The new Final Fantasy game dropped today– Final Fantasy XIII, and about 90% of my friends have already bought it and have started playing it, I’m pretty sure. I actually played a demo while I was in Hong Kong during December (where they are releasing a special FFXIII Playstation 3 to go along with it!) and it was pretty, damn cool.

To be honest, I’m the worst gamer that I know and I love starting RPGs… but my attention span never lets me finish a game. Ever. Plus, I suck, sooooooo………….

I don’t really mind investing in cool games though, because whether I finish it or not, I still have fun and that is what’s important to me when it comes to video games.

I will probably end up buying this game

On a side rant, so I pre-ordered Avatar: The Last Airbender artbook on Amazon.com, along with the fourth season DVD set of Supernatural in order to get their Free Shipping option, right? Today, they canceled  my artbook order because they sold out… and they charged me shipping on the DVD that went along with it! What is that crap? Shouldn’t it be customer courtesy to just give me the free shipping anyways, since now I am not getting the artbook? I call bullshit!

You disappoint me, Amazon.com…. disappoint me.

Last week, I found myself in the cereal aisle at Wal-Mart and I ended up taking home a box of Cocoa Pebbles.

Yes. I know that cereal has no real nutritional value, and as someone close to me refers to them as “candy in a box”… but I couldn’t help myself. When I was in my pre-teen and I had just move to the U.S., we lived in a small apartment. My parents were always gone for work and I was left alone during the summer vacation. Everyday, I would wake-up, walk to the kitchen to have a box of Cocoa Pebbles, a bowl and a spoon beside it, waiting for me with a note from my mom.

I will not advocate cereal for its nutritional value and I probably wouldn’t feed my own children with it, but I can’t brush off the nostalgia I have whenever I see a box of Cocoa Pebbles (and Fruity Pebbles!) in a grocery aisle.

It’s also kind of awesome that it’s the Flinstone’s cereal. I totally watched the Flinstone’s growing up, along with a lot of other Hanna-Barbera cartoons! Perhaps I should youtube some old cartoons a little later. It’s worth the few extra calories some times to find comfort in my childhood cereal these days.

Anyone else have a childhood cereal?

I’ve had a few conversations with friends where a celebrity’s name crops up and the friend would say “Oh he/she’s totally on my list.” It seems many people have lists in their heads of people, usually celebrities, that they’d like to sleep with.

Being a bit of a prude, I’ve never had anything like that in my head. Instead, I have a list of people I’d like to hug or “squish”. And not in a creepy way. They’re just celebrities I’m a fan of and they seem like genuinely nice people. The hug would mostly be to just thank them for making films that I love and that make me happy. So, here’s my squish list:

1. Colin Firth

Incredibly, it’s not because he’s played Mr Darcy more than anyone else on the planet. It’s because he has the sweetest, shy smile and he seems like such a nice man.

2. Paul Bettany

I honestly don’t know why, I just like him. I think it was Knight’s Tale, when he was Chaucer, and I loved the coat he wore. I’m such a push-over for great looking coats.

3. Brendan Fraser

It’s because he is Rick in the Mummy. He was Indiana Jones and Han Solo rolled up into one. Who wouldn’t want to hug that?

4. Jason Isaacs

He seems to always play bad guys, but it was when he was Mr Darling in Peter Pan that I just wanted to hug him. He looked like a kicked puppy.

5. Mr Bingley

Not any actor who played him, just the character. He’s so happy and nice, and he puts up with all the shit Darcy does. I just want to hug him.

6. Hugo Weaving

He’s also on the list of people that I could listen to forever. I love his voice. I wasn’t that taken with him in The Matrix or LOTR, it was V for Vendetta that did it. He just acted the hell out of that character and he didn’t even have a face to move! How amazing is that? Hugs all around for him.

7. Sam Neill

I cried when *spoiler* he dies at the end of Hunt for Red October. CRIED. I wanted to hug him and let him live in Montana with a pick up truck. Damn Commies killing Sam Neill!

8. Tim Curry

Who WOULDN’T want to hug Tim Curry? Everything he does becomes awesome because he’s in it. That, and he did the audio books for The Abhorsen Trilogy, my absolutely favourite fantasy trilogy. So, he goes on the people I could listen to forever list, too.

9. Colleen Atwood

This woman does THE most amazing costume designs. I will actually put on films she’s made just to look at the costumes. Just looking at them makes me happy.

10. William Powell

He’s not around any more, but he gets a mental hug. He is everything that is great about black and white films. Watch My Man Godfrey and The Thin Man. He’s line delivery is amazing and he just seems lovely.

And how many men do you know that can get away with that mustache? Hmm?

LeBasse Project, with the help of Bubble Punch, hosted the opening reception of Dev Loka, a collection of painting by renowned Japanese artist, Yoshitaka Amano. The main event, besides the artwork (of course!), was a contest for people in costumes inspired by Amano’s artwork. For those in the dark, Amano is well known for his work on Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy, which ties him to the world of anime and cosplay.

The party ended up becoming particularly colorful that night!

I arrived early before the gallery became too crowded. My boyfriend and I got to enjoy viewing Amano’s collection leisurely. The style of the collection is a great deviation from his usual work that he is known for. His illustrations are usually very detailed and raw– lines are visible throughout the composition as if he never bothered to erase the pencil sketch beneath the colors. Dev Loka, on the other hand, showcases a much “simpler” style. I don’t want to throw the word ’simple’ around too much and and sell him short, but to me, Amano mixes the new  generation of computer generated style with a nostalgic feeling of older anime styles and characters. There is a certain clarity to these paintings, and a sudden clear-cut quality compared to his more popular pieces in the past. Perhaps it just goes to say that Amano accomplished complexity in his compositions in a style deceivingly simple to look at.

I have mixed feelings about the collection of work. Half of them I am partial to, and half of them left me with an unimpressed feeling. Either way, all of them had glittered background… and I admit… that won me over. Amano rocked the glitter and it made me happy to look at the artwork inside the gallery!

Alongside Amano’s work was a sculpted installation by Yoskay Amano. I love the little pathway that guides you through the “tears” hanging from the ceiling and the creatures forming from the ground. Disturbing and whimsical at the same time.

The cosplayers were also great, of course! It’s always more fun when people are dressed up for these events.

You can view the rest of my photos at my flickr gallery!

I’ve finally buckled down and forced myself to learn how to integrate and customize this blog through wordpress… and so far, it has been a worth it transition despite the few headaches and bumps I encountered these past couple of nights. Now, I don’t have to rely on blogger and everything is comfortably nestled here on the homebase!

Not only that, but everyone should welcome a new addition to our bloggers here– Valerie, aka Fortune Cookie! I hope she’ll write about something soon…!!! This place could use some fresh content that’s not from ME all the time!

Thanks to all our phantom readers out there, even if you don’t exist. Watch out for exciting things happening around here (ooh! ahh!)