Well, there are a couple of models falling down on the Web, but this one has got to take the cake, a true evergreen to get you up when you're down. The fall itself is bone-tickling enough, with the model doing a Tokyo shuffle before she goes down (yeah, you gotta see this one). But what makes it even more funny is the fact that the anchors are all just tickled to senseless guffawing, and as they say, laughter is contagious. But the best bit must be how the editor, evil as he/she may be, repeatedly replays the clip using different edits, which just makes the Tokyo shuffle all the more hilarious. Enjoy!

No, I'm afraid there's no help for men who will do the stupidest things when infatuated. I just read that this is an unfortunate evolutionary side effect. In Simply Irresistible By Dr Raj Persaud, it says that:

"However, a surprising result was that it's not just that certain shared areas of the brain are reliably activated in both romantic and maternal love, but also that particular locations are deactivated. And it's the deactivation which is perhaps most revealing about love. Among other areas, part of the pre-frontal cortex - the bit of the brain towards the front of the head - seem to get switched off when we are in love and when we love our children, as do areas linked with experience of negative emotions as well as planning. These deactivated parts of the brain form a network that is implicated in the assessment of trustworthiness of others, and basically, critical social assessment. In other words, strong emotional ties to another person not only inhibit negative emotion but also affect the brain networks involved in making social judgments about that person."

Or basically, men get stupid. Too wordy? Ok, here's the graphical representation:
 
Help Me Please !!!!! - Click here for the most popular videos

Was forwarded this by my brother, and it is deserving of propagation. This is part of a series on Hitler redubs. The story doesn't exactly flow, but if you can just laugh at the laugh-a-minute jokes, it's a way to start your day with a smile.:)

If it isn't already obvious, I've a great big fan of Supergirl. As mentioned elsewhere, there have been many Supergirls, and my scope of reference is limited to post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. I prefer my superheroes to be more complex and troubled individuals anyway. (I do feel that the current run by Kelley Puckett is getting a little too long-drawn; #26-32, that is 7 issues, running through the same arc of whether Supergirl can save a boy who is dying from cancer). Anyway, I can't say with any certainty, but I believe one of the trend starters happened during the 1986 reboot of Superman, when it was decided that he wouldn't be able to push planet and other god-like things.

The DCU has been, in the last two years, undergoing a revolution of its own. Ever since Identity Crisis got the whole 2nd and 3rd crises under way, stories have become so epic they can no longer be contained within a single title. While cynicism might suggest that this is simply a move to sell more comics, I must say that the the stories now, because of the added contextual depth and complexity, are much more fulfilling reads. Unfortunately, the current Supergirl incarnate Kara Zor-El is split over so many other titles that many people I hear have just given up. Even her trades don't do credit to all her appearances (and some are really lame one-liner bit parts I must admit), and I have yet to find a proper indexing of her story. And seriously, her own title can become incoherent without some of the fillers from elsewhere. For example, an issue made reference to her time in space with Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and I was going, "Wha wha wha?" It was only much later that I discovered this particular adventure to be contained within the first two volumes of The Brave and the Bold. While this arc does do justice to the character, it is irritatingly the norm for Supergirl to disappear into the background in whatever offshoots she appears in. Two examples come to mind: the 2005/2006 Infinite Crisis storyline, and the Vengeance arc in Superman/Batman.

This problem is prohibitive to anyone picking up her title since character is still trying to find herself. It's completely different from Superman, where I have never found a need to pick up Superman/Batman or Justice League because he behaves the same there as he does in his own titles. No monkey business, no unorthodox maneuvers, very consistent. However, while incidents here and there contribute somewhat to understanding Supergirl's angst, it's tiring to chase after a separate title only to be let down with an anti-climax where she is concerned. That being said, Action Comics #867 is a critical one-shot for Kara that any fan should get your hands on because it reveals a lot of the fear and loneliness that she feels from being the last person to have memories of Krypton, which in turns explains why she resists melding into Earth's human culture; being part of something means you risk losing everything all over again.

Whatever the case, I've decided to put together my own chronological index, that I will periodically update. And by chronological, I refer to the way I think the story flows linearly rather than date of publication. If you would rather read using the latter way, then be prepared to become lost as you try to figure out how Kara can be in the 31st century and One Year Later at the same time...good luck! Also, I would hardly call my list complete; I've scoured high and low to make sure I got everything I came to know off, but things like the DCU Infinite Holiday Special still elude me, and I'm not going to fork out on a trade just for one issue. This list will also go off on tangents sometimes because I believe in reading whole arcs, which means I finish the story even after Supergirl mysteriously disappears. An actually, I still don't have a clue how she ended up in the 31st century, although I suspect that this will never be covered, and readers are just expected to imagine how she ended up chasing a giant through space after Jeph Loeb's run in #5. If you were like me and always thought that she may have been blown away at the end of Infinite Crisis, well, she is in the last two-page spread of #7, so this theory doesn't check out. the final story arc of the old Justice League might offer a clue. Finally, although I would like to give DC the benefit of the doubt and say that certain crossovers don't fit because of POV differences, I'm more inclined to blame the mess between Amazons Attack! and Wonder Woman as an editorial screw-up. Ok, so here goes:

1. Superman/Batman #8-13 (collected in Superman/Batman Vol. 2: Supergirl)
2. Supergirl Vol. 5 #1-5 (collected in Supergirl Vol. 1: Power)
3. Superman/Batman #20-25 (collected in Superman/Batman Vol. 4: Vengeance)
4. Justice League of America #122-123 (collected in JLA Vol. 19: World Without a Justice League)
5. Superman #223 (collected in Superman: The Journey)
6. Infinite Crisis Special #1 (collected in Infinite Crisis Companion)
7. Infinite Crisis #1-7 (collected in Infinite Crisis)
8. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16-19 (collected in SLSH Vol. 3: Strange Visitor from Another Century)
9. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #20-25 (collected in SLSH Vol. 4: Adult Education)
10. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #26-30 (collected in SLSH Vol. 5: Dominator War)
11. Action Comics #850 (collected in Supergirl Vol. 4: Beyond Good and Evil)
12. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #31-36 (collected in SLSH Vol. 6: The Quest for Cosmic Boy)
13. World War III #1-4 (collected in World War III)
14. Supergirl Vol. 5 #6-9 (collected in Supergirl Vol. 2: Candor)
15. Superman Vol. 1 #650 (collected in Superman: Up, Up and Away!)
16. The Brave and the Bold #1-6 (collected in The Brave and the Bold Vol. 1: The Lords of Luck)
17. The Brave and the Bold #7-12 (collected in The Brave and the Bold Vol. 2: The Book of Destiny)
18. Supergirl Vol. 5 #10-19 (collected in Supergirl Vol. 3: Identity)
19. Wonder Woman #5-13 (#6-10 collected in Wonder Woman: Love and Murder)
    Amazons Attack! #1-6 (collected in Wonder Woman: Amazons Attack!)
20. Supergirl Vol. 5 #20-22 
21. Teen Titans #49
22. Wonder Girl #1-6 (collected in Teen Titans Spotlight: Wonder Girl)
23. Teen Titans #50-55 (#50-54 collected in Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow)
24. The Brave and the Bold #17-18
25. Superman Vol. 1 #668-670 (collected in Superman: The Third Kryptonian)
26. Supergirl Vol. 5 #23-27 (collected in Supergirl Vol. 4: Beyond Good and Evil)
27. Supergirl Vol. 5 #28~33 (collected in Supergirl Vol. 5: Way of the World)  
28. Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #1~5 (collected in Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom)
29. Action Comics #866-870 (collected in Superman: Brainiac)
30. Superman Vol.1 #679
31. Supergirl Vol. 5 #34 (collected in Supergirl: Who Is Superwoman?)
32. Superman/Batman #62
33. Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen #1
    Superman: New Krypton Special #1
    Superman Vol. 1 #681
    Adventure Comics Special featuring the Guardian #1
    Action Comics #871 (collected in Superman: New Krypton Vol. 1)
34. Supergirl Vol. 5 #35
    Superman Vol. 1 #682
    Action Comics #872
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #36
    Superman Vol. 1 #683
    Action Comics #873 (collected in Superman: New Krypton Vol. 2)
35. Supergirl Vol. 5 #37
    Superman Vol. 1 #684
    Action Comics #874 (collected in Superman: Mon El Vol. 1)
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #38
    Superman Vol. 1 #685
    Superman: The World of New Krypton #1
    Action Comics Annual #12
    Action Comics #875
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #39
    Superman Vol. 1 #686
    Superman: The World of New Krypton #2
    Action Comics #876
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #40
    Superman Vol. 1 #687
    Superman: The World of New Krypton #3
    Action Comics #877
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #41
    Superman Vol. 1 #688
    Superman: The World of New Krypton #4
    Action Comics #878
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #42  (Supergirl Vol. 5 issues collected in Supergirl: Who Is Superwoman?)
36. Supergirl Vol. 5 Annual #1
37. Superman Vol. 1 #689
    Superman: The World of New Krypton #5
    Action Comics #879
    Supergirl Vol. 5 #43
    Superman Vol. 1 #690 (Superman Vol. 1 issues collected in Superman: Mon El Vol. 1)
    Superman Secret Files 2009 #1
38. Final Crisis #1-7 (collected in Final Crisis) 
39. Teen Titans #66
40. Justice League: Cry for Justice #1~
41. Trinity #25~52 (collected in Trinity Vols. 2 and 3)
42. Blackest Night: Superman #1-2

Just looking at this list, if it doesn't already strike you how often Kara appears outside her title in somewhat significant portions, then you should look again. And the problem is that these aren't always neatly collected in trades. For example, Kara leaves the Teen Titans in #55, which isn't in the Titans of Tomorrow trade. So if you missed that, you're going to be left scratching your head, especially since the word is that she's about to join the Justice League. Also, if you decide to skip Amazons Attack!, then you're going to be wondering what the deal with the President's plane is in #20 of her own series. She's also slated for some big role in Final Crisis (yeah, I've heard that before) and another run in The Brave and the Bold. Super, blech. Stay tuned!

An interesting picture caught my eye in the 11th July edition of mypaper. Namely (left):
 
The thing is that this particular edition was so filled with images of bento boxes that I assumed the "fishes" in the picture to be plastic decorations on a balloon. How mistaken I was! Those Plasticine-looking fish are actually Balloon Lumpfish, and are very much alive. Check out the bewildered look on the fish second to from the left! Here's a close-up stolen off the Net:

And I came across this while searching out, so what the heck, it made my day, haha.
 
Why is it labeled Nevercaughtfish I wonder. Maybe this one IS plastic.

Man, I've never laughed so hard for a long time. If you haven't heard of fail humor, check out a sample of said fare below:

Well, I must say that my expectations for the PC version was greatly piqued after I had an opportunity to play it on a friend's XBox 360. I've never played the much vaunted NBA 2K, and with NBA Live 06 having lasted 3 years on my PC, 08 looked really great! The players' idiosyncrasies, such as shooting stroke and free throw routines were all there, not to mention the sweat that was rendered on the players. Not having a console myself, I could only turn to 08 for the PC, and what a shock and horror this has been.

For one thing, the PC version seems to have been developed separately from the console version, with many elements of 06 carrying over to 08. This was immediately apparent when I noticed the players running in the "girly" style that has irked me all this while since I started playing 06. If they could motion capture the dunks, I really don't understand why the players run like, I dunno, like an ostrich trying to fly. I can't comment about the renderings because I can't run the game at maximum graphics intensity, but there's enough to talk about with things like this:


I mean seriously man, did the developers do any debugging at all? The bench floating around doesn't obstruct your own players, who can run through them as though they are the apparitions that they appear to be, but it is just crap that this kind of mistake can happen in a commercial application. And let's not forget the infamous coach-in-the-scorer's-table image:
 

Or this NSFW image of a public display of affection between coach and player (I kid you not: the player was indeed frozen in this position of ecstasy):
 

But apart from this, the gameplay is simply appalling on 2 fronts. First, the ability to configure your roster has been severely crippled, with many of the functions in 06 now gone. For example, you have no ability to choose your starting lineup. You can set it on the menu screen just before you enter the game, but you have to do this every single time the game is rebooted. What's worse is that the starting lineup even resets itself if you idle on the calendar screen for too long. Another roster limitation is that you can no longer arrange the list of players according to most used. This becomes a real hassle when you think about how substitutions is now necessary in 08 because players can fatigue quite quickly; Kevin Garnett, for some reason, loses half his stamina after just 2 1/2 minutes on the floor. So, if you have a long roster, you're going to have to drag that side scroll up and down at least twice in each game. Apart from this, you also cannot select your controller until you enter the game, which is also another real drag.

Next is the in-game play itself. I know NBA Live has always been programmed with an advantage for big man (they can block shots and shoot over opponents), but this has gone all out of proportion in 08. The reason - even guards can block your shorter players. It simply amazes me how Tony Parker can block 4 shots in a game when his average stats is less than 0.1, and his block rating is only 13 (if memory serves). Heck, I think he blocked my Yao Ming avatar once...while on a drive to the basket! What is worse is if your player has some crazy floater signature move, which increases your chance of being blocked because a hanging player allows the computer to react and challenge your shot. (Note: a crazy quirk is that the block very often counts as a steal for the opposing team, and a turnover for you).

The super irritating steal-block thingamajig.

Things got so bad I even had to trade Paul Pierce! He couldn't drive because he would get rejected there, and he couldn't shoot because he floated - in the end a totally useless player in the game. By the way, in case you are thinking, the computer rarely if ever falls for a pump fake, so you can forget that. On my own part, even though Kevin Garnett is rated 90+ as a shot blocker, the computer's player almost always drives happily by without being challenged. Go figure. Another strange thing is that your players lockup as the opponent is shooting free throws. This means that, as much as Steve Kerr complains about your lack of blocking out, there is nothing you can do about it because you can't move your players immediately after a miss. What crap.

Hints and Tips
I play 5 minute quarters, and my team is averaging 170+ points a game; I have 3 players averaging 30 points, and I lead the league in sugar spice, and everything nice. How do you do this? Apart from the usual things, such as to challenge every shot, here are 3 other not-so-obvious things you can do.

1. Never forget to resort to the good old inbound steal! (Ahh, reminds me of the good-old Sega Genesis Lakers vs. Celtics days). You could do it in 06 too (I was averaging 200+ points there, which I also would in 08 if the likes of Parker and Bibby weren't blocking all my layups). You can't do it the 06 style though; back then, you had to poke the ball out of the hands of the player after he receives the ball. In 08, you have to move in front of the opposing player as the inbounder throws the ball. Your avatar will block the ball into his own hands 90% of the time; sometimes the ball is blocked behind the player, which is really only possible in the warped physical space of 08).

Going for the steal!

Unlike 06, however, you can't simply go in for the dunk after you get the ball, lest Boykins blocks your shot. What I've fond to be most effective is to use your player's body to block the defender behind the backboard. This way, he can only fling wildly as you drop the reverse layup or short jumper. By the way, these shooting options can be better than dunking because a dunk sometimes freezes your player with the post-dunk animatics, and prevents you from re-positioning your player to catch the next inbound.

Blocking out!

2. The usual trading rules apply in that the computer is greedy for numbers. You can easily trade 3 average players for a star player provided you don't exceed the salary cap and the other team's player slots. This is how I managed to land Chris Bosh for Leon Powe, Brian Scalabrine, and Tony Allen. What a coup. Christ Bosh in 08, by the way, is someone who can easily average 50 points. This is because he has a bigger profile that increases your chance of an inbound steal, the speed to rush to block the ball in spite of his size, and an unblockable dunk provided you do it in a particular position somewhere near the base of the basket.

The unstoppable dunk pattern.

3. And finally, get big men only! If you can manage it, i.e., they aren't too slow, play only big men. The block, steal better, and can dunk after the steal. Apart from wide open shots, this is your best bet at succeeding in 08.

Well well, the mid-semester break is upon us once again, and this means I'm free to post nonsense on my English blog again. Topics like this nifty online flash that converts you into a Simpson! Ok ok, this is old news, but I just got wind of it alright? Anyway, this online app allowed me to put to rest once and for all this theory I've always had that Felicia Chin looks like a real-life Simpson. I dunno, it's just that her mouth is shaped stylistically like a Simpson, with a somewhat protruding upper lip. Don't believe me? See the results of the Simpsonizeme for yourself:

Convinced? Yeah, I thought you would be, hehe. And just in case people think I don't have a sense of humor, (which I do...it's just a little subdued you know what I mean you anal-retentive prick?), I made myself into a Simpson too:

The flash app makes the eyes blink, which is a fetish I've had since my All About Ranma 1/2 days, but I'm too fat and lazy now to put myself through the ordeal of drawing eyelids frame-by-frame. So, in my own little socialist way, I give you the power to imagine me blinking instead of imposing my own artistic impressions on you. Yeah, I'm nice.:P

Oh wow, finally we get to see something of the new movie that isn't paparazzi.
But to be honest, I have mixed feelings about the key image that has stirred up quite a buzz:
 
I don't have qualms about the giant nacelles - the Big E does look phat from certain angles.
My gripe is with how Motion Picture she looks, as in, this ain't the "model" Enterprise that's been appearing in either the original or revamped HD TOS for sure. Just look at the bridge module. The TOS-E was just a smooth dome with a protruding, er, mosquito bite on top, just like the picture below:
 
But this E looks like the ST:TMP-E with multiple decks on the command module, ala:

My concern then is whether the interior of the E will also be updated to look like the interior of the NX-01, which means that the whole damn TOS series will look out of place. It's one thing to have a motion picture Borg with more detailed makeup, but this creates some ambivalence on my part. Still, I reserve judgment till Christmas this year, if that is when I get to see the movie in Japan. The trailer itself, by the way, is below.

Just found out about this series of sketches parodying Star Wars from the middle of 2007. What a blast! A synopsis of the content can be found on Wookieepedia. The entire segment, at a little past 20 minutes, can be found at the [adult swim] page; the first 9 1/2 minutes (which I think is the best part anyway) is below (apparently 1 of 3, but 2 and 3 are exactly the same):

I was watching "Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real" by Animal Planet, and there was this spectacular scene close to the end which showed the dragons' mating ritual. This was one of the stunning things my ill-informed self has ever seen. What was more amazing was that in the "Making Of" featurette, one of the staff members interviewed said that it was based on the sea eagles' mating ritual. And, thanks to today's ridiculous information revolution, I was able to locate a clip of this on YouTube. Although the video's tile is "Eagle vs. Eagle," this is because the mating ritual and the fighting ritual are one and the same! I guess nature also affirms to the fact that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, eh?

Anyway, you have to see this to believe this. The 2 eagles soar up into the air before locking talons, and then free-fall in a spinning motion towards the earth. I believe the aim is to see which bird has the guts to play chicken longer with the trees below. The Animal Planet film suggests that the birds may do the same for courtship to prove their willingness to commit to child rearing, but I wonder if that is too much anthropomorphism. Whatever the case, be amazed by this amazing and beautiful display from nature: