No Music, No Life MMX

MMX. The Roman Numeral version of 2010. I do not know if anyone used it to describe this new decade but I was raring to use it in my blogs as soon as this year started. After all, it had that cool sound into it.

It has been my annual tradition to blog about my favorite songs of the year and this year would be no different. I carefully remembered which song I played the most each month so that I will not be having a difficult time writing this piece. This year, this blog would be different though. Instead of seeing the usual alternative and punk rock songs in this list, you will observe that there would be a wider variety with (yup, you read this right) rap, indie and pop joining my favorite genre. 2010 is not my favorite year in music due to fewer album releases from my favorite bands (that or I was just lazy to research). However, this year had me liking rap music after almost a decade of ignoring it (not totally as I listened to mainstream hits like “Low”).

Best TV Series Chicks

Where does Veronica Mars rank in this list? | Credit: IMDB/Whichever TV series these characters belong to

It is December and it is the time of the year when I love blogging about the bests of the year like: a) which are my favorite songs of each month? or b) what were the top fives or top tens of this year? (OK, I lied. I always love ranking stuff in a top ten or top one hundred-something manner regardless of the month.)  December marks this time of the year for me because it is the time to reflect on what has happened as it is the last month of the year. But in this case, I am making an “all-time list” to commemorate the awesome eye candies that motivate guys like me to watch TV shows even if it gets into boring parts. After all, it is December and if ever you get stuck home during the holiday season watching TV reruns, it is nice to take note of this list.

There is a reason why I entitled this blog entry “Best TV Series Chicks” instead of “Hottest TV Chicks” or “Sexiest Female Celebrities on TV.” Even if the main prerequisite of this list is physical beauty, I also factored in acting ability, likeability and charisma (I know you will think “Translation: Crap, Bullcrap, and Stop lying please.”) But, I really factored these in, so that it would add some ‘flavor’ in my choices. I am not going to lie that Physical Beauty is the biggest factor. We, guys, also like watching eye candies in our TV shows. However, I still think that nobody beats the fervor of the fangirls when going gaga over their crushes. That is why there is such a thing as Team Edward and Team Jacob while there is no Team Serena and Team Blair (What? There is such a thing? Ah yes… but it is from a chick show and most likely chicks invented that). But my point is, I may be biased over these eye candies at the start but I will most probably lose it as the episodes go by if they do not act well or are just plain horrible to watch. This is why I am factoring other things aside from physical beauty. (Side note: They can be unlikeable and still be cool. That is, as long as they act well in being unlikeable)

My Favorite TV Show Intros

Where does FNL rank in this list? | Credit: Friday Night Lights

OK, I admit it. I have writer’s block and I could not think of another topic (even the title lacks creativity). I think it is still a good topic but it does not need to be wordy. So, here we go:

Credit: That '70s Show

5. That 70s Show. “Hanging out, down the street. The same old things we did last week...” I think I just love the 70s theme that this show brings. They can sing any silly song and shout “Hello Wisconsin!” at the end and I will still like it. By the way, I like the theme song.

YouTube Link

Character: Striving to be Better than Everybody Else

"It's about character. It's about striving to be better than everybody else" - Coach Eric Taylor of "Friday Night Lights"

It has been a tough weekend for me and I should be better off getting some rest (69 hours of work in the past four days) but “Friday Night Lights” Season 5 Episode 3 was just too good that it motivated me to write this journal entry. Oh, not just write but also to research. (Scrap that. Searching episode names in IMDB and copy-pasting is not “research.”) I am straining my eyes again, but what the heck – let Future Jeff worry about that.

“Friday Night Lights” S05E03 was so remarkable (more on that later as I do not want to spoil my readers) that I think it was one of the best TV episodes this year. It had great drama and a good ongoing theme. It was probably the best episode of this TV series in 2010. It was so appealing that “#fridaynightlights” became a trending Twitter topic on the week of its release. It made me ponder on which TV series episodes shown this year are the best. We might have a weaker TV season for most shows but I am definitely sure that this year produced several outstanding episodes.

8 Random Thoughts on NU 107, NBA, HIMYM and Friday Night Lights

NU 107 will forever be missed. Credit: NU 107

“And when it rains
On this side of town, it touches everything
Just say it again and mean it
It don’t miss a thing…”
-    Paramore from the song entitled “When It Rains”

Here is my latest edition of the eight random thoughts to tackle on the not-so-latest topics. Before I will cut this introduction short, I will just inform you that I cut this blog into two parts: first part is for the non-spoiler section while the other part would be about the spoiler section (which means it is about TV shows. That is, in case you are behind or you plan to watch “Mad Men,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Friday Night Lights”)

Greatest Sports Songs of All-Time

Are you ready?!!

...Sports Songs. Yes, this blog is about sports songs.

October has ended a week ago. Of all the months, I think October is the best month for sports. UAAP’s Finals usually happens in October (except for this year and in 2008). American major sports only occur simultaneously in October (and sometimes November) as the MLB Playoffs take place while the NBA Tip-Off happens in the final week of October. Because of these, I think it would just be apt to have a proper send-off for the best sports month in every year with a write-up on the best sports-related songs.

Best Sports Game Soundtrack

As the NBA 2K11 fever heats up across the globe, I think that it would be a good preliminary point of discussion to ask which video game possesses the best soundtrack. I have played various sports games through the years like the NBA 2K games, NBA Jam, College Slam, Triple Play, Madden and FIFA. The ‘90s versions of these games may have catchy sounds but these never had a compilation of actual songs. The best video game soundtrack should come from the 2000’s. Thus, I think the best has got to be “Madden 2010.”

Little Giants No More

The new World Series Champions

Sem Break 1997. It was a fine morning in Manila as I watched the final game of the 1997 World Series with Lolo. It pitted the Cleveland Indians and the Florida Marlins. One team was one of the teams with the longest championship drought (although the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox still belonged in that list) while the other team was in its first ever World Series appearance. It would be a big delight to the fans whichever team wins. As my favorite team was already eliminated then, I was just a mere spectator. But if there was one team that I wanted to side with, it would be the Cleveland Indians. My favorite team – the Atlanta Braves – defeated the Indians in the World Series a few years back so I never had the jealous type of hatred on them. The Marlins, on the other hand, killed the hopes of the Braves in 1997 on the way to the World Series.

Me and our Nolan Ryan baseball

Cleveland was on its way to victory when they led in the final stretches of the game. I can still remember ESPN flashing the teams with the longest championship drought. Cleveland was among them and that led me to sympathize and root for them further. However, the Marlins found a way to inch closer. By the end of the ninth inning, the game was already knotted up at two. The Florida fans screamed louder. If you happen to root for the visiting team, it is always a sick feeling to hear fans roaring when the home team gets the huge momentum at the crucial moments of a team game. There is a mix of helplessness, terror and intimidation. This was one of the first times I genuinely felt that (since I never got to watch Games 6 and 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals and Houston just purely dominated Orlando in the 1995 Finals). The Indians apparently shared the same feeling that I had. They struggled to score in the next two innings. Florida, on the other hand, got to reach the bases in the 11th inning. The fans roared when the young Edgar Renteria stepped into the plate. He hit the ball and scored the championship-winning RBI as the Marlins rejoiced their first taste of championship.

Best Bandwagon Teams of the 2000's

Credits to bleacherreport.com

It has been a week since my Atlanta Braves got eliminated in the MLB Playoffs. However, this did not stop me from watching the remainder of the playoff games last week. If you love the sport, watching it does not end after your team gets eliminated. You either watch it for entertainment’s sake or you root against your team’s rivals. I had both reasons when I watched the League Championship Series as Atlanta and Boston’s division rivals, namely Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees, were battling it out. Actually, both teams were pegged to duke it out in the World Series just like last year. Their lineups were just loaded. And their opponents? A bunch of teams who struggled to even reach the playoffs. The Texas Rangers never won a home game in the postseason prior to this year’s ALCS. Nobody expected the San Francisco Giants to reach the playoffs as San Diego was in a comfortable lead some months back. The San Francisco Giants’ last World Series appearance was in 2002 when they suffered a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Anaheim Angels. Both teams never won a World Series trophy. The Giants did but they were not yet situated in San Francisco then.

I first got to watch the Game 1 of the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers. The Yankees had their probable Cy Young Winner, CC Sabathia, in the mound and I expected them to crush the Rangers who just had little rest from their five-game series against Tampa Bay. Then, the unexpected happen. CC Sabathia struggled to find the strike zone as he walked batters, gave up a home run and was even down by a huge deficit early in the game. The sluggers of New York were also rusty. Even the analysts were astounded. If they expected a pitcher to have 30 more pitches than the other, it would not have been Sabathia. The huge lead had the Rangers and their fans complacent to the point that they forgot to boo A-Rod and Mark Teixeira. Nolan Ryan was comfortably chatting with George Bush and Texas seemed to coast to a Game 1 victory.  Then, 8th inning arrived. C.J. Wilson was exhausted after giving up a run. They had to replace him with Darren Oliver who walked the next two batters. This ensued a huge Yankee rally that was good enough for the comeback win. Using Bill Simmons’ term, Texas just experienced a stomach punch game. They thought everything went right. The announcers were stating that it was history taking place for them as it will be their first postseason home win. Just when they thought that things were finally right, they got hit out of nowhere. In the final innings of the game, you can read the words “Oh no! Here we go again!” etched in their faces.

Greatest Season in TV Series History?

“Mad Men” is the cure for the common TV show.*

Spoiler Alert: Whenever I write about TV series, it will always have spoilers. In case you want to know what this is about, it is about “Mad Men” Season Four. Feel free to read if you have no plans of watching “Mad Men” or if you do not give a damn on spoilers. After all, this write-up is for general insights learned from the TV show so that anyone can (hopefully) relate.

I have been thinking it out for weeks. Is “Mad Men” Season Four the best TV season of all-time? After watching “The Beautiful Girls” (Episode 9), I already felt that this is the best “Mad Men” season (more on that later). The acting, plot and the themes were superb. I have at least re-watched each episode since “The Crysanthemum and the Sword” (Episode 5) and even if I already knew the plot, there are just too many new factors that amazed me every time I re-watch an episode.

But before we get to the finale, let us discuss the various themes from this season.

Note: I have not watched “The Sopranos” or “The Wire.” Thus if you want to contend that these series’ seasons are marginally better, I cannot argue with you.

* - taken from a signature of one IMDB user. This is a good reference to one of the brilliant advertising pitches that Don Draper made this season.

“Why I’m Quitting Tobacco”

 

Don Draper delivered one of the gutsiest and most brilliant moves of all-time in the penultimate episode. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP) was in deep trouble after their biggest client, Lucky Strike, left them due to organizational restructuring. With no financial stability, SCDP lost its clients one by one. In the 1960’s, advertising companies rely a lot on cigarette companies. Just by watching “Mad Men,” you will observe that the characters smoke cigarettes at least fifteen times per episode.

Greatest Season in TV Series History Pt. 2

Note: This is the Part 2 of this write-up. To view Part 1 or Part 3, click the link below:

PART 1 | PART 3

 My Take on the Season Finale

I had mixed feelings after I watched the season finale. This is arguably their most polarizing season finale that the show had (with more people hating it than liking it.) I was perplexed when Don proposed to Megan. It was excruciating to watch the remainder of the episode after that. It further doubled when I saw the break-up scene. The rushed decision made the Joan-Peggy conversation (on how stupid Don was) the best scene of the episode. Seeing the two women sharing a laugh was heartwarming after the times this moment was broken before (i.e., lawnmower scene in Season 3).

No matter how frustrated I was with Don’s decision, I still realized that this is “Mad Men” that I am watching. It never was your typical TV show to begin with. The only time they had a brilliant, kick-ass ending was in Season 3. Seasons 1 and 2 featured subtlety and realism of the narrative. In fact, “Mad Men” is not even plot-driven. I guess I was just pampered from the Season 3 finale (which remains the best in show’s history) and the fact that majority of Season 4 was plot-driven. Don’s decision still made it appear that the writers forced something so that it would be contrary to “Mad Men’s” fans’ wishes. However, it still changed the dynamic of the show’s direction. Don might not have learned after all the hardships, but we also know that Faye knows a lot about Don. It is good to speculate on how Faye can use it for revenge.

Greatest Season in TV Series History Pt. 3

Note: This is Part 3 of this write-up. Click on the links below to read Part 1 and Part 2.

PART 1 | PART 2

Don Draper, you broke up with this pretty chick?! How dare you!

Best Moments of Season Four

Funny Moments

•    Any Miss Blankenship Moment. Miss Blankenship was just comedy gold. She calls people with their wrong names (she called Lane Pryce as Pryce Lane). Because of her old age, she is clumsy most of the time. When Don told Miss Blankenship to cancel his meeting with Faye, Miss Blankenship called Faye and asked her to come inside Don’s room in order for him to say to her that their meeting is canceled. It was the stupidest meeting cancellation of all-time. Whenever Ms. Blankenship informs Don that someone is coming inside his room, it is always funny. This is because the person has already entered the room.

Thank You, Bobby Cox!

Bobby Cox's Final Curtain Call

Tuesday, October 12, 2010. It is my second rest day after a work marathon for the past 2-4 weeks. I woke up like it is a Sunday (since I worked the whole weekend) and the first thought I had is to go downstairs to watch the ongoing baseball playoffs. For some reason, working on weekends has become beneficial to me because I get to watch American professional sports games on weekday mornings (this also happened in Super Bowl early this year). In October 12, it was a “can’t miss” affair because it was probably the Atlanta Braves’ last game of the year. It was Game 4 of the National League Division Series and the Giants were leading 2-1 over the Atlanta Braves.

8 Random Thoughts on Women, The Three Peat and Mad Men

Oh Jessica!

You may find this blog entry to be a bit personal than the usual (I rarely write about myself unlike in my early blogging years) but it is actually used to inject some style in conveying my insights. By the way, before you call me a LeBronesque douchebag for referring to myself in the third person in the questions, it’s either I want to experiment on some new style or I am finding it hard to put it in the “8 Random Thoughts” style of question. Either way, the Atenean Fanalyst does not like to be called a douchebag.

* - if you don’t read from my blogspot, I am the Atenean Fanalyst.

Hey! Stop calling me a douchebag.

Random Thought #1: Is Jessica Mendoza the “greatest of all-time” when it comes to UAAP courtside reporting?

One more Jessica Mendoza pic

Now that we may have probably seen the last time Jessica do her courtside reporting for UAAP basketball, I think that this is the time to evaluate if she is the best. Before Jessica, we have seen a good share of quality courtside reporting. Lia Cruz was actually the greatest then. She could convey her thoughts in a very informative manner. She does not need to lengthen her reports and I rarely see her reading her notes (either that or I was just not observant then). Whenever I watched Lia, I always felt that she had a substantial knowledge on the history of basketball (even if what she once said in an interview was contrary to that). Above it all, she was never biased. UAAP also had Gretchen Fullido – the only three-peating courtside reporter. Honestly, she is quite good but there are times when she gets overly biased. Patty Laurel and Sharon Yu were also awesome reporters. These eye candies exude remarkable confidence whenever they hold the microphone.

The Ateneo Dynasty

“Basta, ang alam ko three-peat next year.” – Ryan Buenafe from Ateneo Bonfire 2009

Last year, I laughed at Ryan’s fearless prediction when I heard that. Deep inside, I had some doubts. Ateneo was about to lose the three vital cogs of their back-to-back title run. FEU is supposed to get stronger after a year of experience. Then, 2010 arrived. Experts tagged FEU to win it all, while Ateneo was branded as has-beens. The elimination round resulted to what they expected. FEU was first while Ateneo had more regular season losses than the past two years combined. I was not able to blog my thoughts about the UAAP season before it started as I was busy studying then. But contrary to my doubts last year, I had special confidence in the Blue Eagles.

When Sports Become Larger Than Life

“The main inspiration on why I want to be a Blue Eagle is because of the kids,” Jai Reyes said (or something to that effect) in his farewell speech in last year’s Holy Mass (after Game 3 of the Finals). “Because of them, I strive to be a role model.”

Handing Out the Letter Grades: Mad Men and the Fall TV Season Premiere of 2010

"First rule of politics, kiddo: never let the truth get away of a good story." - Nucky of "Boardwalk Empire"

As promised, here is my review of the Fall TV* season premiere episodes from last week. I know this is quite late but it’s just now that I got to finish everything. I have a hectic schedule lately so this will be a relatively short blog entry. Just like in this year’s May Sweeps, I gave letter grades for the episodes of the TV shows. I am going to impose a grading curve with the best episode getting the A (D’uh!). For this week, we have a steep curve.

Ateneo Blue Eagles: The Usual Suspects

We’re baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!

Spoiler Alert: If you have not watched “The Usual Suspects,” you will be spoiled.

8 Random Thoughts

“We’re flawed because we want so much more. We’re ruined because we get these things and wish for what we had.” – Donald Draper of “Mad Men”

There are just too many things going in my mind right now so I thought of discussing all of these in one blog (primarily because I seldom blog these days due to lack of ‘momentum’). Here are eight random thoughts about UAAP, “Mad Men” and “Entourage” preceded by a question to serve as a direction and a start/stop point for each. This would also prevent you from getting spoiled.

Top Ten TV Seasons

As we are a week away from the start of Fall TV, I realized that it is time to write something about TV. After all, watching TV series is one of my main hobbies the past few years. This experience would just improve this month as my favorite TV shows return.

Complacency

Almost three months. This is my longest blogging drought since 2007. There were several reasons why I stopped blogging, namely: 1) I studied for a certification exam; 2) I was supposed to write a blog a week after I passed the test but I couldn’t finish my writeup; 3) my work piled up and 4) I became lazy to write. Before, I always find time to blog whether how little my free time is. I can attribute it to passion or my “writing momentum.” In some ways or another, I lost that the past few months as I got satisfied with other carefree distractions in my free time. After all, sitting back watching plenty of TV series or movies is quite easy. If not, I have my Xbox 360 games or I go out and party. Heck, I could just tweet my thoughts on current events. I was too complacent with what I have.

May Sweeps 2010

The month of May came and as usual we had the annual flurry of season finales. To be honest, this year’s batch of season enders and their respective lead-ups were not as impressive as last year’s but these are still notable enough. After all with Lost and Simon Cowell bidding farewell, this year’s May sweeps was still memorable.

Without further ado, here are the final grades of the TV shows.

Lost

All good things have to end.

November 2005. I can still remember sitting in front of our TV on a boring weeknight. It was one of those rare instances in my college life that I watched TV on a night where no UAAP game was ongoing. I accidentally tuned into Studio 23 and saw a movie about people stranded in an island. It was well acted so I was enticed to watch it. The fact that I was still nostalgic on my Palawan island hopping a couple of weeks back also had me hooked further. After some minutes, I realized that I was not watching a movie. It was the second episode of Lost’s first season.

Epic Fail

…are the two words that easily describe the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season.  There are no ifs or buts, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the epitome of the term ‘epic fail’ due to their latest playoff fallout. You know what hurts for me? I am a Cleveland Cavaliers’ fan.

But before we dwell on what just happened, let us take an overview as to how they turned to be a huge failure.

When Entertainment Hits The Highest Gear

April and May. These are the months when sports and entertainment peaks. NBA goes to full gear as it reaches the playoffs. To be honest, this – the first two rounds – is usually the most exciting times in the NBA. Sixteen teams battle it out and there is surely at least one NBA game on TV every day (although I have not gotten to watch any lately except on weekends). Having the seven-game format also helped the first round series to be extra fun. Unfortunately, it has negative side effects by June when you experience NBA playoff fatigue. This is why NBA becomes more exciting in the first two months – you are still craving for the playoffs because it is just starting. Also, my favorite NBA teams are not yet eliminated during the first two rounds.

With regard to entertainment, the best network shows prepare for its climax during late April. We witness the season finales in time for the May sweeps. This is the time of the year when Grey’s Anatomy becomes the best TV show because it always climaxes well at the end. American Idol is also awesome because the fodders have been eliminated and we reach the finale that showcases a boatload of artists. Lost reveals its final twist of the season (this year would be extra special because it is the last season). And of course, we have How I Met Your Mother which is legen – fucking – dary.

So, how does it go this year? Let’s find out…

Predictions

More than a month ago (after Lacey Brown was eliminated in the Top Twelve), I tweeted about Tim Urban of American Idol. I was wondering what is the over/under for Tim Urban’s elimination. I made a guess at Top Seven and I picked the over (meaning, I predicted that Tim will go farther than Top 7). At that time, I was wondering if I made a crazy guess – Tim was obviously the weakest link then. It is fun to make crazy predictions as such and you know what? It is very possible right now. We are now at the Top 7 of American Idol and Tim has been picking a lot of momentum lately.

The American Idol Retro Diary

Lennon/McCartney Week. This is one of my favorite theme weeks (dating back to Season 7) where it has produced a good number of American Idol classic renditions such as Brooke White’s Let It Be (my most played American Idol mp3 in my iPod), David Cook’s Eleanor Rigby and David Archuleta’s Imagine. This week is also the perfect time to write about a retro diary on American Idol. Since Bill Simmons – despite the fact that he has talked about American Idol for two to three times in his podcasts – never writes an American Idol retro diary, I thought of making one instead.

Yes, this is the American Idol blog that I was mentioning last week. Let’s see if I can pull this off. I have the time to do it (holiday today) and this is the theme where I know almost all the songs. Perfect. Oh wait, this is the week after Didi got eliminated! Argh! I thought that this week is a perfect fit for her just like the Mariah Week fitted Ramiele in Season 7. Let’s stop crying over spilled milk shall we?

Duke Against The World

A month ago, I can still remember when I was picking the teams for my NCAA March Madness bracket. I have not done it before and I have no clue on how good more than half the league was. I can still remember Ted Mosby and Marshall Eriksen of How I Met Your Mother failing terribly in their March Madness brackets despite of hours of research. The same goes to Bill Simmons as he has failed miserably last year.

Am I going to make my bracket for the sake of doing it?

R.I.P. American Idol

…And say hello to America’s Cutest Guy Featuring Siobhan and Crystal. I initially have no plans to blog about American Idol (as mentioned in my previous journal entry) but it feels bad not to write a sendoff writeup to Didi Benami since she is one of my favorite contestants this year. I hastily finished my power rankings prior to elimination night last week so I was not able to write about Didi’s exit in there.

NOTE: This blog is not about Didi Benami only.

R&B/Soul Week Power Rankings

This is a mini-blog entry to state this week’s American Idol power rankings. I am doing this for the sake of staying consistent on providing power rankings per week. I really have no plans of spicing up the power rankings for this week though as I have other big blog topics in mind (i.e., Shawn Michaels’ retirement and NCAA March Madness – Oh yeah! I beat Obama’s bracket!). Also in a Crystal Bowersox kind of way, I have bigger plans for American Idol blogging next week. I hope I can pull it off like she did it this week.

The Blog of Basketball

Last December, I received a text message from Fully Booked Eastwood. “Sir, The Book of Basketball that you reserved is now available for PhP1260. You have three days to pick it up.” Bloody hell! PhP1260?!! I usually just spend around PhP300 to PhP400 per book, why should I pay three times the price for a non-fiction book? I am too averse on spending lately I get a headache when I am about to spend the same amount of cash as some guy will on a regular date.

The following night, I was at Eastwood carrying a Fully Booked bag.

The Kris Allen Route

Horrible week for American Idol. Or in VoteForTheWorst words, the week was VFTW gold. Majority of the contestants were terrible in an excruciatingly entertaining way (if watching embarrassed contestants is entertaining to you). I do not understand why but whenever this batch of contestants are allowed to choose from a wide variety of songs, they just tend to fail horribly.

Speaking of horrible, Paige Miles performed arguably the worst song I have ever seen in American Idol. She totally tanked that song as it was pitchy everywhere (seems like Paige redefined the term ‘pitchy’ with her rendition). What’s worse was that she exhibited such low self-esteem when she was asked about her performance. It is ironic that her best and only decent performance this season happened when she had laryngitis.

NCAA 2010 March Madness Bracket

I am posting my NCAA 2010 March Madness Bracket before all my Final Four teams get eliminated (Kansas just fell awhile ago). But since I picked my teams in less than ten minutes (things like this should never be meticulously thought out, just ask Ted Mosby and Barrack Obama. Their national champion teams got eliminated), I won't be putting as much analysis on it. I just picked them based on familiarity and popularity (and how the teams sound good) with some upsets every now and then.

My Bracket

The American Idol Drinking Game

Some time early this week, I woke up with a bright (or stupid) idea: What if I try to do an American Idol drinking game? (For those who do not know what a drinking game is, it is a game where you decide on certain words or phrases that someone on the show normally says. When the person on the show – normally the host – speaks those words/phrases, everyone takes a shot of liquor. This is perfect for shows that feature someone who has a habit of saying certain words over and over again. A good example of this would be NBA. I saw a website before that had the Mark Jackson Drinking Game).

She DID It Again… America Did It Again: American Idol Shockers

…And I did it again! Here is my weekly American Idol power rankings. This week was just too good to pass up so I will be discussing it (that and I have nothing to do on a Saturday midnight).

Let us start with discussing what went with the performances this week:

Rating The Concerts

In my last blog entry, I mentioned that Paramore’s concert in Manila was the best concert by a foreign band that I have attended. However, I could not decide if it really was the best concert (local bands included) that I have ever experienced. It was so close to call if I compare it to Eraserheads’ Final Reunion Concert last year. It was just too special and unique to be discounted. I need to come up with a better way to evaluate if Eraserheads’ Final Concert can be surpassed by Paramore’s concert and their unique effect on the crowd. My blogs usually feature analyses so we will put this evaluation to a deeper level.

Easily My Best Day Of The Year: Paramore Rocks Manila

I can still remember that morning on December 2007. I was driving my car in our village when NU 107 played a Paramore song. I said to myself, that band with a lady vocalist (with a raspy voice) again! Misery Business hit the airwaves at around June of that year but I never considered listening to Paramore because it really is hard for me to listen and like a new band. I do not usually listen to female front acts (other than Imago…and it actually took me years before I appreciated them). But when NU 107 played Paramore on that December morning, it was Misery Business on acoustic mode. It showcased Hayley’s vocal talent (I initially thought she was old because of her raspy voice). It was such a refreshing take that I liked it. From there, I became curious of Paramore. I searched them in Google and YouTube. That was where I began to appreciate them. Aside from Hayley’s awesome voice and looks, the band is technically great. Zac Farro (drummer) has insane and unconventional skills. Josh Farro (lead guitarist) does solo lead better than most of the recent guitarists (with today’s punk scene, it is rare to hear lead solos). Jeremy Davis (bassist) has great performance skills. Paramore, as a whole, is one of the best live bands I have ever seen on YouTube because they know how to work the crowd, they are technically great and Hayley is such an eye candy. More than two years later, Paramore has become my favorite band. Of all the bands, the band that I have most converted my friends to be a fan of is Paramore. I made a personal list of “Things I should do before I die” last year (I will blog about this in the future) and watching a Paramore concert was one of those.

The Curlgar And The Other Sports Hotties Part 2

This is Part 2 of my blog about The Curlgar and the other sports hotties. Read Part 1 here.

As a sports fan, I believe that not all people watch sports because of the competitiveness in it. Others watch it for hormonal/attraction reasons. That is the reason why you see fangirls from any school shrieking at the sight of Chris Tiu during basketball games. New York Yankees have a field day on bars because they attract the chicks (HIMYM reference and A-Rod and Jeter were known to be playboys). Heck, Tiger Woods hooked up with a lot of girls. On the other side of the fence, we – red-blooded males – also watch and get attracted with female hotties in sports. We do not care if they end up losing most of the time (Anna Kournikova is the classic example for this). We just love to have an eye candy when watching sports. Testosterone definitely influences sports.

The Curlgar And The Other Sports Hotties Part 1

 

“I’ve said it a million times: Any time Canada and Denmark battle in women’s curling, you know you’re in for a special night.” – Bill Simmons a.k.a. “The Sports Guy”

I can still remember when I first read that tweet. My initial reaction was, what the eff is good about women’s curling? It was like having a thought bubble: “Curling? Hair? Did the Sports Guy turn into Sports Gay now?” Obviously, I had no idea that it was an Olympic sport (although it was obvious that it was since Canada and Denmark were battling on it…it’s just that I skimmed through it and just noticed the word ‘curling’). For those who do not know, curling is an Olympic team sport played on ice where players slid stones into a target area that has a bull’s eye on it. While the stone slides on the ice, curlers sweep the path in order to influence the speed and direction of the stone. Their aim is to have the most stones near the center of the target area after sliding eight stones in one end. Ends are like innings in baseball. There are ten ends in a game.

Siobhan Magnus And The Glory Note

Wednesday Night. Normally, it is one of the most boring nights of the week. It is still two days to go before the weekend and you are halfway your body’s stress utilization as work has used up your recharged energy for three days. However, that was not the same case last Wednesday because we have American Idol on TV. (Yeah, and I am doing the power rankings again) Wednesdays and Thursdays get a whole lot bearable during American Idol months because you have to follow it or you will miss the suspense, and it is arguably the most talked TV show. You have blogs, forums, articles and tweets that discuss the show. It is not the greatest show in the planet but the buzz and hype captivates you to get glued in your TV sets whether you watch it during the 8 PM primetime show or the 11 PM show for the workaholics. Last Wednesday, however, was different from the other Idol nights for me. It is because that was potentially the night I hop into the Siobhan Magnus bandwagon (uhmm… although, it already felt that I was riding it after I got addicted at her rendition of Living For The City).

Living For The City: American Idol Top 24 Power Rankings

It’s Friday night approaching to midnight and I have nothing much to do. Solution: Write a new blog entry. But I have no topic to discuss. Hmmm… I think I will just continue the power rankings I made last week.

NBA Power Rankings

I do not know what is the matter with Cleveland. Every time I rank them first, they end up getting bad (I projected them as the NBA champs last year). Last week, I ranked the Cavaliers first and they ended up having one of their longest losing streaks (at three) recently. Losing three in a week shows that the team has lost a bit of its luster. It is quite ironic after they had a big trade which has no effin’ way of making them worse. Losing three, however, does not warrant them the first place. Does this mean that the Lakers get it? But they just lost to the Butler-less Mavs! They also have a worse record in their last ten (6-4) as compared to Cleveland (7-3). Hmmm… this is difficult.

NBA and American Idol Power Rankings – February 2010

It is mid February. Valentine’s Day won’t be around the corner for 350 days. Super Bowl ended two weeks ago. The NBA All-Star Weekend and Trade Deadline have passed as well. Heck, the same even goes with the Chinese New Year and Ash Wednesday. Events have passed and I have not blogged anything these past days. Cold streak? Probably. But is there something to look forward to? Of course, there is.

Actually, I want to write about the major sports events that occurred at the first half of February but the dozen articles in ESPN have pretty much stamped ‘you will be redundant’ on my blogs. OK, I am not a popular blogger to think of such stuff but it feels terrible to write about something that articles and columns that you have read have discussed for multiple times. OK, maybe I have skimmed on most since I do not have the time but that’s beside the point… it still has influenced me in some way or the other.

The Indelible Mark

Late 90’s to early 2000’s. What do you remember most about those years? For me, those were the peak of my teenage years. Those were the times when I first got exposed with the harsher realities of life. These could heavily influence a teenager’s outlook of this world. I got my first taste of liquor – it was not as pleasant tasting despite how grand it appeared to be. I can still remember my first disgusting puke on a resort room during a school org overnight. A decade ago, I began to understand politics better as I watched the courtroom drama of Erap’s impeachment. It was then when I realized how depressing our country’s political situation was – any ideals that we learn about society and politics in school are not followed in reality. The late 90’s and early 2000’s also featured media radically shaping our lives with more explicit matter. WWF has shunned from its child-friendly image and showcased rebellious badass protagonists such as D-Generation X and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Rock bands evolved from Kurt Cobain’s depressing lyrics to a more hostile, violent or rebellious sound as screaming nu metal bands took the spotlight. ‘Sex’ and ‘Violence’ were the most used words in MTV. Those years were my high school years. All of the eye openers that I mentioned have influenced me some way or the other. (Please do note that I am not making an exception for the late 90s as the only times these things happen. We all know wild stuff happened in the 70s and 80s as well)

Amidst all of the teenager life-changing events that I encountered, there was still one influence that was as remarkable as the others that I mentioned.

The Escapist's Redemption

For those who follow my Multiply blog, I wrote about how depressing it was to have a writer’s block last Thursday night. For various reasons, I was not in a happy mood. Struggling to express myself just made it worse.

It is a boring Friday night at home. Yes, I am not outside in the malls or bars like most yuppies do but that’s my personal sacrifice to discipline myself from spending (for those who know me, I am already disciplined in spending – no sarcasm here – as I am what you can call kuripot). I am sitting comfortably in our living room viewing Veronica Mars. I called it quits after two episodes as I do not want to watch too much lazy, sunny San Diego scenes. I do not know the exact reason but I just do not have the motivation to watch San Diego sceneries as much as I get intoxicated with the sophisticated skyline of New York in TV or films. Do not get me wrong, I like watching Veronica Mars.

I decided to re-watch the latest How I Met Your Mother episode (the one with Jenkins). I had a few laughs but it soon ended as it is just a twenty minute episode. 9:30 PM. I am thinking of burning more time. Should I watch Californication? But uhmm… there are just three episodes left and Season 2 download has not yet passed 50%. I thought of saving it for some other time. 30 Rock? Not in the mood. Despite the numerous unwatched TV episodes in my Downloads folder, I decided not to watch any TV series episode for the rest of the night. Tonight should be Friday movie night. However, I felt depressed just like last Thursday because I found out that I barely have any unwatched movie in my Downloads folder. The movies that I had were files that I want to keep just in case I want to re-watch them - phenomenal films like (500) Days of Summer, The Godfather, Up In The Air, Inglourious Basterds and The Dark Knight.

January, An Entertaining Month (Translation: If You Like US TV Shows, Read This)

Oh January! This is the start of a new year. The start of a decade. For most of us human beings, it is just a continuation from the past X days of our lives. However, we view it with a new outlook,  a new hope. We make resolutions and goals which we could have done in any of the 365 days of the year but we did not/we could not. Why? It is because the month of January has the beacon of beginnings. As for me, January is the month where I resume my normal life after I pressed the pause button two weeks before December ended. Work returns to its typical stressful form. Your wallet is back to its empty form. Traffic – well, traffic is always the same for the rest of the year. And for entertainment, it returns to its normal schedule. TV series are back again – these are continuations of episodes from last year but in some way or the other, we view these differently. Like these are pilot episodes but are not. We just know that the show - no matter how good or bad it stopped from the previous year - would pick up on a new direction this January.

The Decade (Part 3)

This is the last part of my blog about the decade's bests. Part 1 | Part 2

Most Memorable Things In The Double-Zero Decade:

Asian Horror Movies. Last decade saw the emergence of Asian horror flicks which changed the landscape of Hollywood scary films. Audiences started to realize that Hollywood horror movies pale in comparison to their Asian counterparts. The Ring started it then The Grudge improved it. Many followed like The Eye and Shutter. But these proved one thing – special effects do not scare the shit as it was advertised to. Asian horror flicks provided a haunting, old-fashioned setting that disturbed the wits out of their viewers. Nevertheless, Hollywood – with the gazillion of movies it produces – had several awesome horror flicks. Here is my list of the best horror movies of the decade (gore-centric movies do not count.):

The Decade (Part 2)

Here is the second part of the decade's bests and most memorable things. View the first part here.

Best Computer Games
10. Poker Stars (PC). It was poker frenzy dating back to 2005 as the World Poker Tour was avidly watched by a lot of people. We were playing poker by writing the scores/number of chips in a piece of paper (thus, testing our mathematical skills). Poker Stars was the favorite then because we are usually online anyway and we love to chat. I can still recall Jeb trashtalking the foreigners in our poker table.
9. Bioshock (XBox 360)
8. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (XBox 360). I love to play superhero games ever since I was a child (I used to try borrowing my friend’s SNES Spider-Man game even if it does not have a cartridge cover anymore). However, there were several failed superhero titles. Thus, MUA was the perfect game for superhero fans who want to play all their characters together in one game. Also, Marvel > DC.
7. Guitar Hero World Tour / Beatles Rock Band / Guitar Hero 5 (XBox 360)
6. Grand Theft Auto 4 (XBox 360)

The Decade (Part 1)

I know that the double-zero decade has passed but it is never too late to celebrate the awesome things that has happened to us for the past ten years. In this blog entry, I shall discuss the ten bests of various categories from the past decade. We all know how wild it has been – with the advancement of information technology as cellular phones and the Internet have been more utilized than it was in the 20th century. We have witnessed another people power revolution taking place and we have seen entertainment reach a new level thanks to technology. If there was one thing this past decade, it was the fact that the world rapidly changed in a matter of ten years but still I shall try to summarize the most notable moments and events in this writeup for us to have a better appreciation of what has been.

As compared to my previous journal entry, I shall be writing fewer descriptions in here as I shall be tackling ten instead of just five. This writeup despite having its own biases is aimed to be collective – meaning, it can be understood by people of different walks of life. You may or may not agree, but that is the essence of such rankings – there is no definitive way to rank them correctly. Everyone will always have his own biases. But, I will still try to show my explanations to provide my point of view.