Memorial Day

      Happy Memorial Day! I have but one message before I go, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, it's been over a month, and yes, I don't think anyone checks this anymore but I will start updating more regularly. I've just been busy with life in general as well as some side projects I'm working on (like my review website which is done, I just need to publish the damn thing, probably in the next two weeks). Other than that, I am doing well. HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

Thursday Night

     I had class again today followed by work. It's tough getting re-used to travelling to the city then going to work later on in the night. Of course, things started well right off the bat when I walked onto the train at my stop, then five minutes later had to walk off at the same station due to the train being messed up. Always fun way to start the day. I got to the city nevertheless and went to class, which was alright. It's networking which I know a lot about already. I am also getting my vouchers to take my A+ tests so I will let you all know when those tests are coming up. Then I had work. It was the usual. Now I'm home ready to sleep. I work tomorrow morning and again have Fri night off along with Saturday and Sunday all day. Pretty tight schedule movie theater-wise. Well, I'm about to pass out from fatigue so I'll talk to you later bloggites.

MIA

     I figure I'd write what I have been up too lately. First a bit of bragging to get out of the way. The NCAA Tournement finished and I did pretty well in my predictions. I got about 64% of my games correct including the eventual champion. Check below for my official guess. The first round of the NHL playoffs ended and I got every series right except for the Devils, who let me down. I got the games a little wrong in the West, but the East I was pretty much dead-on, except of course the Devils. Second round predictions should be up shortly. In short, take Detroit over Calgary, Colorado over San Jose, Tampa over Montreal and Toronto over Philly.
     Okay, now here's a rundown of the past two-weeks of my life:

• Movies Seen: 3 (Passion of the Christ, The Girl Next Door and Kill Bill Volume 2)
  
• Days I worked: 17
  
• Number of Days Spent Upstate: 2

So that's a little tally for you. Mostly work as you can see. I had a few weeks off from class so I relaxed sooo much. It was awesome. D and I have been hanging out a lot too especially when she was off from school for her Easter break. Awesome. I start school tomorrow again, so it's back to the same ol stuff. I plan on taking the A+ Certification Tests in the beginning of May and I'll probably get the vouchers for the test next week. I will let you all know exactly when I take it so you can email me and wish me luck. :-P. I'll be here to blog tomorrow: PROMISE

One Year of Blogging

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of this blog. This is a cause for celebration. Mine online ventures in writing usually don't last more than a few weeks (anyone remember my AIM sub-profile?) but somehow I still use this. I know I haven't written much but during school I usually don't. I'm definitely in a lull right now in terms of blogging but I'm hopefully going to pick it up soon like I did in Feb. I hope to blog at least 3-4 times a week and keep the movie reviews to a minimum though I am probably going to start a website with them all and post the updates and link it. I find I am straying slightly from the main point of this post, my one year blog anniversary. I would like to thank those who read this, if anyone's left TO read it and that's about it. Thanks for a great first year!

Review for Hidalgo

The Main Characters
· Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) is basically the only character we care about in this movie. He is a famous racer who has competed and won thousands of cross-country races in America. His horses’ name is Hidalgo.

The Setting
1890’s America to start, then off to Saudi Arabia

The Plot
Frank Hopkins was a courier for the Pony Express. On a recent trip, he delivers news to an army that is guarding some Native Americans. Somehow, things get mixed up and Frank witnesses the entire reservation get slaughtered. This sends Frank, who is later revealed to be half-Indian himself, to transcend to the depths of alchohol to ease his pain. He stops riding in the Pony Express and instead goes to work for Buffalo Bill Cody in his traveling show. One of these shows has a Saudi Arabian who is runs a famous race in Saudi Arabia. He comes because he is slightly troubled by Frank’s reputation as the greatest long distance racer in history. He has won so many times in US that everyone there thought it was warranted. The Arabian wanted him to not be called that anymore, since he hasn’t won any real races, like the thousand year old, 3000 mile race across the Arabian desert. Frank takes him up on this challenge and goes to Saudi Arabia to compete in this race. He goes on the race to win, but gets sidetracked a bit when he starts talking to the Sheikh’s daughter. This is seen as a major no-no to them and they threaten to castrate him but things plans are derailed when The Sheikh’s daughter is kidnapped, along with his horse breeding book. The Sheikh tells Frank to find her before sundown and bring her back and he can keep his you-know-what. So he has to find her, then go back to compete in the race.

My Review
I usually write these a few days or a week after I watch the movie just to let it sink in. The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. Watching it I got really into the movie. It just DREW me in. From start to finish I was interested in this movie. Maybe it’s the fact I am biased towards Viggo Mortensen and his role as Aragorn in the LOTR trilogy, or maybe the movie was just that good. I really liked the story. There was enough action to keep the LOTR fans liking it, enough of a story to keep the general audience interested and enough of everything for people to enjoy. Of course, with every positive, there must be negatives, because hey, nothing is perfect. First, my main gripe is when Disney says it’s “based on a true story.” Ok, so you think that the movie is true right? Except the fact that Frank Hopkins, though he did exist, never was in the Pony Express, never worked for Buffalo Bill, and never raced in the race across the desert for two reasons, one is that the race never existed, and two is that if it did, Frank never left the US! Also, since I work at the theater, I notice that most of the audience is male. Don’t bring your girlfriend or female friend to see this if you’re out on a date. Definite no-no. Unless she likes these types of movies. Overall though, I’d say that this movie is worth the price of admission. You wouldn’t know it because of poor box office numbers so far, but nothing is really doing well due to the Passion. In final, if you want to see an action movie that actually delivers a very good story, there is nothing better out right now.

**3/4

NHL 2004 Playoff Preview

     Here we are, playoff time again. I love hockey and thought I'd write my predictions and thoughts on the first round of the NHL playoffs. I hope you find this of some interest.

Western Conference
--Detroit Red Wings (#1) vs. Nashville Predators (#8)
Nashville has just had its best season ever, and they get rewarded with a playoff birth, and facing Detroit in round one. Good job. Last year Detroit was upset in a major way by getting swept by the Ducks. The Predators are hoping lightning can strike twice in consecutive playoff years. I don’t think that’ll happen for a number of reasons. First, Detroit is a team of veterans and hold a ton of playoff experience. Who on Nashville is a proven playoff performer? Second, the Red Wings remember last year. They will not let that happen again. The sting of last year’s defeat will motivate this club. The only problem with Detroit is their goaltending. CuJo hasn’t played in a while and if he falters even a bit I wouldn’t be surprised to see Detroit go to Legace.

DETROIT in 5

--San Jose (#2) vs. St. Louis (#7)
It has been a year of ups and downs for St. Louis. By the end of December they were challenging for the President’s Trophy. By the end of the season they were fighting just to get into the playoffs. It cost Joel Quenneville his job. San Jose on the other hand quietly put together a solid season going from a horrible season last year to being second best in their conference. In the end, one thing wins playoff games. Goaltending. Osgood has won a Stanley Cup while Nabokov hasn’t but only a fool would give Osgood the nod over Nabokov to start.

SAN JOSE in 4

--Vancouver Canucks (#3) vs. Calgary (#6)
This will be the series to watch. Vancouver showed how much they missed Bertuzzi by going 6-0 in their last 6 games to take away the division trophy from the Avs. Calgary had a solid season mainly because of Kiprusoff. The Canucks before losing Bertuzzi would’ve had their hands full with Calgary, but without I foresee Calgary pulling a major upset. Bold prediction: Kiprusoff will be this year’s Giguere.

CALGARY in 6

--Colorado Avalanche (#4) vs. Dallas Stars (#5)
What a matchup. This is almost too close to call. Colorado signed Kariya and Selanne this off season to help their playoff odds and ironically Kariya is injured and Selanne has been a non-factor all year. Dallas’ Mike Modano hasn’t played well all year so a series like this is exactly what he needs to redeem himself. There’s only one thing riding on this series, Peter Forsberg. If Forsberg is healthy, Colorado will win. If not, Dallas takes it.

COLORADO in 7

Eastern Conference
--Tampa Bay Lightning (#1) vs. New York Islanders (#8)
Tampa has surprised everyone this year. Who would’ve imagined them challenging for the President’s trophy? Of course, the playoffs are a whole different season. The Islanders once again squeezed into the playoffs on the last few days of the season as the 8th seed. The Islanders hold an advantage in the season series winning three of the four games but this April will be no different than the past, especially with the absence of spark-plug Jason Blake. One and done for the Isles.

TAMPA BAY in 4

--Boston Bruins (#2) vs. Montreal Canadiens (#7)
An Original 6 matchup is always nice to see in the playoffs. Boston has always had solid seasons in the past and managed to choke it away in the playoffs. The Canadiens had a bad year last year on the heels of Theodore’s Hart/Vezina season. Montreal will benefit greatly from Sheldon Souray, who should be up for the Norris Trophy. Boston will suffer greatly from Thornton’s absence. With that said, it will be an intense match-up. The goaltending is about even, Theodore compared to rookie sensation Raycroft. Defense is even, Goncharr and Souray will basically cancel each other out offensively. Offense, with Boston’s Thornton missing, is about even too. Too close to call. In the end, the ghosts of Montreal will rise up to help Montreal win a thrilling triple OT Game 7 to advance.

MONTREAL in 7

--Philadelphia Flyers (#3) vs. New Jersey Devils (#6)
Though the rankings are so far apart, the teams are seperated by only a single point. Philadelphia’s goalie-go-round seemed to have landed on Esche to start the playoffs but two losses will immediately give Burke a chance. New Jersey’s play has been spotty as of late but it comes down to one thing. New Jersey has Brodeur and Philadelphia doesn’t. NJ will hurt without Stevens, but Brodeur is fully capable of standing on his head to keep New Jersey in the game. He can and will contain Philadelphia’s potent offense and timely scoring from people other than Gomez and Elias will help the Devils win and continue their defense of the Stanley Cup.

NEW JERSEY in 6

--Toronto Maple Leafs (#4) vs. Ottawa Senators (#5)
This will be the series of the playoffs. The winner of this series will profoundly affect the landscape of the Eastern Conference. It’s almost too tough to call. Ottawa seems almost like a throwback to the run and gun style of the Oiler’s and can score at any time. The yare bolstered by a strong defensive core, especially the imposing Chara. Toronto helped itself out immensely at the deadline acquiring Leetch (1 Stanley Cup, 1 Conn Smythe Trophy) and Ron Francis (2 Stanley Cups). Toronto can score too. The main question again comes down to goaltending. Belfour is proven while Lalime isn’t. Lalime has the pressure of an alright year on his back but Belfour carries the burden of an entire city waiting to bring the Cup back to Toronto for the first time in 36 years. In the end, it’ll be the closest series, probably no game being decided by more than two goals. This goes the full monty, but in the end, the oldest and most experienced team in the league will eke one out .

TORONTO in 7

Those are my round one predictions. I will be back with round two (conference semi-finals) predictions later this week. Expect a review of some sort up tomorrow. :-).

     You know, I really needed to write something just so I can put the April links up on the blog template. So it should be over to your right ---------------->. Somewhere over there.

     Anyway, I feel like I should write about something now. I was going to write about the NHL playoffs but I thought I'd hold off until tomorrow since I don't want to come on here after about a week and write about nothing. See, I care about my reader(s). I guess I'll write about something I'm not very good at. Keeping in touch with people. Yeah, if you haven't noticed, I'm pretty bad with that. Outside of seeing people in school or work, I hardly keep in touch with many people. I think it's because a) I never use the phone and b) I haven't been going online much at all. I really don't intend on not keeping in touch with people, it just happens. I don't really write e-mails, which I should, and I don't go online to chat with my good friends. Honestly, I don't really like going online anymore and when I do go online it's only for a few minutes. I think it's because on the weekdays when I work, I work usually at night so when I come home I check my mail then go to bed. It really doesn't allow me enough time to catch up with anyone, and noone is online at midnight anyway. On the weekends when I'm not working, I totally just relax. I relax by hanging out with Dolores on those rare days we both have off and I don't like going on the computer and online when I'm relaxing. So to anyone who I may have avoided since January, I'm sorry. Hit me up with an email.

     Well, I don't have much else to add. I hope to blog more often, though they might just be reviews, or links to a seperate page for my reviews? I don't know. Anyway tomorrow I hope to have an NHL Playoff Preview up before the playoffs start. My NCAA pool has done horribly so far. I'm batting about .600 which isn't too bad and I did pick UCONN to win it all. I predict double digit win, 12 points, 89-77.