Fujiya & Miyagi

Last night I got to see Fujiya & Miyagi at the Independent in San Francisco. The last time I had gone up to this venue was a few years back, to see Sea Wolf and The Jealous Girlfriends. I remember that time I had trouble finding parking and drove around for almost 30 minutes to find something. This time I was able to find parking when I first got there. It was about 6 blocks away and I could've found something closer, but I was just happy to find available parking.

They opened with Cat Got Your Tongue and played a good set of fun, funky tunes. They played most of the stuff I wanted to hear, including Minestrone, Taiwanese Boots, Yoyo, Tinsel & Glitter, Uh, Knickerbocker and Sixteen Shades Of Black & Blue, which they waited until the encore. The only songs they didn't play which I would've loved to hear were Pickpocket and Dishwasher. Still, it was a good show and a nice start to the year.

Something that was also interesting was when the guy at the door was checking tickets and ID's, he told me that I was the 4th person with the same birthday. I know i'm not the only person that was born on January 1st, but it was funny that there were already 4 of us New Year Capricorns at the show.

I'm over the winter.

The temperatures these last few nights have been in the low 30's. It's supposed to rain in the next couple of days. I know we still have a few months to go before the spring season returns, but I am over this cold weather already. I want it to be warm so I could wear shorts, t-shirts & tank tops. I wanna see guys wearing as little as possible. I want summer fun already. Did I mention I wanna see guys wearing as little as possible? I'll just have to be patient and wait. That's it for now, nothing else to say.

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™ II Skyrocket™, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Oh Muriel, you've no dignity!

I just turned 40 and I find that at this age i'm no longer willing to tolerate certain things. This person I knew for almost a decade has been steadily getting on my nerves for at least the last 5 or 6 years of that decade. After spazzing out over absolutely nothing, this person decided to delete me off FB (for the upteenth time) and stop talking to me over something completely stupid and immature. Per usual, after about a month I start getting random texts from this "friend" here and there, like nothing ever happened. Well i'm now a 40 year old man and have no time for this 12 year old shit! I basically have been ignoring every text and desperate attempt by this dumbass to contact me. This dumbass is so predictable that i'm able to predict every move. I told others that I was going to get a text on my b-day, and surely enough, that's exactly what happened. The next attempt will be sending me a random photo of something related to Godzilla, Ultraman, or some other hobby that i'm into to try getting my attention. I just know that's what's going to happen, and i'm going to continue ignoring and not bothering to reply. What's pathetic is this person's lack of dignity! You made an ass of yourself and after receiving silence from your contact attempts, it should be clear to you that this person is no longer interested in bothering with you. When someone walks out of my life I lift my arm and wave goodbye, then go about my business. I will not waste time trying to force someone to stay. I just don't understand how some people can lack such dignity and self respect that they'll continue to try worming their way into someone's life after it's clear that this person has written them off. I still have an ex who will attempt to contact me every few years or so. It's sad how pathetic people can be. But that's THEIR problem, not mine. All I can do is continue to surround myself with happy, positive people, and kick the party poopers, whiners and buzzkills to the curb.

Happy New Year!

As this year comes to a close I find myself not saying that i'm glad this year is over, as many others that I know have been saying. I feel lucky because 2011 was a good year for me. I had a lot of good times and memories and really got to enjoy life. As I say goodbye to this year I can only hope that 2012 will be as equally awesome. I keep my fingers crossed that no bad luck will come my way. And if it does i'll bitch slap it until it scurries away crying. I have no New Year's Resolutions, other than to continue being happy, continue learning, continuing being open to new experiences, and continue enjoying the good moments and be thankful for what I have. The end of the year also has me saying goodbye to the 30's. I still find it hard to believe that i'm going to be 40 years old. The 30's were for the most part a good decade for me. I learned a lot but most importantly I learned how to be happy person and enjoy what life has to offer. However much longer I have on this planet I plan on making the best of it.

 

May 2012 be filled with more fun, more joy, more tattoos, and more hot men.

Cute Toys

I recently picked up some cute toys at my local Japanese store Kinokuniya. One was a little green Android figure. Since I got me an Android phone I figured this toy would be a good addition to my collection. It's basically a cute little green robot.

The others are Tokidoki Unicorns. They come in unmarked boxes so you never know which one you'll get. There were 2 in particular that I wanted, a black one with red eyes named Fumo and a light blue one with a mowhawk named Pogo. I ended up with Pogo but haven't gotten Fumo yet. I also got some other ones that are way cute. Their names are:

Top from left to right: Stellina and Bellina. Bottom row from left to right: Dolce, Pogo, Ritmo and Mooka. Tokidoki makes cute toys and figures, as well as clothes and make-up. The little skull & crossbones heart design on Pogo's butt is the same design I have tattooed on my right arm.

My favorite films of 2011

Now keep in mind that I didn't watch every film released in 2011, and there's some that I want to watch but haven't gotten around to watching yet (the remake of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for instance). These are just my favorites of the ones that I did see.

 

Kaboom! = Greg Araki's latest film is a return to the earlier outrageousness of his past work such as Doom Generation and Nowhere. A bisexual college student stumbles upon a possible conspiracy when hes' not having random sex with cute strangers or fantasizing about his cute but dumb jock "straight" roommate. It features a great soundtrack, an attractive cast and funny shenanigans. A really fun movie.

 

Biutiful = Spanish film starring Javier Bardem about a father who's trying to get his affairs in order before he dies of terminal illness. This film is simply beautiful, emotional and stunning. Javier Bardem is an amazing actor and knocks this one out of the park.

 

Midnight In Paris = I'm really pleased with Woody Allen's last few films. This was a delighful, quirky story about a guy in Paris who finds himself time traveled back to the past at the stroke of midnight, where he gets to hang out with legendary literary figures and artists such as Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and the Fitzgeralds. I normally don't care for Owen Wilson, but I found his performance in this not as irritating.

 

Beginners = A very sweet film about a man (yummy Ewan McGreggor) whose still mourning the death of his father, who came out of the closet a few years back after the death of their mother and lived a very happy, fabulous gay lifestyle. He meets a cute French girl at a party and begins to fall hard for her. This is a nice tale about love and loss.

 

Cowboys & Aliens = I was surprised how much I enjoyed this sci-fi/western hybrid. Daniel Craig is oh so yummy, and seeing him swagger in cowboy gear was worth the price of admission alone. The story was clichéd at times, but it's a big budget Hollywood flick and it managed to entertain, so I didn't mind. The aliens turned out to be really dorky looking, with these DUH expressions on their face. This was a lot of fun.

 

The Thing = This film was not loved by critics, didn't do well at the Box Office, and yet I found myself surprised at how much I enjoyed it, especially considering I hate remakes/reimaginings of horror films. It's basically a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter film, that tells the story of what happened at the Norwegian camp prior to Carpenter's film. I was surprised by the gory monster attacks and giddily smiled like a kid as each attack was more brutal and over-the-top graphic. The CGI heavy climax was a bit much, but all in all not a bad film. I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The Skin I Live In = Pedro Almadóvar's latest film is brilliant, a Cronenbergian story about a scientist that's working on a new tough skin and the guinea pig he's using. This is one of those films that you can't really go into detail without revealing more, but it's well worth the payoff. Almadóvar also draws inspiration from one of his favorite films, Hitchcock's Vertigo, a masterpiece about obsession and identity, whose themes are just as strongly presented here. This is by far one of the best films of this year!

 

Weekend = A smart, insightful film about 2 guys who meet at a bar and spend the weekend together, getting to know each other and slowly unpeeling layers of themselves. Both actors were handsome bearded hotties and gave great performances. This film really makes you recall past encounters with handsome strangers that have stayed with you even if things never worked out. A very good gay film.

 

Vanishing On 7th Street = This movie was really creepy, about a group of survivors who band together and try to trust each other after most of the population has been "taken" by these dark, whispering shadows. While the bickering and mistrust between the characters becomes slightly irritating, it's also an accurate depiction of how people would react if such an event took place. Those whispering shadows really creeped me out in some scenes. The ending was rather weak, but otherwise a strong horror film.

 

Melancholia = Lars von Trier's new film that deals with depression and the end of the world. Kirsten Dunst is Justine, a young woman on her wedding day, trudging along through the event with a sincere effort to pretend that she's enjoying it, while her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) struggles to keep the chaos to a minimum. As the film progresses Justine loses her ability to fake her happiness and Claire's anxiety begins to rise as a planet known as Melancholia comes closer in orbit to Earth. She's terrified that it will crash into Earth, despite her husband's attempt to reassure her that it will only pass close by the Earth's atmosphere but not cause any harm. Director von Trier has openly spoken about his struggles with depression and anxiety, and in this film he evokes both emotions with realistic candor.

 

Longhorns = This movie is really cute. It takes place in Texas in 1982. Frat boy Kevin thinks that his phase of jerking off his buddies and going down on them is just a phase that all boys go through until he meets openly gay Cesar and begins falling for him. There's lots of naked men, a cool retro soundtrack, and a very sweet story about a guy realizing that he's falling in love with another guy.

Samuel Adams Variety Pack Review

I recently picked up a Samuel Adams variety pack case of their beers, featuring 6 different types of beers. Here's my verdict....

Boston Lager - This beer is tasty and has a nice, smooth aftertaste. Very good. It's a great beer to drink ice cold on a hot summer day.

Winter Lager - Another tasty beer. This one supposedly has cinnamon, orange zest and ginger, but I don't really taste them. Still, the flavor is smooth and not bitter. Yummy!

Chocolate Bock - I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. I was thinking that chocolate flavor added to beer would be nasty, but it's actually not bad at all. This brew is aged on a bed of cocoa so you get a subtle cocoa flavor.

Old Fezziwig Ale - Meh... this one is not too great. It has a semi bitter aftertaste. This one was named after a character in Dicken's A Christmas Carol, a story which I always hated, about a holiday that I hate, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I don't care for it. Tasting this on a hot summer day would make me turn to water instead.

Holiday Porter - Ewww! Bitter and nasty is the only way I can describe this beer. With each sip the flavor got worse and after a few sips I found myself pouring the rest of it down the sink. Nasty!

Black & Brew - This is a coffee stout, and like their Chocolate Bock the flavor was surprisingly not bad at all. You do get a nice espresso flavor that goes down relatively smoothly.