Gina Hiraizumi 2010 Calendar — AVAILABLE NOW

From an email:

Available online for just $12.99, this keepsake calendar made possible by the HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE BEACH RESORT & SPA is a labor of love-  a project inspired by the idea of wanting to give back to a community that’s shown her enormous support for her career from the early stages….the Hawaiian islands.

From childhood, as Gina traveled frequently between LA-Hawaii-Tokyo, her parents, Gary & Kumiko have always ingrained in her & her 2 sisters the Aloha Spirit and Kokua- a philanthropic gesture of generosity, to always give
to others, without expecting in return.  And now it’s time to pay this mantra forward to the next generation.

Partial proceeds will benefit  TKO HELPING HANDS, Gina’s non-profit charity of choice founded by Maui-born, Mandy Yamauchi-Ellen. (a former Raiderette cheerleader!) TKO (Turn Kindness On) was founded  in 2001, with the goal of awakening a child’s passion for giving at an early age. TKO believes that the best way to teach a child about the power of service is to engage them in meaningful projects – traveling the world visiting orphanges
and care centers, feeding homeless and encouraging children around the world to make a difference in the life of someone else.

So…..stuck on what to get HIM for Christmas? Too busy to go Christmas shopping?
Let me guess- you have a big family, and all of you drew names for Christmas gift exchange, and you got your BROTHER….. or, youre on a tight budget this year but you want to get your CO-WORKERS or BOSS at work an inexpensive Christmas gift under $20……look no further!

While supplies last – order yours today!  CLICK HERE
*International Shipping Available
*U.S. – Visa, MC, Amex, Discover, JCB (for Japan Credit Cards)
*Personalization & Autograph option available

what I didn’t see last night.

I was at the Fit ‘n Right thing last night, so here’s a coupla things that I didn’t get to see:  )

Katwo rawkin’ out.

Kim Chiu eating sum Sebastian’s

Valerie Tan hosting Voice for a Better Life Music Festival

Then again, if I was anywhere near where the-things-that-I-missed-last-night were, I would’nt have gotten to hang out with my blogger friends!   (Or, okay, I wouldn’t have gotten to see the very pretty lady with the same watch as me :p )

The Ballad of G.I. Joe

I mean, after their battles, the Joes and Cobra do stuff … for fun … and stuff, right? Spot the cameos!  (Also, Vinnie Jones, bitch!)

From FunnyorDie:

Terminator: Salvation Review

From the executive producer of The O.C., Terminator: Salvation!

Is it ever a terrible thing — to maybe see (and expect) a piece of creative work to be horribad/terrific based solely on the previous works of whoever’s responsible?  Then again, for an after-school special, I WATCHED The O.C.

Right off the bat — I didn’t fancy Salvation — not that the franchise isn’t moving along as it should, but as Terminator fans, we’ve been spoiled by The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  That show is just so GOOD — raising expectations for a movie — you know, those things with the bigger budgets, bigger-named stars and just generally bigger resources (save for the amount of time for storytelling) to BE more than what a tv show is limited to.

For me, Salvation is pretty confused.  Is it a movie about John Connor kicking ass?  Is it a movie about new character Marcus being introduced, so that he could kick ass?  Is it a movie about Kyle Reese growing into his own?  Is it about a rebellion?  Is it about … Salvation?  That’s where it falls apart, for me — there’s only so much screentime, and too many stories to tell.  They did plan on creating a trilogy of these new Terminator films, so there’s still plenty of room, but really, would it have been possible to tell the story without, say, one of the x number of plot points?

We spend the first third (and a half!) of the film semi-guessing if it is, indeed, John-Connor-unleashing-some-Bale-istic fury unto the (presumably) hordes and hordes of Terminator units — instead, it’s about Marcus Wright, slowly demystifying for us, the audience, what he’s there for. His discovery?  —  a plot twist some must’ve seen coming, but serves as an interesting philosophical/ethical/moral dillema.  You’ll get it, if you watch it.

What makes the Terminator franchise so interesting, for me, at least — is the use of time travel as a plot device.  Is the Terminator timeline so convoluted with all the time jumps, and the movies, and the series?  YES.  Does it make for interesting robot-hunt-man technophobia?  YES.  Was it awesome seeing the same photograph from the first film, seeing John Connor listen to the tapes, references to “I’ll be back,” and “Come with me if you want to live”?  YES.  So why does Salvation keep forgetting several things already established in the previous movies?

Isn’t John Connor the founder of the rebellion?  Isn’t he a “good leader,” according to Reese from the first film?  Why does he have to defer to men in submarines?  Why does it take a hit from a shovel to make holes in Skynet’s flying dropship’s walls?  Why does disabling the “North Turret” (just one turret?!  really?) allow everyone to escape?  Where are the hordes of these Terminators?  We see 2 — 3 (if we’re lucky) T-600 units, and a giant monster-mech-of-sorts — and that’s it.  No more army of Terminators trying to eat you for breakfast.  These and several other questions remain suspended in the air.

Also, what is a Moon Bloodgood?  Kind of like a name to take if you want shiny vampires going out for your blood. :p

2/5

Also, in the trailer?  “We end this tonight!”  NO.  They did not end it that night, or on any nights close to that.  There’re two more movies to maybe sort that out — ’til then, watch it if you like seeing faces melted off, exposed robot endoskeleton underneath.

***

Also, here’s what John Connor was up to for the first 2/3rds of the film:

the veronica belmont post.

If you were a fan of the late-90s The Screensavers or Call for Help, then you probably know Tekzilla already.

— and, and — if you know about Tekzilla, then you probably know about the awesome Veronica Belmont!

Here are some beautiful shots of her from The Bui Brothers.  (The photos were released under CC, so I do hope it’s okay to put this one here.)  Also, if you subscribe to the newsletter, you’ll be getting updates on some behind-the-scenes stuff, which should be pretty cool.  Check it!

To keep up with her wired lifestyle, check out her blog.  To keep updated with Tekzilla and other cool shows from Revision3, check out their YouTube channel.

P.S.

In the last few months that I’ve been glued to Tekzilla, I’ve never seen nor heard anything about a creature that’s called ‘the’ Tekzilla.  I’m hungry.  :p

post-yes man screening.

After seeing Yes Man, had some coffee with Dang + Drei + Ven.

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