Pokemon | Wi-Fi Trading 2

This week was a pretty good week for Pokemon trading through Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) service. In all, I was able to get 10 Pokemon over the Pokemon GTS.

I got Roserade (#407), Rampardos (#409), Bastiodon (#411), Mothim (#414), Drifblim (#426), Lopunny (#428), Purugly (#432), Toxicroak (#454), Lumineon (#457), and Weavile (#461).

from left to right: Weavile, Lopunny, Mothim, Purugly, Lumineon, Toxicroak, Drifblim, Rampardos, Bastiodon, Roserade

Most of these are Pokemon from the Sinnoh region that I didn't have time to capture or evolve in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl long after I'd finished the main storyline in the games.

In trading, it's always best to offer a Pokemon that's sorta rare, so I always offer one of the Johto Pokemon in exchange, particularly Cyndaquil (#155), so I always manage to get a trade.

Music | The Shamen - Boss Drum

The Shamen were one of those British electronic bands that came out during the 1990s. Their music was frequently labeled as techno, rave, or acid house, but most of it didn't really catch my attention until Boss Drum.


Boss Drum was featured in their album of the same name that was released in 1992. The album version was okay, but not really that great, until they released "The Beatmasters Radio Mix" for the single version.

That remixed single version was perfect in every way--it sounded almost positively tribal, with the awesome thumping drums and heavy bass, and quickly became one of my favorites during that time.

The video for Boss Drum can be regarded as typical of 1990s music videos: you don't know what the hell's going on. There's a bear beating a drum, a girl in a pointed white hat, the band members singing and wearing ridiculous-looking headsets, and everything takes place in what appears to be a junkyard. However, the video does feature that excellent radio mix, so just ignore the video and focus on the song instead.

Film | The Incredible Hulk

When Marvel Comics made its first movie adaptation of the Hulk years ago, with noted director Ang Lee at the helm, the result was a boring mess, with characters too saddled with angst and a hilarious-looking CGI Hulk. About the only thing I liked in that film were the comic book-style scene transitions.

Maybe someone in Hollywood thought that the first movie sucked enough, so they decided to make another movie that completely disregards the first one. This new Hulk movie is neither a prequel nor a sequel, but is actually a reboot--this time, everything about the Hulk's origin is conveniently summarized during the opening credits.

Basically, to sum up the entire movie, the Hulk's alter-ego, Dr. Bruce Banner, is on the run from the U.S. Government forces, led by rabid General "Thunderbolt" Ross, who also happens to be the father of Betty Ross, Bruce's lady love. Things get complicated (they always do) when the General hires a mercenary who's willing to do more to capture Banner, and ends up transforming into another Hulk-like monster, the Abomination.

In terms of pacing, this new film is an improvement over the first movie, but it's also a lot sloppier in terms of editing...and logic: somehow, while hiding out in a crowded, impoverished area of Brazil, Bruce manages to snag a broadband connection so he can login in and chat with a Mr. Blue in New York--amazing!

Both Bruce and Betty also appear to have uncanny abilities to instantaneously travel from one place to another without breaking a sweat...one moment they're high up in the mountains, then they're in a suburban shopping area the next--and all that without having a car!

Maybe it's just me, but the CGI in this new movie is just damned awful; Hulk appears to have icky bulging veins throughout his green body, and seeing the Hulk and Abomination slug it out reminded me of those stop-motion clay animation figures.

The film has lots of unintentionally hilarious scenes, and at one point turns into King Kong, LOL. Not even the appearance of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark from Iron Man can redeem this movie for me...it's just incredibly bad. Good sound though, heh.

Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind

Apologies to Linda Ronstadt, but the title of her 1989 hit album seems so appropriate for the humongous storm that passed by here hours ago. The storm, named Frank, hit Manila in the early hours of the morning.


I woke up sometime around 3:00am, because it was chilly--we've been having hot & humid weather for the past few weeks, so this cold was downright unusual, even more so for me, because I rarely feel cold. What got me up in an instant was the loud howling of the wind, as I realized that the cold wind was entering the room from the window; I closed all the windows and promptly went back to sleep.

Around 5:00am, I woke up again--this time it was raining heavily, and there was no power. The wind and rain pounded against the homes on our street, and there's nothing more disturbing than hearing the wind howl repeatedly nonstop; it's like there was a tornado outside.

As expected, the rains continued and power was out for most of the day--good thing I made sure to charge the iPod, PSP and the 2 DSs just last night. Since there was really nothing else to do, I just played the DS the entire day, heh.

The power came back around 4:00pm, and I was annoyed that there was no cable, even though I was hardly surprised. Good thing there was nothing wrong with my DSL connection, and since there was no lightning during the storm, it was relatively safe to use the PC.

But they'd better bring back cable soon.

Film | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

If I'd rank all the books I've read throughout my lifetime, The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis would be at the very top. Comprising 7 books, all written in a light tone that reflects a far more simpler era (the 1950's), the Narnia series follows several children from Earth who are transported to another world called Narnia, where they often participate in struggles of good vs. evil at the behest of a god-like being in the form of a lion called Aslan.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the second movie in the Disney franchise, and a direct sequel to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, taking place a year after the Pevensie siblings returned from Narnia.

However, time moves differently in Narnia than on Earth, and roughly more than a thousand years have passed in Narnia since the children left. Humans from a race called the Telmarines with no respect for the lands or the talking creatures have taken over Narnia, and it's up to the rightful ruler, Prince Caspian, to restore order back to Narnia.

It all sounds easy enough, but I forgot to mention that Caspian's evil Uncle Miraz wants him dead and wants to rule all of Narnia. But Caspian has friends who still believe in the old Narnia, and they help him escape, making him summon the Pevensies, who in turn help him take back Narnia.

Compared to the first film, Prince Caspian is more action-packed than usual, with lots of battle scenes similar to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The effects are much better, which makes the overall look awe-inspiring.

One of my favorite characters in the Narnia series, Reepicheep the Mouse, is given lots of scene-stealing moments, and his characterization was exactly how I imagined it would be; it was spot on from the books, and kudos to the filmmakers for not diminishing his part. Aslan is of course magnificent as usual, and is once again a marvel of CGI--it's hard to believe that he's not real.

But this being a Hollywood-produced movie and all, it was obvious from the start that they would take creative liberties with the film like they did in the first movie , as the material in the actual book is not enough to fill up a two-hour film. So we've got extended battle scenes, plus a completely new castle siege scene, and even hints of a romance (eewww) between Caspian and Susan Pevensie.

Most of the added material works, but what I didn't like was they made Caspian a lot older--in the books, he's supposed to be a boy, but here he looks like a 30 year-old guy who just stepped out from some telenovela, with the same Spanish accent and all.

But the movie adaptation as a whole is excellent; it's highly recommended viewing for everyone, even for those who didn't watch the first movie. Bring on the next book--The Voyage of The Dawn Treader...

Pokemon | Wi-Fi Trading

During work days, one of my favorite places to eat is McDonald's; I always just can't enough of their breakfast fare or their Quarter Pounder. But the nearest McDonald's from our office was located about 2 blocks away, and walking all that way can get pretty tiresome after a while.

Fortunately, a new McDonald's outlet opened a couple of months ago near the office, and this place was a lot nearer, about 2 buildings away. This new branch also had a McCafe inside it, and something else as well: an extremely strong Wi-Fi connection.

Of course, I wasted no time in testing the Wi-Fi connection--by using my DS Lite to access Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) service. Connection is usually quick and trouble-free, and I've used it to mainly trade Pokemon from the Pokemon Global Trade Station (GTS).

from left to right: Mismagius, Honchkrow, Lucario, Vespiquen, Luxio, Luxray

In trading, the trick is to offer Pokemon that are needed by other players. I mostly offer the Pokemon starters from all the known Pokemon games, and since these Pokemon are usually in demand, I always get a trade every day.

This week was a good week for trading, and I was able to get Mismagius (#429), Honchkrow (#430), Lucario (#448), Vespiquen (#416). Today was especially lucky, as I got 2 new Pokemon; I received Luxio (#404) when I had brunch, and Luxray (#405) when I had lunch several hours later.

Gizmos | R2-D2 DVD Projector

This R2-D2 DVD Projector by Nikko Home Electronics is probably one of the most awesome Star Wars merchandise that I've ever seen. It's a near-size perfect replica of my favorite Star Wars character, the heroic droid R2-D2, that can roll around, turn left or right, spin its head, and do all those chirps, bleeps and burbles just like in the movies.

Of course, as its name implies, its main function is a video projector--it can project any digital media up to 260 inches on walls or ceilings. It has a built-in DVD player that can play any almost any type of optical disc media format--audio CDs, VCDs, DVDs, CD-R/RWs, DVD-R/RWs, DivX, mp3, mp4, even jpeg files.

The R2-D2 DVD Projector with Millennium Falcon Remote Control; the iPod dock can be seen on Artoo's front panel.

Not satisfied with all that, Artoo also has an iPod dock, lots of A/V & USB ports so you can even connect your video game consoles or flash drives, FM wireless audio, and 20W of glorious stereo surround sound.

Its remote control is also unique: it's in the shape of the Millennium Falcon, can light up, and comes with a sleek-looking removable stand.



This thing is a technogeek's dream, and I really want one. The price? $2,900, which is about P 129,028 here. I gotta get me one of these--yeah, right... *sigh*