Scullder's blog

Star Wars 3D ... kinda

2012-02-16T14:27:00.000+02:00

I must admit I was quite confused about the timing of the Star Wars 3D release. After all, the bluberryray version just came out just a few months ago ... So I can only assume that Star Wars geeks like me got the thing ... like I did (actually it was an amazing Christmas gift). And, having got the blurays, I can only assume that people actually watched the movies ... just like I did. But still ... Lucas considered that the army of brainless fans will still gather and go see it in theaters ... like I did.

The pretext, which is the 3D, because in all honesty it is only a pretext, doesn't really shine very bright. I found the lack of in your face 3D stuff ... a bit disturbing. I was expecting Maul to poke my eyes out with his crazy dual sabers, or for the laser shots to fly around me like I'm ...well... there ... Instead, there are some scenes which are kinda 3D, some scenes that are somewhat 3D, and some which are no 3D at all ... But all in all it is quite an immersive experience, especially during the pod race which really stands out.

So, should anyone go see it in 3D like I did? ... why YES, of course, what kind of a question is that?? It's Star Wars god dammit!! S T A R W A R S !!!!!!! in 3 D ... well ... kinda 3D anyway !!! What more could you want?

I can only hope that everyone will enjoy it as much as I did.

Mr President

2012-02-09T19:19:00.000+02:00

The year has just started and already one month has come and gone ... and I blogged less than Paris Hilton's chihuahua. But, I have to assure you that while my blogging was pathetic, my real life goals were nothing less than ... presidential.

Dear electors, please meet your next ... president:

Well ... sort of ... kinda ... I started a campaign when I heard there are some kind of elections inside my company. I didn't really know what the elections were for, but it looked like the right moment to run for president. After a while, though, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me in a different way. Isolating myself in a position of power would not help the interests of the very people I am trying so hard to help. By remaining among the people, by fighting the good fight every day alongside them, only this way I could really make a difference. So, in a stroke of what I can only qualify as pure genius I decided to remove all the posters and stop the campaign. ... Actually ... ~~the branch manager~~ somebody tore down my poster from the office walls so I decided it's time to let go...

So, rejoice, my subjects ... fear not ... I will be here ... among you ... REJOICE ...

P.S.: Many thanks to little sis for helping me kick-start my political career.

P.P.S.: wink to my colleagues.

Oh ... and since, from I really don't know what reason, people don't see where this is coming from ... here it is ...

Scullder's Awards 2011

2011-12-29T12:58:00.001+02:00

You know what time it is, right? It's time for .... THE (almost) YEARLY AWARDS !!!

Yes, last year I was pretty much a mess, so I didn't do it, but here it is ... a looong all in one post:

To get the obvious out of the way ... I just blogged about the best movie and the best game so here they are:

Best Movie 2011 - Drive

Best Game 2011 - Uncharted 3

Best Movie Game 2011 ... say what?

Because it is at the same time the best movie I've seen this year and the best game I've played, a totally new experience unlike anything else, this brand new category which I doubt will ever appear again (predictably) goes to ...Heavy Rain

Best Travel (and Food) of 2011 - Thailand

It was really good...

And now ... for the more interesting categories ... first up ...

The most pathetic car invented by man - Audi A1

Apparently someone somewhere thinks that the Audi Q7 can be a cute and cuddly car, because they decided to shrink it down into ... this ... thing ... at which point apparently people from BMW felt like they needed to strike back hard so they managed to create AGAIN

The ugliest car of the year 2011 - BMW 1 Series

No, there is nothing wrong with your glasses, the headlights actually look like this, it is an actual image of the car...

Which brings us to the inevitable ....

Crappiest Movie of 2011 - Brown Diarrhea Alien Invasion

Just when I thought that superhero movies got to a point when they can be at least boring, Green Lantern came and blew everyone's expectations away. It was .... horrendous ...

Well ... that was a long one ... pfew ... on to next year ... peace!

Off the Chart ... 3

2011-12-22T10:28:00.002+02:00

A while ago, right after coming back from Thai, I was very happy to receive the delivery of Uncharted 3, which I have been waiting in much anticipation.

Uncharted 1 was my favorite game of the year ... and so was Uncharted 2 , so I was a bit afraid that maybe the third one will flop ... but ... what do you know? It is very possibly the best game I ever played, don't-know-how-they-pulled-it-off better than the previous two ...

If you like gaming ... and own a PS3 ... you need this ... right now...

Drake came and left again into the sunset ... and I find myself eagerly waiting his return ... AGAIN

Heavy Crunch

2011-12-22T10:15:00.000+02:00

Aaaaaaand we're back. It's been a really crazy crazy month @ work, real commando grenades exploding s#it going down ... so ... no blogging ... or much of anything else ... Hopefully things are back to normal now, which feels kinda strange ... but even John Rambo needs to take a break every once in a while ...

Driven

2011-11-28T00:36:00.001+02:00

After hearing about the movie Drive and watching some sneak peeks of a couple of scenes I was very decided that this is a movie I must see ... that it is the movie I have been waiting for since ... well ... quite some time now. Apparently, a bunch of other people had the same feeling, only they were expecting to see either the follow-up to their previously favorite blockbuster

Or maybe the first episode in the rumoured spinoff movies following the exploding amazing success of adrenaline pumping action packing

Well ... the GOOD news is that, after watching the movie, one of those people decided to open a law suit against the producers of Drive as it did not meeting her very high expectations. So for all you people out there hoping to see some fast pace action including but not limited to Vin Diesel jumping from one rooftop to another shooting three pistols and throwing five grenades at the same time while driving a good old fashioned muscle car ... wait for the next Fast and Furious ... or you may feel like filing a lawsuit ...

For anyone else, go see Drive if you want to see what is probably the best movie of the decade... if only for the music ... or the guy ...

Peace, Quiet ... or something like that ... and a ton of Gold

2011-11-28T00:05:00.001+02:00

Thai temples ... a place of tranquillity ... a place of meditation ... the perfect place for ...

...standing in awe in the face of long lasting divine statues erected many many years ago ... or...

... visiting a creepy Thai version of Madame Tussauds (yea it's made of WAX) ... or ...

taking a hip new pic for your boring Facebook profile ...

Did I mention they've also got GOLD?

There's literally TONS AND TONS OF GOLD!!!

Eye shattering, mindblowing tons of GOLD!!

GOLD, IN THE NAME OF GOD!!! GOOOOLD!

Food Contact

2011-11-21T21:40:00.001+02:00

So, I already wrote what I did before and after, and, after two weeks of not sitting on my butt and doing nothing, here comes the true story of what went down in Thailand ... There was adventure, excitement and reeelaxiation but probably most of all ... there was FOOD!

But let me back up a bit ... After a couple of flights and almost one day later we landed in Chang Mai. We took a taxi to our nice hotel, and this was the first time we noticed something I may blabber about a couple of times over here: contrast ... but more on that later. It was already evening, and, as my incredible advisor D. told me, in Chang Mai this is the moment you need to go towards the night market and stop along the way to eat. And eat we did ... the contact with the crowded market is a bit fuzzy in my mind as is the bar with cheeky girls we passed along the way, but what I remember is that we had an amazing dinner. It is only this moment that I remember as ... first contact.

fishy fishy ... and its ##$! spicy sauce ...

We ate all sorts of many things, some (much) more spicier than others. Chang beer flew and the incredible sticky rice with mango topped it off ... it was a real burp... and all this royal treat for about 5 eur / person ... y a y !

Later on the girls got a quick foot massage during which we took a sneak peak around, where we saw some pretty lame muai thai fighting, bars, drinks and .... deep fried bugs.

fried bugs make thai woman happy

I didn't get a clear shot ... maybe it's for the best...

So here we were ... a bunch of confused tourists walking the back alleys of Chang Mai after a 24 hours trip ... the atmosphere in the air was very positive and the food was great. It had proven to be a very good first evening out into welcoming Thailand, and the best ... was yet to come ...

A Shocking Difference

2011-11-07T22:50:00.000+02:00

So ... after two weeks we are back from Thailand! It was quite amazing and I hope to manage to blog about it all right here. Uhm ... what was that, sorry? The pic is not from Thailand ... yeah, about that ... step into my office for a few minutes.

For our first day back we decided to clear our heads and went on a short trip to Germany to visit some castle there...

It was an impressive building in the mountains, and we had a short hike through the woods, when we took some pretty pics as well as stretched our legs.

Once inside the castle we realized that you could only visit on a guided tour. Which should be OK... only we were in a group of 20 germans and the guide locked the door with the key and then went on for about 20 minutes blabbering in ... german (doh) ... Which was bad enough, but things got worse when I decided to take a closer look at our new German friends as I really didn't have anything better to do. I noticed that in my vicinity I had a couple of reverse-smiling cyborg ice queens accompanied by their male vorg counterparts. They seldom came out of silence with precise questions about the year in which the archbishop of Cologne went on to do something way to unimportant for me not to instantly forget and every time they "smiled" I could feel a shiver going up my spine. I couldn't help remembering our driver from the tuc-tuc just the day before in Bangkok. He was so happy about ... everything ... telling us in sign language how the water was up to around here in that area over there at some point and then asked some happy people in another tuc-tuc next to us where they were staying and then told us laughing that we should go see the ping-pong match. He kept telling us all kinds of jokes before he dropped us off and drove on further in the half crazy trafic...

Somewhere ... something ... went ... wrong?

So yeah ... that's something I'm still thinking about ... Gute Fahrt!

The Last Place on Earth

2011-10-19T17:23:00.001+03:00

... you want to find yourself in the day before leaving for two weeks in Thailand is this:

Yes ... I have spent half of my day waiting to see if I will leave tomorrow or not ... apparently I'm not THAT unlucky ... Thailand (floods), HERE WE COME !!

Killzone 3 in 2

2011-10-05T11:51:00.000+03:00

Frightened by the DREADFUL HELGHAST?

Feeling overwhelmed by their MASSIVE MACHINERY?

Fearful that controlling ONYL ONE MINIGUN JUST DOESNT CUT IT?

FEAR NO MORE! Bring a buddy along, and let those horrifying Helghast get a taste of their own medicine!

SPLATTER twice as much!

STAB for two!

DETONATE double the amount!

Killzone 3, sharing the adventure with a friend on the same screen!

P.S. Thanks to M. for sharing this adventure :D. And yeah, you really need to play Killzone 3, it is simply AMAZING!

Friends with dirty Benefits

2011-09-27T11:10:00.002+03:00

Some time ago I saw this awful awful movie where a guy and a girl try to be friends who do the dirty dirty thingie without having a proper relationship ... When I found out that somebody's making a mirror movie with the mirror of Natalie Portman I vowed not in a million years to go see it.
So, of course, I went to see Friends with Benefits last week ... in my defense, I was actually hoping to see Shark Attack 3D or whatever the name is ... mmmyeah ... what I meant was that I just had to see Justin Timberlake banging Mila Kunis .... maybe it's better just to skip all apologies and proceed ...

The Story ... Not much to tell here, two people humping repeatedly and finally falling in love ... only in Friends with Benefits it's just ... better ...

Her ... Mila Kunis manages to hang on to her Natalie Portman mirror status, so I would put the two on par...

Him ... I guess the difference was made by Justin ... because he's about one gazillion times better than Ashton Kutcher played by Ashton Kutcher...

Woody Harrelson... wait, say what? There was no Woody Harrelson in No Script Attached ... yes, that's exactly my point, that's probably why it sucked so bad ...

So, should you go see Friends with Benefits if you already saw No Script Attached? Yup, you will not regret it ... in fact there are a couple of very strong reasons for watching the movie like seeing Justin naked .... or Mila naked ... or both together naked ... just don't be too disappointed when you find out it wasn't actually Mila's butt ...

Puppets with M

2011-09-16T12:05:00.000+03:00

Remember the Muppets?

Well, apparently there's a movie coming out, and it has a bunch of trailers ... for other movies ... it's quite a funny way of promoting the movie since I hate how others just spoil it and give you the only 2 minutes actually worth seeing.

There's a bunch of these but here they are all together. If this is a lazy Friday, enjoy!

Hangover 2

Green lantern

Some random romantic comedy ...

The girl with the dragon tatoo

Actually ... I was kidding, there is also a real trailer, here it is ...

Myeah, maybe it would have been better to stick with the parody teasers ...

The Royal Hamster

2011-09-12T12:28:00.000+03:00

Following the departure of our mad baboon, we were left riding the donkey for a couple of weeks. But, the waiting is over, and here is the new .... hamster (?).

As seen here invading the small roads of Luxembourg, our hamster is white, topless and has a ... royal appeal ... which I think can be better seen in the next pic.

Oh boy, finally some royalty I can like cause I can't stand royal families ... except the Grand Duke's, which is quite cool.

Long live the ... hamster! It has already won our hearts.

Summer Rollin'

2011-09-09T17:03:00.000+03:00

While looking at the HEAVY GREY clouds sitting 10 meters above my head, I remembered that there was this ONE day a while ago when we could do this:

Ahhh ... funky donkey ... rest well in the garage, my friend ... your time will come again ... but maybe not very soon ....

I believe I can fly?

2011-09-01T19:01:00.000+03:00

Wanna se something quite impressive? Take a look at the vid below:

Now, that's impressive... but you know what would be even more impressive (yes it is possible)?

That thing above streaming 3D cam to this:

I can't wait till we all have implants in our brains and can't get off the couch 'cause we're too lazy or fat to do anything for real...

Superman's ... New Costume

2011-09-01T15:17:00.000+03:00

While looking at that pic above, I bet we're all thinking the same thing ... Shouldn't Superman have a BIGGER S on his chest?? Then there's the problem of the missing red panties ... I don't know why but I think it downplays his ... visual impact. It's just not hitting you in the face HARD enough, know what I mean?

Does anyone have a spare potato on hand?

Corporal America

2011-08-30T10:39:00.001+03:00

So ... here came Captain America : The First Avenger ... with his ... well ... skinny body, at first.

But then ...KAPOWWWW MOTHERF#KEEEERZZZ

By the time, he started parading his muscles around everybody was jumping up and down their seats with excitement. And then ... it came ... the panic mode of Hollywood screenwriters who just spent half the movie building a good story and realized they needed to insert 157 (onehundredandfiftyseven) explosions into the movie as it was expressly demanded by the producers. This resulted, of course, in a complete mess. The story starts rolling around more frantic than a dog who's got a score to settle with his own tail. We get explosions here, fights there, explosions everywhere. Who, how, does not matter, all we want is some freaking EXPLOZIONZZZZ!!!! Yeah ... or something like that ...

Even they don't know what the f@#k is goin' on...

Somebody could have saved the day, and it was none other than Red skull Schmidt.Unfortunately, somebody else was so happy they got "the bad guy from Matrix" that they decided to continually wink at us with this. We get perfect replicas of two Matrix scenes with Agent Schmidt and they never really build the character, probably deciding to rely on the character buildup from Matrix. In the end the character is ... weak ... and very forgettable.

Captain America could have done Great ... he did almost OK ... I'm getting quite concerned with regards to that Avengers movie ...

The Yellow-Brown ... Monster

2011-08-19T10:14:00.003+03:00

Starting with Fantastic 4 Silver Surfer, it looks like the shapeless monster came to become a habit in big budget Hollywood movies. They have it more or less in transformers as well, but it did not have until now a clear identity, it was too shapeless... to generic to be truly frightening ... well ... prepare to fear the shapeless monster ... forever...

I was expecting Green Lantern to be a movie about a hot heterosexual guy wearing a green ring and still managing to remain secure about his sexuality ... I was wrong ... it's about a hot heterosexual guy wearing a green ring fighting ... a very bad case of DIARRHEA... in outer space ... in 3D. The huge diarrhea monster feeds from everyone's fear, because let's face it, what could be more frightening than diarrhea hitting you RIGHT NOW? Well ... I can't really think of anything else that would frighten me more ... except maybe having to go to see another movie as terribly crappy as Green Lantern...

Oh ... Blake Lively is also in the movie ... playing Blake Lively ... and some other guy who's performance consists mostly in screaming like a wimp ... and a bunch of CGI characters that can't act ...

I was expecting this movie to be bad ... instead it was a big pile of green pooh ... with yellow diarrhea on top ... in 3D ... yeah...

Apes will go Bananas

2011-08-19T10:09:00.000+03:00

When hearing about monkeys taking over the planet, you can't help but wonder how in the hell would some monkeys ever be able to take out the human population with its superior numbers and technology. Well, even though it has been done before in another monkey related movie, the answer from Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a pretty good one. I hope I didn't just spoil it for anyone back there ... The monkeys launch nuclear missiles with their butts! There ... I said it ...

Other than that, the movie has good acting, often crappy visual fx and the story often wonders in the naivety sector ... very often ... all in all its a decent movie, which is all I can hope for these days.

Watch out, nuclear butt missile coming down ...

Back to the Movies ... again ...

2011-08-16T13:15:00.000+03:00

Remember how a few weeks back I was happy about going to see a bunch of movies and playing video games? Well ... apparently it's another movie marathon week, as I should go see the following:

- Raving apes taking over the world;
- Some guy who wears a green ring but still remains confident about his sexuallity;
- Some kind of E.T. remake where he goes bazookas and blows s#it up;
- Another guy, wearing red tights, hoping to finally win America some gold medals in the Olympics throwing challenges;
- A bunch of blue midgets running crazy around Manhattan;
- James Bond, traveling through time to fight aliens with guns from the wild wild west ....for fun

Plus, I really need to write something about this Heavy Rain thing ... it's gonna be a busy busy busy week.

There and back again ...

2011-08-16T12:56:00.000+03:00

I just wanted to report that I managed to avoid being eaten by werewolves in Kiskunfélegyháza, where I spent the night on the way to Bucharest. Otherwise, the trip was quite nice, one last journey together man and baboon, it was difficult to part ways but some things just need to happen ...

So, now it's back to sunny Luxembourg, where the weather is really beginning to get on my nerves ...

The long way home ...

2011-08-04T15:29:00.000+03:00

This weekend I will make the longest trip of my life by car ... again. The baboon is heading back home and I will be taking on the trip by myself this time.

So ... Bucharest here I come ... 2100Km to go ... whish me good luck. Hopefully I will report in halfway there.

The end of Transformers

2011-07-22T10:21:00.002+03:00

Yesterday evening we went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and THANK GOD they said it would be THE LAST from the series, because if I see robots fighting on the highway and robots fighting on skyscrapers one more time my brain will blow up.

Honestly, I don't even know where to start so I will just say that the cast was ... welll ... problematic. You see, we have all the guys from the previous movies coming back, but instead of the already annoying Megan Fox we have the theatrical debut of ... a wooden plank:

I know, without all the makeup it may look confusing so I will try to clear things up by posting some images from the movie. Let's start with the exact same dumb wooden plank look above, only with some makeup on:

We can then go right into the middle of the action with this VERY EXCITING shot:

And what I can only assume whas happening behind the cameras ...

Unfortunately, showing off the butt on 500 centimeter heels and in ONE GAZILLION many different outfits didn't help too much ... Quite on the contrary, I felt as if I went in to see Transformers and every once in a while I was forced to watch a VERY poorly acted lame scene from the latest Sex and the City movie.
For CHRIST SAKE IT"S A F-ING ALIEN INVASION!!!! Who wears FIVE HUNDRED CENTIMETER HEELS to an ALIEN INVASION???? ... it was ... unbearable ...

In the other movie I was watching, as in any great Michael Bay movie, the U S of A brave and proud soldiers make another appearance and kick some serious alien robot butt, defending once again this great nation that is America and also in the process saving once again Earth from slavery in the hands of mean aliens from outer space.

So ... how bad was it? ... between watching THE EXACT F-ING SAME robots fighting each other scenes on highways and skyscrapers and watching a wooden plank parade around in fancy dresses on high heels, it was .... HORRENDOUS ...

Infamoused

2011-07-21T18:39:00.001+03:00

Part of my games and movies week, here comes my blabbering about PS3 game Infamous.

In the wake of the Playstation Network mega-hack, when 70 MILLION user accounts were compromised, Sony thought it needs to come up with something impressive if it wants to reconcile with all those people that got hacked. So, they decided to offer for FREE to all these people a selection of some of the best PS3 and PSP games available. This is how Infamous and I met ...

The game starts off very well. There is a very very nice feeling of progression throughout the game, as the main character gathers new powers. The "I got the power!" feeling is very intense, especially towards the end when you really can (and surely will) blow some serious s#it up!! Also, during the game you can choose between the GOOD path and the BAD. I chose good, of course (?) and this means that towards the end you have to watch it because you are a mean machine of pure destruction that can really make a LOT of collateral victims... which in the end contributes AGAIN to that whoa I am so powerful feeling.

The story has some nice twists and the one at the very end managed to take me by surprise, which is quite ... surprising.

What I think is the best way I can describe the game is the way I felt after playing it, because as soon as the credits started rolling I thought to myself two things:

I want to play Infamous 2 ... now.

And ... This was cool, I want to play Infamous 1 AGAIN! But this time, I'll squash all those puny pedestrian human beings that stand between me and additional POWER!! MUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

The End of Harry Potter

2011-07-19T17:11:00.001+03:00

We decided to kick off the week with Harry Potter. So ... our dirty Harry has finally come to an end ... The movie was quite OK, but it does have it's bitty problem.

I seriously don't know who came up with the idea of splitting a movie in two parts ... it sucked for Matrix, and it sure sucks for our Harry, although admitedly not THAT hard. Basically, after the first movie they were left with an epic battle for the second one. Which means that about two thirds of the movie is a big climatic battle. Which makes it quite hard to have a climax ... of the climax. So, in the end the movie feels a bit flat and doesn't really manage to create this BIG moment of confrontation between Harry and the skinhead vandal.

Oh, and remember that mean uber-uvil witch Beatrix that killed Doby, the most lovable character from the entire series? She is killed by ... a mildly revolted old cleaning lady ...?

Otherwise, the movie was OK, 3D looked quite impressive, not very intrussive, story does some twists, some more predictable than others, some more confusing, it was OK overall ...

Myeah ... it's sad to see you go Harry ... you had only just begun to manage to keep Andreea awake ...

Back to the Movies

2011-07-19T10:26:00.004+03:00

After quite some time without movies, we have decided to come back strong this week. We will start off with Harry, continue with Transformers and finish off with something quite special, Heavy Rain, the incredible PS3 game-movie.

I'm soo excited ...

What's even better is that we will go to the movies riding the donkey, which after 1 year and a half of struggle is FINALLY hittin tha streets of Luexmburger!! yaaaaaaaa!!

P.S. Yes, that amazing trooper on the left is part two of my incredible birthday gift!

A Punch in the Santorini

2011-07-08T15:02:00.000+03:00

So ... there we were ... in total harmony with ourselves and our surroundings after just having spent a week on the Island, when we got off the boat and received a Santorini in the face...

I don't think I've ever been asked before by so many people at once if I want to rent a car. Moving on ... actually, we didn't move on for about 30 minutes, as we had to wait for the retards at the hotel to send the coach to pick us up, even though we just spoke to them the day before. Huhm? What was that? Think I'm being to harsh with the tiny little poor hotel guys ... well ... by the end of this post you will understand why I'm not.

After loosing over one more hour at the hotel in order to get a decent room for 150EUR a night, we were finally given the HOEYMOON SUITE!!! YEAH!! And for only 150 instead of 250 per night!! And what a view it was!!

The only problem is, if I would've had to spend my honeymoon in that place, I would've jumped over that ledge without too much hesitation ... Huhm? What was that again? Unreasonable you say? It's quite beautiful? By the end of this post you will agree... moving on ...

After being literally INTOXICATED about how this is the MOST BEST PERFECT SUNSET in the universe, we actually managed to go and see it ... after we found our way out of the GOLD LUXURY SHOPS intoxicated traditional greek island ...

It was the most beautiful sunset in the world ... at least according to the owners of the bars where you could look at it ... and guess what ...

I think it's just as special as anywhere else...

Moving on with our MERCEDES, cause YEAH BABY in Santorni you either roll in luxurious brands or you don't roll at all ...

We reached the town of Oia, which I must admit is quite very beautiful...

The next day, we did some more ...

Unfortunately, all the beautiful pictures have come and gone ... and in the end all we were left with as a memory was this:

250 EUR/night

THE END

Too Awake

2011-07-08T13:03:00.000+03:00

Feeling too awake ?

Relax, it's all just a dream anyway ...

Clash of 300

2011-06-29T15:08:00.001+03:00

Apparently some people are running out of ideas ... In fact this takes the whole running out of ideas thing to a whole new level ...

I mean ... COMMON!!!

Hollywood's Hangover

2011-06-24T13:03:00.003+03:00

See that guy in the picture who has a monkey sitting on him? That's Hollywood right there ... a drunk beaten up poor guy who's had too much to drink and has no f clue where he is or what he should do. Lucky enough these days, if you say f0#k enough times, put a monkey on your head, give a douchy looking guy a crazy tatoo on the face and bring a freako staring maniac along, there will be a bunch of people lining up to watch the s#it that's going down.

I found the first Hangover to be mildly entertaining, so I can't say I remember any of it. This was quite fortunate because the second one seems to be just like the first, only shot in Bangkok. This, of course, changes any Las Vegas jokes, like getting married to a hooker, to the asian version, which means doing the reverse cowgirl with a big boobied asian hooker who is actually a man... Take that, change the baby for a monkey, and you're basically all set for a new big bucks success.

In the end you are left with a boring movie that makes a lot of DIRTY sex jokes and has an ending even more stupid and predictably sugar sweet than No Strings Attached ... Yes ... it's THAT bad. The pics from the credits were probably the single most funny moment from the movie...

Ahh, damn it, Hollywood ... get your s#it together for crying out loud ...

Star Wars + Kinect = LoveFail

2011-06-08T15:29:00.001+03:00

Right about now some very lucky people are attending the E3 conference. To cut to the chase I was really waiting to be impressed by the new Kinect game called Star Wars Kinect.

It looks ... amazingly crap ... unfortunately ... I mean common ... LIGHTSABER ON? wtf is that all about??

You know what looks better than that ?.... this guy right here:

Yeah ... I don't have much love for Microsoft ...

X-Men - Best Class

2011-06-08T10:41:00.036+03:00

I was a little concerned when the movie started last evening ... X-Men First Class starts with the exact same scene as X-Men, which I consider to be the best movie of the X-Men Franchise (and it doesn't even need to show any Wolverine Butt to do that). So, as I was sitting there I thought to myself that maybe these guys are over-ambitious, as the last X-movies were fairly disappointing. It was challenge accepted from the first second and it was not an easy one. I found myself wondering from the start ... Could this movie turn out to be the best movie of the franchise?

The movie then started going deeper and deeper into character development ... into setting the atmosphere ... I was quite surprised as the movie carried along. The balance between character development and action scenes was spot on, acting was TOP notch, effects were very good, things were exceeding my expectations at almost every step. It is a movie that absorbed me like I was not expecting it to ... and very rarely let me go. At the end, it was not a question any more.I had just watched the best X-Men movie ...yet.

Another thing that I really liked is that this movie performs a jump kick in the face of Hollywood. You have good actors around there (the lead performances are really good), you have good directors (no plot holes or over the top idiotic moments), just start putting out some DECENT movies for Christ sake ... yes ... you can ...

P.S. I don't wanna spoil it so I won't, but there is a moment which made me laugh ... hard. I'm still giggling when thinking about it. You'll know it when you see it.

We had to go Back!

2011-06-08T10:10:00.003+03:00

Get it? ... like in Lost ... ? No?

Anyway, we've just returned from yet another absolutely FABULOUS holiday to our favorite PARADISE Island. It was so amazing I really don't want to encourage anyone elese to go there as I hope that place will stay as it is forever (yeah, sorry bout that).

It is a place of clear blue waters, lots of sunshine and, most of all, utter serenity.

I'll try to post more details about our adventure as it was really amazing. Unfortunately, work is anything BUT serene these days ... Coming back was like a kick in the groin. Well ... at least is wasn't like a punch in the face, which is just what Santorini was when we got there for a pitstop on the way home. But, more on that ... later ... soon I hope...

Zombie Song

2011-05-11T16:54:00.002+03:00

On the assumption that anything is better than nothing, here comes the idiotic find of the day ...

Jake Gyllenhaal and the Sands of Time

2011-04-29T13:30:00.003+03:00

Remember this movie that came out some time ago with Jake Gylenaglhal where he had the ability to go back in time? Well ... there's a new one out so since I didn't review the other one I thought a parallel comparison is in order. So, here we go, Prince of Persia vs Source Code ... fight!

The American Soldier vs The Prince

In the Prince movie, Jake is a handome prince set out to win fame and fortune. In Source he's an american war hero who was flying soldiers on the battlefield. Yeah, I look at the picture above and I bet we're all thinking the same thing. There's nothing more cool in this world than Americans fighting for the freedom of mankind, Jarhead wins, no contest there.

The Matrix vs A Puny Knife

Let's face it, a knife with limited amount of time sand which you have to actually hold in your hand and push a button doesn't stand a chance in front of remotely triggered modern day back in time full Matrix-style immersion where you simply cannot die. Pollygons and Pixels FOR THE WIN! In your face, peasant, that knife sure don't look so awesome now, does it?

A Dedicated Loving American Woman vs Some Brunette

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's remember that there is nothing better in this world than a dedicated loving woman who just decided to go to India to find herself and wants to take her man with her. Now, that's personality that is simply lacking from that girl on the right. You can CLEARLY see she is just a shallow person ... It's a clear one again, I would say.

The Stealthy Genius vs The Arab Suspect

Let's be honest, the guy on the right would take three steps before the SWAT team would be all over his butt. The guy on the left on the other hand has a CLEAR advantage, this is by far the easyest matchup of them all. Red tie, innocent smile ... but just look deep his eyes, the guy is RUTHLESS ... You'd better start running you ... bearded ... scared ... guy.

Closing statement.

Let's face it, mankind has evolved since the XVth century BC and this just goes out to prove it. Current century rullz hard and I laugh in the face of anyone who says otherwise.

Oh, and about the movies, they're both pretty OK.

3DS Crackdown

2011-04-11T12:32:00.001+03:00

Well, it's hardly a crackdown as I spent only a few minutes playing around with the thing, but here's my 2 cents on what I think are the three top interests regarding the device:

1. The 3D (doh)
I was really wondering if the glass-less 3D works. Basically, it was the only thing I wanted to check when I got a hold of it, the next two questions surprisingly came up afterwards.
I was quite shocked, actually. It really works. It is really really good. I was playing Street Fighter, so I can't say if all games are that good in terms of 3D, but the graphics and the 3D effect really blew me away. My eyes had little trouble concentrating at first, but at one point it clicked and I was even able to move the screen around and see the 3D perfectly.

2. The controls
Unexpectedly, I found myself evaluating the much praised analog mini-stick(on the left, above the cross-control) and comparing it to my PSP. The left-side stick is actually my favorite control scheme for Mortal Kombat, so I did also compare with my PS3 controller. I was quite shocked, actually. The 3DS mini-stick is ... crap. The material they chose is slippery and the feel of the thing put me off. I ended up using the buttons.

3. People claiming headaches after playing
Yes, if you know a thing or two about 3DS you probably heard people are complaining of having vision problems after the 3D and even headaches. I dismissed those stories after reading them, as I though some people just don't handle 3D that well, but unfortunately I did have some small dizzyness problems after a few minutes of play. I dont' know, maybe it's just me being a woss...

So, the crackdown... the 3DS looks amazing, has non-spectacular controls and can make you feel dizzy. As good as it looks, I would not buy one for myself ... or for any (other) child for that matter.

The Ka' ... the KA' ... whatever...

2011-03-25T17:29:00.000+02:00

So, I finally got around to see the Ka' kin' Ka' kin' Ka' King's Speech. I was expecting to fall asleep... I was wrong.

I for one really don't appreciate at all the idea of royalty and royal family. I don't wanna go into it but these people's predecessors chopped a bit too many heads for my taste to act all high and clean and mighty, so I could consider myself quite a hostile spectator for this move

Despite my prejudices I was quite captivated by the story and although I will not become a royal fan anytime soon, I found Bertie's character to be quite interesting and likable. What I found more amazing than the story was the movie itself. It is possibly the first time in a few years that I can honestly say that I've seen an Oscar worthy movie. The acting is superb, directing top notch, and the story is paced very very well. The ending was also quite surprising as the movie was set to fail in an over the top Hollywood idiotic moment ... but it doesn't.

The movie is really great, so I'm quite glad I gave it a shot.

An Old Hope

2011-03-03T10:41:00.001+02:00

In case it is not official, I declare myself being a really major Star Wars geek. I'm not running around dressed like Chewbacca, but to make it more clear just how big of a geek I am, I can tell you that one of the guys they shoot when they bust Leia out from the Death Star dies from a ricochet, and I know that because I watched just about every shoot-out from the movie frame by frame ... a couple of times. But that was about 20 years ago, so don't beware, I have grown up ... I think ... In fact, about two weeks ago I grew up to be 31 years old, and got a lot of grown up presents. Or kinda grown up ...

Presented above sits what is possibly the best gift the SW geek in me ever received, one that I was hoping for since I was a child, a true treasure chest for any SW fan. From the first brief page that George Lucas scribbled with the intention of making the movie, it really gives you some very interesting details of how the story evolved over time, quite surprisingly since it began with some very brief ideas out of which very few made it in the final version. It's really interesting to see how script writing and movie production worked in Hollywood back in the days and impressive to see how Lucas really pushed for his vision despite the total lack of support from the studios.

Anyway, the book really is amazing and it was most probably one of the best gifts I ever got. It didn't come alone though. As SW is a trilogy, so was my present, but that's for another time. Let's just say for the moment that Andreea thought it was time she gave me a good Star Wars spoiling, which she quite did (kisses and hearts flying around at this point).

As for life at 31, I have this idea about a very short movie that will illustrate just how much I matured over the years ... and I will post it ... soon.

No Script Attached

2011-03-01T15:22:00.000+02:00

It's really hard to blame Natalie Portman for trying to get a brainwash after doing Black Swan, but, heck, that was probably the most intense sponge bath any brain ever took. No Strings Attached is most probably one of the most boring movies I have ever seen in my whole life.

Although the story could probably take about 30 minutes of screen time, it drags on seemingly forever and although I have no idea how long the movie actually is, it felt like over 2 hours of nothing happening on screen in the most boring and predictable fashion possible. Oh, and we have also Ashton Kutcher in the movie, played by Ashton Kutcher, which seems to be the only role he knows how to play...

Truly pathetic ...

White Duck .... Sauce

2011-02-15T09:55:00.002+02:00

First things first, press the Play button up there ...

So, we've seen Black Swan last night and I decided to post this. What is the connection, you may wonder? .... well ... none hopefully... Because if there is a place where my mind was last night after watching the movie, and this is the complete polar opposite of that place, then this is exactly where I want to be right now. If only it was a bad movie, then it would have faded away in the same manner as The Grudge or some other pathetic horror movie the industry so kindly graced us with.

In case you don't know, the guy that did this is also doing the next Wolverine. So, my expectations for the next Wolverine movie have suffered some major mutations, much like in the movie last night. In fact I think this was all just a preparation for Wolverine, because let's face it, if Wolverine wouldn't stop scratching, he might just cut half a foot and an arm off, in complete bloody gore glory, with lots of screaming.

Argh darn it, must stay away from any thoughts suggested by this movie I saw last night, what was the name, because I keep trying to forget it? Press the replay button above.

... yeah ... that's better

Star Wars LMAO

2011-02-14T12:54:00.002+02:00

You know ... LMAO ... ? no?

here you go

yeah, Star Wars mega geek over here ...

Beautyful

2011-02-14T10:54:00.000+02:00

I saw Biutiful this Saturday and it was, as I expected, a very powerful experience. Right from the start, you need to know that if you are looking for a nice pleasant way of spending your afternoon, you'd better look elsewhere because this is definitely not it. You need to leave the popcorn home for this one and strap tight cause it can be quite a bumpy emotional ride. The filmmaking and the acting are really amazing, with a lot of very subtle tricks meant to throw you off-balance like messing around with the reflections and the shadows, getting more obvious throughout the film. Also, there is one scene veery smartly filmed with different perspectives, don't wanna spoil which one, it really feels like they knew what they were doing over there, and the result was for me ... compelling.

Make no mistake, this is a hard movie about life, choices, mistakes and death. It may move you like it moved me or if you are a popcorn wiener it may move you out of the theater.

So be prepared...

The Dawn of Men

2011-01-21T10:38:00.004+02:00

OK, here we go ... the MONOLITH IS HERE ... but first things first ... put on a set of headphones and start the music:

04 2001 A Space Odyssey by Dacs Nomad

Now wait for it .... ok, you're almost there .... wait for it .... waaaait foooor iiiit ....

taaaaaa taaaaaaaaaaaaa Taaaaaaa

TANAAAAAAAA ... DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUUUM

Taaaaa Taaaaaaaaaaaaa Taaaaaaaaaaaaaa

TEEEEENAAAAAAAAAAA ..... and so on .... DUUUUUM

Taaaa Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Taaaaaaaaaaaaaa

TATATANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ... a small tear may appear at this moment ... TaaaanaaaanAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TAAAAAAAAAAATAAAATAAAATAAAAA TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATAAAAAAAAAAATAAAAAAA TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
TAAAAAAAAA
TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa (DUMDUMDUM)

Let's admit it, we all want to touch it and drain it's knowledge and wisdom... you, monkey, you...

2011 An Office Space Odyssey

2011-01-19T22:31:00.004+02:00

Happy New Year! Better late than never, that's what I always say ... So, another year has passed, time to make plans for the new year, think about what went wrong last year (like my non-existent blogging) and so on and so forth ...

But, back to business, have you ever seen the Stanley Kubrik masterpiece movie 2001 A Space Odyssey which all intelligent people are praising like it was the space landing of the artistic genius?

Common ... the one with the monolith on the Moon or in outer space ... the freaking monolith that was first on Earth ...

Common, the monolith that inspired the monkeys to use tools...

Well, I don't know if you've seen it or not, but apparently someone in my office did and was quite impressed with how the monkeys gathered all around the monolith and gently touched it, like a child taking the first step from many more to come that would lead him to the greatest accomplishments of his life. The monkeys sure improved their civilization shortly after touching the monolith, so they (the people from my office that is, not the monkeys) decided to plant an inspiring monolith right in front of me and my team's desks. (Actually, our desks were planted around the monolith, but I think the story with the monolith landing among us sounds better...) We have now a small gathering around what sure looks to be an inspiring monolith. I have a feeling I will feel much inspired tomorrow when I will touch it and drain from it's wisdom...

Anyway ... back to the movie. It's crap, don't even think about watching it. Buy the book and read it.

Stay tuned, the monolith may inspire me to take a picture of it ... yea ... using tools ... I think I'd be on the right track ...

A Fine Day for a Drive

2010-12-20T11:53:00.001+02:00

... NOT!

That is, if you are not baaaacraazy like me+A. All in all it was quite OK, but next time we want to wonder about taking pictures through the Grand Duchy, we'll check some weather forecasts beforehand.

Anyway, here's the crazy baboon plowing through snow in a "parking" area, the winter tires did quite good...

Mark my words, I shall allow neither snow, fire nor man to prevent me from driving around without purpose!

The Blairwitch Project

2010-12-14T15:26:00.001+02:00

Well ... not THE Blairwitch Project, but we've had a somewhere between fun and chaos experience in the forest while enjoying the Loire valley when we visited Chamboureneauxsomething castle. We wanted to rent a bicycle to roam the castle domain, but we needed two, but we actually only wanted one ... so we ended up with this:

yeah ... the cow poop was on the house

Anyway, as we started travelling at hypersonic speeds through the woods we realised at some point that the map we had was not really that accurate, so we got lost a couple of times. We finally ended up somewhere in the middle of the forest with little idea with regard to where we should go...

And then we found a house with some scary stuff inside ... Ok, ok, maybe I am not really telling you exactly what happened because it wouldn't sound so interesting, but the journey was quite perillous especially since I haven't ridden a bike in about 20 years. We finally realised that we needed to return the vechicle so we pedalled in a hurry back...

at hypersonic speeds, of course ...

We finally got back and visited the castle and had some more mediocre food. But more on that later ...

I laugh in the face of Avatar

2010-12-09T10:07:00.001+02:00

I know I've been pretty lazy with my blogging lately, but besides being caught in a bit of chaos I have also been prepping a new thingie together with my little sister.The thingie is a new Science Fiction story that we will publish as a blog over a number of episodes accompanied by some very cool graphic illustrations (like the in-progress preview up there). Make no mistake, it will be very very cool, as the story will take you on a journey full of ups, downs and turnarounds.

The new blog can be followed here: http://thecyanvoid.blogspot.com/

Did I mention we're going for the Nobel prize ... oh, and, Holywood, here we come...

Food and Whine in Blois

2010-12-03T17:59:00.004+02:00

... or should I say ... in bleah ... because that's what the first contact with the ultra-delicious Loire valley tasted like. So, without any further delay, behold the cown jewel of the Loire valley gastronomic wonders:

No, I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered that... I was actually expecting to get something else ... something tasty, at least. But it wasn't tasty at all. It was like a horror movie went wrong and then landed on my plate with a desire to scare my belly into oblivion ... Only later I discovered that a bottle of wine was enough to cure the trauma I though would follow me for a long time.

things looked much better after a bottle of wine ...

and so did I ... no?

It was only a bit later that we discovered what I think might just be the best restaurant in the world ... but that's coming up later on ...

Pitstop in Paris

2010-11-16T09:57:00.002+02:00

Not so long ago, we took a trip to the wine & food heaven Loire valley... or at least that's what we were expecting it to be. But before we got there it was pretty clear that we can't just pass close to Paris and ignore it ... yup ... it was pitstop time. Because you know what's better than sushi?

Sushi ... in Paris ... and ...

of course, Starbucks in Paris ...

And so on ... you get the idea. It was another really good trip to my favorite place in the world, but I must admit it's barely still hanging on to the top spot. But anyway, we had our share of fun, went to the humongous IMAX and then started on our way.

I swear this time it was about to roll off.

My belly was ready to be happy.

Entangled

2010-11-08T17:50:00.001+02:00

Following my intense absence from blogging, I have decided to put a stop to all this nonsense and finally post something. The problem is that my blogging mood is not really in shape, as we currently find ourselves entangled in the same kind of nonsese I was hoping never to have to deal with again. Things are moving slower than a turtle on sleeping pills and xanax... Looks like the perfect moment to call in:

THE NINJA JEDI MASTER

We tried to have a quiet relaxing getaway in Brussels for 2 day but, as you can see, the Aliens invadeed just in time to keep these karate weapons busy. It was mainly easy peasy for the ninja jedi skills, which will hopefully also get us through this entanglement and back on track for the Godzilla fight we have planned for next year.

I'll be back ... like, Terminator style ... imagine that Ninja Jedi Master Terminator ... yeah ... I'm not right up there ...

Fishie Fishie 3D

2010-10-05T10:44:00.001+03:00

Although I was planning on blogging about cheese and wine, I am compelled to interrupt this broadcast in order to share a mind bending neuron vaporizing experience. I can say for sure we have a winner. And when I say winner I mean that somebody should give this man the Nobel prize for film making... or something making at least. What I am blabbering about you ask? This:

Can you read that? Sea, Sex and Blood. That's exactly what this movie has. Actually, I tried counting if there are more 3D piranhas in the movie than naked 3D boobies and I can't say between the two who is the looser, but I know for sure I am the winner. Make no mistake, this is the glory moment of the underwater naked 3D boobie. So ...piranhas ... boobies ... I am surely missing something ... oh yeah ... gottit! BLOOD. You can be darn heck sure there will be blood ... tons of blood ... Which almost made me throw up at some point, but I'm just a woosie so don't let that bother you.
However what really really makes this a winner, is the scene where you get to see Mr. Johnson floating around and almost getting eaten by the fishies and then a couple of sillicon implants going about in the background. It's a moment of pure 3D history in the making. Nobel prize, baby, N O B E L P R I Z E !!!

Now seriously, you'd have to be an imbecille to pay money to see this ... or you'd have to like sea, sex and blood ...

The Loire Experience

2010-09-28T10:08:00.005+03:00

So, what has been cooking? I haven't been able to keep up with current events since I'm ... well ... working ... But enough about that and back to cooking. We've recently and finally been on vacation on the Loire Valley. We had some good food (and some bad food), we drank a lot of wine and visited some castles. It was quite nice and so here comes my new mini-series:

* Pitstop in Paris
* Food and Whine in Blois
* The Blairwitch Project
* Castles, lots of Castles
* Cullinary Jackpot
* Salt&Peppa
* It's a kind of Magic
* Leo's Crib
* Chartres and back

I'll try to keep up ...

Stop looking at my Butt

2010-09-10T14:44:00.001+03:00

... or at least this is what Wolverine would say if he knew what's happening with this blog. I am confused to report that over 60 people have landed on this blog by searching for wolverine's butt. In fact, so many people landed here that I am currently ranked NUMBER ONE on Google if you run a search for his butt. Wolverine's butt, that is.

How bout that, Wolverine?

Hey, don't hate tha playa, hate tha game ...

Engineers can dance!

2010-09-10T09:46:00.003+03:00

Yea,dude, but I already knew that since I am an Engineer ... anyway ... it's official now, and you can watch Step Up 3D if you don't take my word for it.

See that? BOOM, that's Engineering baby... in your face! Yea...

But speaking of Step Up 3D , I recently went through what I can only imagine you feel after you accidentaly buy a brand new squeeky cool pair of Abibas. Yeah ... aBiBas!! I went to see this movie called Street Dance 3D, completetly convinced that it is Step Up 3D. I mean, the second Step Up had something with the Street in the name ... Well ... bottom line was ... aBiBas name, aBiBas quality. Step Up 3D should win an Oscar compared to that poohie movie.

So anyway ... Step Up 3D ... great dance moves, prety cool 3D, crap acting, horrible script ... exactly what you would expect ...

Now I'll go back to my engineering business ... which is perfectly cool because it doesn't mean I can't bust it like the cool guys if I wanna.

Bordel, c'est pas trop tôt!!

2010-08-13T22:46:00.003+03:00

Ah ouiii!! I've had an excellent great surprise today when Andreea popped up this from her purse:

No, not the Pleo and not the Vaio, the other thingie. Yessss, I am a lucky garçon ... And je suis content, because my Starcraft 2 copy (yes, my Starcraft 2) is in FRENCH. Hourrra for the french, I could download the game in english from blizzard, but it's waaay to funny like this ... So far the game looks and plays just as what I was hoping for, so I'm happy to report that Blizzard didn't make a big bordel de merde out of the franchise.

Bon sang, oui je suis content!!

Go ahead ... zoom in on the picture ... you know you wanna see what a baneling is called in french ...

Later Edit: Mmmmyeah ... SC2 is (re)installing .... in English ...

Karate Kick

2010-08-11T21:46:00.002+03:00

I saw this amazingly cool movie a few days ago. It's about children kicking each other repeateadly and that's cool because let's face it, there's just not enough child violence in movies these days. I feel like I could bring more to the franchise. In fact, I was so inspired that I designed some posters for the upcoming sequel:

Yeah, that's me in the picture, and YES, I really am a NINJA JEDI MASTER. Hollywood should start calling any minute. In fact, you'd better start saving up for:

No joke, the kid really gets kicked in the second sequel.

Inceptionizing

2010-08-02T15:42:00.002+03:00

There it is ... inceptionizing ... just like nolanizing only it sounds a bit cooler ... I think... What's inceptionizing, you say? Well ... probably the fact I'm not sure anyone really understood what the hack happened with all those jumping up and down between different dream levels. Apparently some guys believe they got it and made a visual illustration ...

... hmmm ... nope ... I still don't quite get it ...

But do you want to know what's even more inceptionizing?

This tube right here:

And it seems they even did it on purpose ...

Wow ... I've been nolaned.

Christopher Nolan just loves to f#$k around with your Head

2010-07-29T09:42:00.003+03:00

Yes, I've seen the only movie I was actually looking forward to this year, and Inception was really worth the wait. Nolan does his usual mind confusion stuff and there are some action scenes like the tumble/zero gravity fight that spank any other movie and, yes, I am looking right at you, Matrix.

The idea of the movie is not really that original, so I'm sure everyone is wondering how this all happened. Lucky you, I managed to make a succesful extraction from Nolan's mind a few days ago when we bumped into each other at the spa, so here goes:

[Nolan's house, Nolan meets friend John Warner]

-So, Chris, I was thinking we could do more of your mind stuff in an action movie.
-Yeah, I've had this great idea where we can plunge people in a non-real world, and
-Oh, something like the Matrix...
-[minor shrug]... yeah ... OK, but I'm going way beyond the Matrix, I'll do like the Matrix inside the Matrix and the
-Oh, you mean like in the 13th Floor...
-[shrug] ... yeah ... ook ... well, two levels, that's child play, I'll do 4 levels of Matrix inside the Matrix and there
-Oh, you mean like eXistenZ
-[big shrug] .... F#$k you, John .... throw me a beer ... nobody bothered to see "Existance"

Credits, Best ending ever ... in the movie I mean ... we were back from the memory, did I forget to say that ...

HA, you just got Nolaned. And I rule because I just reinvented googleing.

But I mean it ... the ending is Nolanizing.

Perfect Six

2010-07-24T22:16:00.000+03:00

Yes, yes, I know I've been a lazy lazy blogger, but I'm back with this very interesting thing to say ... Did you know that Six is the smallest mathematical pefect number? Well, me neither, but this is true, ask the internetz if you don't believe me, and, yes, of course, this isn't quite what I wanted to say. Six proved to be quite the perfect number for Andreea and me today, because exactly today we celebrate another year of happy marriage together. And what better way to celebrate than a 1 ton loveboat of sushi and a sip of sake? Nope ... nothing better comes to mind...

It's been quite a ride until now for our loveboat, with ups and downs, sudden turns and loops, and I can't wait to see what's coming next for us, be it rain or sunshine.

Kisses and hearts... big hearts ... I'm sure Seven will be just as perfect

Chillout in Egypt

2010-05-18T21:14:00.002+03:00

If you managed to read my previous post about Egypt, you are probably expecting stories of us jumping on alligators or something like this. I'm not going to lie ... during the second part of our trip, we finally did manage to chill out.

Except, of course, for our trip to Cairo, which was ... you know ... wake up at 2 am, travel one hundred hours ... that kind of stuff. But this was basically the main reason of the whole Egypt trip, at least from my point of view, as I've always been fascinated with the pyramids and have wanted to see them live. First contact was pretty darn impressive...

From within the city, you can see them far off in the distance ... reigning on the horizon over the landscape of what seems to be a far more primitive culture ... It is then, when placed against the crowded but crippled Cairo skyline, that you can truly understand how only GREAT things are meant to last.

We did take our share of beautiful photos with the pyramids, so here are a couple of my favourites.

We even entered the medium one. It was small, crowded, and claustrophobic.

Next up was the Sphinx, which was remarkably pretty as well. Some pretty photos followed ...

It was a tiresome day, but it was definitely worth it.

For the rest couple of days, there were no more one day long trips, no crazy hopping around on alligators ... It was just amazing food, great sun, delicious orange juice and a swimming pool ...

... and Andreea jumping around

... and a couple of crazy tuc-tucs

.... oh, and a crazy cat.

And then, as another journey ended, a new one began ...

Robin Who?

2010-05-14T18:05:00.001+03:00

I saw this movie the other day with this guy called Robin Longstride which goes actually by the name of Robert Loxey and finally ends up by being called Robin Wood or something like that ... looks like it has something to do with that Robin Hood guy. In then end I was a bit confused and a bit bored.

I'm being more and more convinced that Hollywood works in strange but familiar ways. In fact, I started a little short script of my own. Here goes:

[Ridley Scott's House]
Mr RS walking around, phone rings, RS picks up.
- Hi, Ridley, what's up?
- Russel? How's it going dude?
- Great, great ... you know ... Hey, remember that movie we did a while ago, where I had to do a lot of sword fighting and horseback riding? I really miss that...
- Well ... you know Russel ... we've had this discussion before ... it's hard to sequel that, you know ... you *cough* died in the end...
- Oh ... right ...
- How about a Robin Hood movie? I'm kinda looking into that for my next project...
- Hmmm ... Robin Hood ... that sounds OK, BUT ... from what I recall he runs around the forest and shoots arrows ... not really what I had in mind ...
- Hey, what if I let you have a couple of sword fights and you get to ride a big white beautiful horse?
- Thanks a lot, Rid. Knew I can count on you. Will you let me keep the lady this time around?
- We'll see ... drop by tomorrow.
- I'll grab some Whoopers on the way.
- Sounds great.
[click sound ... Scene ends]

... Hollywood here I come ...

Butt Kick

2010-05-07T18:45:00.000+03:00

I have recently seen this movie called "Kick Ass" ... I was expecting it to kick ass really really hard ... and it does ... sometimes ... other times it's just a lame teenager movie.

It's quite surprising actually just how good some of the action scenes are, they kicked ass like nothing I've seen before. It has some of the best action scenes I've seen in quite some time. However, the rest of the movie doesn't really kick ass, as it is often plain old boring and the humor is not quite my cup of tea.

All in all it was pretty good fun, so I'd say it's worth about 2 hours of your time... if you don't have anything else which is very special to be done... and want to see something that kicks ass.

Oh, there was one thing which kicked ass pretty hard ... the Music.

Did I mention the title is Kick Ass?

"Chillout" in Egypt

2010-05-07T00:24:00.002+03:00

Yes ... that's correct ... "chillout" with a big pair of quotes. Why the quotes? Well ... here we go...

Day 1

After a very stressful and vacationless time, we finally had the oportunity to just sit down for a change and enjoy the beauty of the place. So, naturally, for the first day we woke up at 7am and we

,and

By lunchtime I was

By afternoon we were

The rest of the day is a bit fuzzy but it involved about one tone of food ... so here comes ...

Day2

From the desert, to a splash in the sea ... and when I say splash I mean

suit up and jump in, boy

kind of splash... By lunchtime I was

By afternoon we were

Yeah, scuba rullez hard. And a ton of food later came...

Day3

What? Rest? Rest is for woosies ... how about a wake up call at 3am and a trip to Luxor?

It started with a couple of

But, too much bus travel can ... well ... by lunchtime, we were

By afternoon I was

Which takes us to ... another ton of food, and then to ... Day 4 ... but that's coming up in a short while ...

Two Iron Men

2010-04-29T00:13:00.001+03:00

In the meantime ...

So, I've just returned from Iron Man 2, and I am happy to say it was not bad. It was actually pretty good ... I was expecting it to be a flop, full of cheezy scenes but it delivered ... except maybe for all those Scarlet Johanson scenese where she kicks guys around and looks cool while doing it, but even those were a little better than I expected...

I mean ... just look at her ... isn't she just gorgeous ... and did I mention she has JUST finished kicking around a whole bunch of bad guys? .... if that's not cheezy I don't know what is ... but anyway ... as I said ... better than expected...

Ol' Mickey seen up there does a hell of a banged up job as the bad guy. This guy is really on a comeback. From a bad guy point of view, this movie is better than the first, no question about that. And the climactic battle in the end... that was pretty tight. I was expecting dozens of robots flying around and shooting to look pretty cheezy, but it ended up by being pretty good, and then when ... I think I should stop right there with the potential spoilers ...

War Machine is pretty tight, as well, and that Avengers movie lurking around the corner starts looking better and better.

And yeah ... Stan Lee rules, as usual...

Two iron men ... get it? I rule.

Egyp...

2010-04-21T23:30:00.001+03:00

So here we were ... just landed in the land of the Sun! When we took off in Bucharest the kepn' announced 30 degrees Celsius ... when we landed he said 25 ... and when we FINALLY managed to get out of the airport it felt closer to 20 ... We started to have some doubts about choosing to come so early before summer, but hopefully in the end the temperature proved to be rather good, rising each day until the last day when we couldn't stay in the sun for too long.

The first impression, which carries on even now is that the country hasn't finished loading ... or something is not finished anyway. Nothing was close to being finished around the airport, including the parking lot. We had to climb a mountain of rubble to get to the bus which was going to take us to the hotel... or maybe it was just some rubble on the ground ... On the way, the "in progress" sensation continued. There were hundreds, yes HUNDREDS of buildings which were almost finished ... almost there but not quite. There were areas where you saw these as far as the eye can see ... or as far as I was able to see anyway. We didn't take photos, but here's a photo we took when going to Cairo which shows a very similar picture...

What was a little frightening was that amongst these construction sites and piles of rubble lied ... the resorts. But, fortunately, we were not going to a resort ... we were going to a place that is much more than a resort and impressed me much more than I was expecting to be impressed. It is actually a small town called El Gouna, and prepare yourselves for a mild jaw-drop when visiting the official site over here. The hotel where we stayed is called Sultan Bey, and it is a marvelous place.

..yeah ... every morning...

full of flower

power

and a small swiming pool perfect for chillin'

OK, so here we were... a relaxation OASIS in the midle of pure chaos... And relaxation was exactly what we came here for ... or so we thought ....

Find out next what we decided to do ... for relaxation ... in our first day on site ... next...

Crash and Burn of the Titans

2010-04-18T22:47:00.001+03:00

But first ...

I went to see "Clash of the Titans" and I am compelled to write about it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner on our hands. Yup, this one is gonna bring it home this year. And when I say "it" I am referring to my yearly "Worst Movie I've seen this Year" award.

This tiny Holywood pooh wasted too much of my life already, but I am compelled to warn others. This "movie" is definitely not worth paying for, not even worth spending download bandwidth to snatch from the Internetz. Just take a brief look at the pic above and you're good.

For the directing, the acting, the effects, even only for the most pathetic inspirational speech I have ever heard in my life this one is gonna bring it home ... mark my words ...

A couple of Crazy Weeks later ...

2010-04-18T22:32:00.000+03:00

The last couple of weeks are hard to summarize ... what I can say is they were just like that pic above ... crazy...

First, an amazing trip to Egypt that exceeded our expectations, where we chased beduins through the desert, did the scuba diving and found Nemo, entered the Pyramids and saw king Tut himself. Afterwards, we rushed home for two easter days, where yes I ate once again as a pig. Then after a twentythree hours total drive that took two days, we arrived in Luxembourg, our new home. Throw a trip to Disneyland on our first Saturday here and you're starting to get the picture...

I know I'm a lazy blogger lately, but I wanna make up for that and post details about every part of the crazy ...

First up ... Egypt!

yeah ... I took that picture ... I rule

Time to hit that Road

2010-03-26T23:03:00.000+02:00

The time has come to reveal our plans for the near future. Tomorrow we are leaving for Egypt, the land of the Sun ... I hope, because after this winter I do want to see that strange ball of light on the sky again. I will blog about that after we return. And speaking of after we return ... This is when our true next journey will begin. Our destination ... pretty predictable considering my business trip earlier this year:

Luxembourg

My business trip went quite well actually and, as a result, Andreea and I will pack up and move our General HeadQuarters to Luxembourg. And what a great HQ this can be.... Paris in 3 hours, Amsterdam a little more ... and tons of castles and wonderful locations within our grasp. We will travel by car, and yes, finally, the baboon will be able to come out and play ... Nurburgring is probably just one of the places to have fun nearby.

However, it's not all milk and honey... Besides the obvious effort of leaving basically everything behind, it will take a while before we will get settled in appropriately, but we shall do it.

So ... how long are we planning to stay there? For now ... forever...

My New Car

2010-03-26T00:21:00.005+02:00

Yes, this is my new car ... uhm ... what was that? You are saying this is the exact same old crazy fat baboon I've been blabbering about already for a couple of times? Well ... you are ... almost wrong.

There are two NEW things I love about the baboon ... first one is the fat paint job which fixed some problems. The car looks sooo goood, I just love it love it love it... took some nice pics today when I picked it up.

and here comes another one...

The second thing ... well ... the fat crazy baboon has now become PSYCHOTIC! With just a push of a pedal, the otherwise very pleasant and almost gentle car becomes an nutter and starts wooshing and swooshing and pulling like a maniac. This is all because of something that young kids these days would call a remapped ECU.

Here's a short flick where I was not pushing hard, had AC on, and 3rd was very slightly uphill:

yeah ... Brian Adams didn't help much either ...

As usual, please don't try this at home... go to a track or a freeway with no traffic ...

So ... the baboon is then almost ready to take us on the big journey ahead ... what big journey? ... coming up ... next...

The Copper Trees

2010-03-22T22:22:00.003+02:00

I've been quite the absent blogger lately. But the truth is a big important change is about to happen for me and Andreea, and we don't have that much time left until it does ... and still so many things to do...

But, in the meantime, we payed a visit to Andreea's parents this weekend. It was amazing as usual and I ate once again just like a big fat pig. On Saturday however, we decided to take a trip down memory lane, and went to visit Ipotesti, a place where we've been before ... about seven years ago ... yeah ... that's quite a long time. For my less educated brothers, this is the hometown of Mihai Eminescu, romanian poetry Legend.

Actually, we didn't visit his hometown. We went to the forest where our national hero gained his inspiration. The translation would be The Silver Forest and the Copper Trees ... or was it first the copper trees and then the silver forest ... or something like that.

Equilibrium ... this place can give that.

Say hello to our little friend ...

and that little friend ...

and his little friend too

Andreea walking the silver pathway ...

In fact she liked it so much she started jumping for joy again!

Beyond the snowy path through the copper trees lies the frozen lake. Which looked quite amazing. It was so sunny outside, and yet the lake was fully frozen.

It was a great morning, and we should definitely try this again some time ... seven years from now sounds good.

So, what was I saying... big change ... stay tuned...

Alice? Who the #eck is Alice?

2010-03-09T09:46:00.002+02:00

I was quite eager to see this movie. Alice in Wonderland, what a lovely tale to be seen on the big screen in 3D... and by Tim Burton. Can you imagine that? Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton. Well, if you can, then there won't be any big surprises for you.

This movie is exactly what you would expect, only maybe a little bit more boring and with Johnny Depp not delivering quite the stellar performance you could expect. Tim Burton fantasy is flying all around with very strange characters and a dark-ish tone everywhere. But there are, of course, a few problems so let's start kicking away:
- Johnny Depp - His performance is not very convincing, as his character seems to be unfortunately lost floating somewhere between the scissors guy and pirate from the carribbean throughout the movie.
- Alice ... who is Alice actually? They could have picked someone better for the part ...
- "Are you THE Alice?" question... which makes me wonder once again ... who in the heck's name is this Alice everyone keeps asking about ...
- The ending of the movie kinda made me LOL ... I don't wanna spoil it but let's just say rough business men are not what they used to be ...

All in all not a bad movie, but I was expecting a little bit better ... mister Tim Burton ... off with his head!

Magic Number Seven

2010-03-08T09:52:00.001+02:00

Today is a magic day. Seven years ago Andreea and I were going out on our first date. We were so young and restless then ... and we still are ... I hope. The day we met was a magic moment that turned both our lives around.

I don't have any pictures from then, but I wanted to use this opportunity to post some photos from Morocco, which was kinda magic as well, and only one year later. We had some good times, and some very bad ones, so here are a few pictures from six years ago ... hmmmn ... it's been six years already...

yes ... two very confused tourists we were ...

still confused ...

but not confused enough to skip the henna treatment ...

Whatcha lookin at? she's NOT for trade, take your camels!

They say seven is a magic number, which may actually turn up to be true, as this year is looking up to be another life changing moment for us ... here's hoping for the best...

kisses ... hearts ... red BIG HEARTS

Dinosaurs went extinct?

2010-03-05T17:22:00.001+02:00

I was a bit shocked today when I read this article on yahoo. It seems like 41 "scientists" from around the world spent a lot of money probably doing their monkey business stuff and in the end came up with this crazy theory that Dinosaurs were killed a couple many million years ago by an asteroid which is such a GROUND BRAKING theory...

Anyway, if you wanna see some scientific and cool but yet unintelligible information on the subject you can go here.

Amateurs ... extinct ... I KNOW Denver is still alive somewhere in USA.

UPDATE: Following a very heated discussion with Lucian we finally discovered what TRULY happened.

The TRUTH is that Chuck Norris came down from the sky on a ball of fire and wiped out all life so that he could start spreading his seed on yet another planet. A mere blast from the meteor was not enough and Chuck Norris had to finish the job himself, so he hunted down all the remaining dinosaurs and killed them with a roundhouse kick.... which took like a blink of an eye ... because, yeah, Chuck Norris can!

Yes, I know you just dropped your coffee cup from amazement...

Shatter Island

2010-03-02T12:34:00.000+02:00

I don't really know what to say here without spoiling the movie. The way Shutter Island met my expectations is closely related to some heavy spoilers, so I'm not gonna talk about that.

Instead, I can describe what I think of Leo ... awww ... beautiful Leo ... He really started going downhill after Titanic. He grew a pseudo-beard ... grew a small beer belly ... he's not that kid who stole the hearts of millions around the globe any more.... Which is why I actually started to like the guy. I think he may actually have become one of the best actors around.

So did Teddy manage to pull himself together after all? I guess you need to go see the movie to find out ...

Sushi Time

2010-03-01T15:53:00.003+02:00

Happy 1st of March everyone!!! On such a fine spring day I thought it would be a good idea to talk about Sushi, and since we are on the subject I will also recommend two pretty good sushi places in Bucharest ... So, chop chop, let's get to it!

You will easily notice that this post contains only photos grabbed off the Internetz. That's because ... well ... I'm busy eating when I'm eating ...

Tuna ...mmmmm

We had some very good sushi last evening, so why don't I start with that ... we had a couple of California rolls, a couple of sushi, maki, it was a nice combo. I am a big fan of wasabi, so I put a lot of that into my soy sauce. And, yes, gari shoga has to be on location for the enjoyment to be complete. What I like most about sushi is that it satisfies my hunger and leaves me with a very soothing Zen sensation in my stomach after I finish eating. It's lite but satisfying at the same time ... giving you everything the body needs through a blend of exotic and sometimes spicy flavors. It can become quite addictive ... Andreea and I are unfortunately hooked ... and it seems we need to start increasing the dosage...

Octopus? I don't mind that ...

The place we got last night's fix is called Sushi To Go and it is the place where we buy our sushi most of the times. You can check out their website over here. They don't have any other Japanese dishes except sushi, but that's not really a problem. What I like most about the place is that it feels fresh ... They don't have a lot of different combos you can buy, and it does seem to be a tiny too expensive to start making your own, but we get our 16 different pieces there for about 80RON, which is not really that bad.

Another place where we had sushi (and enjoyed it) is Sushi Ko. Website is here, but it's pretty useless unfortunately. This is actually a restaurant, unlike Sushi To Go, and they have many Japanese traditional dishes, so you can experience a wider array of flavors from the Japan cuisine. You can get a pretty humongous sushi/maki combo for about 70RON, so it's pretty OK price-wise considering you can expect it to be quite expensive since it's, well, sushi ... in Bucharest. Definitely worth a visit...

There are, of course, quite a lot other places to get expensive Sushi in Bucharest. If you want to get a cheap fix and are in luck, you can find a nice combo at MegaImage for 50RON which is quite OK just as well.

...did I mention Tuna?

If you haven't eaten Sushi yet ... you should go do it .... NOW!

Really ...

Hands will start trembling for sushi... soon ...

Nein

2010-02-23T09:53:00.000+02:00

I would like to start off by saying I'm a big fan of musicals. I especially love Chicago, which I saw many times and loved it. I even saw it on Broadway (thanks again to a very special person who did that). So, naturally I was expecting to like Nine quite a bit. Did that happen? ... well ... let me explain...

The script is pretty good. Daniel Day Lewis is in top shape, and, unlike Richard Gere or Pierce Brosnan, he can actually sing. The main attraction of the movie, which should be Penelope Cruz in case you are a little confused and don't know why you are going to see the movie, also delivers a very good and memorable performance. And so do the rest of the cast... or almost.

So what goes wrong? Well ... I'd probably have to say it's the music, which didn't really do it for me. And Kate Hudson ... who absolutely didn't do it for me. The movie itself is pretty good but in the end it often fails as a musical. I really feel sorry because they could have made something really good, but instead ended up with something not bad.

So is this is another Mamma Mia or Chicago? ... sadly ... nein.

AAuuuuu

2010-02-22T12:30:00.001+02:00

Yes, that's because that's just how the wolfman sounds... with precisely five "u"s ... and double "A"s. Now, about the movie ... it wasn't too bad ... it has some gore in it, which I usually don't appreciate ... and I didn't quite appreciate it this time either ... The story is interesting, with a few twists that you kinda see coming and a final showdown with a bite. Benicio is great and so is Anthony, no surprises there.

Oh, did you know the gypsy people speak Romanian? ... it's their mother tongue that they use when having a casual conversation between themselves ... no discrimination there ... it's just a bunch of Romanian gypsies having a friendly chat about their black magic charms.

What I didn't quite appreciate either were the BOO moments ... like .... suspense ... quiet ... suspense ... WOLF BUAAAAAA!!!

All in all it's a watchable movie, but you could consider leaving the kids at home ...

... suspense ...

.... quiet ....

3.0

2010-02-19T10:59:00.004+02:00

Yes, today is a big day. It is my birthday, and not just any birthday, it is my 30th birthday. From now on I won't be able to tell people I'm twenty something ... but I'm fine with that. I thought about it and I will leave the midlife crisis for my 40th birthday, when I will have such a need to feel young that I will simply have to buy myself a Nissan GTR. Sounds like an amazing plan to me!
Coming back to today, I am however thinking about my life, its ups and downs, wondering if I've learned anything so far ... and the answer is surprisingly YES.
But enough blabbering... I've decided to gather up a few pictures ... so here they are:

the Kitty Kat

our 11th trip to Paris ... just kidding... I think this was our first trip together @ Disneyland

talking about Paris(different trip, of course) ... my first sushi ... yummy

the trip to the States ... I keep thinking about that

escape ...

... to Paradise

Karate in Japan

just look at that color ...

There are of course so many more moments like our adventure in Morocco (of which I don't have any pics with me) ... but I can't and I don't want to put it all in pictures in a small post ...

Later edit: Andreea has some pics from Morocco on facebook so here goes one of them:

And did I mention my previous blog? I think I did, but anyway here it is again.

It's been quite interesting so far ... who knows what will happen next? Adventure! Suspense! Stay tuned!

The Best Restaurant in Bucharest

2010-02-15T10:26:00.002+02:00

This is my 200th post (yay) so it should be something interesting. So, why not share what I think is the best restaurant in Bucharest? I was thinking of writing something about sushi (addict over here), but I'll do that another time.

So, that's a pretty big statement right there, the BEST restaurant in Bucharest. Let me explain first what I am looking for in a restaurant. It's ... QUALITY first, quantity second. I don't care too much about quantity, and this is a problem in the local restaurants, where you usually get a full platter of something that's not really THAT great. Without further ado, the place which I consider to be the BEST restaurant in Bucharest is:

CHOCOLAT

That's an ugly pic, I know, but I was too busy EATING to take pictures. They have: the best onion soup I've ever had, the beeest "chicken salad" and the most delicious tartines. The way you can feel every flavor, the fact you can tell the vegetables were fresh and tasty, it all comes together like nothing I've sampled before ... at least in Bucharest. So, yes, the food is very delicious, but what will really knock your socks off is THE DESERT. I've tried three different deserts and I'm still thinking about them. Oh, and do grab a cappuccino while you're at it. Do check out their website (it's where I got the ugly pic from) for more details like location etc...

So here it is. Darn it ... I just drooled all over my keyboard.

It's not that Complicated after all

2010-02-11T11:36:00.000+02:00

It's not that often that I get to see a movie that exceeds my expectations, but that's precisely what happened last night when I saw "It's Complicated".Let me explain how what I was expecting to be a very light comedy turned out to be a very good light comedy:
1. You get a couple of very good actors. Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were in top shape;
2. You get a good writer to write a decent script. Nancy Meyers also did The Holiday (which was maybe a little too light for me) and Something's Gotta Give (which was pretty darn good also).

... and SHAZAM!!!

looks like it's not that complicated after all...

The Movie of Eli

2010-02-08T10:52:00.001+02:00

See that guy? His name is Eli, and he will chop your hand off if you stink and touch him. If you stink like really REALLY bad then and only then he will take out his big bad shotgun from his backpack and blow you into smithereens. Oh, did I mention there's a movie out about this guy? And not a bad one may I add ... It's called "The Book of Eli". I have absolutely no idea why it's called the book since it's a movie ... ah whatever ...

Not only is this a(nother) good movie with Denzel, but I think this is probably the first good Fallout movie, like the smart people on the internetz notices right away.

I don't mind that.

What I did mind a little was the catwalk appearance of the awwww sooo beautiful next Angelina Jolie appearance who almost managed to blow the movie away but thank God Denzel was there to stop her from doing it of this girl called Mila Kunis or something like that. Just take a look:

Is Angelina out into Fallout land looking to adopt some more babies? Something's definitely not right in that picture. I mean common ... it's Fallout land ... bombs ... chaos ... horror ... bah.

Anyway ... The story is pretty smart and the movie is pretty well made, but the movie is not really that pretty... get it?

Very Very Hot Stuff

2010-02-05T15:47:00.001+02:00

It's been WAAAAAY to long since I've posted some HOT STUFF .... and what a comeback will this be!

This is definitely the best action scene ever made. Thanx to Costin for giving me the opportunity to witness this finest creation of human kind!

Le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg

2010-01-29T13:09:00.003+02:00

Aaaand I'm back. I was away for a couple of weeks because I was on a business trip to Luxembourg. Or should I say ... Le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. Yea ... that sounds better.

I was actually taken by surprise by the beauty of the city... the windy roads, the castles, the valleys, the peace and quiet ... ohh ... it's so peaceful ... so quiet ... maybe too much peace and quiet for some, but not for me.

The city can offer excitement as well. There are enough bars and restaurants to keep you entertained, and for the night-life you have the clubbing area which looks pretty good. There is also a very good cinema, and I will have to tell you how long story short I spent about 90 EUR (yea) to see Avatar for the second time in an upcoming post. A quick stop and a warm apple juice with cinnamon are just what the doctor ordered when it's a little cold outside...

Where Luxembourg does best though is location location location. You have sooo many places you can go to at your disposal, it's quite amazing. Germany, France or Belgium flip a coin and drive there in one or two hours. For example, one one Saturday I went skiing in France. I hadn't skied in about 7 years so it was a great experience with amazing snow and almost perfect weather. Good and quite cheap ... 35 EUR ski pass + equipment for the day.

Andreea joined me for the last weekend of the trip. Here she is enjoying the scenery:

Oh, and here is me enjoying the scenery ... it was a littttle coollldd:

On Monday we celebrated Andreea's 29th birthday. Happy Birthday again, my lovey lovey kisses and hearts :).

Andreea didn't miss the opportunity to take some great photos ... as for me and my business trip ... that's for another post ... stay tuned.

Sherlock Holmes and 2 Smoking Barrels

2010-01-11T15:53:00.001+02:00

See that guy up there? That's Sherlock Holmes! ... What? You think that's plain old LAME? OK, then how about this guy ...

OK, OK, it looks like we are getting ... somewhere ... but that's still not a movie that an average young fellow would admire these days ... in comes Guy Ritchie ... who analysed the situation and finally thought that by all means if he would need to survive in the jungle of today's cinema, Sherlock must definitely look ... well ... like this:

See the resemblance? Well... don't bee TOO hard on yourselves, neither do I, but the point is that there's a movie in theaters called "Sherlock Holmes" which BLOWS S#IT UP! Does it have anything to do with the Sherlock Holmes from the first picture? Considering this guy knows more Karate than Mr. Miyagi the answer is pretty obvious.

One mystery remains ... Is the movie any good? ... I'd say yes, but it took me a couple of pipes and intensive use of my magnifying glass to find an answer ...

get it?

300 Million Dollars

2010-01-04T10:22:00.000+02:00

First post for 2010, so... Happy New Year! I FINALLY got to see Avatar in IMAX, after hunting for tickets for a couple of weeks, and, well, it was all that I expected.

The lack of originality in the script of the movie is often overwhelming, but not as overwhelming as the special effects, which are sometimes simply amazing. Sure, it sometimes feels like you're watching an animation movie, but there are also moments, like the picture above, when the blue aliens look sooo real, it's freaky. The 3D is the best I've seen so far, no doubt about it.

Getting back to the script, it's not quite as bad as I was expecting it to be. Sure, you can always see the general direction where the action is heading, but I admire the lack of plot holes, and the depth they gave to the story, unlike for example Star Trek ... now that's a shallow script.

The highlight of the movie is, of course, Pandora. The world really comes alive on screen, with all the plants and trees and all the animals and everything. They really took their time with designing the place, and it shows.

So, the big question is, does it feel like 300 million dollars worth of movie? I think it does ...

Oh, and one more thing. All you (lame) downloaders out there, this movie is not for you. You need to experience this on the big screen with the 3D goggles on.

Happy New Year!

Best Vehicle I drove This Year 2009

2009-12-24T10:44:00.002+02:00

OK, I will admit it. This is my favorite award, and the hardest choice of them all. For the beginning let's meet our contenders. And the nominees are:

Fat Baboon 225

Driving it every day never gets old.

Little Donkey

I still can't swipe that smile off my face.

50cc ATV

Driving on the coast line with one of these is a truly memorable moment.

Excentric Buggy

Almost scraping the tarmac with our but was sooo much FUN.

Versatile Citroen C3 Pluriel

Almost convertible, absolutely fun.

Let's go that way Jeep Cherokee

Flip a coin, and let's be on our way.

Rev happy Clio RS 200

Going up to 8k revs is always fun.

Gravel eating Dacia Logan Cup

A true rally car.

Crazy 350hp SAAB(sorry no pic)

wheelspin at 120Km/h ... what the heck??? I want my mommy!

What can I say ... I've been paareetty busy this year. Each has an amazing story supporting them, so it is a very very tough choice, but we have a winner. And the winner is:

BUGGY

The little Buggy took as on a truly memorable trip. We made a complete tour of Zakynthos in this little bugger and I will admit it wasn't an easy trip. We had amazing views and a lot of smiles and nods from people. Kids jumped in the buggy and took pictures when we stopped. And being able to enjoy all this and the open air with Andreea by my side is what gives the Buggy the edge in winning.

I really hope we get to do something like this again next year.

And I believe that's a wrap on the awards. It's been a pretty good year I would say. See you soon!

Ugliest Car Of The Year 2009

2009-12-24T09:53:00.001+02:00

2009 will be a memorable year. It is the year when a car which is uglier than the car I used to consider the most ugliest possible car in the world was born. My all-time favorite was this:

This was the ugliest car I had ever seen until 2009. Not any more! A newcomer blew this little sucker into the water.

And the undisputed ugliest car I have ever seen is:

BMW X1

Pictures really don't do it justice. It's much MUCH uglier in person. I don't know what the heck happened back there BMW ... I just don't know ...

My Car Of Choice 2009

2009-12-24T09:38:00.000+02:00

I love cars. I really do. Last year's choice was the KTM X-Bow, so I guess it's pretty easy to see what I'm aiming at over here. It must be fast. It must be powerful. It must be the best bang for buck you can have. And it must be on top in it's class.

And so, without further bla bla, the winner is:

Ford Focus RS

Although I am not really a Ford fan, and generally prefer RenaultSport when it comes to hot hatches, I must hand it to this amazing piece of technology. Great power, amazing sound and muscular looks, this is what I am talking about. Of course, all of this comes with a price. And darn good one if you ask me! This is not cheap, but it's pretty close to the rest of the bunch and much better than an Audi S3.

You should be buying one of this cars right now. Darn, I should be buying one. Maybe some other year...

Best Game I played This Year 2009

2009-12-24T09:25:00.001+02:00

It's been a somewhat busy year for the gamer in me. I got the new PSP and a couple of games to go along. The PS3 received it's share, and so did the Wii. But still, this is a pretty easy pick. Although I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed by the game, it still has some EPIC moments that any gamer must experience.

And the winner is:

Uncharted 2

Yes, the photo is in-game. With such attention to detail, probably the best multi-player ever, and a couple of levels that should be marked in the history of gaming, this is a clear winner. It's not all win, though. I found the story pretty weak, compared to the first one, and the boss fight at the end was a complete fail.Hope they will fix all this in Uncharted 3. Yes, you heard me, bring it on!

And on we go...

Worst Movie I've Seen This Year 2009

2009-12-24T09:13:00.001+02:00

This year has marked a new experience for me. It was the first time I was literally unable to sit through the entire duration of a movie. I didn't even bother to blog about it, but it must get my real appreciation through this award. Yes, sure the movie won Oscars, but frankly I don't give a mouse butt.

The clear undisputed undefeated winner is:

Million Dollar Baby

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I just go ahead and spoiled the movie for you in case you didn't see it? No I didn't. I just spoiled it up to the point where I was able to watch it. You can't see from the picture above what happens next, and that is that, after she is paralyzed, Clint Eastwood's character kills the poor girl out of pity, or so I heard. Oh, now I really did it ... Don't worry, you'll thank me later.

barf. next!

Best Movie I've Seen This Year 2009

2009-12-24T09:02:00.000+02:00

I'm so lucky to have this blog, since I have extremely poor memory. I was wondering what the heck movies I saw this year, and which one impressed me most. Looking through the movies posts made the choice much easier. Although there were a couple of surprises this year for me like Coco, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and even Fast and Furious, there is one movie that really impressed me.

And the winner is:

THIS IS IT

You can read my review right over here. The man was AMAZING. May he rest in peace.

Let's proceed...

Best Travel Of The Year 2009

2009-12-24T08:48:00.000+02:00

OK, no point in delaying this. It's pretty obvious where this goes.

It's been, again, a pretty busy year. We visited Vienna, Paris (yes, AGAIN), Zakynthos and Japan. Vienna wasn't THAT impressive, and although Paris is still my favorite place and Zakynthos was pretty amazing, the award will have to go to a place in Japan.

And the winner is:

Shirakawa-go

With its traditional setup and truly amazing scenery, this is by no doubt this year's winner. Read all about it right here.

The awards show continues...

Scullder's Awards 2009 !!!

2009-12-21T16:26:00.005+02:00

Yes, my dear friends, it's that time of the year when i get to name my favorite toothpaste and stuff ...

Here's this year's categories:

- Best Travel Of The Year

- Best Movie I've Seen This Year

- Best Game I played This Year

- My Car Of Choice
- Best Vehicle I drove This Year (oh yeah!)

... and since I like it:

- Worst Movie I've Seen This Year

- Worst Ugliest Car Of The Year

Don't hesitate to check out ALL my awards for fun by clicking right here!

Dinner in Space

2009-12-17T15:24:00.002+02:00

When you think of Tokyo, you usually expect crazy neon lights, manga people, tall buildings and flying spaceships. Arriving back in Tokyo we realized that this is not so very far from the truth. The hotel where we stayed was located in West Shinjuku, a well knows business area, and we got a room at the twenty freaking second floor. Very small room, minuscule window with a curtain. Opening the curtain brought back memories of the WOW moment on Folegandros and it's breath taking cliff side.

Talk about a room with a view. We were literally inches away from the abyss, and yet it felt quite safe.

The building on the left is a government building that you can visit for free. It goes all the way up to the 45th floor, so, of course, we went there.

Tokyo, viewed from the top, is quite impressive. It is HUGE, spreading out as far as the eye can see and probably beyond. And if you like these photos check out the ones from New York which are just as impressive.

While returning from our short trip to the outer skirts of our atmosphere, we saw the very nice location of the restaurant on the top floor of our hotel. Wide window, top floor, no brainer.

M came to visit and say good bye and after that, as it was our last night in Japan, we though it would be very nice to have a romantic dinner, on top of Tokyo, and we did. The food was pretty good, but the best thing was the view.

With sake in our glasses and Tokyo at our feet, this was the perfect ending to an AMAZING trip.

I'm not sure how we are ever going to top off going to Japan. Maybe a trip to Saturn ... who knows?

Go see Japan!

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Hachikō ...

2009-12-16T12:08:00.002+02:00

OK, time to bring out those handkerchiefs.

This is the statue of Hachikō in front of the train station. (no tears yet?) It's the dog who waited in front of the train station for his master. (not there yet?) His master was long gone ... (small sigh?) And he kept waiting ... (big sigh?) Until he passed away waiting in the snow ... (don't lie I know those are tears)

The movie is famous over here. I will never forget my sister Miruna bursting into tears as the camera panned out ... Hachikō will never be forgoten...

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M & J

2009-12-16T11:47:00.005+02:00

As we're closing in on the final post from the Japan series, I want to post about the two people who made Tokyo feel like a familiar place, M&J.

I really like this photo of them two very much.

You can see J all adventurous always climbing and exploring, and M always finding something to take pictures of, usually J... which of course he has to climb after to take the best photos.

I think M takes some of the best photos, you can check them out over here.

We had an amazing Mediterranean, Sushi, Mexican, Sake dinner one evening, prepared by the master chef J. I think my brain just exploded with delight just by thinking about it. It was really amazing. (did I already say that?)

Just like when we went to the states, it felt really good to have someone there when you're away from home. Thanks M&J, hope to see you again soon...

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Drift King

2009-12-04T11:18:00.002+02:00

Yes ... it's time ... you cannot talk about Japan without mentioning the CARS. And I'm not talking about the boxy city car microvans. I'm talking about all the tuned up or stock crazy cars you would expect to find there. I was hoping to find some kind of proof that the night scene is as crazy as they say ... and I kinda did in the end. I saw some amazing GTRs, a few EVOs and STIs, and a few of what is maybe my favourite ... Silvia. And I don't mean the huge spoilers kind, I mean the slick tires, slick styling, racy exhaust, racy suspension kind. But let me start this up properly.

Japan is well known as being a major tuning market. It's common knowledge that people tune up their cars big time. What is not common knowledge is that most of the tuned up cars in Japan look like this:

Yeap, minivans. They tune minivans. They tune minivans like crazy. You see this kind of tuning everywhere.

Besides this, the JDM market has it's fare share of stock representation with EVOs, STIs and GTRs. They're not as common as tuned up minivans, but you get to see quite a few as well. I caught an STI in Shirakawa-go and took a couple of pretty pics.

If you really wait for it, you can get a glimpse into what is probably a very busy night time racing scene. I wasn't the automotive spy with my camera ready to catch each one of thse quite rare moments, but ... I did catch one which I'm really proud of:

Yes ... it's a Silvia. And I love it. This was inside a private parking, so I didn't want to take too many photos. If you will look closely you will see the details that give away the good habbits of the owner. Duck tape stiching near the rear tire, four ripped out (and I mean really ripped out) tires thrown behind the car, this is the closest I ever got to Japan's Drift King.

Close enough for me ...

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Pillow LUV

2009-12-03T11:58:00.002+02:00

Some time ago I read this article about a strange situation in Japan. The article was saying that there's a trend among young Japanese men to date ... well ... pillows. They go on trips, watch movies together, and I'm trying no to think too far regarding their activities. Apparently it's true love...

I must admit I was quite shocked when I actually got to meet the pillow face to face. She was abandoned and neglected, left all alone on the shelf, in dire need of a rescuer. She had a small boo boo which needed immediate attention and I could also tell she was too shy to actually ask out loud for help. Instead, she was looking at me with her puppy eyes, hoping I would notice ... hoping I would care ... and I ... took a pic and got the heck out of there!

Talk about barking at the wrong tree ...

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Pachinko is the Work of Satan

2009-12-02T10:30:00.002+02:00

There's no better way to put it ... I think that Pachinko is the work of the Bad Man Himself. I can't even begin to describe the level of chaos that can be found in there. What's most intriguing is that you can find people of ALL ages. They all sit there hypnotized by the brain washing satanic machine of ... PACHINKO!
Here's a vid I grabbed from youtube (not mine). Turn the volume UP (like, all the way UP, because it's freaking LOUD in there) and you get a sense of what it feels like to be there, but try adding some intense smoking choke (it's an all smoking joint), and add to that the intensity that a LIVE show gives you. It's PURE CHAOS!

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