Star Tours 1987-2010

I just found out yesterday that Star Tours, a Star Wars based ride at Disneyland is closing its doors for a new ride, Star Tours II. This makes me feel both happy and sad. I am sad to see a beloved ride leave. Star Tours opened in 1987 at Disneyland, at that time I was a 7 year old kid so I was of the perfect age to love the ride, which I did.




I can somewhat recall my first time on Star Tours, the wait seemed to take days... and that was just to get inside. The first time I went on the ride I believe hearing the wait was 3 hours. Once you finally got inside the actual Star Tours building you are greeted by a replica of the Starspeeder 3000 (the ship you ride) being repaired and C-3P0 and R2D2. It was a lot to take in as a kid, seeing actual characters from the Star Wars movie! I remember also the first time I rode Star Tours that it threw me around with all its twists and turns. As I grew up I would always long for the feelings of that first time, not knowing which way the ship would turn and being small enough to not be able to hold on. Of course I couldn't write this blog without mentioning Captian Rex, the man in charge of the Starspeeder 3000. Until recently I never knew he was voiced by Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman. His famous line always is worth a chuckle. "I know this is probably your first flight, and it's mine too, ha ha."

Check out this commerical for the ride,badass!


As I grew up the ride was always a favorite of mine but as other attractions got put in the park, the lure of a ride I had been on tons of times lost some of its luster. I would always still go on the ride of course, but the small lines and my memorization of the entire ride made it loose a lot of the fun it once held. As you leave Star Tours, you see all these posters with other planets, I would often start wondering when do we get to see these other places? I guess I am getting that answer next year. Dinseyland announced that Star Tours II is coming in 2011. I am happy that the ride is getting an upgrade, Star Tours II will feature new technology and use 3D in the ride. As is set to take place sometimes between Episodes III - VI. You can see that announcement here as well as a clip from what the new ride will feature:


If you live the area, I would suggest going on one last trip on the ride. I wish I could! But now I am 100% going to make sure that I am going to Disneyland next year to ride the next chapter of Star Tours. I just hope that it can live up to the fun that I had when I was a kid.

RIP Party Down

Party Down is a great show that had been on Starz for two seasons. It was produced by Paul Rudd and Rob Thomas (not the singer but the same person who created another show called Veronica Mars). Sadly since the show offered a fresh look on comedy and was a great show it has been canceled.

The show had an impressive cast of young talent. Adam Scott (who is now on Parks and Recreation) , Martin Starr (Knocked Up, Adventureland, Freaks and Geeks), Ken Marino (Role Models and The State), Lizzy Caplan, Ryan Hansen, Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), and Jane Lynch (Glee).

The cast seemed to all be from impressive comedy groups. Marino from the State group, Starr, Lynch and Caplan from the Apatow group, Hansen was a main character on Veronica Mars and Lynch, Marino, Scott appeared on Veronica Mars. The producers no doubt had a connection to the actors as Rudd was in Knocked Up (as was Scott) and 40 Year old Virgin (Lynch was also in 40 Year Old Virgin). Lynch also left with two episodes left in the first season because she signed on to do a little show called Glee, she was replaced by Jennifer Coolidge for the last two episodes and then Mullally took over for season two.

Another connection I saw was from the cult show the State. Marino was in the show and throughout the two seasons many guest stars showed up from The State and I know Rudd was in the film The Ten, which featured many former cast members from The State. Also we had a strong Veronica Mars connection, which include Kristen Bell showing up in a few episodes but she was a very important to the plot of season 2. We also had appearances from Ken Jeong, J.K. Simmons, Jennifer Coolidge, and Joey Lauren Adams among others.

I wouldn't say it was as great as Arrested Development, but like that show it was taken away from viewers way too early. A small uproar formed on twitter of fans saying they were going to cancel their Starz memberships because the show was canceled. I know I watched all the show on Netflix, they have it on instant watch. They have all of the episodes available to watch instantly right now, I suggest you go and watch this fresh and original series. Just don't get upset that you will never see more of it. Here is a clip:

My All-Star Picks

Every year I take a somewhat serious stance on all-star voting for the mlb all-star game. Every year a great player is sure to get snubbed, while a fan favorite who is not doing well makes the team. I understand that people vote in players they know by name or are on their team. I always was a stat based guy, it is what I attribute my success in fantasy baseball too. So when making my picks a lot of it is based of stats, but I also looked at what I thought would make a great overall team as well as what players I feel should go...So without delay here are my picks for the all-star game rosters. All stats mentioned are through 6/27/10

American League Starting All-Star Roster

1B - Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers
Cabrera is off to a monster start so far. Batting .332/ 20HR/ 64 RBI. He leads all AL 1B in RBI and is tied for first in HR's with Paul Konerko, and is second in batting average. There are a lot of other good choices in this group of players but Cabrera stands out. Others who should make the team:Paul Konerko- White Sox, Justin Morneau- Twins, Kevin Youkilis - Red Sox


2B - Robinson Cano - New York Yankees
Cano is killing the ball this year and leads all AL 2B in Average (.359) , HR (15) and RBI (53). Not sure why there is any questions who else to vote for, it was probably the easiest choice I made this year. Others: Dustin Pedroia - Red Sox and Howie Kendrick- Angels


SS- Elvis Andrus - Texas Rangers
I am sure this pick is not most likely everyones choice, but hear me out. Andrus leads all AL SS (qualified) in Average (.291), Sb's (21), and Runs (51). I figure Jeter is a lock to make the team so why waste a vote on him, go for a guy who leads off for the best hitting team. He also has a great glove in field. Others: Alex Gonzales- Blue Jays and Derek Jeter - Yankees


3B - Adrian Beltre - Boston Red Sox
As much as I dislike this player this was an obvious choice. Beltre is having a monster year for the Red Sox. He is hitting .340/ 12 HR/ 52 RBI. Him and Evan Longoria have the same exact amount of HR and RBI, but Beltre is batting .340 and Longoria .297. Beltre also has one of the best gloves at 3b. Others: Evan Longoria -Rays, Michael Young- Rangers, Alex Rodriguez- Yankees.


C- Joe Mauer - Minnesota Twins
He is a fan favorite and is also having a great season, so I can't see why not to vote for him. He is hitting .304/ 3HR/ 33 RBI, he is third in AL Catcher's in RBI's. He also has a great glove and like I said he is someone people want to see in the game (including this blogger). Others: John Buck - Blue Jays, Victor Martinez - Red Sox, Kurt Suzuki - Oakland.


OF (3) - Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers
Hamilton in just killing the ball this year, and is another fan favorite. But he really deserves to be an all star starter. He leads all AL Outfielders in Average at .346 and also has 18 HR/ 57 RBI.


Carl Crawford -Tampa Bay Rays
Crawford makes the team because he is a great fielder, runner, and base stealer. He leads all AL OF's in runs (56) and tied for second in SB's. He also has 7 HR and 38 RBI. Sorry Ichiro but there is a new guy in town.


Vernon Wells - Blue Jays
Wells has had a resurgence this year with the Blue Jays and is batting .285/ 19 HR
second in AL OF)/ 47 RBI as well as 44 runs scored. Wells numbers are just all around good, and I belive a Blue Jay should be starting this game based off how good the team has been hitting the ball. Wells also has one of the best arms in the game in the field.



Others: Ichiro - Mariners, Alex Rios - White Sox, Torri Hunter - Angels, Shin-Soo Choo - Indians

DH - Vladimir Guerrero - Texas Rangers
I know this makes 3 Rangers starting in the game, but they lead the the universe in offense and seeing Vlad come back to play in Anaheim should be fun sight. Plus Vlad really is deserving of the spot, he is hitting .327/ 15 HR/ 60 RBI/ 48 Runs.
Others: David Ortiz - Red Sox, Jose Guillen - Royals, Jose Bastista - Blue Jays


Starting Pitcher - David Price - Tampa Bay Rays
Price is having a season that shows why he was taken #1 overall in the draft. He leads the AL in wins with 11 and is second in ERA (2.44). He also has 84 K's and plays on a good Rays team. It would be nice to see some new blood starting in the game this season.
National League
1B - Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals
This was the toughest choice I had to make, but its Pujols,,why shouldn't he make start? Well him, Joey Votto, and Adrian Gonzalez all have almost the exact same numbers, its almost scary how close they are. Pujols is batting .306, Votto .305, and Gonzalez .307. Pujols has 16 HR so does Votto and Gonzalez. Pujols has 51 RBI, Votto has 50, and Gonzalez has 49. Votto and Pujols also have the same exact number of SB, while Gonzalez and Pujols have the same amount of Runs (41)but Votto trumps them with (47). I give the nod to Pujols because he is a fan favorite, perennial MVP candidate, and leads in OBP. Others: Joey Votto - Reds, Adrian Gonzalez - Padres, Ryan Howard - Phillies.



2B - Brandon Phillips - Cincinnati Reds
Phillips leads all NL 2B in runs (57)and is batting .311/ 9HR/ 25 RBI/ 10 SB and unless you haven't watched the highlight he is always make some amazing catch or play in the field. The Reds are another surprise team who I would like to see get a starter in the game. Others:Martin Prado - Braves, Chase Utley - Phillies, Rickie Weeks - Brewers.


SS - Hanley Ramirez - Florida Marlins
Ramirez is my pick because he is having a great season once again, batting .296/ 11 HR/ 44 RBI/ 14 SB/ 41 Runs. Among qualified SS he is 3rd in batting, 2nd in HRs and 2nd in RBI (Juan Uribe leads in both those categories) . So why did I chose Ramirez over a player on my own team? Well as much as it pains me to say no one wants to see Juan Uribe start the All-Star game and Ramirez has a better average, stolen bases, and scores a tad more. Others: Juan Uribe - Giants,
Troy Tulowitzki - Rockies, Jose Reyes - Mets.


3B - David Wright - New York Mets
Wright is having a monster first half, much to my surprise. I looked at the stats and did not know he was doing so well this year. He is hitting .300/ 14 HR/ 61 RBI/ 13 SB/ 42 Runs. He is also the best 3B fielder in the NL and is another fan favorite and all around good player. Others: Scott Rolen - Reds, Casey McGehee - Brewers, Ryan Zimmerman - Nationals.



C- Miguel Olivo - Colorado Rockies
I bet no one else saw this pick coming. Catcher is a cateogry where most people pick players who they have picked every year before but I do not see why. Olivo is having a great season for the Rockies hitting .295/ 10 HR/ 34 RBI/ 31 Runs and even 4 SB. Among NL C's he is 3rd in runs scored, 2nd in HR, and leads all in RBI's, OPS, and SLG. He has the same Fielding % as Yadier Molina so he can field as well. Others: Brian McCann - Braves and Rod Barajas - Mets.


OF (3) - Andre Ethier - Los Angeles Dodgers
Ethier has had a big season for the Dodgers, a season where he missed a few weeks with an injury. But he is still batting .317/12HR/ 46 RBI. His numbers would probably lead the league if he wasn't out.


Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers
Braun is becoming one of the most consistent players in the majors. He is having another great season batting .301/ 10 HR/ 47 RBI/ 11 SB/ and 47 Runs. I like seeing him play the game and would love seeing him start in the all-star game.


Andrew McCutchen - Pittsburgh Pirates
A Pirate starting??! Yep, I was looking at stats and he leads the NL OF in SB (19) and is second in Runs (48, Matt Kemp has 52), and he is on a terrible team! Plus he can play CF and is batting .301/ 7 HR/ 23 RBI.

Others: Colby Rasmus - Cardinals, Jayson Werth - Phillies, Corey Hart - Brewes, Chris Young - Diamondbacks, Shane Victorino - Phillies, Carlos Gonzalez - Rockies.

DH - Adrian Gonzalez - San Diego Padres
Again this could just as easily gone to Joey Votto, but the Padres have been the most surprising team in the majors this season. They do deserve to have a starter in the game and I am sure they will have a lot more pitchers represent them. Others: Joey Votto - Reds, Ryan Howard - Phillies, Corey Hart - Brewers, Troy Glaus - Braves, Adam Dunn- Nationals, Jayson Werth - Phillies,



Starting Pitcher - Ubaldo Jimenez - Colorado Rockies
I want my NL to win this year, having Ubaldo starting with his own catcher Olivo calling the signs would be nice. Plus let's face it this is one of the easiest choices I could make. Jimenez is having a season for the history books. He is 13-1 with an era of 1.60! Thats all I need to say.

Toy Story 3

I know its only a kids movie but damn so far Toy Story 3 is probably my favorite movie of the year! If you haven't seen it I would strongly recommend you get your ass out to the theatre and see it now. It is getting to the point where CGI movies could be up for Best picture oscars, especially since they have upped the number of nominees to 10. For a movie like Toy Story 3 I do not see why it shouldn't be nominated it far superior then most live action movies released this year.

Anyway I loved this movie because, well it has to do with growing up and letting go of things you once held close. As a kid I had more then my fair share of toys (mostly GI Joe, Ghostbusters, and Starting Line-Ups) thanks to my father working at Toys R Us for twenty years. Toys were very important way to connect with my dad and my brother when I was a kid. When I started to grow I would collect less and less toys and only bought an occasional sports toy. I had to stop collecting and get on with being a grown up (of sorts).

In the movie Andy (the kid from Toy Story 1 and 2) is now going off to college and has to make the same choices that we all do as we grow up, what do you do with these plastic things that once meant so much to you? Sure you can throw them in the attic or display them but they never get played with. Then you have your own kids or move out and you no longer have space or time for your childhood relics. Toy Story 3 is a movie that really delves into the toys and the choices we make. Of course they are just plastic but the movie does a good job of showing how the toys would feel if they were real.

If you have to see one movie right now, I wouldn't bother wasting your money on Jonah Hex (but Megan Fox is hot!) or Shrek the Third(the first one was okay and every sequel since has been terrible). I have seen the movie twice now and both times I enjoyed it just as much. I saw the movie with 4 other heterosexual males and we all admitted to getting choked up near the end of film. Go see a movie that will take you back to the time when you were a kid and playing with toys is all that mattered to you.

Fantastic Planet

I am never going to say I have a rich knowledge of music, I just know what I like. When I was a kid in middle school I used to listen to whatever was popular. Back then it was like Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and MC Hammer. It is weird to say but my life changed one day when I heard the song Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies. I would always listen to the rap stations on the radio but I heard that song playing on my brothers radio and kept it on that station, which I believe was KOME 105.3, an alternative rock station. After that I always into alternative rock. Ok, so enough about the history but yes I like punk, alternative, and music like that.

I probably heard Failure on KOME back 1997, they had a somewhat hit single in Stuck On You. The band never really had another hit after that, but somehow I went out and bought that album. I have traded in tons of CD's since then but I always held onto Fantastic Planet, currently I have been listening to the album more and more and realizing that it is becoming one of my favorites. The sound is nothing revolutionary but I just dig the hell out of the album. Check out the single from the album here:



I have been looking up Failure recently, they bad disbanded in 1997, a year after Fantastic Planet was released. I remember buying an older albums of theirs a while ago, but it just didn't stick to me like Fantastic Planet did. After Faliure's break up they went on to form other bands. The man singer Ken Andrews went on to form the band's Year of the Rabbit and On. Other band members went into bands like A Perfect Circle, Vercua Salt, Lusk, and Queens of the Stone Age to name a few.

I also found out that a lot of other people enjoyed Failure's album as much as me. Fantastic Planet has a small yet loyal following. The album is being released on vinyl today. The aforementioned song Stuck on You was covered by Paramore.

The album has a perfect 5 out of 5 star review on amazon's page (out of 106 reviews). Its nice to know that other people appreciate this band and this great album. I will leave you with one more cut from the amazing album, the song is called The Nurse Who Loved Me. This song is also covered by A Perfect Circle on their album Thirteenth Step.

Horror Flicks

So I have recently been watching a lot of movies, including some good and not so good ones. I signed up for netflix again, and now they have the instant watch movies. It helps that I got a new cpu with a high def screen. Last time I had netflix they didn't really hype up the instant watch movies. Now they have thousands of movies to choose from! I love that you can watch a movie online now or just watch a tv show you missed on the cpu, life has never been easier to attain the media you would like. So here are some of the horror movies I have watched recently:

Necrosis : I will start out with a shout out for this movie because my uncle was assistant director on this one. Necrosis is a stuck in a cabin, snow in type movie. It has to do with seeing ghosts of the Donner party. I think for a low budget movie it sets out what it means to do, namely it has some good scares and is interesting for most of the movie. Look for brief parts from pop star Tiffany and horror legend Michael Berryman. Here is the trailer:


Dead Snow: I watched this with my friend Dennis (click HERE to see his review). We both had about the same thoughts on Dead Snow, it has its moments but overall is nothing worth getting too hyped up over. I do like that it has to do with nazi zombies, thats a lethal combo! The movie took too long to get started and like Necrosis is a trapped in the snow type movie. They had some good romero type zombie kills in the movie as well. Overall this is a just an average type rental. I would say rent this and Necrosis back to back and have a snow in horror movie night.



Drive Thru : I was flipping the channels late one night with my buddy Jeremy and happened to see the description for Drive Thru on the On Demand menu. It said something about Horny the clown killing people, and I new I had to watch it immediately! It starts out really promising with some wiggas getting deep fried but overall the movie just is a let down. It does have some funny puns that relate to fast food, and they story is a total rip off of Nightmare on Elm Street. I hear they are doing a sequel to this, good luck. I will say it does have some laughs so I guess I wouldn't say it was a total bust for being a free watch.




Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: I got a recommendation to check out this movie from a friend and I thought it was the best out of all the movies I have listed here. I really didn't know what to expect when I went into seeing it but I was really shocked how good it was. If you like slasher movies I think you enjoy this behind the scenes look. You get to know Leslie Vernon as he plans his murders, you get to know the killer and why he kills. There a few good twists and I thought this was a smart way to do a slasher movie, switching between a documentary style and horror movie style. I have heard they are doing a sequel, I am on board for that!

3D or not 3D

Ok so lately 3D has been bugging me, I like the notion of a movie being made better by seeing it in 3D and lately it seems that most movie companies make a movie into a 3D event because it makes more money that way. Avatar sort of started this craze on it's way to becoming the top grossing movie of all time. The movie was pretty good to me, and was worth seeing in IMAX 3D because it was filmed to be seen that way. I have no problem with Avatar (well besides that it wasn't even that great of a movie) but I wish it never started this whole 3D trend because now everything is being released in 3D, as the next 3D movie event! Please. Give me a fucking break. I cannot say I am not to blame, when I go see a movie with a friend they end up wanting to see it in 3D and being an avid movie goer (and usually a nice friend) I agree to pay the $3 extra and see it in 3D.

The recent movies I have seen in 3D are: Avatar, Alice In Wonderland, and Clash of the Titans. After seeing all three only one was really needed to be seen in 3D, Avatar. The others were not really needed to be in 3D because being in that medium did not add anything of great value to the story. Alice In Wonderland was an average movie to me, nothing really extraordinary going on and the 3D was not really used to make it better in anyway. Clash of the Titans is where I get pissed. So I learned there is two ways to do 3D, one is when they change the movie into 3D after the film is done which = shitty 3D. The other way is when the movie is actually filmed in 3D the entire way, which is the actual only way I will now see 3D movies.

I have also heard that 3D prices are on the rise, which is another thing I find to be lame. With more and more 3D movies out you think the price would decrease not increase. One major problem I have is that they do not allow you to reuse your 3D glasses (if they are the same ones you bought last time). Then they want you to recycle the glasses after the movie, I feel if I paid for them why the hell shouldn't I keep them? But then if I do keep them I just have like 4 pairs of useless 3D glasses. So I am saying maybe they cut you a discount if you have the 3D glasses, maybe just half off the extra $3 or something, nothing major but I feel there is a need for some sort of discount for people who already have purchased the glasses. Similar to when you bring your own bag to Safeway and get a small discount for not needing to use their bags, plus both examples save resources (or does anyone know if they re-use those glasses after the movie?).




The 3D craze seems hear to stay. I recently asked my dad, a movie goer since birth if he thought that 3D was just a passing fad. He said it usually has been in the past and I was hoping he was right. I don't see the need to see every movie in 3D. Yes the positive is that it leads to some cool visual effects and if used correctly can make a movie fun. It is also helping Hollywood to release some projects they may not get the green-light otherwise, and it is always good when movies make money because they can possibly make more movies or give someone new a chance to showcase their skills. But I also see the upcoming 3D releases on the horizon and 3D seems here to stay, at least for a while longer.

Upcoming 3D movies:
Shrek Ever After
Toy Story 3
The Last Airbender
Despicable Me
Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore
Step Up 3-D
Piranha 3D
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'Hoole
Jackass 3D
Tron Legacy
and many more....

So what I am seeing here is a lot of children's movies as well as a few horror movies. The one's that I would want to see is, Piranha 3D and Tron Legacy. I think I will pass on Jackass 3D, but it may be the first movie to have a 3D penis, so its got that going for it.



To be nice I will list the top movies that I think 3D has added to the movie. These films are Monster House, Avatar, and My Bloody Valentine. In fact I would say My Bloody would be almost unwatchable but the 3D made it into a fun movie, they did a good job using 3D on that one. I recently watched Avatar in non 3D, and to be honest I didn't think less of it. The movie is visually stunning either way and I could focus more on colors in regular 2D.