Category Archives: Entertainment

Entertainment: New Sailor Moon Anime Debuts Summer 2013

Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this. I love the original comic/manga series from Japan, was glad that as bad the original English translation was it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as how the Americanized translation treated the Japanese animation. Ugh.

In fact it was so bad that I don’t think I ever really watched many of the individual episodes, however, I really liked the films/movies that came out of the series… to the point that I actually have the original VHS/DVDs somewhere.

So is it with some amount of cautious optimism that I will look at this theoretical Sailor Moon Anime series. I mean, the updated Sailor Moon manga series I am very glad to see… so yeah, we’ll see.

Conventions: FablesCon aka Fabletown and Beyond

A lover of fairytales, folklore, mythology, etc I found it rather interesting that I didn’t pick up this series sooner. In fact if you head on over to the Entertainment link in the upper right hand corner and on the drop down menu click on Literary you’ll see that the Fables series is one of the book series that I highly recommend reading.

Fables
For anyone that really enjoys fairytales and nursery rhymes and are open minded to the seeing them in a new light would really pick up this series. Taking many of the beloved fairytale characters and re-imaging them while staying true to their roots (roots as in the original Grimm stories and those from Hans Christian Anderson, etc… none of the Disnified versions).

A very strong example of this is the story of Snow White, while everyone knows of the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves the tale of Snow White and Rose Red. Bill Willingham masterfully combines the two “Snow Whites” and created a full and colorful backstory that not only is unique, colorful, and truthful.

The Fables world eventually expanded into Jack of Fables, The Literals and the Great Fables Crossover, the Cinderella mini-series which includes: From Fabletown with Love and Fables are Forever and most recently Fairest.

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Entertainment: Michael Phelps at the London 2012 Olympics

Just as a fair warning the below is just a quick post about Michael Phelps’ individual events in the Olympics thus far, there will be another post that would focus on the relays that he has participated in the past as well as which he is expected to participate in the upcoming Olympics.

With Michael Phelps choosing to drop the 200m freestyle from his swimming card for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, I thought it would be interesting to go back in time and watch his progression from the first Olympic Trials that he participated in: the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia:

During the 2000 US Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Michael competed in three events and how he fared:

EVENT PRELIM SEMIS FINALS
200 Meter Butterfly 1:58.61 (Q) 1:58.24 (Q) 1:57.48 (Q)
200 Meter Individual Medley 2:06.91
400 Meter Individual Medley 4:25.97

So way back when, Michael only qualified for one events in the Olympics, but considering he was only 15 at the time… well what would you expect? He was making his mark on the scene and the world wasn’t going to forget Michael in the years to come.

Since then Michael has expanded his swimming dance card to the point that he was able to compete up to eight events per Olympics. Below is a table of all the events (individual only) he has competed in during the past three Olympic Trials (2000, 2004 and 2008) broken down by event.

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Entertainment: The Avengers – Sailor Moon style!

Since The Avengers opened in theatres a several weeks ago there’s been a plethora of fan art throughout internet. Heck even the Hulk flinging Loki like a ragdoll was recreated in some capacity or another in various YouTube videos.

So when going through Fashionably Geek, I geeked out on the following image.

Yes, you’re seeing that right, it’s The Avengers redrawn into the image of a Sailor Soldiers. Looking more into detail it turns out that the above was drawn by Ann Marcellino, which prints are available.

Reflection: Pottermore Wand and House Selection(s)

So almost a year ago I was lucky enough to be able to test Pottermore and play around with the website. As it was for everyone that has read the Harry Potter books, any fan of the series would be interested to find out what their wand would be and which house they would be placed in. I was no different…

THE WAND CHOOSES THE WIZARD
So when I went through the questions that would lead towards the wand that would choose me I was kind of curious to know what the individuals pieces of the wand signified.

What I really enjoy about Pottermore is that it goes into more detail of the significance of the wood used, the three cores used in Ollivander’s wands, how is length of wand determined, and the flexibility of the wand.

For my wand I was given:
– Wood: Fir
– Length: 10-3/4 inches
– Core: Unicorn hair
– Flexibility: unbending

Based on what was explained on Pottermore:
WAND WOOD – Fir
My august grandfather, Gerbold Octavius Ollivander, always called wands of this wood ‘the survivor’s wand,’ because he had sold it to three wizards who subsequently passed through mortal peril unscathed. There is no doubt that this wood, coming as it does from the most resilient of trees, produces wands that demand staying power and strength of purpose in their true owners, and that they are poor tools in the hands of the changeable and indecisive. Fir wands are particularly suited to Transfiguration, and favour owners of focused, strong-minded and, occasionally, intimidating demeanour.

WAND CORE – Unicorn Hair
Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing.

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Entertainment: US Gymnastics Olympic Team 2012

Late last night the final places for the Gymnastics Team has been assigned as well as the alternates should something happened to the members of the US Mens and Womens Gymnastics Olympic Team.

A couple of nights ago (after the US Men’s Gymnastics Olympics Final) I attempted to figure out who would inevitably be chosen for the Mens and Womens Gymnastics Teams for the US. Well, when it came to the actual Olympic teams I would able to figure out who would be placed onto the team as well as what would have happened should Jonathan Horton be chosen over Chris Brooks.

As for the alternates, I didn’t really do as well… I was better with the women as opposed to the men, but still that was a crapshoot in comparison to the actual team. Well now that we know who is a part of the Olympic team let’s see how they might be used during the Olympics in London.

US MENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TEAM
Below is the break down of the members of the US Mens Gymnastics Olympic Team and alternates as well as their overall placements during the Olympic Trials.
– FE: Floor Exercise; PH: Pommel Horse; SR: Still Rings; V: Vault; PB: Parallel Bars; HB: High Bars; FINAL: All Around

NAME FE PH SR V PB HB FINAL
MENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TEAM
Danell Leyva 8th 2nd 7th 6th 1st 1st 1st
John Orozco 4th 3rd 3rd 6th 3rd 2nd 2nd
Jonathan Horton 7th 8th 1st 8th 2nd 5th 3rd
Jake Dalton 1st 13th 6th 1st 4th 8th 4th
Sam Mikulak *7th 5th *9th *2nd *2nd *5th *3rd
* Sam Mikulak was injured towards the end of Prelims, so he opted to only compete on Pommel Horse, placements indicated were where he was placed at the end of Prelims.
MENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC ALTERNATES
Chris Brooks 5th 9th 5th 5th 5th 7th 4th
Steven Legendre 2nd 7th 9th 3rd 12th 13th 8th
Alexander Naddour 11th 1st 8th 14th 13th 12th 11th

US WOMENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TEAM
Below is the break down of the members of the US Womens Gymnastics Olympic Team and alternates as well as their overall placements during the Olympic Trials.
– V: Vault; UB: Uneven Bars; BB: Balance Beam; FE: Floor Exercise; FINAL: All Around

NAME V UB BB FE FINAL
WOMENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TEAM
Gabrielle Douglas 2nd 1st 6th 3rd 1st
Jordyn Wieber 4th 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd
Alexandra Raisman 6th 8th 1st 1st 3rd
Kyla Ross 8th 1st 3rd 9th 5th
McKayla Maroney 1st 11th 10th 5th 7th
WOMENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC ALTERNATES
Sarah Finnegan 7th 6th 5th 6th 6th
Anna Li 3rd 12th
Elizabeth Price 3rd 5th 9th 4th 4th

Before we move on, below is a schedule of the Artistic Gymnastics in London:
– Saturday July 28th: Mens Qualifying
– Sunday July 29th: Womens Qualifying
– Monday July 30th: Mens Team Final
– Tuesday July 31st: Womens Team Final
– Wednesday August 1st: Mens Individual All-Around
– Thursday August 2nd: Womens Individual All-Around
– Sunday August 5th: Mens Floor Exercise, Mens Pommel Horse, Womens Vault
– Monday August 6th: Mens Vault, Mens Rings, Womens Uneven Bars
– Tuesday August 7th: Mens Parallel Bars, Mens Horizontal/High Bar, Womens Floor Exercise, Womens Balance Beam

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Entertainment: US Gymnastics Olympic Trials 2012

From June 28th through July 1st, San Jose has played host to the US Gymnastics Olympic Trials, it is here that 30 of the top gymnasts in artistic gymnastics will compete to prove and earn their place on the five-member US Gymnastics team squad for the London Olympics a month later.

In an earlier post I have touched upon some of the front runners for a spot on the gymnastics squad for both men and women teams, I also went in a little more detail as to the possibility of the veterans from last year’s squad making a return appearance for these Olympics.

US MENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TRIALS RESULTS
Today the Men’s Gymnastics competition went into full swing. If you remember from the previous post the top two guys after the Olympic Trials in San Jose will be guaranteed spots on the team:
– Danell Leyva: Placed 1st
– John Orozco: Placed 2nd

Not only does the selection committee need to decide who would fill in the last three spots, but as we saw in the 2008 Olympics, they would also need to figure in the alternates. In the 2008 Olympics the two alternates: Alexander Artemev and Raj Bhavsar ended up being a part of the Olympics team after the withdrawal of the Hamm brothers, and in the end became a major factor in the US Men’s Olympic Gymnastics team capturing the bronze medal.

Since only the top three scores will be counted during the Olympics, it comes down to who could bring in the top scores or has the potential to bring in the top scores in an effort to get the gold medal at the Olympics.

Based on the numbers this is one possible way for the Mens Gymnastics Olympic team with alternates would pan out:
– FE: Floor Exercise; PH: Pommel Horse; SR: Still Rings; V: Vault; PB: Parallel Bars; HB: High Bars; FINAL: All Around

NAME FE PH SR V PB HB FINAL
POSSIBLE OLYMPIC TEAM
Chris Brooks 5th 5th 5th 5th 7th 4th
Jake Dalton 1st 6th 1st 4th 5th
Sam Mikulak *7th 5th *2nd *2nd *5th *4th
* Sam Mikulak was injured towards the end of Prelims, so he opted to only compete on Pommel Horse
POSSIBLE ALTERNATES
Jonathan Horton 1st 2nd 5th 3rd
Paul Ruggeri 3rd 7th 7th 6th
CJ Maestas 6th 4th 7th

But one thing that Jonathan Horton would bring onto the table that most other athletes do not have: experience… and leadership, but would that be enough? It’s hard to say, if they choose to bring in Jonathan onto the Olympic team then I believe that Chris Brooks would be the one to become an alternate over Sam Mikulak due to Chris’ scores being lower than that of Sam’s in most apparati and Sam having a stronger score in the US Mens Gymnastics Team’s weakest event: pommel horse. All speculation to be sure, but still very difficult to decpiher what would win out the day.

US WOMENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TRIALS RESULTS
Sunday, July 1st will be the finals for the US Women Gymnastics Olympic Trials and right now the top gymnast is Jordyn Wieber. But how would the other women fit it? Well let’s find out:
– V: Vault; UB: Uneven Bars; BB: Balance Beam; FE: Floor Exercise; FINAL: All Around

NAME V UB BB FE FINAL
POSSIBLE OLYMPIC TEAM
Gabrielle Douglas 3rd 5th 5th 2nd 2nd
Alexandra Raisman 4th 4th 1st 3rd
Kyla Ross 1st 5th 5th
McKayla Maroney 2nd 4th 7th
POSSIBLE ALTERNATES
Elizabeth Price 1st 6th 5th 4th
Alicia Sacremone 5th 3rd
Anna Li 1st
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
Sarah Finnegan 7th 1st 7th 6th
Rebecca Bross 4th
Nastia Liukin 7th

Since there are only four apparatus that is included in womens gymnastics and with one slot already tied up, trying to put the pieces together has proven to be a rather difficult process. Since the top three scores from each team will be counted in the team events out of either four or five possible gymnasts it would be ideal to have at least four gymnasts with strong scores in any apparatus. The same idea stands for the men as well, but in my opinion that was easier to put together. For the women, not so much. However, without knowing would happen during the womens gymnastics finals on Sunday there is no way to know how the final team will stack up.

It is rather unfortunate that the darling of the Womens Gymnastics Team of the Beijing Olympics 2008: Nastia Liukin, might not make it onto the team not placing as high as she could have in the prelims. Alicia would have a strong chance to at least be an alternate, but it would be rather difficult to see her any higher than that.

Knowing that the full Mens Gymnastics Olympic Team will be announced on Sunday and the Womens Gymnastics should be soon to follow, it will be rather interesting to see what happens. Well also to see how close or far I am with my predictions.

Entertainment: Viet Nam Gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympics

Viet Nam’s gymnasts have been making a strong splash in the past couple of years. During the Beijing 2008 Olympics the only gymnast from Viet Nam was Đỗ Thị Ngân Thương (names are reversed in Viet Nam as opposed to English so her family name is Đỗ while her given name is Thương) who was invited via the Tripartite Invitation. This invitation is a collective effort between the International Olympic Committee and the International Federations to develop systems that would allow the best athletes to compete but also adhere to the principle of universal representation. She did not pass the preliminary round and ended up being disqualified due to a banned substance found in her system. After a year or two she came back to competition stronger and wiser, as thus she was granted a place in the London 2012 Olympics via the Olympic Test Event (placing 72nd overall) in January due to injuries to many of the world’s top gymnasts.

The other female gymnast that qualified for the London 2012 Olympics is Phan Thị Hà Thanh (again Phan being the family name while Thanh is the given name) earned her ticket to the London 2012 Olympics via her vault score at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She received the bronze medal for the following vaults:

The final gymnast that qualified from Viet Nam is Phạm Phước Hưng (Phạm being the family name and Hưng being his given name). Much like Thương in the female gymnastics competition, Hưng also qualified via the Olympic Test Event. Not only that, a rising star in Vietnamese gymnastics, Hung showed his prowess by winning the gold medal in men’s parallel bars at the Challengers Cup 2012 International Gymnastics Tournament in Belgium (placing 43rd overall).

With only two medals total in the Summer Olympic games, both silver in Taekwondo (Trần Hiếu Ngân for the Women’s 57kg event at Sydney 2000) and Weightlifting (Hoàng Anh Tuấn for the Men’s 56kg event at Beijing 2008) it is difficult to say how the gymnasts would ultimately place… but I am fairly confident that as the gymnastics program in Viet Nam strengthens so will the talent pool and I would not be surprised to see their gymnasts stand on the podium in future Olympics if not for the upcoming one.

Entertainment: US Gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympics

The 2008 U.S. Olympics Gymnastics Team had a very strong showing in Beijing 2008 with the Women’s team getting the silver medal and the Men’s team (largely considered underdogs at the time) sneaking in for the bronze.

For 2012, the only veterans from the 2008 team that have returned for the 2012 Olympic trials include:
– Jonathan Horton
– Nastia Liukin
– Alicia Sacramone
– Bridget Sloan

Of the four… going into the Olympic trials in San Jose, Jonathan Horton appears to be the most likely to return with Alicia Sacramone as a possibility.

But what happened to the rest of the 2008 team?
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Fleeting: 2012 Tonys (Peter and the Starcatcher)

Last I went to New York City I saw several shows:
– Disney’s the Newsies
– Once the Musical
– Sleep No More (twice)

One show that I was cautiously interested in seeing but unable to do to time was Peter and the Starcatcher. Being a fan of fairytales and stories of the like it was natural for me to be interested in J M Barrie‘s Peter Pan, but the possibility of a prequel kind makes me uneasy. Prequels and sequels tend to make me uneasy because they could be done really poorly. Still, there was a lot of buzz surrounding the book series written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Turns out I probably should have seen the play because they were nominated for quite a few awards and ended up winning the following.
– Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Christian Borle
– Best Scenic Design of a Play: Donyale Werle
– Best Costume Design of a Play: Paloma Young
– Best Lighting Design of a Play: Jeff Croiter
– Best Sound Design of a Play: Darron L West

Peter and the Starcatchers got its start at the New York Theatre Workshop with some of the same cast as the Broadway show.

One of the reasons that drew me to this production was Christian Borle as the Black Stache who eventually becomes Captain Hook. I absolutely loved Christian in Legally Blonde the Musical where he played Emmett Forrest, Elle Woods’ graduate student mentor. He brought so many new nuances into the roll and as Laura Bell Bundy would say later:

He made lines funny that weren’t suppose to be funny!

Yes, he’s that talented. And now with a career in television on the NBC primetime show Smash, Christian is on his way to strengthening his acting career.

What has been a rising trend, plays now are featuring orchestrations as well as songs as opposed to being a purely straight play. Some other plays that have featured some music include:
– One Man, Two Guvnors
– Enron
– Fences
– The Coast of Utopia
Now Peter and the Starcatcher is also a part of that list… as the lines between a play and musical are being blurred, entertainment is constantly evolving. Considering the bits of comedy that the script and story lends itself too, it would be a bloody shame if there was no music whatsoever. So if I make it to New York City again sometime in the near future you can bet I’m going to be making a trip to see Peter and the Starcatcher this time.

Fleeting: 2012 Tonys (Once and Newsies)

The 2012 Tony Awards aired… I was excited this time around because two of the shows with a lot of buzz were coming in with quite a few nominations: Once and Newsies, both of which I saw on my last trip to NYC. The only major similarity is that both are based off of movies of the same name, both are special in different ways.

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Entertainment: Disney Stained Glass

I just loved this so much that I HAD to share via the blog: The Mary Sue


Have fun trying to figure out who is who (though most would be pretty obvious).

Entertainment Email: To Do List

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Shamelessly stolen from George Takei’s Facebook Page

1: Make vanilla pudding. Put in mayo jar. Eat in public.
This is way too tempting. I may actually do it one day just for kicks. Kind of like when I had a glass bottle that I put honeyed tea into it, so when I’m drinking it looks like I’m drinking alcohol on the job. Oh the joy.

2: Hire two private inverstigators. Get them to follow each other.
Sounds like fun, don’t know if I would do it though, too expensive.

3: Wear shirt that says “Life.” Hand out lemons on street corner
ROFL… This gets better… I wonder where I could find a shirt like that?

4: Get into a crowded elevator and say “I bet you’re all wondering why I gathered you here today.”
Yeeeaaaah, no… won’t do. No way.

5: Major in philosophy. Ask people WHY they would like fries with that.
Tee hee hee. I think someone I knew in class did this. Just for kicks.

6: Run into a store, ask what year it is. When someone answers, yell “It worked!” and run out cheering.
Umm… ooook.

7: Become a doctor. Change last name to Acula.
Dr. Acula, so tempting. Actually, I can’t stand anymore education, so I’m not likely going to go down the medical route any time soon. If I was meant for that I would have been on there already and I already know too many doctors.

8: Change name to Simon. Speak in third person.
Simon Says!

9: Buy a parrot. Teach the parrot to say “Help! I’ve been turned into a parrot.”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

10: Follow joggers around in your car blasting “Eye of the Tiger” for encouragement.
Why is it that every time I hear “Eye of the Tiger” I always see this:

Ooo Jensen Ackles… an early celebrity crush starting from the Days of Our Lives and now on Supernatural.

The Disney Hunger Games

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So I finally read – or more accurately, listened – to the Hunger Games and while I gather my thoughts on the first book of the series here is a little gem for the Disney fans out there:

I take no claim in creating this…

In any case… the creator of this little gem provided their reasoning as to why they chose the set up that they did… But like everyone else out there, I have a tendency to pick it apart and analyze the work. So here are my thoughts (if I disagree) with the creator’s original thought processes:

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Fleeting: Poking fun at Ignorance

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Below are a few stories I have that have some interconnection:

THE NGUYEN DYNASTY
Before I begin let me show you an image and news article that made me chuckle a bit a while back:

Now in case you are wondering… if you were to read the words underneath those eight student’s pictures it would have read:

We know … what … you’re … thinking … and … no, … we’re … not related.

For a bit of a history lesson, the very last monarchy to rule in Viet Nam was the Nguyen dynasty (closest English pronunciation would be wynn or win). When the Nguyen dynasty came into power in the early 1800s many of the populace promptly changed their surnames (or family names as it is more widely known at the time) to Nguyen as a way to curry favor with the monarchy or to avoid persecution.

When the last monarch of the Nguyen dynasty abdicated his seat and transferred power to the State of Viet Nam, a fair number of the population stuck with the last name of Nguyen.

I suppose the English/American equivalent to Viet Nam’s “Nguyen” would be “Smith”. If you’re still kind of confused.

What annoys me (and many others in similar situations) is the common, “oh you have this last name then you must be related to…” No, not always. So the eight girls decided to really to poke fun at the average person’s ignorance and pull a prank on their yearbook quote… and honestly I found it funny even if others might not. 🙂

Anyway, seeing the above image and reading the corresponding article(s) is what drove me to write this particular post with a little of my own experiences with racial ignorances:

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