Back to My Old School

Last weekend, I got a chance to return to my old high school, Cass Technical in Detroit, as part of the school's 100th birthday celebration. It was part of a weekend of festivities, but I was only able to attend the pep rally/school tour last week.
It was fun, got to check out the new building, where you see standing in front of in the photo to the left. Saw some of the old yearbooks and photos from the school's past, even my yearbook photo (and trust me, you will NEVER see that photo it's that bad) and got to mingle with past and current students.

The one downside of all this was that none of my old friends from my time in Cass showed up for the rally, which was disappointing because I was looking forward to reconnecting with them again. But, all in all, I had a good time and it was good to be a part of my alma mater again. I look forward to taking part in the next event that they'll have in the future.

Movie Review: Transformers

Hey there.



Hard to believe I haven't done a movie review here in ages. I think the last one I did was for Casino Royale last year. But I have been seeing movies the past few months ( so far I've seen Ghost Rider (worst film so far this year) Spider Man 3 (OK film, not as good as Spidey 2 though) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (another OK film, not as good as the original)



But now it's time for me to get back to reviewing films on the old blog. And I'll start with the film I just saw on the 4th of July: "Transformers"



Now, growing up, I was a huge fan of the old cartoon series and collected some of the action figures. Since then, the figures have since gone to that junkpile in the sky and the only remmants I have from the cartoon was the special anniversary DVD of the old animated movie.



So I was looking forward to seeing Transformers and how it would fare up.



What can I say? I was completely blown away by it.



First of all, the action scenes freakin' rocked!! There were way too many to mention here, but that was the fun part. There were numerous action scenes that covered everything and almost everywhere. From stuff in the air to some wicked car chase scenes and smashups, they did them big and they did them well.



Next, they had a ton of humorous moments. I can't begin to tell you how many times me and the packed audience that was at the theatre laughed out loud throughout that movie. From audio references to dead on sight gags, it had it all. A great balance of action and humor in a film earns strong points with me.



I also loved the characters and how they related to the story. It was a good touch to not only relay it to current times, but also made it realistic as to how the Autobots and Deceptagons came to be and why and how they can transform into cars (sweet looking cars too, especially that yellow Camaro) planes and even a cellphone and beat box. I also liked how they integrated like four or five seperate stories into the main storyline. And it all led up to the slam bang finale, which part of it was filmed in my hometown of Detroit. Kind of cool to recognize some of the areas there on the big screen.

Director Michael Bay did a great job balancing the action, the emotion and the heavy-laden effects that came with this movie. I also have to give props to Shia LeBeouf, who played Sam in the movie. He carried the movie very well, with a sense of humor and quick reactions that made him the definite catalyst for the adventure shown in this movie. I also give props to Megan Fox, who played Sam's girlfriend, Josh Duhamel, who played the Army captain looking into the invasion, and Anthony Anderson, who played a computer expert and had some of the best one liners in the movie. It also was a good feeling hearing the original cartoon voice of Optimus Prime speaking in the film as well.

Overall, this was a good film. I liked it a lot. Looking at the way things stand right now, I think this is my early pick for the best movie I seen all year.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!!

This is a rare blog, where mostly photos will dominate it. Recently, I got a chance to attend a Detroit Tigers baseball game. I brought my camera along and here are some photos from the day.

That's me in the last photo above. I had a great time, even though my hometown team lost the game. A great day at the ballpark. Can't wait to come back again.

Congrats Grads!!

Quick blog this time around. With the school year wrapping up, I wanted to take a moment to extend my congratualations to a few of my online friends who have completed either high school or college this semester.

Congrats to Eric S. and Chase for earning their high school degrees. Best of luck to you guys at the college of your choice. And congrats to Ron, for completing his college MBA program.

Great job guys!

Working with the Ignition: A Season Recap

Been a while since I did some updates about what's been going on with me, so I figured I'd touch on things.

First off, I wanted to recap about my stint working as an team ops intern for the Detroit Ignition indoor soccer team.

To the right is a photo of the team interns together after a home game. I'm on the far right.

It was a great experience. I did a lot of tasks for the club, from working as a "timeout coordinator" for the team's TV broadcasts, to handling one of the merchandise booths to helping with the club's birthday parties for the kids in attendance.

I was all over the place and the hours were crazy. Not only did we have to set everything up, and help out with the fans attending the game, but we also have to put most of the stuff away afterwards. For the day games, we start up early in the morning and didn't finish up till after 8pm. The night games, we'd start around 1pm and don't finish up until after 11pm, But in spite of the mad hours, it was all worth it.

What made it more exciting was that the team did incredibly well in it's inaugural season. We finished first in the MISL during the regular season, had an impressive home record, went through an nail-biting, thrilling playoff game that came right down to the wire with an overtime game winner about a minute into the session that advanced us to the league championship game. Not only did we advance to the title game, we also got to host it in front of a nationwide TV audience.

Unfortunately, the season didn't end the way we would've liked, as we lost the championship to Philadelphia. But being a part of it was a great overall experience. I got to make a lot of cool friends and be a part of a team environment. Another cool reason why I like to get involved with sports someday.

Now, I don't know what the future will bring, whether I'd be part of the Ignition next season or not, but I can honestly say I was proud to be a part of the team's inagural season. It was definitely an experience that I won't ever forget.

Catching Up: 2006 to 2007

Hey there.

It seems like it was last year when I last wrote in this blog. Well that's because it was, back in November.

Well, it's long overdue for a blog update. And since this is my first blog of 2007, I also figured it was time to look back on last year and look ahead at this.

By far, the biggest thing that has happened to me last year was getting my first job working with a sports team, becoming a team ops intern for the Detroit Ignition indoor soccer team in November. It's been a blast working for them so far and I'm confident and hopeful that this will lead to something bigger and better.

The next big thing has been making progress with my movie project, "Mark of the Wolf". It has come a long way from being a pipe dream at the start of '06 to something that's is looking more and more tangible with each passing day. I've already got a teaser trailer planned in the coming months, and hoping to begin shooting in the fall.

I've also established a new little company, MarkOne Films, that will not only house "MOTW", but some of my other movie ideas as well. Right now, things are only in the early stages, but things should begin to pick up this year.

2006 was also the year that I made a lot of new online friends. From those who lived within my region to a few that live in other countries, I'm proud to have gotten to know each and every one of you over the past year. So, I want to take the time to give a shout-out to those I've met last year: Josh (who'll be helping out with MOTW), Eric, Armin, Will, Bobby, Tony (my bud from England), Victor, Mike H. Jason P. Chris .R., Tom G. (another pal from England), Scot, Mike R. Jason F., Tom S., Gonzalo (another good friend from Brazil), Mike L.. Jesse, Todd, and Paul. It's been a blast getting to know you so far.



Let's see, other things that I've caught up on:



-- I've added several new TV shows to my must watch list, with NBC's "Heroes" topping the list. Other shows I liked: Showtime's "Dexter" (even though I missed several episodes), USA Network's "Psych", and BBC America's "Life on Mars".



-- My favorite movies of the past year: A very tight race, but I give the slight edge and my annual "Movie of the Year" award to "Casino Royale", the James Bond re-launch that was a pleasant surprise. Other top picks: 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. 3. V for Vendetta. 4. Superman Returns. 5. Mission: Impossible 3.

--Worst movie of the year: "The Sentinel". I'm not usually one to fall into the bad movie trap. But when I saw a film with 24's Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Douglas and the hot Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives., I thought yeah this would be good. Boy was I wrong. The plot was a joke, the action was terrible and the acting was even worse.

-- Best surprise film I saw: "Casino Royale". Worst disappointment: "X-Men 3: The Last Stand". Talk about a letdown. The action was OK, but the story line development was something to be desired.

And that's it. Sorry it took me longer than necessary to post this, but better late than never, right? Blog at you next time.