Update

So long since I've last done a blog. I've decided I need to do one for the first time in what seems like forever. Then again, I never really post anything that might be considered interesting and I don't have much followers to begin with and even labeling my posts doesn't do much anyway. I might start posting regularly, but it really depends on if I remember to do so and if I feel like it'll be worthwhile.

I will say that I'm glad and thankful to anyone who actually reads my blog and follows, favorites or bookmarks my little small world. It's worth saying that I started with the intent of doing it for fun, but I never even thought of having a regular schedule of posts. Maybe in the remaining weeks and days of 2014 I'll post more and do something to make this blog more interesting. We'll see, but it's hard to say when and if I'll post anything in the next week or so.

WWE Network Pay Per View Recommendations, Part 1

As a an early subscriber to the WWE Network there's not a huge selection of shows to watch. Raw is starting from the first episode in January 1993 and only handful of 'Best of Raw' and 'Best of Smackdown' have appeared, but it's still slim pickings now. Besides some of the original programs and some Old School footage and WCCW shows.

Still, this post is about pay per views and my selection of shows to watch. All will be listed in chronological order. This is primarily a subjective viewpoint, so please understand that this shows that I've enjoyed. Many I've actually watched when it was going during the Monday Night Wars and so forth. With that out of the way, here's a selection of shows to watch on the network in it's entirety.

I'll also put in parentheses why this show should be watched, but not for every show. However, this will also be only part one of possibly two or three posts. So, without further ado or delay, here's the first part of my PPV selections to watch on the WWE Network.


WWF/WWE Pay Per Views


1996
In Your House: Buried Alive
(Austin vs Triple H, Undertaker vs Mankind Buried Alive Match, Sid vs Vader)

Survivor Series
(Austin vs Bret Hart, Michaels vs Sid, Rock debuts)


1998
Royal Rumble
(Steve Austin wins the Rumble, Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker Casket Match)

WrestleMania XIV
(Steve Austin wins WWF Title, Austin Era begins, Undertaker vs Kane, Rock vs Ken Shamrock)

Over the Edge

SummerSlam
(Rock vs Triple H Ladder Match, Austin vs Undertaker for the WWF Title)


1999
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
(Austin vs Vince McMahon Steel Cage)

WrestleMania XV
(Austin vs Rock I, Owen Hart's last WrestleMania, Triple H turns heel)

Backlash

Fully Loaded

SummerSlam

No Mercy
(Austin vs Triple H, Rock vs British Bulldog, Edge & Christian vs Hardy Boys Ladder Match)


WCW Pay Per Views

1996
Bash at the Beach
(NWO forms, Hulk Hogan turns heel, Ric Flair wins U.S. Heavyweight Title)

Road Wild

Fall Brawl
(War Games match with NWO vs Team WCW(Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Lugar and Sting)

Halloween Havoc
(Dean Malenko vs Rey Misterio Jr., Hogan vs Randy Savage, Roddy Piper returns to WCW)

Starrcade


1997
Uncensored

Spring Stampede


1998
Road Wild
(Jay Leno & DDP with Kevin Eubanks vs Hogan & Eric Bischoff with The Disciple, Goldberg vs NWO Wolfpac vs NWO Black & White Battle Royal)

Halloween Havoc
(Goldberg vs Diamond Dallas Page, Hogan vs Warrior, Kevin Nash vs Scott Hall)


ECW Pay Per Views

1997
Barely Legal
(First PPV in company history)

Hardcore Heaven

November to Remember

Quick Post

I have a plan to write a much more elaborate blog post in the next several days. I'll let everyone know about it as soon as I'm done with it. That's all I have to say.

I Don't Feel Bad

I've have interested texts with people in the past. And I've moved on. Sometimes it can be quite colorful and filled with wholly unnecessary language. People cursing at you when they don't need to, sometimes it can be jarring, but it is what it is. You learn that everybody reacts differently and you have to just move forward and not backwards and focus on more important matters.

One such event happened on Sunday night. The conversation was a bit lopsided, but one thing I've learned is to take it in stride and let it go. You think about it for a day or so and then move on. Could have been worse. Do you ever accept an apology from that person? You'd think perhaps it'd be good to receive one, but not everything goes that way. That's another thing I've learned overtime.

Typing this all down and posting it on this blog is not such a bad thing as it allows you to let go. One thing I'll do is avoid doing anything to upset or anger this individual. Whether it's meant in good intentions and no harm done, maybe and perhaps is irrelevant, it's one of those deals where you learn that some people misinterpret or take things differently from others. Maybe they realize later it was a mistake to snap that way, but the best thing to do is not bring it up.

On that note, it's time to sign off. Have a good night and a Happy New Year.

Planning

I'm planning on taking pics of some of my favorite games and posting them on here. I also plan to make a video featuring these games as well. Give me some time and I'll have them up within the next several weeks.

Here's a small list of games I'll take pictures of and posted.

In no particular order:

Resident Evil 2 (N64)
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Resident Evil (GameCube Remake)
Gears of War 3
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (360)
Star Trek (360)

These all won't appear in the beginning, but overtime I'll post and discuss each individual one. Stay tuned for now.

Gaming Stores

Over the course of the last several weeks, I've taken the time to drive to places in the east bay. Notably, Concord and Brentwood. First, I went to a place called Phoenix Games on June 21, which has tons of coolness, lots of vintage/retro games ranging from the 1980s and 90s to Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Gamecube, Xbox and to the present day. The guy that was, Chris, was an awesome guy to talk with, his knowledge of games was great and we had long discussions about gaming. I ended up buying Cruis n' USA for my N64, since my original copy was sold by a 'friend' who I let borrow it back in 1997. Safe to say we haven't spoken to each other since that time.

Today, I made the 1 hour and 14 minute drive to Brentwood and headed for the aptly named Brentwood Game Exchange. A cool looking shop with tons and tons of games. The layout was simple and easy to find what you wanted. The guy who was there Doug was cool and we spent a lengthy amount of time talking about the different console generations and plenty about how important digital distribution has become. I spent a good hour and a half there and ended up buying Black Dawn for the Saturn and Final Fantasy XIII for my Xbox 360.

I'd say my 75+ mile drive up was well worth it and I'll definitely go back when I have the chance. And the money.

2013 MLB Predictions

Here's my picks -- with only a few days before #OpeningDay -- for who wins what this 2013 season. 162 games of fun awaits, or in total, pending rainouts and cancellations, 4,860 games. My predictions on finishes in each division, with playoffs/postseason predictions tomorrow. No awards picks yet, but I'll post that before the weekend.

2013 MLB

American League

EAST
Toronto Blue Jays 97-65
Tampa Bay Rays 90-72
Baltimore Orioles 86-76
New York Yankees 83-79
Boston Red Sox 75-87

CENTRAL
Detroit Tigers 95-67
Kansas City Royals 87-75
Cleveland Indians 81-81
Chicago White Sox 78-84
Minnesota Twins 71-91

WEST
Oakland Athletics 96-66
Los Angeles Angels 93-69(Wild Card #1)
Texas Rangers 92-70(Wild Card #2)
Seattle Mariners 77-85
Houston Astros 60-102

As you can see, my two picks for the wildcards are the Angels and Rangers. The AL West will have strong and big time representation come October.


National League

EAST
Washington Nationals 102-60
Atlanta Braves 96-66(Wild Card #1)
Philadelphia Phillies 84-78
New York Mets 79-83
Miami Marlins 61-101

CENTRAL
Cincinnati Reds 98-64
Pittsburgh Pirates 88-74
St. Louis Cardinals 83-79
Milwaukee Brewers 76-86
Chicago Cubs 64-98

WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks 96-66
Los Angeles Dodgers 94-68(Wild Card #2)
San Francisco Giants 89-73
San Diego Padres 81-81
Colorado Rockies 69-93

My surprise pick is the Diamondbacks returning to October glory and winning the division in shocking fashion again. This time the foundation is stronger and far more sustainable. The Braves and Dodgers slug it out for the two wild card spots.

Tomorrow will be a post on the October predictions. Even more surprises in store.

All-time favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

I'd like to let everyone know what some of my favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes are. I have a total of 77 episodes so far. I want to narrow it down to a few, but it was very, very difficult. However, I have about 10-15 episodes I can list off. And here it is.

TOP 10 Favorite The Next Generation episodes (Seasons in parentheses):

10) Phantasms (Season 7)

9) Masks (Season 7)

8) A Fistful of Datas (Season 6)

7) The Pegasus (Season 7)

6) Who Watches the Watchers? (Season 3)

5) Quality of Life (Season 6)

4) Darmok (Season 5)

3) Lessons (Season 6)

2) Attached (Season 7)

1) The Chase (Season 6)


Here's a list of five others that didn't quite make the first cut.... In no particular order.

5) The Ensigns of Command (Season 3)

4) Frame of Mind (Season 6)

3) Remember Me (Season 4)

2) Sarek (Season 3)

1) The Enemy (Season 3)


I might in a future post, list my other favorites, but this will do for now.

Big Wow ComicFest 2012

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week! I had an absolutely enjoyable weekend. Why? Because I went to my first comic show ever. And that was Big Wow ComicFest in San Jose. It was a fun show and I'm definitely going back next year and the year after, or however long it will continue. I also want to say that I went with my best friend Samuel Lujan, it was the FIRST TIME in a whole YEAR that we finally saw each other. It was so good to see him again and it felt like everything was right with the world(at least in mine).  I'll give you a quick recap of what happened in Day 1.

On Saturday I chose not to bring anything with me. Mostly, because I wanted to take everything in and wander about looking at the various toys, and comics of years past. After me and Sam finally got in, we wandered around a little and got to James O'Barr's table. It was incredibly cool to meet the creator of the 'The Crow' and talk with the guy. What was even cooler was that he was my first comic writer/artist that I ever met.

As the day progressed, I met Dean Yeagle, what a nice gentleman, soft spoken, but really awesome to talk to. I had a lot of fun talking about Mandy Godiva with him. I also talked to Dan Brereton and got to talk about his work and his writing, pretty chill guy, even though Sam doesn't like the guy. One bad experience with someone doesn't mean he's always a jerk. I spent most of my time on Saturday talking with and watching Eric Basaldua, or EBas, draw for fans. Also, his spot was what I liked to call the 'party area', of course, when you have two hot girls promoting their upcoming book at his table, it makes it worthwhile to hang out. Though the good vibes emanating from his table made it hard not to come back.

All-in-all my first day at a comic show was a blast. Day two was going to be just as fun.

So, the next day, which was yesterday. I made sure to bring the stuff that I wanted signed. First, I got Brereton to sign my Red Sonja: Deluge book, which was my first comic signed by any artist. Next, I picked up one of Dean Yeagle's Mandy books for $15 and I got a free personalized sketch of Mandy from him. So, cool. After that I got EBas to sign my Justice League #5 variant that he did. It's one of my all-time favorite covers and I'm so glad he signed it. I also purchased a Wonder Woman drawing he did, which is an absolutely awesome print to have. Fortunately and unfortunately, I didn't have the money to buy an original drawing from him, but maybe next year.

Then, came the big wait. I stood in line for three hours to get meet Jim Lee and have him sign my three books. As much as I wanted a sketch, I realized that there would be a another day, so I just opted to get my Uncanny X-Men #275, Justice League #1 & #3 signed by him. I only got to chat with him for twenty seconds, but it was worth it. What was even cooler was that he got there at noon and stayed until the show ended at five. It's awesome that he stuck around to make sure everyone who waited to see him got something for their long wait. The best part was I got to watch him sketch for other people and it was cool watching him do it.

Finally, I met Liam Sharp, who did the Gears of War comic for about thirteen issues, I had him sign the first two issues and what was cool was getting to talk about his interiors of the books. We also talked about how happy he was that one of his characters that he created, Michael Barrick, was in Gears of War 3 and how happy he was to see it. We even talked about Jace Stratton and how originally he wasn't going to have cornrows, but in the end, he had them anyway. It was cool to hear some of the behind the scenes about his GoW involvement. Awesome guy, definitely looking forward to meeting him again someday.

I also chatted with inker Mick Gray. Really cool guy, it was fun talking about his work and how he goes about the inking process. I enjoyed discussing Batman & Robin and all the other works he's done. He had high praise for Ryan Sook and also came across as a down to earth guy. He was also pretty disappointed that DC never gave him or the other writers and artists for giving them a copy of the The New 52 Omnibus. He told me had to trade in some of his own stuff just to get a copy! Oh, and he told me to expect some really cool stuff with the Joker later this year.

Finally, I hung out with EBas one more time and got him to personalize a Psylocke Nude drawing for me. Yep, I'd say I had some fun hanging out with that guy.

In the end, I had a tremendous amount of fun. Of course, having my buddy Sam there made it worthwhile for me personally.

Well, I'll sign off for now. Enjoy your week everyone.

Mobile Post

I wanted to try this Blogger app for my iPhone. Figured it'd be worth seeing how it works. I don't plan to post with this app often, but perhaps when
I feel like being able to provide the audience with an instant reaction.

Hope you have a good Thursday or Friday wherever you are. Until next time!

2012 MLB Predictions

Since everyone is making predictions on SI.com, Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com, I guess it's my turn to dish out my picks for the year that is 2012. I'm thinking it'll be one hell of a baseball season. Plenty of surprises, drama and amazing moments. Will it be the 'Year of the Pitcher' like it was the last two years? Let's find out.

Predictions feature records and order of finish.

y=Donates division champion
*= Donates wildcard winner.

AL East                              NL East

(y)Rays  96-66                     (y)Phillies  100-62

(*)Yankees 95-67                (*)Marlins  96-66
Red Sox 92-70                     (*)Braves  90-72
Blue Jays  87-75                  Nationals  88-74
Orioles  75-87                      Mets  63-99


AL Central                          NL Central
(y)Tigers  104-58                  (y)Reds  88-74
Royals  87-75                       Brewers  87-75
Indians  78-84                       Pirates  81-81
White Sox  72-90                  Cardinals  81-81
Twins  71-91                         Cubs  62-100
                                              Astros  57-105


AL West                             NL West
(y)Rangers  100-62              (y)Diamondbacks  105-57
(*)Angels  98-64                   Dodgers  88-74
A's  77-85                              Giants  85-77
Mariners  74-88                     Rockies  81-81
                                              Padres  77-85


Okay, I admit that some of my predictions are way off. But I like the idea of having fun with these thigns. Don't you?

Here's my postseason/playoff predictions. DS, LCS and WS predictions feature how each series will last.

Wildcard Round
Marlins over Braves
Angels over Yankees

Division Series
D-Backs over Marlins in 4
Phillies over Reds in 3
Tigers over Angels in 5
Rays over Rangers in 5

League Championship Series
Diamondbacks over Phillies in 5
Tigers over Rays in 6

World Series
Diamondbacks over Tigers in 6


There you go. Enjoy reading and comment if you like. I'm more than likely way off in my predictions, but that's the fun part of this.

Until next time.

The Writing Itch

I'm back writing again! It feels good and in some ways liberating. It all comes at the same time I'm back playing Gears of War 3 on Xbox Live and gaming again. That doesn't mean my job hunting is over. It continues and I really hope things get better soon on that front. But, back to my writing spree.

I'm primarily writing fanfiction. Justice League, Gears of War, Dead or Alive and such. I plan on doing Evangelion works as well. For some reason writing again makes me relax and think better. The gears(absolutely no pun intended) in my head are churning and the fact that I have a good, solid audience on fanfiction.net makes me feel better about continuing this. It's too bad I can't use these in a workplace, it would definitely be worthwhile.

I mostly write romantic stuff, with the occasional smut and some foul language. Not much cursing mind you, but some. I also inject humor and plenty of family and friendship moments in my stories. I guess I'm more the sappy and sentimental type. I haven't delved into the action stuff yet, but I'm planning to dabble more into that sooner rather than later. It's definitely something that makes me happy being a writer.

To this day I feel as if I should have done this years ago. But I realize I can't live in the past or try to regret too much. It only hurts in the present and in the long run.

So I guess that's it. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Until next time!

It's A Good Month

I think this will be a good month, maybe a great one. I'm not sure why, but I feel like it will be. It's worth mentioning that when you have the chance to see two of your best friends within the same 72-hour window. Then you know it'll get better. I have so much to do and am dragging my feet in many respects.

However, this month could be phenomenal. Why? Don't know, don't have an explanation.

I also want to mention that 25 out of the last 30 months were the best time(s) of my life. And I feel that after a five month lull of sorts from October-February. I think this month will be the best.

I'll try to keep everyone posted. Thanks for reading.

January 30th, 2012

I have lots of comic books that I enjoy reading. I'll just let everyone know that I do plan to list which ones I'm reading right now. Here's a list of the second tier or 'Group 2' of comics that I read. It's in no particular order of how they are read.

Aquaman
Batgirl
Teen Titans
iZombie
Vampirella
War Goddess
Lady Mechanika
Fatale

Those are my books that'll discuss on Thursday's post or maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

January 25th, 2012

I'm letting everyone know that I'm a BIG fan of 95.7 The GAME. The Bay Area's ONLY FM Sports Station!! I have not listened to KNBR, which isn't even a 'sports leader' anymore, they're a joke. 95.7 is the new leader or even a better choice for sports talk.

I've been a big supporter and fan of the station when they were Sportsradio 95.7 back in April, and then when they relaunched into what they are now, I haven't looked back. Many people I speak with now are slowly jumping aboard. I admit that I'm not a big fan of John Lund during his 'Wheelhouse' mid-day show, though it's good when he has Greg Papa or Roxy Bernstein on. When he has others, it's not that great, sometimes.

I'm not sure what it is about Lund that's bothers me so much. I think he's alright and I do listen to his show, though I think he does need to tone down the yelling part and silly stuff like that on occasion.

I don't have a chance to listen to the 'Rise Guys', however what I have heard is phenomeal and funny and informative. I also enjoy listening to Chris Townsend, though I don't catch his show all that often. I enjoy his Bay Area-centric show.

My favorite show though is 'The Drive', awesome kick ass show. It took about a week or so for Brandon Tierney to grow on me, but I really like the guy and he's good at expressing his opinions and breaking things down. Eric Davis is pretty cool and he's fun to listen to and his back and forth with BT are always fun. Their 'pressure points' segments are great and you never what the hell will be said or happen on the show.

Well, there's my two cents on the 'The GAME'. Thanks for reading.

January 24th, 2012

Before any of you ask. I'm not a 49ers fan.

I will say it's disappointing that both the Steelers and Packers, my two teams, lost earlier this month. Plus the Eagles and Seahawks and Raiders did not make it either. Though I'm a Steelers fan first and foremost, I've also grown into a Packer fan over the years. And the latter three teams all jockey for the 3, 4, and 5 spots on my favorits list.

That all aside. I'm not surprised that the 49ers lost. I will say that I think Kyle Williams doesn't deserve death threats. It's saddening and sickening. Though I'm glad he's owned up to what happened. It also helps that his father, White Sox GM Ken Williams, has the experience of knowing what and how to deal with these tough circumstances from his playing days in MLB.

And, that's all I have to say for today's blog. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading.

January 4th, 2012

Quickly, I must let everyone know that a good movie to watch is The Adventures of Tintin. It's a really cool movie and the motion capture animation is unbelievable. I saw the movie in IMAX 3D awhile back and was amazed at how cool it looked in that format.

Definitely take the time to see this amazing film when you have the chance. In terms of the voice acting. Awesome. Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig and Simon Pegg are all pheomenal in their roles and really give a solid and memorable performance.

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel when it comes out in a couple of years. I hear it'll come out either Christmas 2014 or Summer 2015. Regardless, the wait for the next Tintin adventure is highly anticipated on my part.

Finally, I hope everyone is doing alright in what is only the 4th day of the new year. So far, we're all alive and no disasters that threaten to wipe out mankind has happened yet.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the week.

New Year's Apologies

I must apologize for neglecting my blog. I'm so, so, so sorry. I feel bad about ignoring it. It's one of those things where you just don't think about it or are unsure of whether to continue or not.

I'm happy that I'm taking the time to post tonight and will post tomorrow about my feelings on what to expect in 2012 for me. And definitely discuss some NFL and plenty of MLB and maybe others topcis that come to mind.

Once again, I'm terribly sorry for neglecting this blog. I'm not doing that ever again. I promise. 2012 will see plenty of posts. Hopefully, I'll get to posting 2-3 per week. Which would be about 8-12 per month. That's pretty good.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good night!!!

11/11/11

Decided to post on November 11th, 2011. Why not?

Just wanted to say that my job is still ongoing, but I'm hanging in there. And that I'm writing a lot and reading my comics too. Currently, I'm deciding to either continue the current story I'm on OR put that on hiatus and start a different story. Don't know what I'll do, but I'll decide soon.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!!

First one of the month

I know, I know, I know. It's been way too long since I posted anything on here.

Sorry, so sorry.

I do plan on blogging again with regularity. I must say though, that I enjoyed the World Series last month and am happy that baseball proved once again that the doubters are wrong about the sport. A great series that did catch people's attention. Though I personally wanted to watch the Texas Randers win, mostly for Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Ron Washington.

I'm still happy that it was a great series. It took long enough for us to get a Game 7 of the World Series. Nine years is too long a wait. Of course, the decisive game was a bit anti-climatic given the amazing and awesome, and I rarely use this word, but epic Game 6 the night before. But all-in-all an amazing series to watch, hopefully 2012 brings us more amazing moments.

Now it's time to focus on the NFL. That means lots and lots and lots of Steelers talk, Packers talk, some Raiders, some Eagles, some Falcons too. Expect me to maybe blog during the Steelers-Ravens matchup on NBC this Sunday Night.

My pick? Steelers 21, Ravens 10. It'll be a hard-hitting and brutal affair. But aren't all their games like that?

Also, I will get to discuss my thoughts on Gears of War 3, the DC Comics stuff and maybe even my thoughts on, well, whatever comes to mind.

Thanks for reading and sorry for the lack of updates. Enjoy your week!