My Latest Adventure – JAPAN!

THE WESTIN TOKYO

Yes, my adventures continue and I will be accompanying Jos to Japan for her work next week! I can’t wait to go! It really has been a childhood dream to go home to the motherland of Electronic gadgets 😉 I will have some free time, and a high speed internet connection, so I will be posting updates and hopefully a live cam from Tokyo, Japan. I really don’t know much, just that we are staying at the Westin. Will I make it to Disneyland? More details soon! See you soon Miki and Lisa

Michael Jackson’s Sudden Illness Halts Trial

Excite News: “Michael Jackson’s Sudden Illness Halts Trial”

I’ll be honest with you, I am not buying it! 2 weeks in a row this trial has been postponed! I can’t wait till E!’s reenactments every night! The guy who was in Scary Movie 3 is doing them! Classic!

What’s next? Post your comment on this post! I think he is gonna ask to get permission to go to Tokyo Disneyland with me!!! :O SCARY!

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (Reuters) – Pop star Michael Jackson was taken to a hospital emergency room on Tuesday, vomiting and suffering from a “flu-like illness,” and his child molestation trial was abruptly halted. Jackson became so sick while en route to court in Santa Maria, about 30 minutes from his Neverland Valley Ranch, that he was driven instead to a local hospital. The sudden illness caught Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville and Jackson’s own lawyers by surprise.

“I did speak with Mr. Jackson by telephone this morning on the way to court and he said he was very ill,” lead defense attorney Tom Mesereau told the judge after a hushed conference with his colleagues. “I’m told he’s being examined by a doctor.” More than 100 jury candidates sat idle for over an hour while the judge conferred in private with prosecutors and Jackson’s attorneys and then, by telephone, with an emergency room doctor.

Melville emerged from his chambers to announce that the 46-year-old Jackson had been admitted to the hospital and would not be able to attend court until next week, bringing audible groans from some of the would-be jurors. Since jury selection began on Jan. 31 in the sensational trial, potential jurors have only been summoned to court on four days. Melville was forced to cancel the proceedings last week after Mesereau’s sister died.

My New Sony Desktop And Future Monitor!!!

YES! I finally did it! I picked up a new Desktop computer! Sony was blowing out their R Series Desktop to make room for their newer versions from the same series. I originally was going to pay $1,550 on Sony’s site until I saw it on J&R; music’s site for literally $650 bucks cheaper after rebate, no tax and cheaper shipping! It also came a lil damaged so I got another 70 bucks off! DAMN I DID GOOD! My other old computer, literally is dying 🙁 Sorry Elo 4k 🙁 So I really needed a new machine! I was going to go with Dell until I decided to go with a Media Center 2005 based Sony computer! I really was not expecting much from the Media Center, but boy was I wrong! Don’t get me wrong, the computer is AWESOME but I really fell in love with the Media Center! It is so cool how you can access all of your media in one simple interface. It comes with a great remote control and you can stream it to a Media Center box wirelessly anywhere in your home! You can see your digital pics, listen to all your mp3s and watch and record live TV, which by the way I think is BETTER than my Tivo, Sorry Tivo 🙁

Here are my specs:
Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz
1GB of RAM (will be adding another gig of RAM for a 2 gig total)
200GB S-ATA HD Space (added another S-ATA 250 Gig Drive with 16 meg buffer)
DVD+R Double Layer – DVD±RW Drive Double Layer +R
DVD-ROM Combo (also does CD & CDRW)
128MB ATI Video Memory card
XP Media Center 2005
Minus one Drive Cover 🙁 DRATS!

I was really on the fence about a monitor! Was looking to run like 2 19″ monitors, but still had doubts, UNTIL

Dell announced a 24 Inch WIDESCREEN LCD MONITOR! Holy, it looks so BAD ASS! I was tempted to order the 20 inch widescreen, but I am glad I waited! – The UltraSharp 2405FPW ships with some useful amenities, including a four-port USB hub—two on the main connector panel, two on the side of the display. In addition, the unit has a 6-in-1 USB card reader that supports CompactFlash (type I and II), SD/mini-SD card, Sony Memory Stick / MS Pro, Smart Media and Hitachi Microdrive.
SWEET ! This comes out in March, but I will wait!

Review: Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Widescreen LCD

Madagascar

Madagascar – Coming Soon!

I must admit, I really had little hope for the animated movie Madagascar. Early previews and what I have heard about it looked, well bad. I just checked out the latest trailer for the movie and must admit, it looks pretty damn good. Although I still think the name is pretty weak, the trailer is funny and the animation looks kick ass! We will see!

Movie Info :

Madagascar – Release Date: May 27, 2005 – Studio: DreamWorks Pictures

Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Gwen Stefani

Official Website: MADAGASCARthemovie.com

Plot Summary: Ben Stiller (“Meet the Parents”), Chris Rock (“Chris Rock Never Scared”), David Schwimmer (TV’s “Friends”) and Jada Pinkett Smith (“Collateral”) star as the voices of four zoo animals who hang up when they hear the call of the wild.

Alex the Lion (Stiller) is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York’s Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Pinkett Smith) have lived their entire lives in blissful captivity, with regular meals provided and an admiring public to adore them.

Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty allows his curiosity to get the better of him and, with the help of some prodigious penguins, makes his escape to explore the world he’s been missing. Alex, Melman and Gloria go after him, but before they can go wild in the streets, they are captured, crated and put on a ship to Africa… to be ultimately set free.

When those plotting penguins sabotage the ship, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria find themselves washed ashore on the exotic island of Madagascar. Now, these native New Yorkers have to figure out how to survive in the wild and discover the true meaning of the phrase “It’s a jungle out there.”

Desperate Housewive, Not Gay!

Im confused?!! I think she is too 😉 What the hell is the deal here!

Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross has denied reports she’s gay.
Rumours about her sexuality circulated when American tabloids reported she was planning to pose for gay magazine The Advocate reports IMDb.com. The actress’ publicist insists the rumours are ‘completely untrue’, but stipulates Cross is ‘very supportive of the gay and lesbian community’. Cross said: ‘It was very odd and I assume this is what comes of being 42 and single. I don’t know if they just needed to find a reason why I wasn’t married. I mean, I’m not gay. ‘I did think it was really weird that there was all this curiosity about something like that, about sexuality. I thought, ‘What a world we live that that’s so important.'”

The Super Bowl, Ads, And Looking Back

Excite News

Super Bowl Commercials SuperBowl-Ads.com

WOW! Its finally over! Actually its been pretty quiet over the last two weeks up until like Thursday, when all hell broke loose with the media SLAM! All said and done the game was pretty damn good! The Eagles tried their best and held on as long as they could, but could not prevail over the wrath on New England! Playing host, I missed a lot of the game and the fun. I Tivo’ed it and went back and saw what I missed!

Paul McCartney was Awesome! Wasn’t too happy with Drive My Car in the set, but Live And Let Die and Hey Jude made up for it!

Just talked to my bud Gene! He is a huge Eagles fan and got a quote for him on the game: They gave it away. They threw the ball away 4 times and they came away with nothing. Can’t win a game when you put your defense into a position like that. They made it there and I am happy but I am not satisfied.

I was also not that impressed with the commercials! Here is a recap of quick point impressions : GoDaddy.com, Retro, Fed Ex Top 10, Vin Deasel, Eva, Carson, Brad Pitt, McDonalds Fry, Monkeys, War Of The Worlds, MORE MONKEYS, GoDaddy.com, Burt Renolds TWICE, Talking Dogs, Rodman in a tub – YUCK, Retro Cartoons, EVEN MORE MONKEYS, Thank You, Unicorns and Santa, MORE FRIGGIN MONKEYS!, Nikki Cappelli

See them all here : AOL Sports: Superbowl Commercials 2005

This guy really summed up the commercials well :

30-Second thoughts By: JOHN MAFFEI – Weighing in on Super Bowl commercials:

> Lays had one the best spots in recent years. It was the one where a kid hits a ball over a fence into a mean neighbor’s yard. A girl suggests throwing a bag of Lays chips over the fence as a peace offering. The neighbor throws back a ball, the family dog, a long-lost car and MC Hammer. Then one of the kids says, “MC Hammer? Where have you been.”

> Monkeys were in vogue this year. Verizon Wireless used monkeys talking on bananas in a good spot, and careerbuilder.com used them and a whoopee cushion in a hilarious spot. But careerbuilder.com went a little far later on in a monkey-kissing-butt spot.



> Godaddy.com, with a very attractive Nikki Cappelli losing her top, got your attention, but it was cheesy at best. (HEY! )

> McDonald’s ran its french fry looking like Abraham Lincoln commercial twice. It wasn’t any more funny the second time.

> The Quiznos spot with a pudgy baby Bob is stupid and old.

> MBNA using Gladys Knight playing rugby was beyond the valley of stupid.

> What was Dennis Rodman doing in a bathtub? I was so turned off, I forgot what the commercial was about.



> A bikini-clad maiden selling Tabasco was a highlight.

> Anheuser-Busch’s thank you to the troops was outstanding. And it cost the company $2.4 million.

> Ford ran the same commercial for the new 2005 convertible three times, twice in a five-minute span. Kind of dumb, and costly.

> Visa’s spot with superheros looking for a lost credit card was well done.

> Blockbuster ran the same commercial —- a man backing his car to the mailbox — six times. I guess, the first five times weren’t enough.

Super Bowl Ad Links 🙂

Excite News

FOXSports.com – Tracking Super Bowl commercials

The Longest Yard

LINCOLNFRY.COM

GoDaddy.com

Olympus Groove

THE PACIFIER — The Official Movie Website

Volvo XC90 V8

SAG Awards

Excite News

Sideways took the highest honor at the SAG awards last night! This is a huge accomplishment against all the other favorite movies for best ensemble acting. These awards, along with the Golden Globes is a good trial run for the Oscars! As my bud Mike Delin mentioned in his blog, we have talked about this over the years, the Oscars is like the Super Bowl for us 🙂 I did enjoy Sideways. It was a lil strange because they are way into wine, but once you get past that it was a great movie! I also loved Virginia Madsen and find it funny that she is FINALLY getting critical acclaim in Hollywood! Million Dollar Baby did real well and it is confusing who will do good at the Oscars! We will see.



Actress Sandra Oh (R) accepts the award for outstanding cast of a motion picture for ‘Sideways’ as co-stars (L-R) Thomas Hayden Church, Virginia Madsen, and Paul Giamatti look on during the 11th annual Screen Actors Guild awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, February 5, 2005.

No Wardrobe Malfunction at Halftime Show

Entertainment – SuperBowl.com – Official website of Super Bowl XXXIX

Excite News

THANK GOD! God forbid we see another pair of breasts this year hehe! Anyway, looking forward to see Paul McCartney! What a difference a year makes! With all this crap about the FCC, Michael Powell, Howard, Howard moving to Sirrius, Powell Retiring, GEEZ! This year is different! I am defiantly looking forward to the game and wish the Eagles the best!

Another HAROLDS trip tonight! Pictures will be taken! Then Sunday The SUPER BOWL! My first time having it at my house on the Sony HD TV! God I can’t wait! AWESOME SCREEN! Next week I will be talking about the new computer I ordered! Long story, but I will be Blogging about it next week! I will be also Blogging about the Florida trip! I know im a lil behind, but I will be posting all the pics and a few good stories about the trip 🙂

Article:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla (Reuters) – Ask just about anyone what they remember most about the New England Patriots’ dramatic 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in last year’s Super Bowl and chances are you will get the same answer. “I remember Janet Jackson’s breast,” said Tom, a Philadelphia Eagles fan enjoying a drink at one of the parties ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown with the Patriots.

“That’s all you heard about for weeks, but that’s not what they’ll be talking about after we win on Sunday.” The NFL has taken steps to ensure nothing happens to overshadow this year’s showcase event.

Paul McCartney has been brought in to headline its halftime show, the 62-year-old former-Beatle guaranteeing there will be no problems in his 12-minute performance. “It’s a great honor to do this,” said McCartney. “People may have concerns of another wardrobe malfunction, but I can safely tell you that I won’t. “I’m not going to say what we’re doing because you know that spoils it. We will pretty much get up there and just use the time allotted to rock.”

Airplane In-Flight Entertainment

NY1: Living: “American Airlines To Offer In-Flight Entertainment ”

Song’s DISH Satellite TV and MP3s

After flying on Delta Airlines “Song”, going back to any old airline will seem so damn hum drum 🙁 It was pretty ironic seeing LaGuardia Airport closed on live TV while flying to it :O I really loved the TV system onboard! Music trivia that you play against other people on the flight! (I played one round and came in FIRST!) It also showed the flight info including the map where u are, food menu, music and Pay Per View movies. Check out their site for a demo, pretty cool!

American Airlines To Offer In-Flight Entertainment

I do fly American Airlines a lot, their new solution looks pretty cool! Although I got my kick ass Sony laptop and load it with any movie I want and download all the latest news anyway before heading out on a trip 😉

Article : American Airlines is set to provide an in-flight entertainment media player for $8 a flight, filled with moves, music videos, games, and that day’s major newspapers. Apparently, half of American’s fleet are MD-80s which have no on-board entertainment. Rather than spending lots of money to retrofit them with expensive, integrated systems, American hopes to address passenger needs on a more individual basis.

Flights with the yet-unbranded portable media device start this week on flights from LaGuardia to Miami and LaGuardia to Dallas.

Sony to Release PlayStation Portable!!! :)

Excite News

As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of Sony! Last year at E3, I was told “2005 is the year of the portables”! Not only did the new Nintendo DS kick ass, Sony announced today the official release date of the PSP! This unit looks incredible! I hopefully will get my hands on the first um MILLION units ready to go for its March 24th release day! Looking real forward to its future potential and all the cool stuff it can bring to the table! 🙂



Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive officer of Sony Computer Enterainment America Inc., holds a PlayStation Portable, known as PSP, during a news conference in Los Angeles Tuesday, May 11, 2004. Sony Corp. said Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005, it will release the PlayStation Portable in North America on March 24 and have 1 million units ready for sale in the first week.

From the article :

Sony Corp said Thursday it will release the PlayStation Portable in North America on March 24 and have 1 million units ready for sale in the first week.

The PSP machine, a challenger to Nintendo Co.’s long-standing grip on the handheld video gaming market, will be sold as a “value pack” for $250 in the United States and for $300 Canadian dollars. It will include numerous accessories and – for the first million sold – a copy of the “Spider-Man 2” movie on the new Universal Media Disc format that Sony designed for the PSP.

The PSP is designed, however, with more multimedia features. It can play digital music, movies and display photos on its 4.3-inch color screen, using Sony’s proprietary 1.8-gigabyte UMD discs or a Memory Stick.

In addition to working with its own Sony Pictures film division, Sony is in discussions with other movie studios to support the new UMD format for future releases of movies, Hirai said.

Playboy Founder Visits Disney World

Excite News

Hugh Hefner at … Disney World ?

WHAT THE HELL! Couldn’t he have been there a week earlier! 🙁 O Well

Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, center, answers questions from the media during a news conference at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005. With Hefner, from left, are Cristal Camden, Bridget Marquardt, Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson. The group is visiting Disney’s theme parks before heading to Jacksonville, Fla., where Hefner is throwing his legendary Playboy Super Bowl party.

Groundhog Day 2005, Its So Not Over!

groundhog day 2005 album | Gleny.com

I have to admit, Gleny has outdone himself yet again! Come on, the man is a trooper! He had invited me on the over night, 6 hour trek then 6 hours home again and of course I had to wimp out! The man is incredible! He had first told me about his adventure one day in the summer! I was so excited and so into it I just couldn’t wait for the day to see his photos! He had told me a lot about the history and the rituals they do there and boy was he right! I was a lil upset for him because, damn, this is HUGE media coverage and I purposely got up early to see all the mayhem on TV at 7am! I only got to see the official announcement and then it broke into the Special Report about the plane crash for 4 straight commercial free hours! DAMN IT! O well, make sure and check out his pictures from this truly amazing event! This is Gleny’s big season with the plunge and parades coming up so keep checking back! THANKS AGAIN GLEN FOR BRINGING US ALONG FOR THE RIDE through your pictures! Can’t wait for the VIDEO!

Super Bowl XXXIX

SuperBowl.com – Official website of Super Bowl XXXIX

Getting all excited for this weekends BIG GAME! I am taking the day off with my family and enjoying the game on our HD TV!!! Fox does amazing HD broadcasts, so its defiantly on the right channel. Should be so damn exciting! I am totally rooting for The Eagles! They got heart and if anyone can beat The Patriots, they can! I hear Terrell Owens is going to play and that’s amazing! I hope he isn’t putting himself in Jeopardy! Paul McCartney is doing the half time show and I am also looking forward to that!

Terrell Owens Official Website

Philadelphia Eagles

Groundhog Predicts More Wintry Weather :(

Excite News

The lil bastard saw his shadow! 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!!! Trust me if he didn’t he would be the cutest lil creature in the world!!!! DAMN THIS COLD WEATHER! DAMN THOSE INNER CIRCLE PUNKS!

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) – Punxsutawney Phil has spoken, and the news isn’t good. The world’s most famous furry forecaster saw his shadow Wednesday on Gobbler’s Knob, suggesting another six weeks of wintry weather.

The chubby critter delivered the prediction after he was pulled from his burrow in an oak stump at 7:31 a.m. by a top-hatted handler, and his prediction was greeted by boos from the thousands in attendance. “He’s only the messenger!” one of the members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club – the volunteer group in charge of Phil and the town’s Groundhog Day festivities – reminded the crowd braving the frigid weather.