On Hiatus

March Madness starts today! Finally.

It bums me out that I'm going to be away from my bracket, my computer, and the office during the majority of the tournament. I know...talk about an outrage. I will miss out on creating my usual March Madness excitement/chaos during the tourney and heckling my fellow March Madness followers as their brackets go up in flames. Although, I should be back in time for the Final Four...so depending on how well I do, heckling may still be an option.

I'll be spending the next few weeks doing some traveling. Tomorrow I'll be on my way to Long Beach…half for work and half for fun. And then I'll be flying to Miami to enjoy some relaxation and some fun in the sun. I’m super excited.

So I will be taking a short hiatus from this blog and will return in April.

My Picks

With March Madness starting tomorrow, I finally finished my bracket. Some of the games will be a toss up…and I’m predicting some upsets…and keeping my fingers crossed. My picks are below.

Good luck to all...and let the games begin.

St. Patrick’s Day

Tonight, I’m celebrating on behalf of the Irish. It’s St. Patrick’s Day…which I was quickly reminded of when I was pinched this morning because I forgot to wear green (I know I’m not scary enough when someone dares to pinch me…gotta work on that)…although to tell you the truth, I don’t think I have anything green in my closest. Green is definitely not my color. But anyway, I’ll be celebrating tonight…although I probably shouldn’t be celebrating too much.

I spent last weekend in Scottsdale and had a little too much fun. I enjoyed some majorly awesome food (I ate way too much), a day filled with baseball (too bad the Giants lost), and a great time with some friends (some pictures will be up soon). On the downside, I took a few too many shots of Patron…and that was definitely not fun…not fun at all...so as I celebrate tonight, I’ll keep that in mind.

When I was young, my absolute favorite Giants player was Will Clark…and guess who I saw in Scottsdale? Yup, Will Clark himself. Granted he’s a little older and a little heavier…but hey, so am I. So I can’t be too picky, right? The starting pitcher on Saturday was Matt Cain, Bengie was also playing and so was Ishikawa…not bad at all for a Spring Training game. The weather was quite pleasant and Old Town Scottsdale is very quaint. If I ever find myself in Scottsdale again, I’d want to stay a little longer and take a road trip to visit some nearby towns and do some exploring.

As for today, well the bracket for March Madness is finally out…and I’m still in the process of putting my bracket together. I’m so bad this year, I have no idea what’s going on…although that hasn’t stopped me from trash talking…but whatever. You all know how I can be. When the games start on Thursday, I’ll be ready.

So…when can I start celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

I'm Waiting

I'm on my way to Scottsdale, Arizona this weekend to partake in a little desert fun. I'm flying out to watch the Giants Spring Training and hope they don't suck it up too much. But either way, it should be loads of fun and I can't wait.

Currently, I'm in the midst of repacking my suitcase to make sure I didn't forget anything. Credit Card? Check. Sunblock? Check. Camera? Check. Bag of stuff that I probably won't use? Check. What else am I forgetting? Hm...I think I'm good. I mean, what else do I need for a weekend of fun in the sun...watching baseball and stuffing my face? Not much...

So I'm waiting right now...waiting for my friends, waiting for my plane, and waiting for the fun to begin...

Need A Diet

With my vacations (and summer months) rapidly approaching and my healthy appetite always increasing, I’m contemplating starting my summer diet a bit early this year. As most of you know, I complain about my weight, and body, until roughly around Memorial Day and then start my crash course diet to get myself into better shape for bikini season. I know, I know, this might be too much information for a public blog…but hey, whatever. If you know me, then you’ve heard this all before.

Since I’ve spent most of this week eating out and celebrating a little too much (and my weekend plans also include quite a bit of celebratory eating as well), I’m starting to feel, and notice, the weight increase and lack of muscle tone on my body. It’s actually quite disturbing, so my diet may start a bit early this year…like around Easter.

Typically, after the New Year and the holiday eating season, followed by Chinese New Year feasts, and then my birthday…I start to notice an extra weight gain. Especially over this past week…and upcoming week for that matter…I have almost every meal planned. With all of my well intentioned friends and family knowing that I have an insatiable appetite and cravings for food, I’ve been treated, and invited out, to countless meals. And, of course, you all know how I can be with food…much less free food. Ahh…the joys of celebrating a birthday with the ones you love. It’s a great thing, isn’t it? Where was I going with this…? Oh yeah…my birthday, food, and needing a diet.

Anyway, so as I wish myself a happy birthday tomorrow…cut me a nice piece of invisible cake and we’ll all call it a day.

The Downside

I always enjoy the beginning of Daylight Savings Time. It’s nice to have natural light during the evening hours…it was pleasantly light until about 8 pm last night. But on the flip-side, when I woke up around 6:30 this morning, I was not that excited about losing an hour of sleep. In fact, it was downright torture to get out of bed this morning. I know that as the days/weeks go by, this will no longer be an issue, but as of this morning and right now…I want my hour of sleep back.

I’m trying to get into the swing of things this morning and be productive…but it’s hard. Not only do I feel like I’m down a few hours on sleep, but this is a somewhat short week for me…so getting myself motivated is a little harder than normal. And I’m going to be spending this upcoming weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona for the Giants Spring Training. Can I get a wahoo?...Hello? Anyone out there? Ok yeah, fine, whatever.

It’s too early in the morning for all this peppiness.

Last Weekend

Today is Friday…can I get a hallelujah?

I’m definitely excited about the upcoming weekend...my last weekend before I hit the big 2-8. Can you believe that? Yeah, I know, me neither. I remember back in the day, my birthday couldn’t come soon enough (I enjoyed the birthday parties, big hooplah, and presents)…but now…well, it’s just another birthday. Don’t get me wrong, I would never say that I didn’t like presents (who would ever say that?)…and I wouldn’t turn down an excuse to eat some good food (because hello…when have I ever turned down food?)…but in terms of birthdays…eh, they’re just alright now. No big deal. I think birthdays stopped being something to look forward to …say…after 21. I mean, that was the big birthday to celebrate. So, yeah, next week will bring around another birthday…this will be my last weekend to enjoy being in my “mid-to-late twenties”…as opposed to next weekend when I’m going to be in my “late twenties”...hehe...ok, ok I'm only kidding and I'll hold off my depression for another day (or until I hit 40, then we’ll really talk). Let’s talk about something else…moving right along.

So let's talk about what's really exciting this weekend. We're going to be springing forward on Saturday night/Sunday morning and we'll start getting more daylight...how awesome will that be? It's the first sign for me that winter is over, spring is here, and summer is on its way...wahoo. So tonight (and well maybe tomorrow night) is the last night of these stupid getting dark early nights…cool, huh? It definitely does kick start the month of March and a great early birthday present if I might say so myself. With longer days to look forward to and my birthday around the corner…I must find some way to enjoy this last weekend. Hehe.

Completely Ripped Off

I saw “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” on Friday night and as you can tell from the title of this blog…I was not very pleased. What I thought was going to be an awesome kickass martial arts/video game inspired movie fell completely, and totally, flat. I wanted to like this movie…no, I take that back…I wanted to love this movie. As a kid, I used to love Street Fighter. I, myself, consider Chun-Li to be my character…well hey, I’m Chinese and well, shit…she rocks. So this movie was supposed to be completely awesome…I didn’t know how completely wrong I was going to be until after I wasted an hour and a half of my life…feeling like I could have written a better screenplay myself. My biggest complaints with the movie are listed below:

5. The story line was just terrible. Bison’s motivation during this entire movie was his daughter…because he passes off his conscious onto her…really? I mean, seriously? What the heck was that about?? And there was this weird scene with Chun-Li and some crazy Asian lady dancing in a club…the most random and useless scene ever. It really made no sense in the movie. And at the very end of the movie, it’s brought up that there might be a fight tournament coming up in the (heaven forbid) sequel. If there is any humanity in this world, there will not be a sequel to this movie. And in terms of a fight tournament…hello, that’s what Street Fighter is all about…why wasn’t that the basis for the movie to begin with?!?!?

4. The characters in this movie were way off base. How come Bison has blond hair and blue eyes? Isn’t Gen suppose to have grey hair and a purple uniform? How come Balrog uses a tiny gun and doesn’t use his boxing gloves? And Vega…isn’t he suppose to be Hispanic…why was he portrayed as half-Asian? Plus, he only made a brief appearance with a few lines in the movie. And hello, the majority of the movie took place in Thailand, where was Saggot? And Chris Klein as Charlie Nash…oh my goodness, please don’t insult my intelligence by calling him an actor…Chris Klein should be kicked in the balls for an hour and 37 minutes for his part in this movie (that’s what it felt like to watch him). And finally, you can’t have a Street Fighter movie without Ryu and Ken…where the heck were they?!?

3. The martial arts in this movie was completely laughable. There were fight scenes that were just downright funny because the action sequences were so disjointed…and why was Chun-Li’s signature kick move not even showcased properly? I mean, the signature moves Chun-Li performed were terrible with no explanation of how she could do it. Each move has a story behind them…anyone ever heard of Hadou? In this case, apparently no one. And what was with her training with Gen for like ten minutes and all of a sudden she’s a ninja who magically flies through the air, destroys her captors with nothing but her skill, and becomes fucking invincible? You know, it’s been awhile since I’ve done any martial arts…but, shit, the “martial arts” performed in this movie…is not martial arts...it’s just bad cinematography.

2. The Chinese was poorly translated. I’m not a linguistic expert of the Chinese language, by any means…but the stuff that I did understand, was definitely not translated properly. Seriously, that’s not cool considering how much Chinese was spoken in the movie (more than just a few lines) and considering the entire opening sequence of the movie was based in Hong Kong. And more specifically, there was a scene when Chun-Li was talking to her dad during the beginning of the movie, she leans in for a hug and says “xie xie (谢谢),” which everyone knows means “thank you” but why was it translated as “I love you”??? That’s not even close…

1. Why was Chun-Li not portrayed as Chinese?!?!? During flashbacks of her childhood, she was fucking Filipino!!! And Kristin Kreuk to play Chun-Li…really? Are you serious?? She barely looks Asian, much less, Chinese. Chun-Li is suppose to be Chinese!!! Um…hello, Mr. Casting Director…not all Asian people look the same…

My final recommendation for “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”… pass on the movie and just play the game. Capcom should sue the makers of this movie for defamation of character on behalf of Chun-Li. It was really that bad.