November 30, 2002
I've done so much this weekend that I'm already tired, and it's still only Saturday. I did my Thanksgiving rounds on thursday and Friday I was out all day shopping. I mean ALL DAY. I spent a lot of money and most of it was for me, but I'll do my Christmas shopping for everyone else soon. Just not today, I'm tired. I guess I'm just getting old.

Speaking of getting old, Happy Belated Birthday to Gerry Reyes. He just celebrated a birthday this past Thanksgiving Day.

November 28, 2002
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. On this Turkey day morning in Virginia Beach, it's FREAKIN' FREEZING outside, so if you're headed this way today, make sure you bundle up.

It looks like I'm going to be gaining some weight today as my plans are just to go party hopping and eat all day. I don't know about tonight though. The clubs are open but I've gotta see what everyone else is doing. Otherwise, I'll just be planning my attack for the big shopping day tomorrow. Funny how one of the most under-commercialized holidays is followed up by the most commercial day of the year.

November 27, 2002
Those of you coming home for Thanksgiving (or getting away depending on your situation), be careful on your travels, especially on the east coast. Tonight's supposed to be around freezing temperatures and it's snowing at various spots all up the coast.

Those of you in Northern Virginia can now stop worrying and have a happy Thanksgiving. Ivy the Reindeer has been found. She should be back at Tyson's Corner soon.

Since it's a holiday 'weekend', movies are opening today. Solaris looks okay, but I heard it's slow. Wes Craven's They looks like it's your typical horror flick, but early reviews have been promising. I just might have to check it out. 8 crazy nights also opens today. I saw the free sneak preview the other night for this and I thought it was hilarious. It's your typical Adam Sandler comedy, filled with toilet humor as he tries to inject a touch of a charming story. It's just animated this time. It's destined to be destroyed by the critics for it's gross humor and stupid plot, but I laughed a lot and thought that some of it was so stupid that it's just funny. I liked it like I liked the Waterboy and Happy Gilmore. If you didn't like those movies, then this probably isn't for you. But for those of you that like pee-pee and fart jokes, and if you laughed during Jackass and South Park, then you'll probably enjoy this.

November 26, 2002
The Roots release an album today. "Phrenology" is their first studio album in about 4 years. What's Phrenology mean? Phrenology was a science of character divination, faculty psychology, theory of brain and what the 19th-century phrenologists called "the only true science of mind" and it's a good description of the album. The kind of music that picks at different parts of the brain and offers more than just bling bling. I'm a fan and an okayplayer so I'm biased, but I think it's a worthy hip hop album.

Yesterday I was reading some article about what some of the hot toys of the holiday season might be. They listed Mini RC racers (that's old news for you frequent readers), Chicken Dance Elmo ("Elmo wants to be a chicken" - cute at first, then annoying very quickly), Yu-Gi-Oh ( I don't get it), and BeyBlades. BEYBLADES??? I'm thinking, what's a beyblade? Some new kind of rollerblade? Weapons?? I did not know.

So I just happen to end up at Toys R Us and I'm just killing time and strolling through the aisles and I find a huge section of empty pegs. My keen prowess recognizes that when there are empty pegs at a toy store there is a hot toy somewhere. It turns out that this is the BeyBlade section. So I'm thinking that this must be something really cool. Then I see a picture of what it is. It's an effing top. A toy top. The kind that spins. Two people spin their tops and they battle. The top that knocks the other one down wins. And people were actually at Toys R Us looking for these. Okay, so what's so effin great about these? I just don't get it. I did this (and sometimes still do) with pennies. Spin two pennies and battle. But I think these things came from Japan. At least the box looks like it's of the anime so it follows the popularity of Dragonball, Pookie-mon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. And our resident cartoon expert, Nestor, tells me there's a cartoon about these things. They are tops! They made a cartoon based on tops? I tell you someone is just laughing all the way to the bank on these Beyblades.

But I think there is just a marketing genius somewhere. They aim at the anime fans with the japanese style boxes. Then I think they put empty pegs up on purpose. Short supply creates a buzz and a buzz creates a hot toy. Then they flood ebay with a bunch of listings, making it the toy to fight for. So I've got an idea for making my millions, Penny-Oh! (or Pennymon, Penni-gato, or Penny-Shogun!). I'm going to take two pennies, box them up in anime style boxes (making sure to put japanese writing on them that really has nothing to do with the toy), create some cartoon characters with big eyes that spend all day spinning their pennies, and I can market them for $9.99. I'll keep production low so that everyone will want it. Nobody wants something that's found everywhere. I'll have my variant boxes and every now and then throw in a surprise shiny silver quarter called Georgy-Oh! The rare,monster Penny-Oh! fighter. I've got thousands of pennys so I don't need to spend anything to create the product. I think I can make a fortune off of this. And I'll be helping save the economy at the same time.

Anyways, if anyone finds any beyblades, let me know. If everyone is buying them, I guess I'm out of the loop and I need to get back in (That was sarcasm).

November 23, 2002
There's a parade tonight in downtown Norfolk to coincide with the Grand Illumination of the area. I might go to that, but the last few nights have been freezing. I mean really cold, so I don't know if being outside is something I want to do tonight.

Two of the local filipino bands are playing at the Parc in Norfolk tonight. It's part of the Red Light Music Conference. I don't know much about it but I believe it's like a music competition where the winner gets a record contract. I'm not sure about that though. Anyways, Blackbird Pond and Straight Bent are playing (Straight Bent just changed their name to Break Green). I don't know how much it costs or who else will be there so don't ask me. Also tomorrow, Blackbird Pond will be playing at the Abyss. They are opening for former Nirvana member Krist Novaselic's band "Eyes Adrift" (Kurt Cobain killed himself, Dave Grohl started Foo Fighters, and Krist is the other guy).

Tomorrow, ODU men's basketball opens up the season and their new Convocation Center against North Carolina. After seeing the Tarheels play the other night, I don't think ODU has a chance. It's a pretty nice UNC team this year (and the next few years since the nucleus of the team are their three freshmen). But I will be there and if you get the Comcast Network on your cable TV, then you get a chance to see me cheering from behind the backboards.

November 22, 2002
For the extremely eager, "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" will begin selling tickets today, 4 weeks before the movie opens on December 18. Whatever happened to camping out?? But hey, IT'S A MOVIE!! Not a concert or sporting event. If you don't get in one showing, another one will probably start in 15mins. Will it matter that you see it 3 hours earlier than I did? Email me if you have a problem with that. I probably won't get back to you till tomorrow though because I'll be in line at the movie- oops, I mean somewhere doing something.

While we're on the topic of the Lord of the Rings, check out which character you test as. I ended up as Pippen, one of Frodo's Hobbit buddies.

Two of the most highly anticipated video games came out this week, Metroid Prime for the GameCube and Splinter Cell for the Xbox. They are also becoming two of the top reviewed games of the year (Metroid & Splinter Cell). Too bad I don't have a GameCube or Xbox. And Xbox just started going online last week. Just more things for you guys to think about when Christmas rolls around next month.

November 21, 2002
Tomorrow at ODU, there's a hip hop event at Webb Center. "Seven Deadly Cities" is going on from 6pm-12pm and will showcase some of Hampton Roads' hip hop talent. The main thing are the b-boy battles (breakdance battles) and there will also be emcee battles and graf battles. I might check it out right before I go to work at midnight. Here's the info they gave me:

UrbanStreetDanceAssociation of Old Dominion University presents to you . . .
S E V E N D E A D L Y C I T I E S II
"The return, puttin' VA on the Map"
11.22.02
Norfolk, Va Beach, Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk
(3 on 3 BAttle, VA vs Nation exhibition 1 on 1 battle, Graff Battle, Emcee Battle, & Afterparty)
Time: 6-12pm (3 on 3) Battles begin at 6pm
Where: Webb Center, Old Dominion University,Norfolk,VA
1's & 2's: DJ Disco Dave and Vex
Cost: $7 in advanced/ $10 at the door
Special performances by: Virginia band "Asylum" and VA recording Artist "Born Unique and DJ Rerok"
Special Celebrity Guests: YOu'll SeE
After Party: "Club 212" (21+Guys/18+Females)
"NO VID-CAMs, NO markers, NO Violence, NO Weapons, Keep it HipHop"

They just announced that they are cancelling the WB show "Birds of Prey", based off of the comic book that spun off of the Batman series. What did you expect when you put it in a time slot opposite the West Wing, Amazing Race, and the Bachelor. Now I know it wasn't exactly a good show (the writing was so bad) but I was just starting to watch just for the daughter of Batman & Catwoman, Huntress (Ashley Scott). The show was all about her and she was just kickin' some @ss all throughout the show. I think I may just have my new infatuation of the moment. If only I can find a good picture of her. I think she's going to be in a new Sam Jackson/LL Cool J movie "S.W.A.T.". And at least they'll get off next week's episode with Lady Shiva being played by Sung Hi Lee (I didn't know the soft porn model acted, but who cares).

There's a Regent University film student looking for asians to be in her student film. No pay, but sounds like fun, and you never know if the movie might make some indie film festival or something. Here's the info that I got for that:

Looking for extras to be in a film!
Always wanted to a chance to be in a film?
Here's your chance. Directed by Lin Goh, a Regent student film, is looking for Asina extras to cast in her film.

Synopsis: An Asian man finds himself caught in the realm of searching for his soul. Hil addiction to gambling causes him to negotiate his soul to gain riches. He goes through tremendous persnal battles, before he desperately please for an answer for a greater truth about his life.

Dates&Location for the film shoot November 22-24th. These are non-paid positions, but it is a great opportunity to be a part of an exciting film. Times are 9pm-12am, Friday evening, November 22-dressy, casual clothing (a basement scene at Regent University Communication School).

Regent University School of Communications
1000 Regent University Drive, Bldg CPAC
Virginia Beach, VA 23464

For more information please call:
Marlo Diaz 757 286 0824
Judy Ma 757 233 8098

November 20, 2002
I got my pictures up from the wedding this past weekend. I went and used Sony Imagestation over grovestreet because it allows other people to upload their pictures to the same album and you can upload multiple files easily and quickly. The only bad thing about it is that people need to sign up with Imagestation to view the images. They say that they don't sell the info to any 3rd party companies so you shouldn't have to worry about recieving SPAM. Just make sure you leave the "junk mail buttons" unchecked. Hopefully some of you with pictures from the wedding will add to the album. Check out Mike & Ivy Gines Wedding Pictures here:

Check out some of the peoples that have been MIA. And some of the fun that went down.

If you're coming home for Thanksgiving next week, let me know, and I'll make sure I can get in touch with you. I don't have any plans now outside of eating Turkey and shopping.

Music stuff: Talib Kweli released a solo album yesterday. One of my favorite artists, he's also known as half of the duo Blackstar. He's the kind of rapper that stresses the importance of lyrics over stupid catchy phrases (It's Murder!!! Where my Dogs At!!). We need more positivity and less stupidity. Most of you probably have never heard of him, and most of you wouldn't get into his music, but it's the kind of stuff I listen to - eff a Ja Rule. Next Tuesday, the Roots "Phrenology"!!!

There's something different about the main page. Hmmm...What could it be??

November 18, 2002
After a busy weekend, I'm today is going to be dedicated to resting. I would like to congratulate Mike & Ivy Gines for a beautiful wedding and fun-filled reception. They are now on their way to Disneyworld for the week. It was really good to see so many people that I haven't seen in years. Old skool for real.

I'm going to upload pictures from their wedding today. I'll be setting up a page just for their wedding and make it where other people should be able to upload their own wedding pictures as well. I'll get the email out to everyone involved when I get it done.

November 16, 2002
It's Wedding Day for our loving couple - Michael Gines and Ivy Agbanglo. Lots of people are in town for this huge wedding so lets hope I don't trip down the aisle. There are so many people just in the wedding and that made yesterday's practice a little hectic, but I'm sure everything today will go just fine. But if you know Mike Gines & his friends (including myself), you never know what may happen.

The reception is scheduled to last until midnight so I'll be partying all day and all night long.

Okay I gotta go and figure how to put this tuxedo on now...

November 15, 2002
Who wants to be in a Gap ad? Well the Gap is holding a casting call for people to appear in their new ads. Wouldn't it be cool to be known as the Gap guy or Gap girl?

Today I'm going to be pretty busy. First I've got to pick up Lu from the airport early this morning. He's in town for the weekend for Mike & Ivy's Wedding. Then we're going to be doing a bunch of errands and stuff. And later on this evening is the wedding rehearsal followed by the rehearsal dinner. Then tomorrow is the big day. I just hope Mike Gines didn't have too much fun last night while he was at the "coffeeshop" working on his communication skills.

And since I'm going to the wedding tomorrow, I decided to take a rare Friday night off from work. I don't really have plans for tonight, I just need to get some sleep so I don't look sluggish as I do my walk down the aisle.

November 14, 2002
Yesterday I got a haircut. I've been letting my hair go lately because I've been planning to cut a lot of it off this time. I told the barber to cut it really short so he just grabs the clippers and runs it over the top of my head. That was something I didn't expect. Not being able to see what he's done, I'm thinking that I'm now bald. But when it was all done, it's about as close as you can get without shaving it all off, at least for me. I'm not used to not having bangs, and my head is really cold now. But it's the look that's in now and I figure it'll look good with the tuxedo for the wedding. At least I won't have to get a haircut for a while (all those trips to the barber really add up) and now I don't have to worry about shampoo or hair gel either. It's a different look for me, but what the heck, it's only hair.

Has anyone else seen the gateway commercial with their new plasma tv. First I was shocked to see that Gateway is now selling TV's. But what was even more shocking is that they are selling their 42" plasma for $2999. Now I don't exactly have $3000 to spare, but that has got to be the cheapest I've seen a brand new plasma outside of ebay. If I was in the market for a TV, that would probably be the way to go. And it's made by Phillips so it's not a generic company, they were the first company I'd seen marketing plasma TV's a few years ago. Also it's EDTV, with a little upgrade to HDTV. So if all of my friends get together and chip in a paycheck or two, this may just make a great christmas present.

Wedding Stuff: Today I pick up my tux (the store is renting out 29 tuxes for this BIG wedding so I'm trying to beat the rush). And tomorrow I pick up Luan from the airport. Hopefully we won't kill each other before Saturday.

November 13, 2002
Today is Ryan Yoder's birthday. He's at an almost 30 age. You can try to email him your greetings, I'm not sure how often he checks it though.

I've been watching a lot of movies lately. Here's a quick synopsis of what I think of some(since the movie page has been ignored):

8 Mile - it's a surprisingly feel good movie, especially since Eminem isn't a feel good rapper. It reminds me of Rocky, where a blue collar, inner city guy is the underdog trying to make a name for himself. It also draws comparison to Purple Rain, where we watch a slice of the life of a struggling musician who has family and girlfriend problems only to end with a grand performance. And I can also compare it to Flashdance, hard factory worker by day and performer by night and at the end we cheer for him/her. It's pretty inspirational and loosely based on Eminem's life. Problem is that I know so much about his life, I knew how it was going to end and I spent a lot of time tying characters to their real life counterparts. Good movie, go see it, even if you don't like rap, it'll expose a whole underground world. Very un-pop like, and that's good because it could have come out like the very pop "Glitter".
Spirited Away - a beautiful, breathtaking anime. At 2 hours, it's long for an animated movie, but the story flows well. I loved this movie. There is so much imagination and detail involved that I was mesmerized by the movie. It's all about a little girl who falls into the world of many spirits. There's a lot of symbolism and mottos for life and it's the kind of movie that you continue to talk about days after you watch it. So enchanting, it's a fantastic fantasy. Very un-Disney, and that can be a good thing.
Punch-Drunk Love - a really quirky movie. It's a movie with Adam Sandler in it, not an Adam Sandler movie though, so don't expect the Waterboy. It's an art house flick with stuff that happens all the time for no reason. It's also more drama with some comedic moments. Directed by P.T. Anderson, at times it can seem "out-there". He directed "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights" so you can imagine the mood of the movie and how bizarre it can get. I enjoyed the movie but you've got to have an open mind while watching it. A very un-formulaic and un-hollywood kind of love story, and that's probably why I liked it so much. Not for everyone though.

November 12, 2002
This week is dedicated to the wedding of Michael Gines & Ivy Agbanglo this Saturday. Those of you that know them are aware that it took forever to get to this point. They've been going out for years and after several breakups and an engagement or two, we finally have their wedding in site.

So this week I'm spending lots of my time, and money, preparing for this wedding. I'm a groomsman and so I've got to wear a tuxedo. I also still need to get a present. We've got a rehearsal and dinner on Friday and I'm trying to make the rounds and get together with the people who are coming to town for the wedding. This is supposed to be one of those huge gala type weddings with lots of out of towners coming, many are people I haven't seen in years.

A bunch of DVD's come out today including Star Wars: Episode 2 (I think I saw it for $9.99 at Toys R us) and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings - The Platinum Edition (with an extra 30 mins.). Also a bunch of music comes out today. Unfortunately, I'm broke and I'm not buying anything, but hey, Christmas is only a little more than a month away (hint, hint).

November 8, 2002
It's the end of the week, also the end of what seemed to me as Justin Week with the release of the new album. That boy-wonder has been everywhere this week. Almost everytime I turn the TV on he's there. But I'll give him credit, he put out a good album, and many of you know how anti-pop I can be, so that's saying a lot. I've got to admit that I am really feeling "Cry Me a River" mainly due to the Timbaland production (he mixes opera and violins and heavy hip hop beats), but Justin's got to quit with the beat boxing - it really sucks. I believe Tim does the background beatboxing (which is alright) but whenever I see it performed, Justin does it and it just doesn't come off cleanly. There's an MTV show tomorrow at 1:00pm that documents the making of the album from the beginning. Since most of it was recorded here in Virginia Beach, there should be some familiar scenery.

Lots of music coming out in the next month (TLC, Jay-Z, the Roots, Missy, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, J-Lo, Common, Talib Kweli, etc.). If any of it's going to be good is to be seen.

This sunday my nephew, Mason, is celebrating his 1st birthday with a big bash. I'm sure some of you will be there. I'll be taking pictures and hopefully I'll post them. (I know I've been getting lazy with posting pictures, but I'm sure I'll get some up soon.)

It's been cold lately, but this weekend is supposed to be unusually warm. I've gotta find a way to enjoy it.

November 7, 2002
Working at a university has it's benefits, mainly a self-contained community where people are always doing stuff. As an employee though, I don't get the full excitement I did as a student, which wasn't too long ago. I still have my student ID that I can still flash around to get student discounts and get into ODU events, but nothing beats just effing around on campus doing really nothing. That was the best. Employees pretty much just watch the students have fun.

The other day was a nice, sunny day and I stuck around on campus. Usually I'm just really tired from work and I just want to go home and sleep, but I had some stuff to take care of so I stayed around campus. I did my best student impersonation (I should be good at it, I did it for SEVERAL years). I noticed the one thing that I miss about college - girls are everywhere. I use to just sit back and "enjoy the scenery". So to all of you still in school, make sure you "enjoy the scenery" as much as you can.

I am contemplating a return for a masters. I'm checking a couple things out and seeing what I qualify for. I know I wasn't the most studious person while I squeezed through college, but I've changed and I think a second go-around might be different. I remember being in all of my engineering classes and being the youngest one there. I would notice how much older all the other people were, but I also noticed that they were the smarter ones. Maybe now I can be one of the smarter ones. Maybe. I'm still not sure yet. It does cost a lot of money.

I did use my alumni status to get a couple of basketball tickets. I receive lots of emails from the alumni association all the time and usually I just glance at them then trash them. The glance-and-trash emails are usually events that ask for money, or cost lots of money, but the latest dealt with basketball tailgate parties (it seems sort of odd for basketball games in the winter, but the only football games going on at ODU are intermurals). After getting the snub through my faculty discount the other day, I remembered the email about the basketball game. I now had 2 options - have a student camp out for me and get a free ticket or use my alumni status and splurge some money for the tickets. I decided to go with the latter. I walked over to the alumni association on campus, did a little chit-chat session,then pulled out the checkbook and they signed me up for the basketball tickets. I tell you, I am really trying to max out my connections here at ODU for my benefits. And after spending thousands of dollars for my framed decoration at home I don't feel guilty about it. Free food, concerts, sports...I'm juicing them for all of it.

November 6, 2002
Yesterday was a pretty interesting day. I left work at 9am, an hour later than usual, but that was on my own accord. It was the first day that ODU was selling basketball tickets to the public. The ticket office was to open at 10am and tickets were also to be sold through ticketmaster, which also opened at 10am. I, however, am part of the staff at ODU and I get a discount through the ticket office so I decide to head out and stand in line at the new Convocation Center.

Now there is a buzz going into the new college basketball season due to the new arena for ODU, so they are going to be selling more tickets than in previous seasons. Also the first game is against a national powerhouse, the North Carolina Tarheels. Those who know me, probably know that I am a huge UNC fan, so I really want to go to this game. But since ODU doesn't normally play big name schools, everybody else in the city wants to this same game.

It was announced that only a small amount of tickets would be available so I am a little worried about not being able to get any. But I walk over there from work and find only about 20 people in line, so I feel good about this. I've been in line for so many other things like several concerts and other sporting events that I know that I'm in good shape. Slowly the line grows to over 100 people and everyone is in line for UNC tickets. About 5 minutes to 10am they ticket workers they will open a little early to the delight of everyone in the crowd. The first 5 people get through and buy their tickets then the line just stops. It's now 10:02 and someone comes out to announce that the UNC game is now sold out. Unlike other venues, they did not block off a number of seats to be sold at the arena and this enraged the people in line. I thought they were going to riot against the messenger that came out. There is nothing like a pack of wild sports fans. I was mad, but I was more entertained by the profanity and insults hurled at the employees. I was thinking, "I should have just used ticketmaster online and forgot about the discount I get." And I hate ticketmaster and their $4 surcharge on every ticket, but I talked to a coworker and he had tried that route and he didn't get any tickets either. He logged in at 9:58 - Ticket service not open yet...refresh...9:59...not open yet....refresh....refresh...refresh....10am...game sold out. He was upset. It appears that when they said limited, they meant extremely limited. A brand new 8600 seat arena...1100 seats reserved for students and season ticket holders (I estimate at 2000 seats). Something was wrong about this and that's what made the crowd so upset. It's hard to imagine about 5000 people buying tickets at the same time in a non sports area like Hampton Roads.

I did buy tickets for other games though, such as the Lady Monarchs vs. Tenessee, and I have other outlets for UNC tickets. I tried one of them yesterday and eventually came up with 2 coveted tickets. I'll explain more about that tomorrow though.

After that, I went and exercised my voting rights. I voted to raise taxes so that our "soon-to-be" overpopulated area can relieve an already severe traffic problem with new highways and a new form of mass transit, but that lost out.

Later on in the afternoon I decided to stand in line for free sneak preview tickets for the new Harry Potter movie. I really couldn't care less about the new Harry Potter movie, but I would have gave them to someone with kids who would do care about the kid wizard. The place giving tickets is only 2 blocks away from home anyways so I decide to go stand in another line. The tickets were to be given out at 2pm and I get in line at 1:30pm. There were about 23 people in front of me in line and many of them are families with kids, so I'm thinking I have a good chance. And also, you must answer a pre-selected question about Harry Potter to get the tickets. I've never read a Harry Potter book, but through my internet savvy, I did some research and found the answers through some "Cliff notes style" websites (I would have made a killing if I were in school these days.) So a lady comes out and announces that they only have 18 family 4-packs to give away, there are about 80 people in line though. Being number 23 I feel okay since most of the people in front of me are families. They took the first person in line aside and asked the question. She answered and it appeared she was wrong as the lady shook her head. This first person appeared upset then broke out a book out from her pocketbook. After some reading and a phone call, they gave her tickets. And then person after person, they gave tickets. There seems to be 2 different answers and less chance of anyone getting the question wrond. And then I notice, these families were getting more than 1 four-pack. I wasn't the only one to notice either as the line behind me starting complaining, then yelling "Hey one per family!!!" There are now about 10 people in front of me as a family of 3 went up to answer the question - a mother,a son (about 15 but a big guy) and a daughter (about 8). The crowd noticed that each one of them answered the question and the family walked away with 3 4packs - 12 tickets. Then it was announced those were the last of them. This angered the crowd, especially since the last person was the 8 year old girl. The line of about 60 people turned into an angry mob. I tell you there is nothing worse than a bunch of angry mothers and Harry Potter fans. The wild sports fans earlier seemed quite polite compared to this crowd. It got really bad. Several people approached the family of 3 and pointed fingers and yelled at them "Give them back!!!" "One per family!!!" "You should be ashamed!!!" The mother then gave everyone ugly looks and then started yelling back. Then the mob surrounded the car as they got in and just kept yelling. It was really ugly. While I was entertained by the angry sports fans, I was scared of the angry Harry Potter families. I just got out of there before it got worse. You Harry Potter fans are some crazy people.

It just wasn't my day for standing in lines.

November 2, 2002
I just went out to do my after Halloween candy shopping and usually I rack up pretty well. I don't even eat much candy, just at this time of year. So I go to Target to see what they've got on sale. I find out that they've only got a real small selection marked down. The rest of it is regular price. It turns out that this year they didn't really stock the candy marked for halloween, so when the occasion is over, they can still sell it. That sux for me. So I head over to Walmart and they've got a huge candy clearance aisle.

Now my favorite is the Reeses Miniatures. In my opinion, they've got the right ratio of chocolate to peanut butter. The bigger cups have too much peanut butter. So I'm looking at all the bags and they are all marked 50% off. So I find my Reeses miniatures. And I'm thinking like I'm a crack fiend that just scored a hit. So I grab several of them and then notice that they aren't marked down. Maybe they just were lazy and didn't mark everything. But then I look under the bag and there's a big sign - "Reese's Miniatures Not on Sale". What a Mutha--! All of the candies and chocolates there and those are the only ones not on sale. So I just grab some Kit Kats, the regular Reeses and some other stuff and walk away disappointed. I'm not paying regular price now, it's just not right. Eff a halloween, Thanksgiving is coming up anyways and I'll get me some real food.

November 1, 2002
Last night was Halloween, so that makes today All Saints Day. It's also payday for pretty much everybody.

There is a Filipino American Expo this weekend here in Virginia Beach with different events going on all weekend. Basically there is a show tonight at PCC from 6pm to 10pm. Tomorrow there is a dialogue and dicussion about various topics at the VA beach higher learning center from 1pm to 5pm. And Sunday is a Family Fun Day at San Lorenzo from 3pm to 7pm.

Common (sense) is about to release a new rap album in about a month, but for now he's releasing his 1st single off of it, Come Close feat. Mary J Blige. And I just saw the video and it's one of the better video's I've seen in a while. It hasn't been distributed to MTV or any other stations yet, but you can check it out here. A nice ballad rap, I haven't heard a good one in a long time, and this one's produced by the Neptunes.