A NON-SPACE / MOVIE RELATED BLOG... But an actual journal entry!! So anyways, if you’ve been visiting this page since I first started it in October of 2000 (Mr. Burns from The Simpsons: “Not bloody likely.”), you’d notice that I constantly mentioned a girl I called Denise—not her real name, of course—whom I met in college at Cal State Long Beach in Fall of ‘00. Well... Being that I thought about her constantly (and still do...which is the point of this new blog), I tried to dispose or put anything away that reminded me of her. I also tried not to look at her profile on MySpace...despite the fact she’s on my buddy list [deleting her from my list would definitely not be a good idea...since I’d eventually regret not being a part of (at least) the online aspect of her circle]. I was successful in trying not to stare at a photo of her for maybe, like, 5 months...but temptation gave in a few weeks ago and now I’m back reading up on her in her profile and seeing what kind of new, gorgeous pictures she has up. She hasn’t updated her MySpace profile for a couple of months, but her friends did, and it sure does make my day (I’m being sarcastic. It drives me insaaane.) when I see her wearing all these sexy outfits in these different photos. She never dressed that way (i.e. show that much skin) when we had a class together in college, which is disheartening because it obviously meant that there was no one for her to impress while she was at school. Which is opposite of me...since I tried to dress and look as nice as possible to make an impression on her...despite the fact we had a class together only once a week.

So here I am, back to Square One... Trying to think about how I could get her out of my mind again. There was one new photo I saw of some dude putting an arm around her, but I don’t really know if he’s just a close friend or the boyfriend I said not-so-nice things about in this entry. I would think that seeing these photos of her, especially ones where other guys are lucky enough to stand right next to her in pictures when I haven’t seen her in person for like, um, 4 years [I had a really good chance of seeing her again early this month...when I attended a Vietnamese culture show (Denise is Vietnamese) at Cal State Long Beach. One of my co-workers who is also a CSULB alumnus directed the show.] would finally get me to shun any thought of her because of the anger, but it doesn’t. 5 months or 6 months, or even a year... It would only be inevitable that I see what’s going on in her life again in the future. Which basically means I’m in as much a no-win situation not thinking about her as I am thinking about her. ‘Cause life sure does feel empty when you try not to think about someone who you were very, very fond about for many years. And still are.

EDIT: Lakers: 99, Suns: 98... HELLL YEA!!! Kobe vs. Nash: Who's the MVP now, biatches???

ABOVE: The green line marks the path traveled by the New Horizons spacecraft as of
8:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, on April 12, 2006. It is 64,884,826 miles from Earth.
Click here to view the official webpage showing where New Horizons is in space.

NEW HORIZONS Final Update (For Now)... As of right now, the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft is flying past Mars’ orbit...being at a current distance of 65 million miles from Earth and speeding its way towards an encounter with Jupiter on February 28 of next year. All but one of Horizons’ seven instruments have now been checked out and will begin making observations within a few months [two instruments, the Student Dust Counter (built by the University of Colorado) and the Solar Wind At Pluto (SWAP) device, have already made "first light" observations]. The final instrument to be checked out, the LORRI (LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager) camera, will not open its lens cover and be tested till later this Fall...since the instrument is extremely sensitive to light, and mission engineers don’t wanna risk damaging it if the camera was accidentally pointed at the Sun. In terms of the Jupiter flyby in 2007, the planned observation list for the giant planet will be finalized by October, 2006. New Horizons has already made three trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs) to fine-tune its flight path to Jupiter and Pluto...two thruster burns on January 28 and 30, respectively, and the third one on March 9.



In terms of mementos that New Horizons is carrying onboard during its journey out of the solar system, it bears a canister holding the ashes of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh (shown above), a piece of material from the experimental SpaceShipOne vehicle and a Florida coin commemmorating the U.S. space program (both shown below).



Unless events warrant it, I probably won’t talk about New Horizons again till the few months leading up to the Jupiter flyby. See ya!



NEW HORIZONS Blog Entries Archive:

September 26, 2005
December 19, 2005
January 7, 2006
January 17, 2006
January 19, 2006
April 12, 2006

UPDATE: Today also marks the 25th anniversary of the very first space shuttle launch. Hail Columbia!

INSIDE MAN... I watched the new Spike Lee film today, and needless to say, it was more entertaining than He Got Game or Summer of Sam...which, in case you’re wondering, are the only other flicks by the New York Knicks-loving filmmaker that I saw. Haha. I’ll get around to watching Malcolm X or Jungle Fever someday. Not really. Anyways, back to Inside Man... Maybe the reason why I actually watched the film was because I always think people who wear hoods look cool (which is why I think Jedis and Sith Lords—mostly Sith Lords—are the coolest characters in the Star Wars franchise). Or the fact that there’s something interesting about characters whose faces are masked for much of the whole movie (which is why I watched V for Vendetta...other than for Natalie Portman. I like how she’s shaved... Really shaved... Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about her bald scalp). Of course, the reason why this journal entry is completely incoherent is because I can’t say anything about the film without ruining the story for those of you haven’t seen the movie yet. YET. If you’re wondering why Clive Owen holds that bank under seige, watch the film now. NOW.

I’ll stop annoying you with this entry now.

EDIT: Can't wait till The Sentinel comes out. The upcoming film stars Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria and Kim Basinger...and is about a Secret Service agent who is accused of plotting to assassinate the U.S. President. In a very surprising move, Kiefer Sutherland plays another special agent who is tasked with finding the real would-be assassin...which makes this role a lot different from Kiefer's role as Jack Bauer in 24. No wait...

"REMEMBER, REMEMBER... THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER..." That line was by V, the terrorist/hero in V for Vendetta, which made around $26.1 million at the box office this weekend. I watched it yesterday, and needless to say, I want that mask!! Haha, j/k. But seriously though, the film was quite interesting. It pretty much touched on every current-day news item except that rat-squirrel that was found in Laos more than a week ago (Click here for more news on that). What really intrigued me in Vendetta was that (Spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the movie yet) we never got to see V’s face in the film...though what was inferred from one flashback in the story was that he didn’t have eyes. Of course, it was understandable that V’s identity remain a secret throughout the movie. I think it would detract from the filmgoing experience if Natalie Portman’s Evey Hammond character removed V’s mask, only to reveal the scarred face of Agent Smith underneath. V: "Ms. Hammond, welcome baaack. Weee miiissed yoouuu." (End Spoilers.) Please don’t make me ruin the joke by telling you which movie that came from.


So anyways, what’s next to see at the theater? The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and Pirates of the Carribbean 2: Dead’s Man Chest. Oh wait— Those movies don’t come out till May and July, respectively. I guess I’ll kill time beforehand by pondering about why I hate MySpace so much. Haha! Later.

SPIDER-MAN 3... Just so you know, these aren't black & white images of the web-slinger. Spidey will indeed be dressed in black for the Must-See Movie of 2007. Now which version below is an accurate depiction of the costume? Hmmm...


The image on the left is courtesy of the official Spider-Man website

UPDATE (March 10): Spider-Man 3 has begun filming today in the New York Street backlot at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. I'm not gonna divulge anything, since I didn't see what was going on (I was too busy driving around the lot during work...and I like having that thing called a job, haha), except to say I saw Director Sam Raimi in person when I visited the set after the shoot was wrapped for the day. That was cool.

UPDATE #2 (March 17): Since I obviously wasn't the one who took these pics, I guess it's safe to post up these photos (err, hopefully)...especially considering the production crew was still preparing the set at the time these images were shot (New York Street looked really awesome once it was completely dressed for filming). These photos are courtesy of SuperheroHype.com.





UPDATE #3 (March 23): Spider-Man 3 wrapped up filming at New York Street two days ago, but continued filming in Stage 18 (where the classic Sunset Boulevard and the soon-to-be released Mission: Impossible 3 were shot) up until yesterday. I saw Kirsten Dunst outside Stage 18. She was driving around in a small green golf cart. Oh, and Tommy Lee Jones was filming a commercial outside nearby Stage 9 and the Assembly Stage. That was cool.


UPDATE #4 (March 24): Hmm... Looks like they weren't done filming, after all. I visited New York Street after I caught a free screening of the Pierce Brosnan film, The Matador (funny movie) at Paramount Theater this evening, and a night scene was being shot. I obviously won't go into specifics here, but there was one actress from the previous film who I saw. Her name is Mageina Tovah, and she plays Ursula (the dorky daughter of Peter Parker's landlord Mr. Ditkovich), who handed Parker a slice of cake in Spider-Man 2. Or I think that was her, haha. Anyways, that's all. Below are two photos that I took of the Daily Bugle van and the New York cabs as they were parked near soundstages on the Gower side of the Paramount lot.





UPDATE #5 (March 25): For more photos that I took at Paramount Studios, click here. C'mon, that page needs hits!

Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Liquid water (and potential life) on one of Saturn’s moons?? Egads!! Okay, that 'Egads' part was a bit retarded...or flat-out retarded...but the part about water being on one of the worlds orbiting Saturn is quite interesting. The moon in question is Enceladus, whose water-rich geysers were detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft early last year. This oughta’ make another mission to that moon a top priority...even a higher priority than sending a space probe to Jupiter’s satellite Europa, which may harbor a water ocean beneath its surface. Why is Enceladus a top priority, you ask?? Read this entry's opening yellow sentence again please, haha. From what scientists have studied so far, Enceladus has a far greater chance of harboring life (microbial life, that is) than Europa and even Mars combined. Go to this interesting MSN.com article to read what the scientists have learned. Or visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory website for more news as well as additional photos of the Saturn moon. And don’t forget, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (or MRO for short) begins its orbit insertion maneuver around the Red Planet tomorrow at 1:24 PM Pacific Standard Time. ‘Kay, I’ll stop talking like a geek now.



Geysers erupting on the southern part of Enceladus
in February of 2005. NASA's Cassini spacecraft took
this photo.

UPDATE (March 10): So did MRO successfully enter orbit around the Red Planet?? If it didn't, I wouldn't be posting this illustration below. But it did, so there.

The 78th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS... Revenge of the Sith losing the Best Make-up category to (Chronic)les of Narnia was expected, Crash beating out Brokeback Mountain to win the ultimate trophy was not. However, Crash winning the Best Picture Oscar was not a surprise, considering it is an exceptional film. Also, unlike Brokeback, I actually watched the Paul Haggis film. On DVD, that is... Haha. On the television side of things, Prison Break returns to FOX on Monday, March 20th at 8:00 PM PST. Does that mean it airs right before 24?? Holy cow!! Now I know my Monday nights are definitely off-limits to doing other things! Mike Scofield rules!

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to enter orbit around
the Red Planet on Friday, March 10.

THOSE WACKY RUSSIANS! So anyways, I was reading up on news about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (or MRO for short) and its expected arrival at the Red Planet less than two weeks from now, and I found an interesting article online regarding all the spacecraft that have been sent to Mars since 1960. Needless to say, the Earth is batting a little above .500 when it comes to successful missions flown to the Red Planet. And who's the player who should be cut from the team? The Soviet Union-slash-Russia, of course. Back in its Commie days, Russia was pretty much launching probes left and right to Mars...with one intention being to one-up the USA by being the first to land a probe onto the surface of the planet (and Russia was successful by being the first to do so. Too bad that probe didn't last long on the surface). Of course, much like being the first to land a dude on the moon with Apollo, the Yankees prevailed by landing the first truly successful robotic lander with Viking 1 in 1976.

All I can say is, when we finally begin sending humans to the Red Planet, let's hope that they fly on a NASA (or the European Space Agency, I guess) launch vehicle. Wouldn't want our would-be, Mars-bound astronauts to find a one-way ticket to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by having them launch on a Russian rocket. Just kidding! Seriously though, Russia sucks at launching missions to Mars. But let's thank that country for helping us send our astronauts to the International Space Station while our beloved space shuttles remain grounded. 'Nuff said.

Farewell to the Bluth family... Tonight, FOX aired the final four episodes of Arrested Development, and now this hilarious TV sitcom is no more (unless you buy the DVDs for this season as well as Seasons' 1 and 2). The show ended on a good note, though if I was Michael Bluth (played by Jason Bateman), I'd get it on with Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) after finding out she's not really my twin sister. Err, did I say that one out loud?

On another note, when the hit series Prison Break returns to FOX next month, what are the chances that it airs at 8PM on Mondays before 24? 'Cause if it airs on any other day of the week (especially Tuesday), then I'm screwed. Monday is the only day I officially have a day off from work. Darn it.

SUPER BOWL XL... It was a good game, as exemplified (I know, I know... A big word to use for a sports-themed journal entry, haha) during the 4th quarter...when MVP Hines Ward scored a touchdown off that gadget play by Antwaan Randle El and Willie Parker. Of course, had I known the Steelers won 4 previous titles, I would’ve rooted for the Seahawks (Can you tell I'm a die-hard football fan?). Then again, maybe not. I never root for the underdogs... Always the sure-bets... Whether it be the Bulls in the 90s, the Yankees in October (that is, when the Angels aren’t in the playoffs...and I'm well aware that New York hasn't won since 2000), or the New England Patrio— Nevermind, that one was a bad example. Not that I have ever bet money on those teams, haha.

Super Bowl commercial highlights: a few of the Budweiser spots, the Ameriquest commercial where that lady gets caught on that guy's lap on an airliner, that Burger King Whopper "musical", the Godaddy.com spot with that hot babe about to lose one of her bra straps and that Careerbuilder.com ad where the dude is working in that office full of monkeys. Hi-larious.

But what was up with the movie spots?? The only noteworthy teasers were the ones for V for Vendetta and Pirates of the Carribbean 2. Shaggy Dog?? What the heck was Tim Allen thinking?? If that’s the kinda garbage he’s gonna make (when he’s not doing crappy Christmas-themed films), then stick with stand-up comedy. And what the heck was Harrison Ford thinking doing that Dr. Seuss commercial?? Especially considering he was the only non-NFL dude in that ad... Waiting for the Indy IV script to be completed?? Ugh...



Fortunately, what saved the evening was tonight's "Code Black" episode of Grey’s Anatomy. This is the first time I ever watched the show, but needless to say, this show is good! No wonder why Sandra Oh won that Golden Globe... What actually got me to stick around to watch this episode (I attended a co-worker’s Super Bowl Party in Hollywood) was Oh’s reaction when the door to that ambulance opened in the commercial. Awesome. Keep in mind I watch the FOX show House regularly...but what would've Dr. House done if he came upon some guy with a live artillery shell stuck inside his chest? Brilliant. Now that’s good television.