Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A battle-scarred Optimus Prime in TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... USAToday released several official photos from next June’s Transformers sequel last Sunday and Monday. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t see pics of the robots themselves (with the exception of Optimus Prime, above) till the teaser trailer...which should be released around February. The image below of Megan Fox running and, um, adjusting her top oughta do for now... That, and the cool shot of the Pyramids.

Official photos from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

Official photos from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

Official photos from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

Official photos from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

Official photos from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

Official photos from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

One more photo for the road...courtesy of the website obviously watermarked on the lower left-hand corner of the pic (duh).

Group photo of the TRANSFORMERS 2 main cast and crew.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

TERMINATOR SALVATION... I'm totally watching this movie when it comes out in theaters on May 22...

Monday, December 29, 2008

The art of motorsport drifting.

DRIFTING... I’m too lazy to elaborate on what this car racing technique is (if you don't know already), but the video below should give you a pretty darn good idea on what drifting is about. The highlight of this clip is the driver drifting his Subaru Impreza in a complete 360° circle around another dude as he rides a Segway scooter across an obstacle course (around the 3:14 mark of the video). Now that’s skills.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

STAR WARS ACCORDING TO A 3 YEAR OLD... In case you haven’t seen this video yet, check it out now... "Don’t talk back to Darth Vader, he’ll getcha!" Ah-dorable.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Just thought I’d wish you and yours a happy holiday. Anyways, here’s hoping today’s Lakers/Celtics game resembles Games 3 or 5 of last season’s NBA Finals. But not Game 6. Or 1, or 2, or 4. That is all. Later!

Kobe Bryant takes on Paul Pierce in the 2008 NBA Finals.

UPDATE (5:10 PM PST): 92-83, LA. Nice.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

An artist's concept of the Dragon spacecraft in Earth orbit.
SpaceX

ENTER THE DRAGON... Yesterday, NASA offered two private aerospace companies—Orbital Sciences Corp. and SpaceX—a contract worth $3.5 billion to haul cargo and/or crew to the International Space Station (ISS) after the space shuttle retires in 2010. The reason why this interests me is pretty much implied above: the United States has the potential to have two types of manned vehicles that will take astronauts into space by 2015. Besides the Dragon capsule that's shown in the pic above, the other manned vehicle—of course—is NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

An artist's concept of the Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
SpaceX

2009 should be an intriguing year for U.S. human spaceflight. The Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket (which is also constructed by SpaceX) that will carry Dragon into space will undergo a series of test launches next year. This July will see the launch of Ares I-X, a prototype of the Ares I rocket that will ferry the Orion spacecraft to the ISS, and hopefully to more distant destinations (ahem, the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids and of course, Mars?) starting in the later half of next decade. The launch of Ares I-X, however, depends on whether or not the shuttle Atlantis will be able to get off the ground next May on a mission to service and repair the Hubble Space Telescope one last time.

Various segments making up the upper stage simulator on the Ares I-X rocket are being mated together at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA / Troy Cryder

One more thing: Our nation’s potential to have two manned space vehicles by 2015 also hinges on what Barack Obama does when he officially becomes the U.S. President on January 20. *Crosses fingers.*

An arrtist's concept showing the Ares I-X rocket on its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA

Monday, December 22, 2008

Tamara Brown.

RANDOM BABE BLOG #12... Today’s entry goes to Tamara Brown, the sexy young blonde who’s gracing the two Carl’s Jr. ‘charbroiled steak sandwich’ ads on TV right now. If I was that guy in the commercial, I’d quickly throw the laptop to the ground and break it (or simply stop playing that video game...whatever sounds better), run to the bedroom and put on whatever passes for a suit that resembles something you’d buy at the Men’s Warehouse. And, of course, bring along a hat. One that’s of the jimmy kind. But that’s just me. Here’re two screenshots from the ads...

Screenshots from Tamara Brown's two Carl's Jr. TV commercials.  Cot damn.

...and here're the ads themselves.





Don’t forget to check out those other Carl’s Jr. commercials that have hot actresses like Ashley Hartman and Cameron Richardson (and yes, Paris Hilton) in them. They’re in the Related Videos section. To the right side of the page. That is all.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Audi R8.

THE 2008 L.A. AUTO SHOW... On November 26, I attended the annual car expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I took more than 300 photos there (despite the fact my camera’s batteries were dying, and I had to constantly turn the cam on and off to replenish enough power to take another shot), and uploaded 100 of them to my main website. Click here to view them. I’d upload the remaining 200-plus pics, but you know, I’m too lazy to. Despite the fact I already posted a hundred of ‘em online. Anyways...

The 2009 and 2010 Chevy Camaros.

As you can see, I saw in person the Audi R8 (in the image at the top of this entry), the 2009 and 2010 Chevy Camaros (above) and the Chevy Volt (below). Besides being Robert Downey, Jr.’s ride in Iron Man, the R8 will also be shown in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (possibly as a Decepticon)...along with the 2010 Camaro (which will be the vehicle mode for Bumblebee in the sequel. The 2009 model was used for Bumblebee in last year’s Transformers film). The Chevy Volt will also be featured in Revenge of the Fallen, as the Autobot known as Jolt.

The Chevy Volt.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008



THE DARK KNIGHT... In case you don’t know yet (how’s it like livin’ in that cave? J/k), the DVD for this year’s most successful movie (and the 2nd highest grossing domestic film of all time here in the United States, behind 1997's Titanic) comes out in retail stores today. Definitely can’t wait to buy it. Also, a 2-disc extended music score for The Dark Knight also gets released today. If it’s anything like what happened with the orchestral score for Transformers last year, where all the places I went to either didn’t have the album in stock or was sold out (I eventually bought it at a Borders book store in Northridge, California. I live near ummm, Pomona, California. SoCal folks reading this will know how far the two cities are from each other), the Best Buy I’m planning to buy the DVD at won’t have the score, and I’m gonna have to order it online (most likely at Amazon.com). Hopefully that won’t happen. I’d hate to have Best Buy employees ask "Why so serious?" when I show how upset I am when I find out their store doesn’t have the score available.

THE DARK KNIGHT on standard DVD.

Of course, the employees can tell me "Let’s put a smile on that face" and surprise me by handing me the only remaining copy of Hans Zimmer’s latest album. We’ll see.


THE DARK KNIGHT 2-Disc Special Edition music score.

One last thing... The Dark Knight will be re-released in regular and IMAX theaters here in the U.S. on January 23 next year, a day after the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards are announced. Woohoo! Speaking of the Academy... It reversed its decision on The Dark Knight's music, and Zimmer's work (with the help of James Newton Howard) is now eligible for a Best Original Score nod. Nice.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Megatron, as seen in TRANSFORMERS (2007).

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... The Transformers Live Action Movie Blog posted this leaked concept artwork of Megatron and a really cool-looking Ravage from Revenge of the Fallen. This image of Megatron pretty much looks the same as the previous Megatron pic that was featured in this journal entry. This latest concept of Ravage, real or not (hopefully real), looks a lot more sinister than this fan art...though the fan art also kicks ass. Definitely can’t wait to see the live-action version of Ravage and Megs on the big screen when Transformers 2 comes out in theaters next June. Still hoping that the teaser trailer for the sequel gets shown in front of The Day the Earth Stood Still...out in movie theaters next Friday.

Concept artwork showing Ravage and Megatron from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

PACQUIAO RULES... Let’s hear it for the Pac-Man in giving me a reason to show more pride for my Filipino heritage (right now) than my American upbringing. I feel like visiting my motherland in the Philippines ASAP. Not really. Do you think De La Hoya will try to save face by asking for a rematch?

Manny Pacquiao celebrates after beating Oscar De La Hoya by TKO after the 8th round on December 6, 2008, at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Friday, December 05, 2008

ASHTON KUTCHER WOULD STILL BE ANNOYED... Yesterday, NASA announced that it was postponing the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory. The giant rover was supposed to have launch next October, but it is now set to lift off between October and December of 2011. The reason for the delay is that there is inadequate time to do thorough testing of the spacecraft if it was to blast off in 2009. Also, the window of opportunity to launch a probe to the Red Planet is around every 26 months, hence the 2-year delay. Here's the press release:

****

(Official Press Release)

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will launch two years later than previously planned, in the fall of 2011. The mission will send a next-generation rover with unprecedented research tools to study the early environmental history of Mars.

A launch date of October 2009 no longer is feasible because of testing and hardware challenges that must be addressed to ensure mission success. The window for a 2009 launch ends in late October. The relative positions of Earth and Mars are favorable for flights to Mars only a few weeks every two years. The next launch opportunity after 2009 is in 2011.

"We will not lessen our standards for testing the mission's complex flight systems, so we are choosing the more responsible option of changing the launch date," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Up to this point, efforts have focused on launching next year, both to begin the exciting science and because the delay will increase taxpayers' investment in the mission. However, we've reached the point where we can not condense the schedule further without compromising vital testing."

The Mars Science Laboratory team recently completed an assessment of the progress it has made in the past three months. As a result of the team's findings, the launch date was changed.

"Despite exhaustive work in multiple shifts by a dedicated team, the progress in recent weeks has not come fast enough on solving technical challenges and pulling hardware together," said Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The right and smart course now for a successful mission is to launch in 2011."

The advanced rover is one of the most technologically challenging interplanetary missions ever designed. It will use new technologies to adjust its flight while descending through the Martian atmosphere, and to set the rover on the surface by lowering it on a tether from a hovering descent stage. Advanced research instruments make up a science payload 10 times the mass of instruments on NASA's Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. The Mars Science Laboratory is engineered to drive longer distances over rougher terrain than previous rovers. It will employ a new surface propulsion system.

Rigorous testing of components and systems is essential to develop such a complex mission and prepare it for launch. Tests during the middle phases of development resulted in decisions to re-engineer key parts of the spacecraft.

"Costs and schedules are taken very seriously on any science mission," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. "However, when it's all said and done, the passing grade is mission success."

The mission will explore a Mars site where images taken by NASA's orbiting spacecraft indicate there were wet conditions in the past. Four candidate landing sites are under consideration. The rover will check for evidence of whether ancient Mars environments had conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and preserving evidence of that life if it existed there.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

The back shell and cruise stage that will enclose and take the MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY to the Red Planet, after launch in late 2011.
Emily Lakdawalla - The Planetary Society (Planetary.org)

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

GLAD TO BE A SOUTHPAW... This article mentions the advantages of being left-handed (which I happen to be), including having a higher IQ (should be true...otherwise I wouldn’t constantly be talking about NASA and other science-y stuff on this Blog), solving problems better (unless it’s a word problem. I hate math) and enjoying a more extensive vocabulary than right-handers (quite indubitably!). Some famous lefties are also mentioned: Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that every U.S. president since 1981 (with the exception of George Dubya but including Barack Obama) have also been southpaws. Well-known boxer from the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao—who fights Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas on December 6—is also a southpaw. GO PACQUIAO! Being a fellow Filipino, gotta root for him to beat the Golden Boy this Saturday! Woohoo! Um, what were we talking about again?

Oh yea— The disadvantages of being a leftie is that we have crappier memories than right-handers, and may be schizophrenic. I don’t forget things. I remember what I want to remember (I didn't want to remember talking about southpaws when I mentioned boxing above, haha). And I welcome the voices that tell me to kick yo ass!!


Albert Einstein was a southpaw.  Cool.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Computer-generated artwork showing the MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL) being lowered onto the Martian surface by its descent stage.

ASHTON KUTCHER WOULD BE ANNOYED... If you guys read this recent Blog I posted, you’ll know that the Dude, Where’s My Car? star is peeved at all the spacecraft we’ve been sending to Mars lately. Well— Kutcher is about to shake his head in disgust once more, as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California continues to make progress on constructing America’s next Red Planet rover, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Below are a series of photos that were posted over the last month or so showing the spacecraft in its final assembly process.

In these three photos, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory attach the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) to its descent stage during a fitting test.
In these three photos, MSL and its descent stage are placed inside the back shell and cruise stage that will take the rover to Mars after launch in October, 2009.

There have been lots of reports recently about MSL falling over-budget and sapping money from NASA’s other planetary programs. NASA will review the mission again in January to decide whether or not it will continue with the flight, but judging from the progress it has made, I think it’s safe to assume that the giant rover will soar to the Red Planet in October of next year.

The Mars Science Laboratory undergoes construction at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

One more thing... If you’re a student in grades K-12, then you have the opportunity to name the MSL! Just click here. NASA having a contest to name its rovers is not new... Spirit, Opportunity and the Sojourner rover (which touched down on Mars in 1997 with the Pathfinder lander) were monikers submitted by the public in the past. The name I gave for the ’97 rover before it became Sojourner was Minerva...which eventually became the name for a small lander that was dropped onto an asteroid’s surface by Japan’s Hayabusa space probe in 2005. ‘Kay, I’ll stop bombarding you with my nerdity (yes, I made that word up. Forget 'nerdiness'). For now.

An artist's concept of the Mars Science Laboratory.

All images courtesy of NASA / JPL-Caltech

Monday, December 01, 2008

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... Well, Quantum of Solace has come and gone...and there’s still no sign of a theatrical trailer for Transformers 2. There’s only one more suitable film that Paramount/Dreamworks could possibly place a TF2 teaser in front of before the end of this year, and that’s Punisher: War Zone. Just kidding. I mean the possible Best Picture Oscar nominee, Frost/Nixon. Just kidding again. I mean the sci-fi remake, The Day the Earth Stood Still...starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. It opens in movie theaters everywhere on December 12.

Soundwave toy.

Most of the Transformers 2 news that have been posted on other websites recently dealt with leaked photos of the toy figure for Soundwave. There have been online rumors that Soundwave will be a satellite in Revenge of the Fallen, and the pics below support that. Image #1 is of Soundwave as a Cybertronian satellite, image #2 is of him as a Cybertronian jet (kinda like the vehicle mode for Megatron in last year’s Transformers film), and the 3rd image is of him in his robot form. There’s no official word on what Soundwave’s Earth mode will be. Online sites, again, state that he’s gonna be a pick-up truck, but we’ll see. Ironhide was already a pick-up truck (GMC TopKick C4500) in the first film...I’m hoping Michael Bay will be a little more original than that.

Soundwave toy.

Below is a comparison of the old-school "Generation 1" Soundwave and the TF2 version. Fortunately, at least the well-known visor remains intact. Now all we need is for Frank Welker to get hired and reprise the famous voice for the Decepticon spy. *Crosses fingers*

Soundwave, new and old.

Since I enjoy making myself look like a huge geek (moreso, that is) by posting up all these pics of toys, here's one for the Transformers 2 version of Bumblebee...courtesy of Seibertron.com, just like every other image posted in this journal entry.

Transformers 2 Bumblebee figure.

Here are two cool pieces of artwork that will be on the covers for the Revenge of the Fallen prequel comics, Destiny: Alliance and Defiance. They were done by Josh Nizzi. Kick. Ass.

Cover art for REVENGE OF THE FALLEN comic books.