Hosive

this has been described as pixar lite as pixar and disney merged and the pixar guys have been taking the lead on development and production…and it shows! i thoroughly had a great time watching this. a bit cliche but laugh out loud scenes, great quirky characters, grand themes and just plain old fun…especially with 3d. but i’m a sucker for 3d and gimmicks at the movies.

its basically a buddy movie with a dog movie star who actually thinks he’s the cyborg dog he portrays and a few friends he meets along the way home after bolt gets shipped across the country.  its also a road trip movie as they travel from town to town finding themselves and discovering the diversity of america. for the adults, its a meditation on friendship, identity, greed, spin and the meaning of life. pretty deep stuff for a kids film. this is a character driven story with memorable personalities that i wouldn’t mind seeing in another movie. in fact, i would welcome it.

i would watch this over and over. i may buy it for the right price especially when 3d technology becomes affordable at home. theresa thought it was just ok because of the formulaic approach. and i would concede the point but it was well executed formula. the formula worked!

the pixar vibe and quality is trickling down.

i already have a column about comic books but i also wanted one exclusively on collecting(mostly toys). so i thought of the collector…the supervillian identity of the comic book guy on the simpsons….this is a nerdy homage to him, collecting and indirectly to matt groening.

i read somewhere that its part of human nature to collect. so a question to ask, that is strangely revealing, is what is it that we collect?……handbags, music, stamps, coins, shoes, clothes, memories, gadgets, junk, plastic bags to reuse, rocks…

the simpsons toy line made by playmates(not those playmates)is regarded as one of the best toylines ever made along with gi joe, transformers, the original star wars figures lines and cabbage patch kids. welcome to the toy subculture. in japan, the subculture is actually mainstream…more extensive and involved…intimidating if not scary.

the history of the simpsons playmates line is too extensive to recap on my site. but there is an excellent article with pictures of every figure and diorama from the line here. you don’t have to read the whole thing….just look at the pictures(i feel a weird playmates theme arising).

this is theresa’s workstation. at her office, there is a culture of collecting and displaying toy collections from robots to kinder egg toys to the current vinyl toy craze. theresa features our simpsons figure collection by bringing in a different diorama and cast of characters every few months.

with so much snow during this winter, i think of where kids would go on snow days back in my time….the comic shops were full and so were the arcades. “not safe enough to travel for school” said the officials but the kids knew better…it was a free play day. snow got old fast and the budding video game culture was being born in the 80’s…snow was a midwife.

to commemorate, the simpsons has this diorama of an old school arcade depicting a time when the place had more of a mystique. before you could own a video game system…or two…and play in your own living room.  this was the only place for this kind of magic. it was usually ruled by jimbo, dolph, kearny and other thugs. good kids went at their own risk…but when they did….i can attest to the joys of galaga when my mom wasn’t looking or there was a window of time unaccounted for.

the set comes with jimbo but i had to find and acquire the rest of his gang. sometimes bart joins them.

happy snow days!

duh!journal scours the earth for dumb behavior….some low brow…some high minded…all duh!

it was reported last week that the brother of disgraced baseball home run basher mark mcquire was shopping a book around that no book company was interested in publishing. that’s because the brother was not telling us anything new!

Report: Brother says Mark McGwire used steroids – ESPN

A new book proposal, submitted by the admittedly estranged brother of Mark McGwire, claims the former major league slugger used both steroids and human growth hormone during his career.In the proposal, first reported Wednesday on Deadspin.com, Jay McGwire alleges that Mark used Deca-Durabolin and that he introduced Mark to performance-enhancing drugs in 1994.

Jay McGwire writes in his proposal that his brother “began to use, but in low dosages so he wouldn’t lift his way out of baseball. Deca-Durabolin helped with his joint problems and recovery, while growth hormone helped his strength, making him leaner in the process. I became the first person to inject him, like most first-timers he couldn’t plunge in the needle himself. Later a girlfriend injected him.”

Jose Canseco, in a book he wrote in 2005, claims he and McGwire, former Oakland A’s teammates, used performance-enhancing drugs as far back as 1988. Jay McGwire disputes that in the book proposal.

The McGwire brothers reportedly haven’t spoken to each other for years.

The book, “The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger and Ultimate Redemption,” is reportedly being sent by Jay McGwire to several publishing houses in New York. Deadspin.com said that it has been turned down by “many” publishers.

Jay McGwire is a bodybuilder. He writes in the proposal that he took his brother to his supplier and trainer after a 1994 bodybuilding championship, which Jay won. He says McGwire started using performance-enhancing substances then.

The New York Times reported Friday that several publishers who have seen the proposal for the book have passed on it.

“There are so many things about it that I find suspect,” David Hirshey, the executive editor of HarperCollins, told The Times. “If Jay McGwire is to be believed, he says he is setting the record straight out of quote love unquote for his brother, although a cynic might say it’s out of love for a big payday.”

Jay McGwire claims in the proposal that Mark McGwire used androstenedione in 1998 to allow Mark “to avoid all the potential adverse side effects that could occur from using anabolic steroids, such as water retention, hair loss, and liver, heart, or kidney stress. In addition, he wouldn’t have cholesterol problems or testicular atrophy. And there were no problems with the law.”

McGwire hit 70 home runs in the 1998 season, breaking Roger Maris’ single-season record. It has since been eclipsed by Barry Bonds.

Jay McGwire, in the proposal, also says he wished his brother would have confessed at the famous congressional hearing, instead of saying he wasn’t going to talk about the past. Jay McGwire also writes that he doesn’t believe missing out on the Hall of Fame will affect his brother.

“Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn’t nefarious — it was for survival,” he wrote, according to the proposal. “My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom — which is the only way to live. ”

The Deadspin.com report does not say if it asked Mark McGwire for comment on the proposal. Attempts by ESPN to reach McGwire on Thursday have been unsuccessful.

McGwire has been out of the public eye since retiring from the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. He is now 45 years old.

Mark McGwire repeatedly has denied using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. When he testified under oath before Congress in 2005, however, he wouldn’t discuss whether he did.

“Who knows what might have happened if I didn’t get Mark involved with all the training, supplements, the right foods, steroids, and HGH?” the Web site quoted Jay McGwire as writing. “He would not have broken any records, and the congressional hearings would have gone on without him. Maybe Barry Bonds wouldn’t have ever gotten involved with the stuff, either.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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that’s not news!!!!!

but what we did learn is(as espn’s buster olney points out):

McGwire’s brother about as bad as it gets

Friday, January 23, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

A candidate for least interesting story of the year so far, for me, is word that Mark McGwire’s brother, Jay, has circulated a book proposal in which the brother says the former slugger used steroids.

I think the overwhelmingly one-sided public opinion on whether or not McGwire took steroids was cemented long ago, shaped largely by his refusal to testify about the issue before Congress on March 17, 2005. And now, four years later … NEWSFLASH: BROTHER SAYS MCGWIRE USED STEROIDS. What’s next? NEWSFLASH, 2009: FORMER TEAMMATE CLAIMS NOLAN RYAN OCCASIONALLY DRILLED HITTERS INTENTIONALLY. NEWSFLASH, 2009: NEW BOOK REVEALS RIPKEN HAD SERIOUS WORK ETHIC. NEWSFLASH, 2009: FORMER CLUBHOUSE KID COMES OUT ON EVE OF HALL OF FAME INDUCTION AND SAYS RICKEY HENDERSON OFTEN SPEAKS OF HIMSELF IN THE THIRD PERSON. This is almost worse than rubbernecking, trying to catch a glimpse of a wreck’s aftermath. This is almost like pulling off to the side of the road to hang out and take digital shots of the cleanup. The McGwire saga is almost entirely played out. He made his choices, including his decision to not testify openly at the congressional hearing March 17, 2005. For that, he will never get in the Hall of Fame, because his decisions that day cast him into an inescapable catch-22. If he says nothing, he’ll probably continue to receive a vote total in the 25 percent range, as he has in his first three years on the Hall of Fame ballot. On the other hand, if he were to come out and admit that he used steroids, then I suspect about 40-50 percent of the writers would never vote for an acknowledged steroid user. And it’s not absolutely clear, by the way, that McGwire really even spends his days fretting about all that. He certainly understands by now that he’s been convicted in the court of public opinion, and the fact that his brother is indicating that McGwire used steroids doesn’t change any of that; all it does is create a media squall that will go away in a few days, until the next McGwire-related tidbit drifts out from somebody trying to make a few bucks. A lot of columnists are writing that he should come out and come clean and be open, for the sake of garnering forgiveness, for the sake of his Hall of Fame chances. If McGwire asked for my advice (and he wouldn’t), I’d tell him that there would be only two reasons he might want to speak out. No. 1: He should open up if he is absolutely devoted to the idea of following up on his words from the March 2005 hearing and is willing to throw his whole heart and soul into the fight against steroid use. If this is something for which he does not have a deep passion, well, any suggestion from him that he wants to help would come off as insincere, a weak effort to win a few public-relations points in a battle he will never win. Most importantly, No. 2: McGwire should talk about it if he feels it’s important for the sake of his own children. Several years ago, I worked on a piece on Ken Caminiti, and in the midst of a discussion about Caminiti with Wally Joyner, I asked Joyner benignly about whether he had spoken to his late teammate about steroids. And during that conversation, Joyner told me that he had asked Caminiti to get steroids for him, and that he had used them very briefly: He took two pills before flushing the rest down a toilet. What Joyner said that day was that he wanted the record straight for the sake of his daughters: He did not want somebody coming out after the fact and making accusations, leaving Joyner to explain himself to his children. Wally wasn’t selling a book when he talked to me. He just wanted, above all else, to do the right thing as a parent. Maybe McGwire doesn’t need that. Maybe he’s settled the whole issue with his kids. Maybe all the McGwires, except for the brother, have moved on. Maybe it’s time the rest of us do, too. Richard Justice feels this family squabble should never have gone public.

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more duh! behavior all around!

we wanted to do something magical and new yorky for q and christe’s boys, amoz and theo so we headed out for an afternoon at the station at the citigroup center in midtown. it was a free exhibit for the holidays and tons of families came out. we got there just in time as the crowds went exponential in the hour we were there.

amoz hopped onto daddy q….and we were on our way. this was one of two rounds that amoz made to view the exhibit.

it was an elaborate multi-track, multi-train scenic exhibit with the trains whizzing by at different speeds. they recreated scenes of the new york city area from times past when trains owned the hearts and imaginations of americans.

the detail was amazing….magical….for little and big kids….a feast especially for train fans.

amoz was more interested in riding real trains…or at least touching the trains which would have landed q in jail but we found this display and took a few pictures before amoz went for another round with christe and steph while i watched theo.

this was my favorite display as they snuck in this scene with a nod and a smirk.

the holidays bring out the wonderland in nyc and was glad to share it with the lee boys. can’t wait to share it with jaq jaq and my baby girl.

Posted under winter

last month i called my friend leo, leonardo and leopold, for christmas, noel and leotard.

this month, i’ve called him leopatra, leoben(for bsg)and leometro.

so i asked our friend leo chen one day, if his name is short for anything or is it just leo? he said….just leo. it got me thinking where that name came from. then we just started making up origins of the name. and started calling him permutations of leo.

so for the next year, i’ll present one a week until we’ve exhausted the possibilities. i currently do not have 52 versions but only enough to get started. you can help if you’d like.

this week…..i will call my friend leo, bibliotecha. its spanish.

thanks so much for your suggestions so far! we had some of them on the list already but others we did not and they have been added! let me know if i don’t give you your props!

Posted under leo-graphy

when people come into the city, we are always surprised by where they want to visit or to go eat. they are equally surprised that we do not frequent those places or want to go eat there. no. i do not want to eat at ruby tuesdays , bennigans or tgifridays in times square. then they ask where we go……so here are the places we like…not the best or the cheapest or whatever category….just where we go and go on a regular basis…

when we want to indulge in a major chocolate orgy, we come here. they have dozens of permutations of hot chocolates and shakes and desserts and drinks….q tried a chocolate beer here once. luckily for theresa, there are also white chocolate options.

this was part two of the eating tour i took my friend, regina, on. after savory, she was feeling something sweet and asked if i knew any place around where we were. i calmly replied: i do.

now there’s chocolate and then there’s d-mn good chocolate. this is d-mn good chocolate. another place in the city that exposes the fact that others have been serving you counterfeit stuff all your life.

we got a sampler….chocolate banana waffle, chocolate shot with pop rocks, chocolate cake, ice cream with chocolate sauce and some other chocolate concoction. yummy luxurious goodness…along with our hot chocolates and chocolate shakes. any drinks i get here are usually dark chocolate….for ice cream beverages, i also like to add peanut butter.

i am content coming here with guests. more than that and i will wind up blowing up like the blueberry girl in charlie’s chocolate factory.

this place has been described as willie wonka for adults…and the killer thing about chocolate culture in the city is that this place is not first in everyone’s heart. they debate between max brenner and another dude that i will review in the future.

this little alien is my daughter forming right now. this picture looked more impressive on the monitor screen when there was 3d texture and depth. but if you squint and use your imagination, you can see the head, her eye sockets, her tiny nose(that looks like theresa’s)and her fingers in front of her mouth. she might be sucking her thumb.

i promised not to overdo it with pictures on my blog as if my child is the first and only child ever. but a parent should feel like his baby is the greatest thing ever(that’s not always a given). and its a big part of my life and i want to document and share that……so i’ll post baby pictures as they come during the pregnancy…which will be few and far between. then after the baby comes, i plan to do three features a week: one on baby, one on mom and one on dad. don’t fret. and don’t hate.  just a pic and a quick update.

and i’m working on something special too.

Posted under baby

this had some really terrific moments because of the two outstanding leads but overall its a lazy movie. there is not much story or dialogue. much of the relationship and progression happens with the soundtrack playing over the scenes. i wonder how much time they actually took to make this movie. it feels like an easy fill in job for these two real actors…sadly, a quick money grab rather than something the actors will look back with fondness.

the movie also, inadvertantly, proves that romance is not a good foundation for a long term relationship. dustin hoffman’s character is a jerk and an embarassment….with hoffman playing the schlub with expertise. but in an exchange with his ex-wife, she explains that she married him because he was fun. this seems to be the foundation for his new relaitonship with emma thompson: he uses the same charm on and they have a great time in london but it all masks his clear faults. she continues to engage him based on his pursuit and his promise that things will work out. sounds just like how his first marriage started.

i thought it was a pleasant movie with a bit of a love actually vibe because of the locale and subject. but there’s not much beyond what the trailer shows you. i won’t buy this but i may watch this again on a veg day. theresa may also like it on a veg day but ultimately, she may declare it empty as well.

in early december, we attended the jam packed uglycon at the giant robot nyc and had a great time seeing the exclusives, art and prints….and hanging out with rabid ugly doll fans. it was also fun getting called in the raffle early to get access to some of the limited edition merch.

look how happy we look.

we limited ourselves to only one purchase of art….and theresa decided on the yakatori on the left with uglydolls waiting to eat at a japanese food stand though she was also interested on the one behind this young fan with the uglies in monster costumes. success! getting in early, we had our pick of the litter and got the framed version of the yakatori.

the whole ugly exhibit would be up for another month but after that we would be able to pick up the print.

but when we called to see if we could come by to retrieve the print, we were told that there was a mix up and the yakatori had been sold to someone else earlier in the day. this is not us disappointed but rather the manager telling us to pose angry and we obliged!

giant robot apologized profusely and bent over backwards to make amends. luckily, they had an unframed version of the print we purchased and offered a choice of either an unsold framed print or two unframed prints for free! they even said we could purchase anything in the store at the employee discount rate! we declined on using any more moola but we left the store with these:

we chose free art over free framing….we figure that we can always buy framing…but we can’t always buy art.

some of these pieces should look good in the baby room! anyone know a good framer?

Posted under android dungeon/card shop, uglydolls

thanksgiving is usually in maryland while christmas and new year’s is spent in nyc with my parents coming over for a week to spend the sleepy week with us. vision church unlike other churches actually winds down rather than ramps up for the holidays since most of our people are from other places; most of our members are out of town enjoying time with their families.

we usually invite more people over for our annual wholesome new year’s but since the yu’s and chen’s were in taiwan for a wedding we opted to have a quiet new years.

we did have some friends over as well as my parents.

my parents seem to get along well with my friends and vice versa.

as we heard from the dude telling his buddy on his cell phone: we started the year right by watching bolt in 3d. when my parents come over, we try to take them to some show or movie. something special or out of the ordinary for them. imax or in this case, 3d. we end up seeing a lot of kids movies because its easier for my mom to figure out what’s going on. one of her favorite holiday movies is elf.

new years also means berger cookies from baltimore…more like a slab of chocolate with an accidental cookie attached.

then for new year’s day, we headed over to community for brunch….a family tradition. my mom usually gets the seafood eggs benedict. theresa opted for the vegetable bowl because of her aversion to meat during her pregnancy. my dad got the blueberry pancakes. and i went with steak and eggs. juice, coffee and cider flowed freely.

maybe i lied to my boy, q. maybe we do eat like this all the time. definitely during the holidays.

but on the whole, a mellow tsang new year’s. happy 2009.