My Soul Is As Open As The Sky (Sometimes It's Just As Blue)

The one Harry Potter film I didn't like

2009-07-29T09:41:00.007-04:00

As Ron would say, I must be “barking”, but I’m one of those in the minority who didn’t love the sixth Harry Potter movie. Don’t get me wrong. I love love LOVE Harry Potter. I love the sixth book. But I’m afraid the movie doesn’t hold a candle to the richness, the depth, and the complexity of JK Rowling’s writing. I blame Kloves and Yates for cinematically "mangling" such a great book. I was

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix review (originally written July 15 '07)

2009-07-28T09:28:00.002-04:00

Note to reader: Although I took a look at this again, and edited it, this continues to be a very very VERY long piece. Now that I've included a bunch of stuff I missed before, this has become longer than the previous one - which was seven pages in a Word document, and single spaced. Not sure if you will reach the end without yawning or scrolling over swaths of paragraphs, but if you do, thank

A ramble about the Harry Potter trio (originally written July 11 '07)

2009-07-27T18:43:00.006-04:00

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hit US theaters at exactly the stroke of midnight today. While I was not among those who diligently lined up at that hour, I am just as excited, nervous, paranoid, and enthusiastic about the upcoming movie. I have a great movie weekend planned, and OOTP is at the forefront of that. But just as excited as I am about the movie, what I am even more

"You made it alright to be me" (originally written July 2 '07)

2009-07-27T18:34:00.003-04:00

I just finished watching Rupert Grint’s movie, Driving Lessons. It made me realize how utterly biased I am going to be from now on regarding him as an actor. But the good thing is, he really does act very well in it.I have recently begun my seasonal obsession over things Harry Potter, and this time, it’s doubled because both the final book and the fifth movie are due out ten days apart. It is

Harry Potter-Ron Weasley-Rupert Grint musings: A Blog Mini-Festival of Sorts

2009-07-27T18:26:00.012-04:00

The past month has been a Harry Potter fan's dream, full of news and sightings leading up to the launch of the sixth Harry Potter film. Albeit a tad delayed, my blog will be in keeping with the HP tradition of being inundated by all things Harry Potter. And, since I am a Rupert Grint fan, will pepper my blog with lovely musings about my favorite redhead, Rupert.

And In the End... Life In the ER Went On

2009-04-05T22:22:00.002-04:00

Last night we bade good-bye to one of television's most enduring dramas, ER. My first experience with ER was a bit hazy, but I do remember I was in high school at the time and planned ahead of time to hog our cable-less TV set in the kitchen and wait for the pilot to come on. My decision to watch a TV show that I knew nothing about, save for its pedigreed executive producers (Crichton and

Good-bye, Conan

2009-02-21T16:23:00.003-05:00

Oh, Conan.You made me laugh and cry last night. And kudos to you for a wonderful final good-bye, and for a shout-out to David Letterman. You and Dave are my favorite nighttime companions. What would late night be without you?Thank you so much, sir. New York misses you already. Good-bye and good luck.

John Stockton

2009-02-14T23:21:00.004-05:00

It is All-Star Weekend in the NBA, and with it came speculation about the next batch of Hall of Famers. John Stockton, one of the best point guards in the NBA, was among those eligible. And I am hoping he does get in. Here's my own little tribute to this amazing player. I wrote this a few days after his retirement ceremony with the Utah Jazz. It still resonates as strongly as it did when I

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2009-02-14T20:14:00.001-05:00

This has been a long time coming, but I wanted to write about my experience in the Comic Con in New York last weekend, as well as a surprise Broadway treat. I thought I could celebrate my birthday early, and treated myself to a weekend pass. It was my very first time to attend a Comic Con, and I was had a blast.My first impression was that there were too many danged people in the place. To get

¡Viva España!

2009-01-30T21:07:00.006-05:00

Quite possibly the best Aussie Open match I have watched so far. It ranks up there with the other epic five-setters of all the Grand Slams. Rafael Nadal finally made it to the Australian Open Final, but at the expense of an equally deserving Fernando Verdasco. So deserving, that in fact, Rafa announced later that "He deserves this win, too. I want to congratulate him for everything."Truer

Aww, Jeff...

2009-01-29T10:11:00.003-05:00

From another mind-blowing episode of Lost, I saw a rather heartbreaking episode of Top Chef.Last night saw my favorite contestant, Jeff, eliminated. While that in itself made me sad, what made me sadder still was the fact that Jeff seemed very upset about it. Jeff was my favorite not just because he's a nice-looking guy (yes, I'm shallow that way), but because he immediately distinguished

The Other Castro (why I'm reserving judgement on Michael Castro)

2009-01-15T18:05:00.006-05:00

Well, since it's a given that I am a huge Jason Castro fan, I believe it was inevitable that I would write about the American Idol auditions last night in Kansas City, MO. Only I wouldn't be writing solely about Jason this time. Last night, his younger brother, Michael, auditioned and claimed a spot in Hollywood.I have sort of mixed feelings about this. I watched the show last night, and came

"Benefits"

2009-01-13T11:48:00.001-05:00

Oh Barney.He finally told Robin he was in love with her and she remains painfully (and yet delightfully) oblivious. That tiny headshake Neil Patrick Harris gave after saying "I love you" was probably the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen on this show. Even sadder than that "look of love" he was giving off at MacLaren's at the end. Given Barney's history, it was probably the bitterest

NPH on SNL

2009-01-11T14:08:00.003-05:00

Last night’s Saturday Night Live was one of the few episodes where I enjoyed it immensely. Huge props go to nineties teen icon (well, to me, at least) Neil Patrick Harris. I’m so proud of Neil Patrick Harris. I grew up on “Doogie Howser, MD”. He kind of taught me an efficient, and more thoughtful way to maintain a journal. With his short but sweet entries, he sort of blazed the trail for all

Goodbye, Grissom

2009-01-09T17:19:00.002-05:00

Come Thursday, January 15, it will be the end of an era.For CSI fans (of the original series set in Las Vegas, and not of the spinoffs), it will be Gil Grissom's last episode as a series regular. It will be William Petersen's last. As a fan for all of its nine seasons, it came as a sad surprise.I remember the first time I got hooked on this show. My older sister had beaten me to the TV and I

Book Review: Watchmen

2008-11-23T18:28:00.004-05:00

I just finished reading “Watchmen”.I found it to be a brilliant social and political commentary on the world then, and of the world today. It raised the question, “Who watches the watchmen?”, and that still rings true to this day. The fact is Alan Moore is just way too much ahead of his time. Comics for me were too expensive an investment. I realized this at a young age. I may have been

Toni and Dallas

2008-11-16T21:14:00.005-05:00

Well, tonight's Amazing Race episode just reaffirms my love for this mother-son team. Toni and Dallas were a class act tonight. They were smart, and just appreciative of everything. Even though they were made to look like "fools" in the Detour. Dallas, bless his heart, was just a hoot to watch and just made the Detour look like a ton of fun. I think it is moments like these when a person is

The Idols (particularly Jason Castro) in my backyard

2008-09-15T05:08:00.005-04:00

The American Idol Tour ended yesterday, and I was lucky to catch the show when they rolled into Bridgeport, CT last week.It was raining hard that day and I initially thought that they were going to cancel the show. But everyone came, girls with ironed-on Idol photos on their t-shirts, and moms with their digital camcorders, and dads holding umbrellas for their giddy kids. I was in line, waiting

Post-Olympic commentary

2008-09-14T21:38:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since the Olympics. My memories of the Olympics usually involve staying up late at night just to watch the games live. But I also remember my very first Olympics experience, when my relatives in the US sent us Betamax tapes of the 1984 Los Angeles games, complete with American commercials. I remember being enamored of gymnastics, and swimming, and diving, track and field, and

Still missing my pocket b-boy

2008-07-25T16:58:00.004-04:00

Well, I can't say I'm surprised, but for the first time in a reality show competition, when I say I'm-not-going-to-watch-the-show-again-because-so-and-so-got-booted, I really did not watch at all.I was watching Project Runway and halfway through the show when I suddenly realized that SYTYCD was on. But for some reason (Gev), I wasn't compelled to change the channel. During the commercial break,

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

2008-07-25T16:43:00.005-04:00

I have never been so proud of Heath Ledger as I was with The Dark Knight. It was everything they hailed it to be, and everything we expected it to be. It was respectful of Heath's memory, and to the fans of the Batman comics. It might just be one of the best summer movies this year, and possibly the whole of 2008.Kudos to director Christopher Nolan for projecting an image of Gotham City unlike

The Pocket B-Boy That Could

2008-07-19T16:22:00.007-04:00

My favorite So You Think You Can Dancer was eliminated this week.I have always been amazed at Gev Manoukian. He may be tiny, but he always danced BIG. He was an explosive b-boy with an innovative way of breakdancing AND choreographing. He was one of the very few contestants (probably the ONLY ONE) who knew how to put together a complete solo and charm an audience at the same time. It will

An All-Star Pastime

2008-07-19T16:19:00.002-04:00

That was one hell of an All-Star baseball game.I mistakenly thought I was going to watch the performance night of So You Think You Can Dance but caught the pre-game introductions of the MLB All-Star game instead (don't know why that was in my head the all afternoon, but there you go). I had a late night at work and came home running towards the elevator at around 8:05 pm when the doorman at my

And Boston Beats L.A.!

2008-06-18T20:12:00.004-04:00

The Boston Celtics just beat the Los Angeles Lakers. After more than two decades of waiting fruitlessly. After seeing Larry Bird and Kevin McHale play their last games and get sent off without a championship. After seeing Reggie Lewis crumple to the floor and die a few months later. After learning Paul Pierce had been stabbed. After seeing Rick Pitino bully his way off the coaching roster.

A Father's Day post

2008-06-15T12:06:00.003-04:00

I wrote this on January 19, 2007 on another blog. It was - to me - an emotional piece. Today, in celebration of Father's Day, and because I have a new home for my writing, I am going to re-post this. May everyone understand the importance of family in our lives.Last night, Mr. Harold O'Malley died.To those of you who don’t know, Mr. O’Malley is a fictional character. On a television show. He was

American Idol Highs and Lows

2008-06-10T00:00:00.004-04:00

Yeah, still working on getting the recently-concluded AI season out of my system. Here are the highs and lows of Season Seven.FAVORITE AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 7 PERFORMANCESNo American Idol season wrap-up would be complete without a list of some kind. So I made two of them: my favorites, and my least favorites. I decided to include all the performances starting with the

Castro Bump! Who's Right Fucking On? Me! And Jason's Fans Aplenty!

2008-06-09T21:53:00.004-04:00

Would you look at that? I get a Castrocopia award! Yay!I am just starting my blog, and it’s already made a friend. How cool is that? My very own Permalink!I love the folks over at Castrocopia. Whenever I felt unduly harassed by non-Castro fans, whenever my AI-loving self got no love from TPTB, whenever I’d read up on some very misleading press about Jason, I’d head over on to Castrocopia for

Castro Bump!

2008-06-07T21:00:00.004-04:00

I initially thought of writing a "closure" piece of sorts for Jason Castro, the one AI contestant I rooted for the whole season. But it wouldn't be fair. Not when he's just starting to rocket into the stratosphere of the music industry. So I'll just call this a "thank you" piece to Jason - singer, songwriter, guitar player, fellow music fan. Maybe, after more than two weeks since the AI

Beat L.A.!

2008-06-04T12:53:00.003-04:00

The Boston Celtics make their 20th trip to the NBA Finals.Last Friday night, they displayed tenacity and poise as they surged ahead of the Detroit Pistons in the dying minutes of the game. It was the Celtics of old – great defense and a fantastic offensive trio backed by a supportive bench and a coach who kept his composure. I felt so proud of them. Finally, a championship series – against the