OakMonster’s Den

*SQUEAL*

Zach Quinto is *this* close from dethroning the reigning Celebrity Boyfriend Brad Pitt after the recent episode of Heroes.  Hellooooo shirtless…and the moment with Elle.  Steamy. Hot. Sexiness. Massive. Droolage.

And now the man is a Vulcan.  A hot Vulcan.  Okay. A hot half Vulcan.  Still, I mean, I have never seen a hot Vulcan until now.  Have you?

OMG. Geekgasm.

I woke up on my birthday morning to Bond, James Bond.  First thing on the agenda this morning, even before getting any food into our systems, Brandon and I headed out to the theater for Quantum of Solace.

My car, and everything else, was covered in ashes.  Norther sky is but orange brown smoke while it’s bright blue out South, toward the beaches.  As we headed up the 605 North, it felt like we were driving INTO the fire.

We weren’t close to action, but we just got literally only a sniff of what folks are experiencing out there.

The afternoon went on with a little shopping, laundry, and more work on the Big Gala.  All while alternating humming the new James Bond them “Another Way to Die” (I must admit, it’s quite catchy. I hated it at first, coupled with the music video. But now that I’ve heard it a few more times, I actually like this song!) and the classic James Bond theme.  No martini here, however.  Too much to do and not a lot of time to do it.

I packed my bag and laid out things to pack for Thailand trip while Brandon went out chasing the sunset.  He came home empty handed as this time of year the sun doesn’t set where he thinks it was.

Topping off the evening, we went to dinner at Joe’s Sushi in Lakewood.  All you can eat, baby!  14 of us ate and ordered and ate and ordered and ate.  Beer and sake was flowing all around.  At some point we were so stuffed and food was still coming, we had to ask them to stop.  Also, the entire restaurant sang me happy birthday over complimentary fried green tea ice cream.  I shared the loot with my friends and went back to a few more bites of sushi and swigs of sake.

With belly full of food, blood nicely infused with alcohol, and a big, warm heart from good time spent with friends, I came home to a phone call from my dad and brother Onk to wish me a happy birthday.  Here I was, having gone all day thinking they’ve forgotten about me.

Even the small mountain of laundry waiting for me to put away couldn’t dampen my spirit.

The Oak-pocalypse it may be out there, but in here, it’s been a great day.

No.  Seriously.  Geek girls, get ready to drool.

Picture and news courtesy of my favoritest blog these days, LA Time’s Hero Complex.

The entire cast is filled with hunky eye candies from the traditional hotties like Chris Pine (Kirk) and Karl Urban (McCoy), the adorable ones like John Cho (Sulu) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov), the funny man Simon Pegg (Scotty), and the unconventionally dreamy Zachary Quinto (Spock).

Oh. And Zoe Saldana as Uhura ain’t bad either. 

Seriously.  USS Enterprise, my ass. It’s more like USS Hubba Hubba

Like I said a year ago, BEAM ME UP, J.J.!

LOVE

On Saturday, two major events for me that set the happy tone for the rest of the long weekend.

First, the Trojans kicked Virginia’s butt up and down the field 52-7 which put the team in #1 spot in AP poll.  Watching Mark Sanchez, our new quarterback, TACKLED some dude to block for his running back (tailback?) was just awesome.

Still high on the Trojan spirit, Brandon and I flit up to town for the wedding of our friend Elan to her beau Chris.  The wedding took place at the beautiful hidden gem of Wilshire Ebell.  Elan actually used to live just a few blocks away from the place.  And I used to live just a mile down the road and I didn’t even know this place existed.

It was no doubt a glamorous event but yet so casual and friendly, as only Elan could have done it.  Elegant without being pretentious, effortlessly glamorous. Just like Elan. 

Chris, the Berkeley educated Aussie, and Elan met in the U.K. where they currently live.  So the crowd at the wedding came from as close as a few blocks away to as far as Australia, as young as a few months old to grandparents age.  But not more than 100 people filled the ballroom and danced to the big band.

Yes, BIG BAND.  Who does that any more these days?!  What did I say about glamorous!

Since there was no topping Elan’s wedding, we took it easy on Sunday.  Brandon and I picked up some burger buns and the Fresh & Easy $4.99 grill pack and headed over to James and Aurora’s.  The big boys grilled while Dresden hung out with Aurora, her sister Lee, and I as we sang out heads off on Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore.  (That grill pack could’ve fed one more person, by the way.  What a deal!)

LABOR

Labor Day Monday was mildly laborious for us.  Brandon and I slept till noon, and since we weren’t sure what opened on Labor Day, we cruised around the neighborhood looking for lunch.  Paul’s Place provided the usual comfort of burgers and chili fries.

Once we got home, we dug ourselves out our laundry now that the dryer which has been broken all week is finally fixed. While on laundry watch, we played Castle Crashers on XBox Live until our hands cramped up. It hurt sooooo good!

Over dinner of Mac & Cheese and bacon, we watched In the Valley of Elah.  And that led us to…

LOSS

Paul Haggis’ war statement movie did indeed make a statement, at the very end.  One subtle scene and turn the whole movie upside down, and when the dust settles, the statement was clear.

Once again, Paul Haggis, you moved me in the way nobody else has. I was along for the emotional ride, and just when I didn’t think you’d do it, you throw the punch.  It’s so simple and subtle the statement you make, and yet so powerful it hit me right in the gut.  I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t even gasp.  I just sat there on the couch, letting the emotions wash over me and drown me in it.

My heart breaks for American soldiers everywhere.

Rent it.  Doesn’t matter what political view you have.

Oh, and you might want to follow that with something sunny just to balance things out.  It was too late for me last night to watch it, so I settled in to put laundry away to Ratatouille soundtrack instead.

Master Greg and his friends joined Brandon and I last night out on the hard stone grounds of the Orange County Performing Arts Center for “The Muppet Movie” under the stars. The movie was free, however the parking was $8 a car. Brandon and I had to drive separately so it wasn’t too “free” for us. But if I didn’t leave early like I did, we wouldn’t have any place to sit down. And thanks to a tip on Yelp, we did bring enough cushioning to sit comfortably for the hard floor.

The grounds was packed with both outer and inner children of all ages. Everybody STILL loves the Muppets!

I remembered watching the Muppet Movie a long, long time ago. Again, one of those I saw before I understood English properly or any of the humor. What I remember most is the fact that I was freaking out at seeing Kermit’s legs! Him riding the Schwinn terrified me for a few moments. And then I remember the “Fork in the Road”. I didn’t know what that means, but I remember seeing that fork on the road and wonder, why was there a fork in the road? Americans are so funny.

Being there with 3 gay guys, of course, any mentioning of “bears” was hilarious. “Patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear,” got the most giggles. Added, predictably by our band of chorus, “Guess what else in the American bear swell?”

More giggling ensues at Dr. Bunsen’s lab in the ghost town outpost.

Floyd Pepper: [about the growth solution] What else do these pills make big?
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew: Oh, they work on anything, but the effect is sadly temporary.

The adults in the audience cracked up all over the grounds. More importantly, it took grandpa in front of us a few seconds to get what all the other dirty minds were thinking, then he started laughing. That set us off into an entirely different giggle.

Throughout the show, we were singing along and interjecting our own sound effects. There’s nothing like the crowd going “Hiiiii-yah!” when Miss Piggy went kung fu on the baddies or “A-ni-mal! A-ni-mal!” growls at any time Animal was on.

Good fun for everyone last night.

ETA: We also never realized how much of a drag queen that blondie in Electric Mayhem is!  Good god.

…badeedodah  Zapped-badeeday.

Zapped.  Zapped.  Zapped.

Completely out of energy, that is.

Brandon and I crashed out last night just before 9 p.m. after a sun-drenched afternoon in Redondo Beach at Justin & Olaina’s.  You know me.  Unless you put a beverage right in my hand, I have a tendency to forget to hydrate.  My ice cold bottle of water never left Olaina’s cooler-backpack.

So sometime before my alarm went off this morning, I woke up radiating heat without actually sweating.  By now I knew what I was getting into.  I downed a glass of water with a couple of Tylenols, threw some cold water on my face and neck, and went back to bed.  No sleep could be had.  At least my head didn’t hurt.  Thank god for that.

However, between then and when the alarm sounded, I found myself shivering…while still feeling like I was radiating heat.  That a glass of room temperature water cooled my core temperature down to a point that I get the shiver couldn’t possibly be a good idea.

I called in sick.

And I slept.  And I woke up to drink another glass of water with a couple more Tylenol.  Shivered some more and I slept.  The rest of the day was mostly nodding off on the couch and drinking water.  The shivering and the radiating went away and I got nauseated instead.  Fun.

I pretty much slept through the day until Brandon woke me up to feed me Tylenol and ask if I had enough energy to go see Dark Knight.

What did you think I say? 

I managed not to throw up or fall asleep at the theater.  But boy was it hard to maintain the energy to sit up like that.

Heath Ledger.  That boy knew how to go out with a bang, rest his soul.  It seriously wasn’t about Batman movie.  It was the Joker movie with Batman in it.  As a matter of fact, I felt like everyone else stole the movie from Batman.  The Joker. Harvey Dent…with whom I am totally in love currently.  Gordon.  Alfred.  And even Replacement Rachael…which is mass improvement from Katie Holmes, by the way.

Suddenly, Christian Bale wasn’t the star of the movie.  Everyone else was.

Oh, and note to the movie maker for the next installment.  Can you PLEASE stop the super low, super rumbly Bat talk?  Either that or start putting subtitle in there.  It was getting worse at the end of the movie.  It has become almost caricature of the drama and the action that we’ve been watching this whole time.  Thanks.

Brandon thinks that all of my stressing out last week had finally being released from me.  It has quietly manifested itself since Monday and I haven’t been able to get rid of it completely.  Well, the overheating was the catalyst no less, but all the sleep I’ve done today was a sign.

I’m ready for tomorrow now.

Since everyone seems to have a special, regular Friday feature, I think I’m going to just join in.

Welcome to the first edition of Phototastic Friday where I will feature a photo I have taken (or in some cases, Brandon of me) recently or one from my Flickr album. There maybe a story. There may be not. But there will always be a photo on Friday.

Me and the Chick-Fil-A Cow at the mall.

We went to see Hancock last night. I actually LOVE it! I know the critics and the reviews have been all WTF about the “twist” in the middle of the movie. Yes, it was a little jarring and it did take the movie to a different direction, but the twist makes perfect sense to me. I actually think the story there was awesome.

Oh, Charlize Theron. Gorgeous. GORGEOUS. It’s ridiculous.

Finally, So You Think You Can Dance. Kherington, that girl seems to just have given up once she was paired with Mark. Her solo dance to save her last night was uninspired, as if she’s already given up the night before. She really wasn’t stepping up. It was really weird since she was one of my favorites.

And Gev, my darling Gev. Had a feeling between him and Mark, the audience would let him go. As much as we adore him, but I think Mark would be hanging on just fine.

My prediction from this point. The girl we’ll have Katee. We’ll lose Comfort first but it’s a tough call between Courtnie and Chelsie who’d go next, but I think Chelsie would stick around. For the boys, I think Mark would be next, then Joshua. It’ll be Twitch and Will to the death. I think we’ll end up with Will and Katee at the end and that’s a very tough call between who gets the first prize. I’m all for Katee though.

Ah. I love summer. With all the movies. And the dance TV shows!

We went to see Kung Fu Panda with Erik on Saturday.  (I only have one word for you, “Skadoosh!” I’d see it again a million times!  Do sit through the credit for a little cute snippet at the end.)  Then I left to surprise my friend Amber at her little sister’s graduation party at her mom’s house.Amber’s mom is a genius.   First she got me, who fetched Nora.  Then she got Michael, Amber’s best gay and my prom date.  Nora and I arrived late when both Mike and Amber were already buzzed.  The look on Amber’s face when Nora and I came through the door was priceless.

After most guests have gone, we even got to have a beer with the conquering graduate with a few swear words thrown in for good measures.  We finally welcome no-so-little-anymore Alicia to the adult table.  Haha.

Alicia graduated from that other university across town.  I promised not to stir any rivalry pot when I showed up and someone would start picking on me a bit.  And I would mention the truce and we all had a good laugh at the expense of the lone Trojan in a bruin’s den.

I later showed Alicia what I stowed into the fridge as her graduation present.  It’s a little puke blue and pale yellow tote with pockets.  I’m sure the real intention was for a new college student to carry their stuff to the shared dorm showers.  It just happens to perfectly hold a 6-pack of beer in paper carrier.

I happily fit a 6-pack of Red Trolley in it.

“Now, that’s grown-up beer I bought for you,” I told her.  “You graduated from college and therefore graduating from college beer.  Enough with the Miller and Coors and Corona crap.”

Alicia laughed.  “I still can’t believe you actually bought a UCLA tote.”

“The cost of my Trojan pride had better be the best damn present you’ve gotten today, little one,” I looked up at Alicia.

Yes.  Up.  This “little girl” who used to hang around with us back in high school is damn near 6 foot tall now.  The next thing we’ll know is Amber’s little girl Brittany, who is 9 and bigger than me, will be graduating college in a few blinks of an eye.

I had a fantastic time with Amber, Michael and Nora.  I played some piano and we sang a bit.  We joked around and walked down memory lanes, laughing our butts off.  I am once again reminded of the value of true friendship.  Across states and continents, and across time, when you have it, you have it.

On the contrary, today is what Thai people call a “Just Grandpa-Grandma” weekend.  It was just me and my B.

I made breakfast. He ran the laundry.  I put it away.  He let me hawk the couch.  I let him play his game.  We started on Lego Indiana Jones game, and went to see The Incredible Hulk.  (Very entertaining, by the way. Not as much fun as Iron Man, but I did like it.  Oh, and you don’t have to sit through the credit for this.)

Low key.  Low stress.

…which doesn’t explain why my head hurts and my skin is sensitive.

I think I’m coming in hot with a fever.  And I didn’t even do anything that would warrant it this weekend!

Hopefully it’s going to contain itself overnight.

How was YOUR weekend?

It’s funny to see absolutely zero reactions from the teenagers in front of us in the theater when Indiana Jones said, “I like Ike,” to Irina Spalko’s little speech about him joining the Russian’s quest.

I don’t think they got it. Nor did they get the whole Russian bad guys thing.

Ah. Life imitates art imitates life. Indiana Jones is dealing with aging and so were the elders in the audience who remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time in theater.

Or, in my case, being so traumatized by Temple of Doom (The monkey brains! The heart! The lava!) I didn’t even dare watch it again until college.

I went to see Indy with zero expectation other than to be thoroughly entertained. And I was.

I have been missing Indy, and even at this age, Harrison Ford still did pretty good. The movie was A LOT OF FUN.

Just don’t go in expecting to see an Oscar nominee or Raiders of the Lost Ark II, because it’s just not what this is.

Oh and there is no special little bit at the end of the credits like Iron Man so feel free to walk out when the screen goes dark.

Now, spoiler ridden review awaits after the jump.

Read more »

Sunday was all of about the boys.

Starting with this heartbreaker.

J.C. and Joshua are in town for the week.  I stole a few hours of their time to hang out with mom and kid.  I also provided my photography service by helping J.C. take some pictures of the little speedster and capture some videos for his dad.

Erick is a medical student with the military.  Instead of going through different departments in the same hospital for rotation, he is currently on rotation in different military medical centers all over the country.  He hasn’t seen Josh in a while, so I thought it would be nice to get him a few movie clips.

I also learned Josh language and taught him a few new things.  Josh was showing me his books and one of them have animals pictures with texture of their skins to go with it.  We made animal noises as we went along.  A cow print texture. Moo!  A fluffy cat. Mow-my! (That’s his meow.)  A fuzzy ducky.  Ack! (That’s a quack.)

“Now, Joshua.  What sounds does a …” Then I flipped to the next page.

Oh.  Crap.

“…gorilla make?”

I looked up at J.C.  She looked at me.  I looked at Josh who was looking to me for an answer.

“Um.  We’ll come back to that page.  Let’s see what’s next.”

Stumped by a children’s book.  I wonder how many parents faced such dilemma.

I did come back to the book later on and teach Josh to beat on his chest and go “Rawrrr” as the sound of the gorilla.  Close enough.

Josh also showed me where his and Mommy’s and my toes are.  Our fingers. Our belly buttons.  Our cheeks.  Our ears.  As we thought we were done, Josh walked over to J.C. and put his little hand on her chest.  We thought he needed to steady himself.

But then, he turned right over to me and put his hand on my boob too.

Ladies man in the making.  Seriously.
Later that afternoon, I went with Brandon and our Erik to Sports Chalet.  Erik needed to get his bike fixed and I needed a pair of roller skates.  Yes, kids.  I picked up the classic 4-wheel white boots roller skates.  With pink wheels.  My parking lot is big enough, and I can roll with Brandon on the bike sometimes.

Then we had dinner and saw Indiana Jones.  (You’ll have my full review soon.)  We discussed the movie and the franchise on the way home, mainly about the “magical items” of each of the movies.

“Except for Temple of Doom, they were all biblical, weren’t they, the artifacts?” said Erik.  “The Ark of the Covenant.  The Goblet of Truth.”

A moment of silent in the car.

“If by the Goblet of Truth, you meant the Holy Grail, then yes.” Brandon uttered.

Somebody is confusing his Christian mythology with Harry Potter’s 4th installment.

Continuing of me spending my weekend with the boys, Brandon and I vegged and watched the last DVD of Robin Hood, BBC series, Season 1.  I am also along for the ride as Brandon plays Dark Sector.  You’d be a amaze how a fresh pair of eyes could get you out of a maze/mission you couldn’t beat the first time around. 

I hope everyone is having as much of a great weekend as I am!