CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW IS BACK!

I don’t know about you guys but I can’t wait to see the return of Captain Jack Sparrow! I wasn’t a big fan of the sea monsters in the last couple of them but this one’s got scary mermaids, zombies and fearsome pirate Blackbeard and I have to say it all looks really good!  Check out the official ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Trailer

Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear And Some Reasonable Signs!

Yes, I did it! Friends, on a somewhat cold yet glorious day of October 30, I went to join fellow rational moderate Americans and restored some sanity and gave fear an evil eye. Arrrgh! Why? You ask. Well, why not is what I say! As a rational moderate individual that was certainly the most sane insane and reasonable thing for one to do. Granted most of us were quietly thinking, I’m not really sure why I’m here? Or now that I’m here, what exactly am I suppose to be doing? But no matter what, standing in a mile long metro line for tickets and running like a crazy bear into a packed metro (thank you NYC for training me in basics of forcing oneself into tight spaces) and happily marching on with everyone towards a common goal (the speaker, screen or a stage) was definitely worth it.  Somehow it all really did make sense!  And if it didn’t for any of you, then I’m glad because when nothing makes sense and madness takes over, it is best to just march it out friends. Remember, just March it out.

Here are some fun reasonable signs that I came across at the rally

If you could have gone but didn’t then you should be sad! Okay well don’t be too sad…oh God please don’t cry! Okay maybe a little, but not for too long because tears are precious.  If you’re a mess, then please go for some yo-yo time (not as in “you’re on your own” but more like playing with the second oldest toy in history!) And if you rather not play with toys, then how about some yoga? Try the upside-down pose or as Yoga peeps call it, the head stand posture because there is nothing like having the blood gush down your head in a tranquil way. Regardless, either should cheer your sad disposition up! If you still insist on being a pooper emo then how about simply jumping a rope? Personally it reminds me of those creepy little girls jumping rope in  A Nightmare on Elm Street and Freddy Krueger. Oooh okay that’s really dark but hey seeing the banana jump a rope with a Muslim at the rally was not so dark and was actually quite a lot of fun!

Hahaha that was funny and seriously if you’re still sad then you make me sick, please chill and get some tea, remember, “Don’t, Worry! Drink Chai!” 🙂

My Tea For The Moment:  Hahaha banana jumping the rope! Guess what that means? It’s peanut better jelly time! And speaking of fruits, how about some Harney & Sons Tropical Green? It’s the “Exotic green tea blend with pineapple flavor.” I’m usually not a big fan of fruit flavored teas but this one actually tastes quite good.

I Want A BookBook!

Now this is one of those combos that I just want!   A cool vintage hardcover book case combined with a velvety soft padded interior for my MacBook Pro to sleep in zzzz…. Ah, it’s so comfortable! Lovely visual isn’t it? The only problem is that the one nestled inside the book cannot be my baby! Oh why, you say so sadly? Well you see, I have a 17-inch and this amazing thing is only available  for 13-inch and  15-inch MacBook and MacBook Pros.  Tears…oh well I don’t have funds to invest in a $79.99 cover right now anyways.  But if there was one available in that size, do you think it would look odd for me to be walking around with a huge vintage book everywhere?  I think I would just tell people that I love old vintage books so I like to carry one everywhere I go 🙂 and then of course sniff it really hard.  You know this is also quite symbolic of the whole print vs. digital debate.  Don’t you think?  I must say that although this is an awesome way to disguise your laptop, you might want to be careful if you live in a house where someone loves to donate or sell books!  You don’t want to come home and find out that your awesome vintage book was donated to Salvation Army or maybe even to Africa!  I can just imagine the joy on some little kids face 🙂

For details, you can read the Press Release for this amazing thing!

And If you want to buy it, look at more pics, or just drool over it, go here

My Tea For The Moment: So during my recent grocery shopping adventure, I came across Bromley Decaffeinated Green Tea.  It was on sale and has 48 tea bags in a box! Definitely a great deal, plus it actually taste quite decent.  I’m glad I like it because I just realized that I will be drinking this one for a while hehe.

Largest Book, Egg Watcher, and Tai Shan the Panda!

Hello everyone!  So here’s some interesting random stuff that I came across.  If you want to read the articles or explore the websites in detail, just click on the images.

First we have the World’s Largest book display!  It’s like 5′ (tall) x 6′ (wide) and requires six people to lift it!  This 350 year old Klencke Atlas was apparently presented to King Charles II by Dutch merchants and placed in his cabinet of curiosities! This will be one of the main highlights during this Summer’s big exhibition on maps by the British Library.
A few things that came to my mind as I saw this.  First, I want to know what else was in that cabinet of curiosities?  Giant pen? Oooh a magnifying glass to read the giant book?  A dinosaur?  Who knows maybe there were giant sized gems? or Aladdin’s lamp? Okay i know that it’s not a ‘Giant’ cabinet of curiosities but still. You know, I think I would love to have my own cabinet of curiosities! How fun! Although If i made such a cabinet in my parent’s house, they’ll most likely declare it as trash and sent every item to Purple Heart.  Seriously sometimes I wonder if they think they are a trash or a recycling center.  Second, I was thinking wow what If I really had a giant book as part of my decor? What are the chances that it will fall on my guests? or heck, on me?  Then I’ll be really living inside the book 🙂 Imagine trying to swap such a book.  Back then maybe you needed a buggy or a Donkey cart, today you’ll most likely need  6 men and a truck to move this piece of art!  I find it cool how the Kings supported publishing back in those days.  If nothing at least books were a status symbol! Could we say the same today?

Next on the list is this cool EggWatchers site that I came across.  With their help watching boring eggs boil will never be the same again.  Basically they present you with an egg timer that will entertain you while your eggs get boiled.  So you give them your egg preferences and it tells you exactly how many minutes it will take to cook your egg.  During that time, they hook you up with a cool video that is equal to that exact cooking time.  When the video is done, Ping! Your eggs will hopefully be ready. This way you don’t have to stare at the boring eggs and get bored!

Lastly, I would like all of you to join me in saying goodbye to Tai Shan the cute panda who will be FedExed to Chengdu, China soon. Not in a box of course but a large steel crate.  Tai Shan my cuddly friend I hope you have a safe and happy journey! Enjoy your bamboo, fruits and cookies! 🙂

You can listen to his story and read related articles at NPR.

My Tea For The Moment: I tried out TWININGS of London’s Fujian Chinese Pure White Tea. This has a very light flavor strength to it.  I think this one tastes the best if steeped only for one minute. The first time i let it steep for over 3 minutes and it killed its delicate smooth flavor.

PHANTOM LOVE NEVER DIES!

Yes my friends that’s what we all said when we said goodbye to Phantom of the Opera. At least I did when I left Majestic theatre that fine night over a weekend. I was so sure I wasn’t coming back to NYC (sniff sniff) but hey who knew I would be back! And now, Phantom will return as well! Yes you heard it right, he’s a coming back.  So if you ever thought hey I wonder what happened to that Phantom dude? Or that gal Christine? Or Raoul?  Well guess what your dream will finally come true.

Earlier this month, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a press launch at Her Majesty’s Theatre for “Love Never Dies” the highly anticipated sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway show in history.  The new musical story will take place ten years after the end of The Phantom of the Opera at Coney Island in Brooklyn! Yes that’s what happened to him, he immigrated to USA! Woo hoo.  By the way do you know that about hundred years ago Coney Island was like the 8th wonder of the world? Yeah seriously! Kind of hard to believe after my last visit over the summer but hey that’s what it was according to Andrew Webber.

Okay are you guys ready?  Here’s the video of the press launch.  It starts out with an introductory film that summarizes the success of the Phantom and later Webber talks about the sequel and introduces “The Coney Island Waltz” – Quite lovely!  Ooh and the best part comes around 11:41 when Ramin Karimloo performs “Till I Hear You Sing” – Karimloo will play the Phantom and Sierra Boggess (originated the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid on Broadway 2007-May 2009) will be the new Christine Daae.  Ramin Karimloo is also currently performing the Phantom in the London production.

“Love Never Dies” will premiere in London at the Adelphi Theatre on Tuesday March 9, 2010 (previews from February 20) and New York on Thursday November 11, 2010! Overall thoughts?  Are you excited?  Will you fly to London to check it out or wait till it comes to NYC?

And if by any chance you can’t or haven’t watched any theatrical performances of The Phantom Of The Opera yet, I highly recommend you run, walk, or drive  to your nearest library or get it online and specifically check out the original cast of Webber’s production that started in 1986 with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman.  And after that you may check out the 2004 film adaptation staring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.

My tea for the moment: TAZO Lotus Decaffeinated Green Tea with subtle essence of lotus blossoms. Sounds good doesn’t it? hehe  Actually it is especially since I enjoy flower flavors.

Phantom Links
Love Never Dies – Official Website
Love Never Dies – Blog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Never_Dies_(musical)

The Phantom Of The Opera – Official Website
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com

V: The Final Battle and Aliens

Does anyone remember V: The Final Battle? Well some of you might be too young to know of it but basically it was this TV miniseries that aired in 1984. It was all about the “Visitors” (aliens) trying to take over the world.  I think I watched it a few years later but all I remember is that we were hooked!  It had spaceships, ooh a big mothership, aliens, reptiles, rats, rebels, lots of action, and drama! The title track was so good.  Oh and if you’re interested in checking out a pre-Freddy Krueger Robert Englund, he was in it too! I think “A Nightmare on Elm Street” came out the same year but after V: The Final Battle and we never felt the same about sleeping and dreaming again.  Whatever you do don’t fall asleep! Yikes!

So recently I decided to check out some of the old clips of V: The Final Battle again and I just couldn’t help but laugh a little, okay maybe a lot! ☺ For starters, the graphics now seem goofy and some of the scenes that might have creeped me out back then now just appear real funny.  For those of you who are familiar, I’m thinking especially of that alien baby scene and ooh that one scene where evil Diana gulps down a rat! Oh yes, she does!  I was so amazed and shocked as a kid. No seriously gulping down a rat without choking is an art my friend. I have to tell you though that for back then this was no laughing matter, well unless you just liked to laugh at creepy stuff and you were messed up like that but otherwise this series was a huge hit.

Here is a clip for V: The Final Battle that kind of sums up the series.

This is the only good quality clip- Just putting it up so you guys can check out the rat scene at 2:04 and you can see see Robert Englund at 0.34

Intro and Summary and the baby birthing scene around 3:09!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX1j_NjlumE&NR=1

And I don’t know if you guys know but they’re now doing a re-make of V: The Final Battle.  This one is called “V” and it will premiere on November 9, 2009 on ABC.  The trailer looks interesting and graphics are neat but we’ll have to see if it’s as good as 80s hit version in terms of acting and storytelling. Oooh and it has Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell ) from “Lost” in it as well! Whoa are you thinking what I’m thinking? Did she really say goodbye to us forever in that deep hole? (Trying my best to avoid spoilers here) Of course this doesn’t mean she won’t be in “Lost” anymore because the fans know that really anything can happen in that show.  They sure do love to mess up with our minds and answer our questions with more questions!

Here’s the preview for the new version titled “V” –  This time the backdrop is NYC (woo hoo) as opposed to Los Angeles.

On another note, but still speaking of aliens I got an email yesterday that read “UFO seen in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon!” Apparently this was all over the net.

Wonderful, aliens are now shopping for some land in the middle east as well!  I wonder if they checked out the world and the palm tree set up in Dubai?   That’s some prime property with plenty of water and sand for their alien needs.  By the way I see two of them! 🙂

So what do you guys think? Will you check out the new “V” TV series?

My tea for the moment:  Tapal Jasmine Green Tea.  Hmm…I wonder if the aliens drink tea? Maybe something like Human green tea? uggh

So What’s The Deal With The Balloon Boy?

I don’t know if you guys heard but today was all about the balloon boy! When I first saw the title I was like oooh a real life “UP” maybe?  Ahh that would be so cool!  Finally, I would be able to travel around the globe in the cheapest way possible.  Okay so it might be a little risky, scary, and perhaps a little too adventurous, hmm…yeah I can see being attacked by birds especially Hitchcock’s “Birds” they were all so creepy, and there is the whole thing with coming into a plane’s way but hey let’s not go there, yikes and what if all the balloons popped!? I mean are helium balloons really durable? And of course am I really qualified as a grumpy old person yet?  But then does it really matter? At least they take you up, up and away and you don’t have to worry about checking in or paying fees for your luggage, see what I’m saying (taking a sip of my hot beverage) Ahhh…lovely! Ok so how did I get here, YES! The balloon boy!

So after all that serious thinking I actually read the article and saw the picture of the runaway balloon.   Two things, one the balloon boy is really not a balloon boy because guess what? He never even got on the balloon! Whaaat!? Yeah, that’s what I said! He was actually just hiding in the attic because his father had yelled at him earlier.  It was his older brother who told the dad that “Falcon” that’s the kids name might have taken a flight! And you can imagine the rest of the horror! But fortunately little Falcon is just fine. And second, this is no “UP” kind of balloon ride! I was so disappointed to see a gray flying saucer looking balloon instead.  Really? What is this? Man, I was really hoping to see thousands of colorful balloons with an attached house floating around.

Anyways the good news is little Falcon is out of hiding and his father will try never to yell at him again.  Unfortunately on the other hand people are now debating whether or not this whole thing was real or a hoax? I don’t know and I don’t care!  But in case you want to hear the whole interview, check out not the balloon boy and his family in an interview in the following link.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/102720/nbc-today-show-was-it-a-stunt-balloon-boy%E2%80%99s-family-speaks-out

My tea for the moment:  Lipton‘s Decaffeinated Black Tea.  Try it with some milk and sugar or without with a touch of mint.  Either way it’s a great black tea for such a brrrr…cold weather!