magic.
You don't have the great plays of old anymore.
The Drive - John Elway's 98 yard game-winning drive.
The Immaculate Reception - Franco Harris' ricochet catch scored for a touchdown to win their playoff game.
The Catch - Joe Montana's game-winning play against the Dallas Cowboys, Dwight Clark jumping this high. Props to Chris Berman, Eddie DeBartolo and Bill Walsh too, in their prime.
The Guarantee - Joe Namath's underdog guarantee to win in the Superbowl and become Broadway Joe.
Those were the days of impossible.
Of course, the current generation may never reach that epic level of the 80s, but lets hope they can create some more memories.
And of course, how to leave out Nike from the NFL. Vick...Owens...Poms Poms... (And no...no dogs, leave the guy alone)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
GUNDAM - 'Nuff Said
Of the many things that have followed me through my childhood, the two things that Japan has contributed to my life has been Dragonball and Gundam. Dragonball will be saved for another time, as it is my favorite anime and requires its own post. Gundams also require their own place, because its awesome. What young boy wouldn't like watching robots, guns and explosions.
My most favorite gundam of all is Wing Zero Custom. It was cool back then, its still cool now. The main character was an emotionless guy (reminds me of someone...) with an awesome gundam. Yes, his rifles are just as big as the gundam itself, its that awesome. The Gundam Wing series was from my childhood, and it was awesome. Then came the new generation.
Freedom Gundam. The Gundam Seed series that not only brought Gundams back into my life, but in HD. Look similar to Wing Zero, but thats just because both were awesome and blew stuff up. Can't do much better than that.
If you have spare time, its definitely a good investment to spend a few hours watching the series, because its not just some fanboy robots blowing each other up and peace occurring at the end because tahts the way it should be. Instead, it develops intelligently, utilizing possible scenarios that we ourselves may face in the near future. Sure maybe not big gundams and stuff, but there are political, racial, and even religious values that can be commented on, though some may be more apparent than others. It also helps to have awesome looking robot blowing each other up on a consistent basis. Transformers had the main characters fighting each other, and once in a while a main character dies. In Gundam, its not a question of if a character dies, btu when. It just adds to the series itself.
And of course, Kampfer. He just screams explosives with the bazookas on his back, primary shotgun, mini backup shotgun, explosive javelin thingies.
This leads us to the next series of Gundam, Gundam 00. More political implications, more explosives, more awesomeness. ***Spoiler***Spends an entire first season basically using a bunch of primary characters only to kill them off just to lead up to the second season showing the actual Gundam 00
***End Spoiler***
My most favorite gundam of all is Wing Zero Custom. It was cool back then, its still cool now. The main character was an emotionless guy (reminds me of someone...) with an awesome gundam. Yes, his rifles are just as big as the gundam itself, its that awesome. The Gundam Wing series was from my childhood, and it was awesome. Then came the new generation.
Freedom Gundam. The Gundam Seed series that not only brought Gundams back into my life, but in HD. Look similar to Wing Zero, but thats just because both were awesome and blew stuff up. Can't do much better than that.
If you have spare time, its definitely a good investment to spend a few hours watching the series, because its not just some fanboy robots blowing each other up and peace occurring at the end because tahts the way it should be. Instead, it develops intelligently, utilizing possible scenarios that we ourselves may face in the near future. Sure maybe not big gundams and stuff, but there are political, racial, and even religious values that can be commented on, though some may be more apparent than others. It also helps to have awesome looking robot blowing each other up on a consistent basis. Transformers had the main characters fighting each other, and once in a while a main character dies. In Gundam, its not a question of if a character dies, btu when. It just adds to the series itself.
And of course, Kampfer. He just screams explosives with the bazookas on his back, primary shotgun, mini backup shotgun, explosive javelin thingies.
This leads us to the next series of Gundam, Gundam 00. More political implications, more explosives, more awesomeness. ***Spoiler***Spends an entire first season basically using a bunch of primary characters only to kill them off just to lead up to the second season showing the actual Gundam 00
***End Spoiler***
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Halloween Edition
Halloween used to be fun for me. Dress up as whatever you want, run around at night, bother adults and get them to give you candy. There were those adults that spoiled Halloween by given out pennies instead. Even worse was when some guy came to the door and said we don't celebrate Halloween...What?!?! I don't really care whether or not he celebrates the day, but still you have to hand out some freaking candy!!!
Anyways, now that I'm out of college and such, I realize that its not all that great to begin with. First off, its not a holiday because we do not get the day off. Holidays are days when you get to rest from school/work. Therefore, Halloween was never a holiday, just like St. Patrick's Day. Columbus Day was a holiday until I went to college. And now that I'm out of school, winter break and summer break and spring break are no longer holiday break times. My 3 months of summer break is now replaced with 4th of July and that's it.
So back to Halloween. Costumes used to be cool. I remember the generic one that every kid wore in elementary school: The Ninja Turtle. The other popular one was the Power Ranger. I remember my favorite costume. I was the Monopoly Guy, complete with Monopoly Money running out of my pockets. The costume wasn't as great as the one in the picture, it was better. It came complete with a big rubber mask that smelled like gasoline, and after 5 minutes, you had to take it off or suffocate.
So now that I've demoted myself to handing out candy to the kids, I'm expecting some lame kids to show up at my door. Then again, there's the adults only costumes too. Not that its a bad thing, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't mind seeing people in these "costumes", so long as they fit the costume properly...then again, it is Elvis...
So, have a great Halloween, start a petition to make it a holiday and I'll be first to sign. For kids, have fun collecting candy; for adults, have fun doing whatever adults do on Halloween.
And please stay away from my house, I'm busy playing video games or something. So stay away...unless you look like this:
Happy Halloween!!!
Anyways, now that I'm out of college and such, I realize that its not all that great to begin with. First off, its not a holiday because we do not get the day off. Holidays are days when you get to rest from school/work. Therefore, Halloween was never a holiday, just like St. Patrick's Day. Columbus Day was a holiday until I went to college. And now that I'm out of school, winter break and summer break and spring break are no longer holiday break times. My 3 months of summer break is now replaced with 4th of July and that's it.
So back to Halloween. Costumes used to be cool. I remember the generic one that every kid wore in elementary school: The Ninja Turtle. The other popular one was the Power Ranger. I remember my favorite costume. I was the Monopoly Guy, complete with Monopoly Money running out of my pockets. The costume wasn't as great as the one in the picture, it was better. It came complete with a big rubber mask that smelled like gasoline, and after 5 minutes, you had to take it off or suffocate.
So now that I've demoted myself to handing out candy to the kids, I'm expecting some lame kids to show up at my door. Then again, there's the adults only costumes too. Not that its a bad thing, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't mind seeing people in these "costumes", so long as they fit the costume properly...then again, it is Elvis...
So, have a great Halloween, start a petition to make it a holiday and I'll be first to sign. For kids, have fun collecting candy; for adults, have fun doing whatever adults do on Halloween.
And please stay away from my house, I'm busy playing video games or something. So stay away...unless you look like this:
Happy Halloween!!!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Pre-Pre-Pre-PSAT?!?!
Tick, Tock, Tick Tock, TICK TOCK TICK TOCK. Scribble scribble scribble TICK TOCK TICK TOCK
TIME!!! PENCILS DOWN!!!
One thing that many of us will never want to remember is the day we took our SAT's. Of course, the 1600 is now no longer good enough for the American College Board who administers the test. Thus there is now a 2400 score. If that is not bad enough, there is now a Pre-PSAT (Pre-pre Standardized Aptitude Test). So now, 8th graders ready to go to high school are put back into the line of fire to take a practice test that prepares you for the fake test that prepares you for the real test. It's a tought time, all just to get you ready for the real thing junior/senior year.
I remember my SAT experience. The night before the SAT's, my testing site (also my high school) didn't receive enough testing materials, so it was cancelled. So much relief that night; we were at a shopping mall running with pure ecstasy. Then the real day came. I had to wake up early in the morning and fill out my name in the bubbles and stuff. I felt bad for the people with really long names. My name is relatively short, so you jsut have to fill in the black circles at the top when you finish your name. But what if your name was like Zachariah Williamson-Thomas-Montana or something like that. It's bad enough that you have to keep going up and down the list finding your letters, but for people with really long names, there's a limit to how many letters you can use. So, you name ends up being Zachariah Williamson-Th.
So then you finish filling in the bubbles and get ready for the test. Not only does that take forever, but now you're given an hour to complete a section, while the only things you hear are the ticks from the clock, scribbling from pencils, and fingers hitting the buttons on calculators. Then the proctor says time. You either get a break or you go straight into the next subject.
You finally finish the testing. Most of use are more relieved at the fact that we finished rather than being anxious about what score we got. You get home and relax, but then you're still working on college applications!!! What a horrible time: trying to figure out what you want to be in life while also figuring out where to do it. Hippie California? Mahalo Hawaii? Stuck up New York? Emptiness Ohio? Where you go could decide what happens to you, so you have to apply everywhere you want to go. Then you visit the places and you realize that some places are better than you thought, while others are complete garbage. So then you apply and again, you wait.
Then you get you're acceptance/rejection letters and cry about how hard you worked to get in/rejected. So then you pick your college and finally, you experience senior year for what it is. That time during April till the end of the school year is the only time where you can do no wrong, so long as you don't fail or do something really wrong. Then you're finally off to college, preparing for the new life that awaits you.
Definitely a time I would prefer not to experience again. But then again, there's always grad school...ugh.
I was planning to write about something else regarding animated robots and stuff blowing up, but then a friend of mine has been preparing to apply to grad school, so this topic seems to be a lot more pertinent.
My nerd friend has definitely got the grades and extra-cirriculars to get in to any school he wants. his essays and interview are probably his biggest hurdles. Still I believe that he is one of the strongest candidates in the United States because of his commitment to excellence, maximum efficiency, and the fact that he can probably beat up any of the other nerds applying to grad school too.
So good luck to my nerd friend applying. I have confidence that you will do great, and if you don't get in, its time to crack some administrative nerd skulls.
To all of you dealing with applying to grad school, college, high school; to those of you taking SAT's, PSAT's, AP tests, Pre-PSAT, Practice Pre-PSAT, STAR tests; to those applying to get jobs; I leave you with this: Stay strong, persevere, never give up hope...and of course (<--You think I would post a blog without a link???).
TIME!!! PENCILS DOWN!!!
One thing that many of us will never want to remember is the day we took our SAT's. Of course, the 1600 is now no longer good enough for the American College Board who administers the test. Thus there is now a 2400 score. If that is not bad enough, there is now a Pre-PSAT (Pre-pre Standardized Aptitude Test). So now, 8th graders ready to go to high school are put back into the line of fire to take a practice test that prepares you for the fake test that prepares you for the real test. It's a tought time, all just to get you ready for the real thing junior/senior year.
I remember my SAT experience. The night before the SAT's, my testing site (also my high school) didn't receive enough testing materials, so it was cancelled. So much relief that night; we were at a shopping mall running with pure ecstasy. Then the real day came. I had to wake up early in the morning and fill out my name in the bubbles and stuff. I felt bad for the people with really long names. My name is relatively short, so you jsut have to fill in the black circles at the top when you finish your name. But what if your name was like Zachariah Williamson-Thomas-Montana or something like that. It's bad enough that you have to keep going up and down the list finding your letters, but for people with really long names, there's a limit to how many letters you can use. So, you name ends up being Zachariah Williamson-Th.
So then you finish filling in the bubbles and get ready for the test. Not only does that take forever, but now you're given an hour to complete a section, while the only things you hear are the ticks from the clock, scribbling from pencils, and fingers hitting the buttons on calculators. Then the proctor says time. You either get a break or you go straight into the next subject.
You finally finish the testing. Most of use are more relieved at the fact that we finished rather than being anxious about what score we got. You get home and relax, but then you're still working on college applications!!! What a horrible time: trying to figure out what you want to be in life while also figuring out where to do it. Hippie California? Mahalo Hawaii? Stuck up New York? Emptiness Ohio? Where you go could decide what happens to you, so you have to apply everywhere you want to go. Then you visit the places and you realize that some places are better than you thought, while others are complete garbage. So then you apply and again, you wait.
Then you get you're acceptance/rejection letters and cry about how hard you worked to get in/rejected. So then you pick your college and finally, you experience senior year for what it is. That time during April till the end of the school year is the only time where you can do no wrong, so long as you don't fail or do something really wrong. Then you're finally off to college, preparing for the new life that awaits you.
Definitely a time I would prefer not to experience again. But then again, there's always grad school...ugh.
I was planning to write about something else regarding animated robots and stuff blowing up, but then a friend of mine has been preparing to apply to grad school, so this topic seems to be a lot more pertinent.
My nerd friend has definitely got the grades and extra-cirriculars to get in to any school he wants. his essays and interview are probably his biggest hurdles. Still I believe that he is one of the strongest candidates in the United States because of his commitment to excellence, maximum efficiency, and the fact that he can probably beat up any of the other nerds applying to grad school too.
So good luck to my nerd friend applying. I have confidence that you will do great, and if you don't get in, its time to crack some administrative nerd skulls.
To all of you dealing with applying to grad school, college, high school; to those of you taking SAT's, PSAT's, AP tests, Pre-PSAT, Practice Pre-PSAT, STAR tests; to those applying to get jobs; I leave you with this: Stay strong, persevere, never give up hope...and of course (<--You think I would post a blog without a link???).
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!!! For Bo and Terry
I write this blog as a dedication to Bo and Terry. Congratulations on your marriage.
On to the business end. If you know what an Autobot is, then you're either a guy or a really cool girl that watches cartoons.
The Transformers franchise has been a big part of my life because it combined the fantasies for boys: Cars, robots, things getting blown to pieces.
Of course, there's my favorite: Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Bonus points for those that know Peter Cullen as Optimus' voice actor. Every episode, the Autobots would fight the evil Decepticons, led by Megatron (the gun, not the movie airplane/spaceship/sea urchin thing).
Anyways, I loved watching the original cartoons and movie, where Optimus dies. Sad sad day in the life of children all over the world that saw the movie.
Of course, the Transformers series that I remember most is Beast Wars. Who could forget Optimus Primal and Megatron, descendants of their Autobot and Decepticon counterparts. It was a really great series when considering the amount of effort they put into producing the shows. Back then, CGI was fairly new, and to be creating dozens of episodes at a time was quite difficult. Still, they had some really cool characters that will not leave me for a long time.
Then there were some missfires like Beast Machines and such, but just another reason why the 80s and 90s were cooler than the present. Basic CGI and a strong story line is all you need. It also helps to have the oversized Optimal Optimus.
Of course, Michael Bay made Optimus look awesome in the movie too. And Megan Fox, not a car to robot transformer, but hot to hotter one.
On to the business end. If you know what an Autobot is, then you're either a guy or a really cool girl that watches cartoons.
The Transformers franchise has been a big part of my life because it combined the fantasies for boys: Cars, robots, things getting blown to pieces.
Of course, there's my favorite: Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Bonus points for those that know Peter Cullen as Optimus' voice actor. Every episode, the Autobots would fight the evil Decepticons, led by Megatron (the gun, not the movie airplane/spaceship/sea urchin thing).
Anyways, I loved watching the original cartoons and movie, where Optimus dies. Sad sad day in the life of children all over the world that saw the movie.
Of course, the Transformers series that I remember most is Beast Wars. Who could forget Optimus Primal and Megatron, descendants of their Autobot and Decepticon counterparts. It was a really great series when considering the amount of effort they put into producing the shows. Back then, CGI was fairly new, and to be creating dozens of episodes at a time was quite difficult. Still, they had some really cool characters that will not leave me for a long time.
Then there were some missfires like Beast Machines and such, but just another reason why the 80s and 90s were cooler than the present. Basic CGI and a strong story line is all you need. It also helps to have the oversized Optimal Optimus.
Of course, Michael Bay made Optimus look awesome in the movie too. And Megan Fox, not a car to robot transformer, but hot to hotter one.
Monday, October 20, 2008
TGIFSNICK
This one may not apply to some of you people, if you lived under a rock. The early 90's was a time when there was no such thing as reality tv shows. The closest thing to reality tv was Road Rules and The Real World. It was a great time to watch tv for fictional drama, not stupid lame romances of Flavor Flav and those other D-List stars.
Yes, the early 90's had more than just TV shows. We had TGIF and SNICK.
- TGIF
The Friday night set of shows. Sure there were the good old shows of Family Matters and Perfect Strangers. But TGIF really stepped up with Boy Meets World and Step by Step. These shows were for families, but also aimed towards teens. They went through high like Saved by the Bell, but they were more towards my generation. Sure there were some weird episodes, but there were also good ones. Of course, they went to Disney World too. They went through a lot of serious episodes too, like Shawn's dad dying and Corey's baby brother close to dying before Shawn came back and everything was better. Great Show. There was also Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which was successful for awhile. Thank Goodness It's Friday.
- SNICK
Of course, after you watched tv Friday night, Saturday night kept the weekend R&R going. Clarissa Explains It All, All That, Kenan & Kel, Are You Afraid of the Dark? These were great shows for kids. Clarissa was like Boy Meets World, All That was a kids version of Satuday Night live. Kenan and Kel was a kids sitcom. Are You Afraid of the Dark was the scary show the end the night and give you nightmares. I remember watchin all of these shows, even Bozo the Clown from Afraid of the Dark.
Of course, these shows were great to relax during the weekend. Now there's nothing left to watch except Tila Tequila and those other crappy shows. I hate reality tv shows, they're lame and overexploited. TV networks just try to milk it as long as they can, and of course we buy it...
When will we return to sitcoms?
Yes, the early 90's had more than just TV shows. We had TGIF and SNICK.
- TGIF
The Friday night set of shows. Sure there were the good old shows of Family Matters and Perfect Strangers. But TGIF really stepped up with Boy Meets World and Step by Step. These shows were for families, but also aimed towards teens. They went through high like Saved by the Bell, but they were more towards my generation. Sure there were some weird episodes, but there were also good ones. Of course, they went to Disney World too. They went through a lot of serious episodes too, like Shawn's dad dying and Corey's baby brother close to dying before Shawn came back and everything was better. Great Show. There was also Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which was successful for awhile. Thank Goodness It's Friday.
- SNICK
Of course, after you watched tv Friday night, Saturday night kept the weekend R&R going. Clarissa Explains It All, All That, Kenan & Kel, Are You Afraid of the Dark? These were great shows for kids. Clarissa was like Boy Meets World, All That was a kids version of Satuday Night live. Kenan and Kel was a kids sitcom. Are You Afraid of the Dark was the scary show the end the night and give you nightmares. I remember watchin all of these shows, even Bozo the Clown from Afraid of the Dark.
Of course, these shows were great to relax during the weekend. Now there's nothing left to watch except Tila Tequila and those other crappy shows. I hate reality tv shows, they're lame and overexploited. TV networks just try to milk it as long as they can, and of course we buy it...
When will we return to sitcoms?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Back to School!!!! NOT!!!!!!!!
How long have you been in school I could have been in my 19th year of school if I hadn't graduated from college back in May. From Mother Goose Preschool to Star of the Sea Kindergarten-8th Grade to Gateway High to UC Berkeley. It's been a long ride and I'm finally done for the time being. One thing I won't miss about school is...........school supplies.
Remember when you were in elementary school and your teacher gave you a list of supplies that you needed to have for the school year? It was usually the same list, but you rarely ever used everything they told you to buy. There were of course the generic items like pencils and stuff, but there were other items that I remember too.
Peachie Folders - Do they still sell these things? I never got to buy one because my parents didn't think it was worth paying extra money for a folder, so i got the generic kind. Still, everyone should have seen these folders from one point of their life or another.
Five Star Binders - I'm not really sure what the appeal was for these binders, but I got one =). My parents bought it for me and I was happy because I thought I was cool for having it (I am beyond cool now...shut up). I just remember these were really popular one year and everyone was getting one, or else you would be a loser.
Pencils - There was the generic #2 pencil. Back in the day, there were no electric sharpeners, just hand cranked sharpeners and those little plastic ones. Some of the new kids may have never seen these antiques, so just so you know, we actually had to work to sharpen out pencils. Then came the mechanical lead pencils with the 0.7 or 0.5 lead. These were cool to have because you never really had to sharpen them. But then i would run out of lead because instead of writing, I would shoot the small pieces of lead at other people. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll be happy to show you.
CRAYONS - Everyone has to have had a box of crayons, and everyone has had Crayola. Most people had the generic box, but some had the super pack with the sharpener on the back. Whoever had that superpack was awesome forever...until he lost all the crayons.
Markers - Same as crayons, but not as glamorous. Crayola has a sort of monopoly on the kid coloring supplies. Having the big box didn't have the same aura as the crayons, but still got some popularity.
Erasers - Back in the day, kids used erasers to write again. Nowadays, kids have a new eraser. Kids used to have all sorts of erasers, from cool to weird...And don't forget the extra eraser add-on to the pencils.
Binder Paper - Of course, you had to get college ruled, because wide ruled would get you points off...
Watercolor kit - For art class, I had to bring in a paint set. Of course, crayola wins again. back in our day, you had to mix colors with other colors or water to get teal or pink or grey. Now, they come with them all...lame you have to learn how to mix colors.
Anyways, that part of my life is over. I went over most of elementary and middle school. College may be another post, so we'll see. College was mostly books anyways. All my supplies came from going to career fairs and events...
Remember when you were in elementary school and your teacher gave you a list of supplies that you needed to have for the school year? It was usually the same list, but you rarely ever used everything they told you to buy. There were of course the generic items like pencils and stuff, but there were other items that I remember too.
Peachie Folders - Do they still sell these things? I never got to buy one because my parents didn't think it was worth paying extra money for a folder, so i got the generic kind. Still, everyone should have seen these folders from one point of their life or another.
Five Star Binders - I'm not really sure what the appeal was for these binders, but I got one =). My parents bought it for me and I was happy because I thought I was cool for having it (I am beyond cool now...shut up). I just remember these were really popular one year and everyone was getting one, or else you would be a loser.
Pencils - There was the generic #2 pencil. Back in the day, there were no electric sharpeners, just hand cranked sharpeners and those little plastic ones. Some of the new kids may have never seen these antiques, so just so you know, we actually had to work to sharpen out pencils. Then came the mechanical lead pencils with the 0.7 or 0.5 lead. These were cool to have because you never really had to sharpen them. But then i would run out of lead because instead of writing, I would shoot the small pieces of lead at other people. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll be happy to show you.
CRAYONS - Everyone has to have had a box of crayons, and everyone has had Crayola. Most people had the generic box, but some had the super pack with the sharpener on the back. Whoever had that superpack was awesome forever...until he lost all the crayons.
Markers - Same as crayons, but not as glamorous. Crayola has a sort of monopoly on the kid coloring supplies. Having the big box didn't have the same aura as the crayons, but still got some popularity.
Erasers - Back in the day, kids used erasers to write again. Nowadays, kids have a new eraser. Kids used to have all sorts of erasers, from cool to weird...And don't forget the extra eraser add-on to the pencils.
Binder Paper - Of course, you had to get college ruled, because wide ruled would get you points off...
Watercolor kit - For art class, I had to bring in a paint set. Of course, crayola wins again. back in our day, you had to mix colors with other colors or water to get teal or pink or grey. Now, they come with them all...lame you have to learn how to mix colors.
Anyways, that part of my life is over. I went over most of elementary and middle school. College may be another post, so we'll see. College was mostly books anyways. All my supplies came from going to career fairs and events...
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