Me Fail English??? That's Unpossible!!!

For The Latest Thoughts From The ErwiNation...

2012-01-02T15:51:00.001-05:00

Go Here - http://walkindreams.wordpress.com/

Godzilla vs. King Kong

2011-12-30T10:58:00.002-05:00

My friend Bill invited me to guest post on his blog Daddy Details. Here is my first posting, previewing the Brock vs. Overeem fight tonight.

Movie Review (Non-Spoiler): True Grit

2011-01-23T16:35:00.001-05:00

Can be found here.

Movie Review (Non-Spoiler): Black Swan

2011-01-02T16:28:00.001-05:00

Can be found here.

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

2010-06-28T14:52:00.002-04:00

Can be found here.

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

2010-05-10T23:02:00.000-04:00

Can be found here.

Erwin's 2010 Summer Movie Preview

2010-05-01T10:50:00.001-04:00

Can be found here.

Lost - Season Six: The Last Recruit

2010-04-25T20:36:00.001-04:00

Can be found here.

Lost - Season Six: Everybody Loves Hugo

2010-04-25T20:32:00.000-04:00

Can be found here.

Lost - Season Six: Happily Ever After

2010-04-13T07:24:00.000-04:00

Can be found here.

Lost - Season Six: The Package

2010-03-31T14:40:00.000-04:00

Can be found here.

Lost - Season Six: Ab Aterno

2010-03-25T14:27:00.000-04:00

Can be found here.

Catching Up On Blogging About Lost Season Six

2010-03-25T14:23:00.001-04:00

Can be found here.

I know, I know...

2010-03-21T00:35:00.002-04:00

Nothing's been going on with this blog for about a month now. I hope to change that soon with at least the Lost stuff. Till then...

Lost - Season Six: What Kate Does

2010-02-10T10:57:00.002-05:00

It was good to hear Claire's hawt Aussie accent again. So, how did "the darkness enveloope her", per Dogen?? Was she Lazarus Pitted after her house blew up? Or did she just go stir crazy?

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season Six: LA X, Parts 1 and 2

2010-02-04T10:38:00.001-05:00

Welcome back, Lost. Only a few more months before we have to say goodbye for good though. :-(

Here's Sean.

Random 2010 World Cup Thoughts After Watching The Draw

2009-12-04T14:13:00.000-05:00

Can be found here.

State Of The Video Games 1Q 2010

2009-11-13T16:45:00.001-05:00

Can be found here.

The 5 Things I Miss The Most When I’m In The Philippines

2009-11-13T16:23:00.000-05:00

Can be found here.

Men's underwear key to fidelity

2009-11-11T15:48:00.001-05:00

At least the Brits say so.

Reaching New Levels Of Geekiness

2009-11-10T00:31:00.001-05:00

The aforementioned post can be found here.

Movie Review: Where The Wild Things Are

2009-11-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

Can be found here.

Remembering A Sad Day 2009

2009-11-05T09:38:00.001-05:00

In memoriam, Ronron

Can't Argue With The Kid's Logic

2009-11-02T06:50:00.002-05:00

So while in Manila, was out to dinner with Manang Tata, Kuya Eric and two of their kids: Migs and Brix.

Brix (who just turned 7) decides to throw some math problems my way for kicks. He's asking stuff like "755 divided by 2, plus 40, times 5", etc. Then he kicks it up a notch and asks "what's infinity divided by 8, times infinity, plus infinity". Then he says he's gonna ask me a hard one --- what's 0 divided by 6, and I tell him you really can't divide nothing (zero) by a number, since you get nothing.

And he replies: "That's why it's hard".

And for once, I did not have a quick, smartass reply.

Typhoon Watching

2009-10-31T01:41:00.003-04:00

So I've been in Manila for the last 2 and a half weeks now. I was supposed to fly out today, 10/31, at 12:45 PM, heading back to New York via Seoul/Incheon.

Mother Nature had other plans.

The Philippines was hit with its 4th typhoon in less than 2 months late Friday/early Saturday, prompting massive delays in air, boat and bus travel (it's a Holiday weekend, being All Souls Day tomorrow, so a fair number of people were inconvenienced). Philippine Airlines even cancelled all domestic and international flights in and out of Manila.

I woke up this morning and peered out my hotel window and saw ridiculous gusts of winds and steady rain. The rain didn't bother me so much as the heavy winds did. I checked on the web, and my Asiana flight to Seoul was delayed by about an hour and a half.

Dilemma time: First and foremost on my mind were the heavy winds. Secondly, with the delay, my scheduled arrival into Seoul was now at 6:50 PM. My connecting flight to NYC was at 8 PM. I miss that flight and the next one isn't till Sunday evening at 8 PM.

Not only was I cutting it close as is, but it was a safe bet that any further delays in my arrival in Seoul, no matter how slight, and I was pretty much SOL. I was going to be stuck in Seoul for the next 24+ hours.

So after some consulting with my Ate Michelle (and help from Grace in extending my room at the hotel for another day), calls were made and here I am still in Manila. The rains and the winds seem to have calmed down and the storm has passed. I get one more night of hanging with Nonoy and friends. And hopefully tomorrow no more surprises!

Gamestats - Batman: Arkham Asylum

2009-08-22T09:21:00.003-04:00

The game's getting great reviews; similar to how everyone raved about The Dark Knight last year, but this time in video game world. Here's a compilation of rating scores from Gamestats.com.

The TPB Project (Or: Indulging My Geekiness Even More)

2009-06-22T23:44:00.003-04:00

The TPB Project post can be found here.

Archie Andrews Is Getting Married!

2009-05-26T15:50:00.002-04:00

Check it out here.

24: Day 7 - 6 A.M. to 8 A.M.

2009-05-19T10:30:00.001-04:00

Oh, Tony. It all comes back to Michelle.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: The Incident

2009-05-14T09:42:00.002-04:00

Can be found here.

24: Day 7 - 5 A.M. to 6 A.M.

2009-05-12T09:42:00.002-04:00

There's still 2 more hours left??? And once again, Kim is in danger... no shock, there.

Anyway, here's Sean.

My New Project

2009-05-11T19:03:00.001-04:00

http://walkindreams.wordpress.com/

What is it about? Click here

Erwin's Summer Movie Preview 2009

2009-05-09T12:07:00.004-04:00

...Can be found by clicking on this link.

Or just copy and paste this:

http://walkindreams.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/erwins-summer-2009-movie-preview/

Lost - Season 5: Follow The Leader

2009-05-07T13:04:00.001-04:00

Wow.

Before we go to Sean, how hilarious was Hurley's history quiz with Dr. Cheng?

Here's Sean.

Two Will Play HBO's "Game"

2009-05-06T20:01:00.003-04:00

Or so says this article from The Hollywood Reporter.

In summary: Peter Dinklage has been cast to play Tyrion in HBO's Game of Thrones pilot, with Tom McCarthy tapped to direct.

Great news. Perhaps Winter really is coming to HBO.

24: Day 7 - 4 A.M. to 5 A.M.

2009-05-05T09:33:00.001-04:00

The end game is almost here.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: The Variable

2009-04-30T11:09:00.002-04:00

Awesome episode.

I'm quite sad that Daniel is dead, but what a way for him to go. We also got confirmation that he was Widmore's son. Loved his line too: "Uhm, do you have anything for beginners?"

Also, loved Juliet's reaction when she saw Sawyer wanted Freckles to come with them. You could see her thought process: "He wants her to go with us? Oh HELL No. I'm giving her the code."

Here's Sean.

I Guess The Genetic Dice Have Finally Rolled That Way

2009-04-29T20:41:00.003-04:00

This is an article from almost 6 years ago. Crazy, ya?

24: Day 7 - 3 A.M. to 4 A.M.

2009-04-28T10:35:00.003-04:00

The episode was all set up for the final 4 hours. But Tony gets extra bad ass points for taking a shower while the rotting corpse of the man he killed was on the bathroom floor.

You know what would have been awesome? What if after the CTU servers went back online and took over the FBI computers, it just automatically reprogrammed all the FBI's phones to have that distinctive CTU ring?

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 2 A.M. to 3 A.M.

2009-04-21T10:29:00.004-04:00

Tony - you just signed your death warrant.

And I'm just waiting for Kim to be taken hostage by Tony too. You know it's gotta happen.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: Some Like It Hoth

2009-04-16T09:21:00.003-04:00

Good stuff - glad to see the back story of one of the freighter people getting more meat around the bone.

Miles being Dr. Cheng's son was no surprise really, but glad to see confirmation nonetheless.

And, the moment Hurley said the words "bounty hunter" I just KNEW he was doing Empire; and fine, the title of the episode was another giveaway also.

And yey, Farraday's back!

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 1 A.M. to 2 A.M.

2009-04-14T11:57:00.001-04:00

Oh Tony, I guess Jack's gonna have to kill you now.

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 12 A.M. to 1 A.M.

2009-04-13T23:33:00.002-04:00

Did not post anything last week about 24 (well, since I did not watch it).... Details, details.

So here's Sean

Lost - Season 5: Dead Is Dead

2009-04-09T19:47:00.002-04:00

So will Ben take Smokey's advice and not try to f with Locke anymore? Somehow I doubt it.

And Ben is as conniving as ever, but I'm so glad he did not kill Penny. Nice to see why he took Alex and got so attached to her in the first place.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: Whatever Happened, Happened

2009-04-02T09:55:00.003-04:00

Yet another great episode.

So ultimately, Jack, Sawyer, Juliet and Kate all had a huge hand in the death of Dharma.

And who DIDN'T Kate tell about the island? Sheesh.

By the way, loved Hurley and Miles' conversation. The voice of the fan!

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 11 P.M. to 12 P.M.

2009-04-01T13:22:00.002-04:00

All I know is, Agent Freckles fell madly deeply in lurve with Jack when she saw his scars.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: He's Our You

2009-03-26T09:24:00.003-04:00

Wow, what an ending.

Glad they filled in a lot of the Sayid blanks; question now is what are the consequences of Ben getting shot (and maybe killed)? According to Faraday, the past can't be changed...

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 10 P.M. to 11 P.M.

2009-03-24T17:01:00.003-04:00

Tony: Don't do it Jack, it'll be 2 against 10.

Jack: 2 against 9.

And White Sherry, thou art a conniving one! Chief of Staff Ethan got played almost as badly as he did in Shawshank...

Here's Sean.

Making Headway

2009-03-23T22:50:00.006-04:00

Okay, so in the last 2-3 weeks, I've finished reading:

Coraline

Twilight Watch

Fragile Things

Below, I've listed the books I am a) either currently reading or b) have in hand in Kindle or hard copy version, as they are on my list to read. I've decided no more new books until I finish at least 3 of them:

The Name Of The Wind

The Chronicles Of The Black Company

Public Enemies

A Dirty Job

Spirit Gate

Last Watch

A Darkness Forged In Fire

The Charnel Prince

What I need is another long vacation on a beach...

Lost - Season 5: Namaste

2009-03-19T12:08:00.002-04:00

To quote Hurley, Nama-what?

Some thoughts:

1) Last night's episode was like a pumped-on-steroids Back To The Future: baby Ethan, young Ben, Radzinsky...

2) Hurley was awesome, acting as the metaphor for the viewer yet again. Loved his lines - "Nama-what?" and "Dude. Your English is great".

3) Kate and Juliet had a catfight with their eyes. Rowr!

4) Saywer/LaFleur taking charge and putting Janitor Jack in his place.

5) Adult Ben was his usual creepy self. What is he up to?

6) Why didn't Sun make the jump back to the past? And based on what Christian told her and Frank, are they now on a quest to make the jump back to the past?

7) How's Sayid gonna get out of the pickle he's in?

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 9 P.M. to 10 P.M.

2009-03-17T10:26:00.002-04:00

Bauer down 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th to Quinn... he swings for the fences, walk off home run1 Bauer wins! Bauer wins! Bauer wins!

And I guess Tony got tired of sitting in that car, so he decided to get some coffee at a nice romantic outdoor setting. Gotta love the fact federal fugitives have been running around in D.C. in plain sight all season long.

Here's Sean.

Know What I Always Wondered?

2009-03-16T21:13:00.003-04:00

In the movies and on TV, they show you people hot wiring cars to start them.

What they never show you is how you turn off a hot wired car.

How DO you turn off a hot wired car?

24: Day 7 - 8 P.M. to 9 P.M.

2009-03-10T14:04:00.003-04:00

Methinks it's time for Jack, Tony and Agent Freckles to go all A-Team on the bad guys!

Speaking of Tony, I hope he has not been sitting in that car for the last 3 hours.

R.I.P., Bill Buchanan. You looked cool as you completed your suicide mission.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: LaFleur

2009-03-05T10:47:00.002-05:00

Am so glad we had an episode focusing on Sawyer. He's been under utilized since the Oceanic Six storyline went into effect, but it looks like he's back on the front lines starting with this one due to his position as "LaFleur".

And that was so cute, Sawyer and Juliet playing house. Will Kate ruin Juliet's love life again though??? Famous last words: "3 Years is enough time to get over someone".

Some thoughts and questions:

a) How did Sawyer and crew finagle their way to staying for 3 years instead of the 2 week reprieve? And they're in positions of authority too.

b) Loved how Sawyer used the Jughead and John Locke angle with Alpert.

c) What precipitated the truce between the Others and Dharma? And what eventually ended it?

d) Michelle Dessler = welcome back to TV world. We've missed you.

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 6 P.M. to 8 P.M.

2009-03-03T09:17:00.001-05:00

You'd think they would send the Secret Service Agents with the heavy weaponry (and/or body armor) first.

Here's Sean.

To Get A Kindle 2 Or Not?

2009-02-28T14:14:00.002-05:00

So I've been seriously debating with myself whether or not to get a Kindle 2.

There are the obvious and not so obvious factors I'm rolling around with in my head:

a) It's not cheap.

b) I have a list of books I will read at some point, but I already have them in physical form though.

c) I'll save a lot of space, as anybody who's seen my bookshelf can attest.

d) No graphic novels/comic book collections on Kindle.

e) Not all the fantasy/sci-fi books I would read are on Kindle.

f) I have this bad habit of carrying a LOT of books in my bag. And don't even talk to me about how many books I bring when I travel. The Kindle would be extremely convenient in that regard.

g) But believe it or not, do you know what is the biggest factor in my head right now? The Kindle just seems... impersonal. Say I'm on the subway, or just hanging around in the park, and I see someone reading a book. I like to look (some would say it's voyeuristic) at the cover and seeing what they're reading. I've discovered new authors and books that way, as well as rediscovering the love for old books I may not have read in a while. I've gotten a bit of a kick as well from seeing someone is reading a book by a personal favorite of mine and would secretly wish him or her the same kind of joy reading the book provided me. And I'd like to think other people have gotten the same kind of experiences from when it's me who's reading the book and it's them checking out the cover.

So anyway, the debate rages on. If I do get it, I doubt all my books will be 100% in electronic form anyway as not all the stuff I read would be in that format anyway, as I have mentioned. So maybe a happy compromise will be reached.

We'll see.

Lost - Season 5: The Life And Death of Jeremy Bentham

2009-02-26T10:32:00.003-05:00

This show is just firing on all cylinders, to quote BTC's email to me this morning.

So what made Ben decide to kill Locke after he just saved Locke from killing himself? There seemed to be two factors: a) finding out Jin was still alive, and b) the knowledge that Mrs. Hawking could help them get back. Oh, the questions!

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 5 P.M. to 6 P.M.

2009-02-24T14:05:00.003-05:00

Here comes the Candyman! You say "Juma" five times and his inept, whipped sidekick Dubaku dies and the Candyman shows up.

Good thing Agent Freckles didn't hear Jack get the info from Dubaku by threatening to f Dubaku's son up, or else she just might have kissed him after slapping him twice.

Here's Sean.

Currently Reading

2009-02-23T15:53:00.003-05:00

I bought this book a good 4,5 years ago (it's from the same author as Barbarians At The Gate), read a few chapters and then honestly it just fell through the cracks.

So anyway, I came across it again while looking through my bookshelf last week and decided to start from scratch. It also helps that the movie version is coming out in a few months (directed by Michael Mann, starring Christian Bale and Johnny Depp), so it was good timing.

Lost - Season 5: 316

2009-02-19T09:28:00.005-05:00

How ridiculously awesome was that episode?

1) Loved the fact they recreated as much of the first flight as they could, with the end result they are back on the island. Hurley with the guitar case to represent Charlie, Locke taking the place of Jack's dead dad, Sayid was with a US Marshall like Kate was, etc. And even Lapidus was there, to take the place of Greg Gunberg's pilot from the season premiere (Lapidus and Gunberg's character knew each other)!

2) So they are back on the island - but when? They are in the past it looks like, based on Jin's clothes and the state of the VW van. So when Locke left the island and stopped the time flashes, the rest of the gang were left in whatever time period they were in at that point in time?

3) Locke becomes the new Jacob when they get back to the island, like Christian did the first time?

4) I hope Ben did not kill Penny. But he probably did - that's what gets Desmond back to the island.

5) Some questions:

- What made Hurley want to go to Guam? And nice touch by the way - him reading Y! The Last Man (Producer Brian K. Vaughan's amazing comic book series from Vertigo/DC).

- Where's Aaron?

- What did Sayid do to get arrested?

6) Loved the Series Premiere homage at the start and at the end - with the extreme closeup of Jack's eye opening and finding himself in the middle of the jungle.

Here's Sean.

24: Day 7 - 4 P.M. to 5 P.M.

2009-02-17T11:39:00.001-05:00

Super Agent Aaron Pierce is back!!!!! Woowoo

Best line of the night: "You're a little bitch, you know that?". "No, YOU'RE a little bitch!"

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: This Place Is Death

2009-02-12T11:26:00.002-05:00

A few quick thoughts:

1) What exactly does Smokey do to his victims? We saw a little glimpse of it when he messed up Mr. Eko, but I don't think that's the whole story.

2) How were The Others eventually able to contain Smokey?

3) The Jin/Sawyer reunion was pretty cool. The joy in each of their faces was great to see.

4) Charlotte, thanks for having the courtesy of revealing some stuff to before you kicked the bucket.

Here's Sean

24: Day 7 - 3 P.M. to 4 P.M.

2009-02-10T10:51:00.003-05:00

Of all the kick ass things Jack Bauer said and did last night,
the most impressive to me was him driving in high speed against traffic on a one way street with one hand on the wheel while his other one was holding a cell phone he was talking to. Think about that, people.

Best line of the night: With all due respect, Madame President, ask around.

Here's Sean.

Lost - Season 5: The Little Prince

2009-02-05T11:52:00.003-05:00

A) I TAKE IT BACK!!!! - hilarious!

B) Almost 20 years of roughing it on the island were not good for Danielle's skin care.

Here's Sean.

They Should Call This "Google Stalker"

2009-02-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

Where Are You? Show ‘Em With Google Latitude

24: Day 7 - 2 P.M. to 3 P.M.

2009-02-03T13:07:00.002-05:00

Did you see Dubaku get the fear of God when he saw Bauer was within his general proximity?

Here's Sean.

Movie Trailer: Coraline

2009-01-30T14:37:00.002-05:00

Dunno why I never posted this, but here's the trailer for the movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" (via Henry Selick):

Coraline hits theaters next Friday, 2/6/2009.

Lost - Season 5: Jughead

2009-01-29T10:29:00.002-05:00

First off, big ups to Sean for calling it. You'll see what I mean when you go to his blog.

Some thoughts:

1) Apparently, the Others choose their leader like the Buddhists do.

2) There were a few great lines. Sawyer's: "Hate to bust up the ‘I’m an Other, you’re an Other reunion…", and Alpert's: "I certainly hate to contradict myself..."

3) Philippines in the house! For those who were unclear, the opening 5 minutes of the episode was set in the Philippnes

4) Will they end up burying the H-Bomb where the hatch will be built in the future?

Here's Sean.

Some Good News About Pushing Daisies

2009-01-28T23:22:00.001-05:00

From the latest Ask Ausiello:

Question: Is there any news on anything Pushing Daisies related? -- Eric

Ausiello: Yes, there are three new developments -- and, believe it or not, all of them are positive! 1) I'm told Warner Bros. will definitely be releasing a season 2 DVD. 2) After undergoing a major post production tweaking, the series finale is now a loose-end-tying-up extravaganza. 3) And the inimitable Ellen Greene is in talks with Heroes to return as Sylar's mom during May sweeps.

UFC Rumored To Be Absorbing WEC's Welterweight Division

2009-01-27T23:36:00.002-05:00

MMA Mania, Five Ounces of Pain and MMA Weekly are all reporting that the UFC will soon be absorbing WEC's Welterweight Division.

Great news if it's true, as I would love to see "The Natural Born Killer" Gary Condit fight the best 170 pounders the UFC has.

Here's the MMA Weekly article.

24: Day 7 - 1 P.M. to 2 P.M.

2009-01-27T11:26:00.002-05:00

Don't mess with Almeida. The Bauer Kill Counter might have to be renamed into the Tony Kill Counter at this rate.

Here's Sean.

The "Screw The Chain Letter Aspect Of It" Version Of 25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-25T23:29:00.001-05:00

So on her Facebook page, my sister decided to post a note listing 25 Random Things About Her. She then "tagged" 25 other people on it, with the instructions that whoever got tagged has to write 25 random things about himself or herself then tag 25 other people. Naturally, the instructions also state that if you do not write 25 random things about yourself and tag 25 other people, you'll get a scary phone call or you'll break a toe nail, or something like that.

I say pfffft to that. I've never believed in or been scared of the "destructive potential" chain letters supposedly have. But you know, sharing these tidbits with y'all will be kinda fun - I just won't tag anybody. Read at your leisure or your pleasure, and if this inspires you to to write 25 random things about yourself, go ahead. If not, that's fine too.

So without further ado:

1) One of my pet peeves is hearing people pronounce Xavier as "Ex-zay-vee-urr" instead of "Zay-vee-ur", and not only because I went to "Zay-vee-ur" High School in New York. I mean, do you pronounce Xerox as "Ex-zee-rox", or Xenophobia as "Ex-zee-no-pho-bia"? No you don't. Why make an exception for Xavier?

2) The first video game I ever finished was the original Legend of Zelda for the NES.

3) When we were little kids, my sister once wrapped a tiny rock in candy wrapper and gave it to me, which I popped in my mouth without looking. More proof sisters are evil.

4) I was 15 years old the first time I went clubbing in New York. As I went clubbing more often in high school, my sister covered for me and my folks never found out about it till I willingly fessed up a few weeks before I graduated. More proof sisters can be not-so-evil.

5) My first alcoholic drink ever was a glass of Vodka and Cranberry; I had it during that "first time clubbing" fact I mentioned in #4.

6) I did not learn how to ride a bike until I was about 10 or 11 years old.

7) I once had to save my sister from drowning in a 4 foot deep pool. Did I mention she had graduated college already when I did this?

8) I have had the honor of being Best Man three times already, to Danny, Dennis and Caton.

9) In the late 90's, Dennis, Danny and myself once went to Kinoko, an all-you-can-eat sushi place in the Upper West Side, with the stated goal of eating 100 pieces of sushi EACH. We succeeded.

10) I am a Laker fan, and one of my fondest memories was being there in person at The Continental Arena when the Lakers beat the Nets in Game 4 of the 2002 Finals to clinch the championship.

11) I have a PS3, a 360 and a Wii. I know of only one other person who has all 3 as well - my friend Sean.

12) The first time I ever went to a Met game at Shea, Daryll Strawberry hit a home run. He was my favorite Met ever until David Wright came along.

13) I am a big Alex Rodriguez fan. How big? Dennis and Anagha gave me an A-Rod Yankee jersey several years ago, and even though I hate the Yankee with a passion, I have worn it in public and there are pictures to prove it.

14) I have 4 books in my collection which have been signed by the author: Danger and Survival by McGeorge Bundy, Brooklyn's Dodgers by Carl Prince, Gasping for Airtime by Jay Mohr, and Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan. The Jay Mohr book is the only one I did not ask the author to sign personally, as it was a gift from my buddy Randall.

15) I am the founder and commissioner of the MCL, an 8 team keeper Fantasy Baseball League which has been around since 1996.

16) I was once walking around New York City with a friend at 1 in the morning and this guy holding a revolver in his hand walked right past us. It was the first and only time I had ever feared for my life in New York City.

17) The first album I ever bought was Thriller by Michael Jackson.

18) I used to have a 30 gallon fish tank. After all my fish died, I asked my mom if I could keep a snake in it instead. She said no really really quickly.

19) I am flat footed. Between that and my extreme near-sightedness, I am guessing I will never be drafted should it ever be reinstated.

20) My current favorite ice cream flavor is Edy's Swiss Orange Sherbet.

21) I'm ranked in the 99th percentile at www.hsx.com.

22) The last time I went horseback riding was over 20 years ago; I lost my balance getting off the horse, fell off the saddle and landed butt first on what seemed like the biggest pile of horse manure known to man.

23) The first time I ever drove a car was on an island in Greece of all places, back in 1994. My friends and I rented scooters, and even though I did not have a license and had no idea how to drive, I decided why the hell not. I survived even though I fell off the scooter once while riding.

24) I don't like lettuce or tomatoes in my sandwiches, as they make the sandwich soggy. I have no problem eating lettuce or tomatoes otherwise.

25) The best concert I have ever gone to was Madonna at Madison Square Garden during her Drowned World Tour in July 2000.

Tearing Down Memories

2009-01-25T13:29:00.002-05:00

This past Friday night/early Saturday morning, I was driving home from a friend's house and my route took me past Citi Field and Shea Stadium.

I had not been to Shea Stadium since mid to late 2008, and when I drove past it, I was pleasantly surprised at how pretty the basically finished Citi Field looked like. Then right next door, I saw Shea was in the process of being demolished already, and I won't lie to you, it tugged at my heartstrings. I had gone to Shea many many many times to root for my Mets, and there were a lot of happy and sad memories associated with that stadium for me: Johan Santana's first start at Shea, Mike Piazza's first home game as a Met, Darryl Strawberry hitting the longest homerun I have ever seen in my life, Pedro Martinez pitching against the Mets as a Red Sox and getting chased out of the game and it turns out later he was hurt, an injury which he never really recovered from completely...

Now, the place looks like a bomb site; but I am really looking forward to seeing the team play in the new stadium in a few months. Only thing I wish that Shea Stadium could have witnessed was a no-hitter by a Met pitcher. Hopefully Citi Field will have better luck with that.

Here's a site that has pictures of the Shea demolition.

Game Preview - Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And The Damned

2009-01-22T19:21:00.002-05:00

IGN's Hands-On Preview of the upcoming downloadable content for GTA IV: The Lost And The Damned

Lost - Season 5: The Lie

2009-01-22T13:38:00.003-05:00

Let me skip the formalities and send it straight to Sean.

Let me say though, loved how Hurley recapped all 4 seasons of Lost to his mom in about 3 minutes!

Lost - Season 5: Because You Left

2009-01-22T11:14:00.002-05:00

Awesome season premiere!!!!

The jumping back and forth between the island and the Oceanic Six is a great new storytelling device, following the fine tradition of the flashback and the flashforwards. A ton of great lines also:

Hurley: "I need a cool code name"

Hurley again: "Maybe if you ate more comfort food, you wouldn’t have to go around shooting people."

Alpert: "It points North, John"

Here's Sean.

Episode 2 - The Lie to follow later today.

In Anticipation Of Tonight's "Lost" Season Premiere...

2009-01-21T13:15:00.001-05:00

Here's Sean with his favorite Lost Season 4 moments.

24: Day 7 - 12 P.M. to 1 P.M.

2009-01-20T23:32:00.001-05:00

Only Jack Bauer can shoot someone point blank and choose not to kill.

Here's Sean.

Movie Review: The Wreslter

2009-01-19T14:29:00.002-05:00

The short of it: 5 out of 8 Nations

The long of it: Full disclosure - every one pretty much knows I'm a long time pro wrestling fan. Have been since I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, watching it with my Uncle. Do I watch it as regularly as I used to? Nope - mostly because I find the story lines not as interesting as before; but thanks to the internet I still keep track of what's going on, as well as a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Having said that, this was a pretty damn good movie,folks, pro wrestling fan or not. Yes, there was great satisfaction in seeing a movie treat pro wrestling very seriously (unlike say, Ready To Rumble; and Beyond The Mat and Wrestling With Shadows were documentaries so those don't count). It was pretty cool also to see them show wrestlers backstage going over spots and blading (even though it should have been done faster than it was shown). I'm glad the movie - to use a pro wrestling term here - decided to break kayfabe.

But this was not a movie about pro wrestling; it was a movie about a pro wrestler - Randy "The Ram" Robinson, as played by Mickey Rourke. And what a performance it was, folks. Yes, the allegories between The Ram and Rourke's careers have been pounded to death, but even if you put that in the back of your mind, this was still a performance for the ages.

Watch this if you get the chance, folks.

3 New York Times Articles For Your Reading Pleasure

2009-01-19T13:14:00.003-05:00

Fighting For Recognition: "Tyson" At Sundance - about the documentary on Mike Tyson.

Back From The '70s, Without The Zaniness - Electric Company is back, but sadly, according to the NYT, it is nothing like the original.

The Man Who Makes Sense Of "Lost" - About, well, Lost.

Amy Ryan Returning To The Office!

2009-01-15T22:28:00.001-05:00

So says Greg Daniels to Ausiello. Yey!!!!

24: Day 7 - 8 A.M. to 12 P.M.

2009-01-14T09:25:00.005-05:00

Back in April 2007, I gave up on 24 Day 6.

But just like life, a whole new day can go a long way in making you forget the ugliness of a previous one. And after four hours, it's been so far, so GREAT, for Day 7.

Here's Sean.

Movie Review: Bolt

2008-12-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

The short of it: 6 out of 8 Nations.

The long of it:

So earlier in the week, Nickey Mouse and I decided to watch Bolt on Saturday afternoon. The best time for the both of us was a 2 PM showing, which meant kids galore, especially since it was in 3D. We get to the theater, get on line to get in, and Nickey Mouse promptly points out we were the only ones there not toting a "little one" with them to watch the movie. I was going to make a joke about how she could pass for a "little one" since some of these kids were not that much shorter than her, but she beat me to the punch and said "And I don't count, no matter what you might say".

Anyways, as for the movie itself. There was a short animated film before the feature presentation itself, and it was a Cars 3D short from the Pixar folks. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either. Bolt started, and let me tell you, now that John Lasseter is the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar AND Disney Animation, the quality of the stories from the latter is comparable to the former's once again. They hit a nadir with Treasure Planet, but things are in the upswing it seems, as the formula seems to be Pixar releases their offering in the summer and Walt Disney Animation Studios comes out with theirs during the Holiday Season.

While Bolt does not break new ground in animation or in storytelling (the list of Pet/Owner reunion movies is pretty extensive), its execution was still excellent. Rhino the Hamster stole a lot of the scenes he was in, but all the characters were pretty interesting. The part when Bolt and Penny were finally reunited during a rescue scene --- so touching. You couldn't help but root for those two and Mittens the Cat as well, and all in all, I highly recommend everybody to watch this flick.

Got The Setup Man I Was Hoping For!

2008-12-10T23:47:00.002-05:00

From Ken Rosenthal's Foxsports.com blog from the baseball winter meetings:

UPDATED 11:12 p.m. — Done deal: Mets acquire Putz

The Mets have acquired a setup man for new closer Francisco Rodriguez — and that setup man is another closer from the American League West.

J.J. Putz is headed to New York in a three-team trade with the Mariners and Indians, according to major-league sources.

Under terms of the deal, the Mets get Putz, outfielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green from Seattle. The Mariners receive reliever Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez and first baseman Mike Carp from the Mets. They also get Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians and minor leaguers. The Indians get reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and infielder Luis Valbuena from Seattle.

From the Mets' perspective, the deal is Heilman and Smith for Putz. Chavez and Reed are simply an exchange of backup outfielders; Smith and Green are an exchange of right-handed groundball specialists.

Ernie Proclaims His Love For Bert

2008-12-10T17:19:00.000-05:00

Bert And Ernie, All Gangsta

2008-12-10T17:14:00.001-05:00

Coming To Manila Will Reopen Next Month

2008-12-09T23:14:00.003-05:00

The next chapter will soon be written: Coming Back To Manila! Expect the first new posting on Coming To Manila sometime in the middle of January.

A Good Start

2008-12-09T23:03:00.002-05:00

Mets and K-Rod agree on a 3 year deal. Now we still need to further solidify the bullpen, get another hitter and another starting pitcher as well. Let's Go Mets!

ABC Taketh Pushing Daisies, But They Might Giveth This

2008-12-08T13:55:00.004-05:00

ABC has ordererd a pilot for Fables. Woowoo! Hopefully, this and/or the pilot of A Song Of Ice and Fire which HBO ordered gets the eventual series green light!

Comparing MMA and Boxing Live

2008-12-07T18:32:00.002-05:00

Dave Meltzer (if you don't know who he is, I suggest reading his Wiki page - he is one of the most in-the-know combat sports writers out there) has an article up on Yahoo! sports comparing watching MMA (specifically UFC) and Boxing live. Pretty interesting read.

Pacquiao Destroys De La Hoya

2008-12-07T01:22:00.003-05:00

So, as per tradition, I went home to New Jersey this weekend so I could watch the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight with my folks. I try to watch all the Pacquiao fights with my dad, as well as any fights out there that is worthy of PPV bucks (Margarito-Cotto from a few months ago for example). Manong Marlon and Manang Ritchie joined us for dinner and the fight and we settled ourselves in the basement after we ate to watch the undercard.

Come main event time, my mom disappeared as she got too nervous and watched the fight from the master's bedroom. She really had nothing to worry about as Pacquiao dominated De La Hoya the entire fight en route to an 8th round T.K.O. I had no worries to be honest with you, because the moment I heard De La Hoya had rehydrated to only 147 lbs for fight night and Pacquiao was actually going to be heavier by 1 and a half pounds, I knew it was pretty much over for the Golden Boy.

Listen, there are a few things which cannot be taught and are pretty much given by God - two of those are size and speed. Both also happen to be relative measures. De La Hoya's biggest advantage going into the fight was size - he was four inches shorter and he was expected to be about 10 to 15 lbs heavier than Pacquiao by fight night. De La Hoya's knockout power has virtually disappeared but as long as you are the bigger guy, you have that advantage. By actually coming in lighter in weight than Pacquiao, he gave up the size advantage. And speed - my goodness, that advantage was Pacquiao's in spades.

When TJC and I watched the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight a year and a half ago, I came to the conclusion Oscar did not want to get hit anymore. In order for him to beat Mayweather, he had to eat a few punches and get in close to Pretty Boy Floyd. Instead, Mayweather counter punched him to death. De La Hoya would connect, Mayweather would connect with a flurry of counter punches and De La Hoya would back up not wanting any part of it. This fight just confirmed that conclusion; this time Oscar didn't even get the opportunity to be counter punched. He was beaten to the punch literally every time. The speed and power advantage was just too much and by Round 4 or 5, you could tell Oscar did not want any part of this anymore. By Round 6, it was getting worse. In Round 7, Oscar stopped fighting back and just took continuous punishment from Manny. I was yelling at the TV for the ref or Nacho Beristain (Oscar's Trainer du jour) to stop the fight - a fighter's health and safety should be the top priority. Finally, the inevitable happened after the 8th round as Oscar did not answer the bell to start the 9th as Nacho stopped the fight.

Is Oscar done? He sure looked it. He could not pull the trigger even more than he had in his recent fights (when he was gunshy already), and he was beaten all over the ring like a redheaded step child. De La Hoya had NEVER been beaten this badly in any of his fights. Maybe one last fight next Cinco De Mayo and then call it a career?

As for Pacquiao, he's already the best boxer in the world and he conceivably could take over De La Hoya's mantle as the top draw in the sport (He won't be as huge a draw as Oscar though, I think. Oscar had a lot of other things going for him besides his boxing skills. But I am glad he is following the De La Hoya path of taking on the biggest fights possible). The talk is Ricky Hatton is next, but maybe Top Rank can throw enough money at Mayweather and get him to unretire. That would be a TREMENDOUS fight and break the bank, I think; it would be the biggest Boxing fight in terms of money and PPV buys in recent memory not involving Oscar. It needs to happen.

Another Reason Why Pushing Daisies Is So Great

2008-12-06T01:52:00.001-05:00

Kristin Chenoweth + Eternal Flame = Awesomeness. You have no idea how sad I am this show is getting cancelled.

The Fight To Save Boxing?

2008-12-01T18:35:00.003-05:00

Good article by Kevin Iole in Yahoo! Sports about the declining popularity of boxing in the States and what could be done to turn the tide.

I completely agree - the best fights are not being made in boxing for the most part. Say what you will about the UFC holding a near monopoly in the MMA world; and make no mistake about it, there are a lot of pros and cons about that. But an undeniable pro is that they have the capability to give the people the matches they want to see since these fighters are under contract to them. That's why we saw Couture-Lesnar last month, and will be seeing BJ Penn-GSP again in January.

When Oscar De La Hoya retires, I think the biggest PPV draws will be Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, but a) their appeal will mostly be ethnicity based and b) they are not gonna draw anywhere near De La Hoya's numbers. One thing about Oscar - he wanted the best fights no matter what. Winning or losing seemed secondary, he just wanted the best possible fights and it helped him become the monster draw that he is. I'm glad Pacquiao seems to be following that same path, but he has stated that he will not be fighting much longer (3 more fights after this was his target, if I remember correctly). Vegas may soon be MMA central rather than Boxing central at this rate.

Movie Review: Quantum Of Solace

2008-11-26T16:17:00.002-05:00

The short of it: 4 out of 8 Nations

The long of it: Bourne. Jason Bourne.

Or at least that's who my buddy Mots think the new Bond was more like in Quantum of Solace. And I agree with him. And neither of us think it's a good thing.

Some background: I'm a pretty big Bond fan. I have this for crying out loud. I've read Ian Fleming's Casino Royale and have plans to read the other Bond novels he wrote. And Mots and our friend Crazy J are big Bond fans as well, and I dare say they are even bigger Bond fans than I am. So it was with them two, Wetseel and Bruno that I watched Quantum of Solace with; needless to say the standards we have are pretty high.

Nevertheless, I have to say that we left the theater with a hollow feeling. The story itself wasn't bad, but here were my issues with the flick:

a) The cinematography during the fight and chase scenes were horrible. It was in extreme close up and in "shaky hand held camera" modes it seemed, with quick cuts between shots. It was confusing, not to mention motion sickness inducing. It was hard to follow what was going on during those scenes and it kinda sucked.

b) Yes, the Bond in the novels was the serious type, but this Bond is WAY too serious. Even Sean Connery (THE best Bond ever, and that's not even open to argument) had a little smirk on his face and had the funny lines. Daniel Craig's Bond is on the Jason Bourne killing machine program it seemed. I mean seriously, they're taking this Jason Bourne bent way too far. (Side note: while Connery is the best Bond ever, Roger Moore is still my favorite Bond - yes, there is a difference. I grew up with Moore as the James Bond I watched in the theater, so he was the first one I ever saw as Bond, ergo he will always be my favorite).

c) And speaking of which, Bond never took the 00 privileges lightly. He never liked the killing, even in the novels. And yet, there he was, all serial killing happy it seemed because of his lust for revenge (again, like Jason Bourne).

d) Yes, there is now less emphasis on the gadgets, but it does not mean you should completely forget about the great Bond support characters like Ms. Moneypenny and Q.

e) I hope the "Quantum" group will turn out to be SPECTRE. Give us Blofeld!!!!!!!

f) You CANNOT, CANNOT, CANNOT have the opening credits with the bullseye on a walking Bond who suddenly turns and shoots, followed by the familiar Bond theme, at the END of the movie. That's why it's the OPENING credits, for pete's sake.

g) Distinct lack of the Bond theme as well during the movie! That is one of the most recognizable and loved themes ever, and you did not hear it until the end of the movie. Stupid. Imagine watching Indiana Jones or Star Wars and not hearing the familiar musical strains you are used to hearing????

Anyway, that's all I have to say I think. Maybe the next film will make me see this film in a better light, as it would serve as a bridge to a more satisfying experience.

Lost Season 5 Poster

2008-11-20T13:06:00.002-05:00

One Step Closer To Jurassic Park

2008-11-19T17:00:00.003-05:00

Here's an article about the almost complete deciphering of the Woolly Mammoth's DNA. This could lead to recreating the animal one day in the future.

It's gonna be a race between the resurrected animals and the machines as to whom will take over first and become our new masters in the future...

Mixed Martial Arts Makes Its Way To High School

2008-11-18T18:58:00.003-05:00

Here's a pretty interesting article from today's New York Times about MMA in High School.

Lesnar Beats Couture

2008-11-16T20:51:00.003-05:00

It was a great card, folks. The main event was so much fun to watch, and it wasn't even the best fight of the night, IMHO (Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley was I think). Such amazing heat from the crowd, and I hope we get to see Minotauro vs. Brock instead of a Brock-Mir rematch!

Director Hired For World War Z

2008-11-14T09:06:00.003-05:00

Marc Foster (Quantum Of Solace) has been hired to direct World War Z.

J. Michael Straczynski is writing the screenplay, and this should be a good one. The book was a good, fun, read and it should translate well onto the silver screen.

Me Fail English??? That's Unpossible!!!

For The Latest Thoughts From The ErwiNation...

Godzilla vs. King Kong

Movie Review (Non-Spoiler): True Grit

Movie Review (Non-Spoiler): Black Swan

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

Erwin's 2010 Summer Movie Preview

Lost - Season Six: The Last Recruit

Lost - Season Six: Everybody Loves Hugo

Lost - Season Six: Happily Ever After

Lost - Season Six: The Package

Lost - Season Six: Ab Aterno

Catching Up On Blogging About Lost Season Six

I know, I know...

Lost - Season Six: What Kate Does

Lost - Season Six: LA X, Parts 1 and 2

Random 2010 World Cup Thoughts After Watching The Draw

State Of The Video Games 1Q 2010

The 5 Things I Miss The Most When I’m In The Philippines

Men's underwear key to fidelity

Reaching New Levels Of Geekiness

Movie Review: Where The Wild Things Are

Remembering A Sad Day 2009

Can't Argue With The Kid's Logic

Typhoon Watching

Gamestats - Batman: Arkham Asylum

The TPB Project (Or: Indulging My Geekiness Even More)

Archie Andrews Is Getting Married!

24: Day 7 - 6 A.M. to 8 A.M.

Lost - Season 5: The Incident

24: Day 7 - 5 A.M. to 6 A.M.

My New Project

Erwin's Summer Movie Preview 2009

Lost - Season 5: Follow The Leader

Two Will Play HBO's "Game"

24: Day 7 - 4 A.M. to 5 A.M.

Lost - Season 5: The Variable

I Guess The Genetic Dice Have Finally Rolled That Way

24: Day 7 - 3 A.M. to 4 A.M.

24: Day 7 - 2 A.M. to 3 A.M.

Lost - Season 5: Some Like It Hoth

24: Day 7 - 1 A.M. to 2 A.M.

24: Day 7 - 12 A.M. to 1 A.M.

Lost - Season 5: Dead Is Dead

Lost - Season 5: Whatever Happened, Happened

24: Day 7 - 11 P.M. to 12 P.M.

Lost - Season 5: He's Our You

24: Day 7 - 10 P.M. to 11 P.M.

Making Headway

Lost - Season 5: Namaste

24: Day 7 - 9 P.M. to 10 P.M.

Know What I Always Wondered?

24: Day 7 - 8 P.M. to 9 P.M.

Lost - Season 5: LaFleur

24: Day 7 - 6 P.M. to 8 P.M.

To Get A Kindle 2 Or Not?

Lost - Season 5: The Life And Death of Jeremy Bentham

24: Day 7 - 5 P.M. to 6 P.M.

Currently Reading

Lost - Season 5: 316

24: Day 7 - 4 P.M. to 5 P.M.

Lost - Season 5: This Place Is Death

Recommended Reading: The Graveyard Book

24: Day 7 - 3 P.M. to 4 P.M.

Lost - Season 5: The Little Prince

They Should Call This "Google Stalker"

24: Day 7 - 2 P.M. to 3 P.M.

Movie Trailer: Coraline

Lost - Season 5: Jughead

Some Good News About Pushing Daisies

UFC Rumored To Be Absorbing WEC's Welterweight Division

24: Day 7 - 1 P.M. to 2 P.M.

The "Screw The Chain Letter Aspect Of It" Version Of 25 Random Things About Me

Tearing Down Memories

Game Preview - Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And The Damned

Lost - Season 5: The Lie

Lost - Season 5: Because You Left

In Anticipation Of Tonight's "Lost" Season Premiere...

24: Day 7 - 12 P.M. to 1 P.M.