http://www.djearworm.com/

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DJ Earthworm’s “United State of Pop 2009″ video is a definite must watch:

“If the Sea Shepherd crew cannot/is unable to (blank), then their entire season may be in jeporady.”

Now, fill in the blank with:

• fix their broken gyro that left their entire crew stricken with nausea
• escape the ice that the crew steered into earlier
• make it back to port with enough fuel
• find the Japanese whaling fleet
• find their lost zodiacs (for the 2nd? 3rd time in the series?)
• retrieve their “prop fouler” that the Japanese vessel confiscated
• throw butyric acid over the Japanese vessels’ nets
• be effective in general

They should really call the show “Japanese Whalers Outsmarting Hippies on a Boat.”

Regarding the last post (Whale Wars is CRAZY) that seemed to get some harsh criticism, I still stand by everything that I’ve stated.  Honestly, I have no sympathy for the crew of the Sea Shepherd, nor does their actions in carrying out the mission move me in anyway.  Their half-baked schemes and plans truly cause more harm than good, and I would think really deteriorates all of their would-be supporters.

The only thing that actually did have a lasting effect would be the documentation of the killing of 3 whales in the last episodes of the season.  It’s a horrible sight to watch and I’m glad to be educated on the cruelty of the subject, but doesn’t Green Peace already fill in that niche?

I also learned that if you die in the Transformer’s world, you end up going to robot heaven. No, you do not meet God at the pearly gates… but giant transforming robots. Badass.

After having seeing the new movie, I guess I can say that I was half correct on my prediction. Star Trek IX was a wildly entertaining movie with a fast-paced story and action-packed scenes. The characters were pretty spot on where they needed to be, and adding backgrounds to some of the minor characters was definitely appreciated. The story itself did have a few holes here and there, but it did eventually work at the end. But was it really a Star Trek movie? Debatable.

Warning… spoilers ahead:

I’m not sure why time-traveling is currently all the rage right now (e.g. Lost, Fringe, Heroes), but I believe that this Star Trek movie could have definitely gone without it, and gone without splintering the storyline into an alternate universe. Star Trek IX in essence was supposed to be a chapter explaining the “origins” of the classic Star Trek characters. By creating the alternate universe, we can safely assume that everything that happens in the new movie does not really relate to any of the original canon of the Star Trek universe. None of the events that happen in the new movie really matters at all since the new movie is describing an alternate universe. Of course, as a business man, JJ Abrams realizes that he now has complete control of this alternate universe and can create a series of new movies without being constrained to the original storyline. Great for business, crappy for fans.

In the end, I’m happy with the movie… but I am a strong believer that it takes more talent to create a film that would have fit with the original Star Trek storyline, than to create a completely new alternate reality for the sake of having an clean slate. But that’s just one man’s opinion.

After seeing the movie however, I do wonder… what if JJ Abrams rewrote other storylines that are held dear to geeks everywhere? Just for shits… what if JJ Abrams rewrote Star Wars?

If only there were a place to hypothesize some craziness!

I proudly present to you: If JJ Abrams =)

Here is how I grade the movies from best to worst:

1. The Big Lebowski – Best of the Four

2. Mission Impossible 3 – 2nd Best

3. Quantum of Solace – Tied with #4 for Craptacular Award

4. Aeon Flux – Craptacular

I know… random right?  But each movie poster has someone holding a gun, and suddenly it all makes sense!  Anyway, it’s easy to say that The Big Lebowski is the best of the bunch, but the real surprises here are MI3 and Quantum of Solace.  While MI3 was surprisingly good, the same can’t be said for Quantum of Solace, which was a complete waste of time.  The 007 story this time was so ridiculous and choppy that I would venture out as far as to say that Aeon Flux provided the better story of the two craptacular movies.  I am pretty biased though, as I have always liked Peter Chung’s Aeon Flux anime series that premiered on MTV back in the early 90’s, but the live-action movie just doesn’t compare at all.  But in all seriousness… 007’s plot needed some serious work.

Somewhere inbetween the scriptwriters creating a convoluted plot of having an ultra-secret, ultra-powerful, ultra-rich organization scam money from the who-cares government of Bolivia… and the bad attempt of providing political commentary of the United States’ addiction to oil (which apparently wasn’t even part of the plot)… I realized that I shouldn’t have paid the $9.50 to watch the movie.  Hey, at least I didn’t pay the $12.75 that my friends did who didn’t use their student IDs!

Onto the topic of MI3, I was surprised to find out that the movie had been directed by JJ Abrams.  I never found Abrams to be that impressive.  Even though Lost is a pretty damn popular series, the constant redirections and huge plot-holes get a bit old.  MI3 on the other hand had its share of redirections, but it did keep me thoroughly entertained and engaged all along the way.  This actually gives me great hope as Star Trek is coming soon, and I think with Abrams at the helm, it will hopefully steer the franchise in the right direction after the abysmal Star Trek – Nemesis.

Oh, and to the guy who responded to my previous post: Whale Wars is CRAZY, there are a many number of things that don’t make sense with your comment.  But the fact you used the word “Japs”?… tisk tisk.

Now normally I would whole-heartedly commend these noble deeds (who can say no to whales??), but after watching the first few episodes I’ve come to a realization that the whole Sea Shepherd crew is probably more borderline insane than actually doing any good.

The actual Sea Shepherd flag... I kid you not.

Couple of the normal tactics that they use to distract the whaling ships include throwing stink bombs and Methocel packets (substance that makes the ship deck very slippery), which are laughable at best. But other more dangerous and risky escapades include throwing long lengths of thick rope underneath the whaling ship in hopes that the rope will become entangled in the propellers, navigating precariously close to a massive whaling vessel in a small inflatable zodiac, and setting out on attack missions in the middle of the night without really any solid plans – only to get lost for hours in the dark and endless ocean. Every step of the way, the seemingly inexperienced crew are constantly putting themselves and others in harms way, and it’s only a matter of time until someone really gets hurt. And although it may seem wrong, I am secretly waiting for that instant to happen (they kind of deserve it).

I mean really, when the captain asks two members of his crew to take a zodiac, get close to a whaling ship, and then throw themselves overboard onto the whaling ship in an attempt to become whale war hostages??? That’s just the most winning combination of lunacy and retardation I’ve ever seen. Oh, and when they decide that it was a good idea to board a Japanese “spy” vessel to destroy their communication equipment? Pure Homer Simpson-esque S.M.R.T.s there, not to mention that all of their more-than-likely illegal actions are documented on film for the world to watch.

I guess the thing to remember here that these people are not highly trained special ops personnel equipped to overtake illegal whaling ships… these people are not even the coast guard for crying out loud. They are pretty much the craziest of the environmentalists out there, whom are already pretty crazy themselves in my book. Case in point: living in a tree for 10 months in UC Berkeley. Add a couple of inflatable rafts, a helicopter, and some complicated hydraulic machinery just for kicks and you got yourself a TV show!

Animal Planet - Whale Wars Preview

The only thing that I do find sad is that despite all of the media attention this attracts to illegal whaling operations, it sets back any real anti-whaling negotiations by years on the pure fact that nations view the Sea Shepherd tactics as more acts of piracy than anything meaningful. In fact, even Animal Planet has recently inserted disclaimers between each of its commercial breaks, distancing themselves from actions of the Sea Shepherd group… so you know it has to be good!

To my utter surprise, Weezer has gone ahead and done what I have once thought as impossible. A mash-up of sorts of all of the many YouTube videos and personalities that we have come to love and honor. And since at the moment I am more than giddy about this amazing video, I am compelled to share this greatness to all of you.

Behold the music video “Weezer – Pork and Beans”

Then it became a day:

Then of course we got busted because our work emails promoted our coworkers to dress “metro sexually”.

But it was all fun for everyone that was able to participate. It’s not everyday your fellow man stands up against the injustice of the everyday pressure of avoiding “effeminate” colors in the office space. It is vindicating to know how one simple comment against a pink tie (my pink tie!) can turn into an office-wide pink/purple day.

So offices around the country, stand up and support the right for men to wear whichever pastel colors that will satisfy your hearts’ desires. And be not afraid of the ensuing persecution for they are unjust! GO PINK, OR GO HOME!

And like all holidays, they remind me of sport commercials! So here are 3 of my favorites:

And my favorite:

As a P.S., my coworker recently told me that I need to lay off the Youtube for a while.

Youtube = Crack

My choices for bagels on Friday mornings at 8am usually consist of: some crappy blueberry bagel, some crappy bagel loaded up with a ton of salt, and some other crappy bagels not even worth mentioning. But because I came in at 7am today, I found out that there was more to the box of bagels than just crappy bagels. I found out that there were, in fact, types of bagels that I didn’t even know existed! For example, I found out that there are chocolate chip bagels, cinnamon sprinkled bagels, and even plain bagels! And the spreads… lets not even get started about the different types of spreads (honey walnut, jalepeno, veggie, etc). Usually, the empty lids of the different spreads just stare back at me, mocking my hunger for delicious foods. But not today! Needless to say, I’m pretty sure I’ll be clocking into the office on Fridays a bit earlier from now on.

As I’m writing this, I can’t help but to be reminded of Stanley Hudson from The Office on pretzel day, and how he basically mows down everyone in order to get his once an year free pretzel. Corporate life can be such a downer…