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Malik (5/3/10)

I had an interesting weekend of fail. For one thing, I watched the Mariners show how awesome they can be while being crap. I mean there were some close games against Texas, but each one resulted in a loss despite solid pitching. On Friday, Cliff Lee finally had his first start for the M's. Despite pitching eight shutout innings, the M's couldn't score a single run. Hell, the M's got the bases loaded in the 10th and 11th innings and still came out with a 0-2 loss in the 12th.

The one good thing about the horrible defeats was that it showed some of the weaknesses that needed addressing. Sadly, not much can be done about the M's lacking any powerful bats, but some of the worst can be adjusted. For example, despite being one damned fast runner, Byrnes is a horrible player. His batting average, for example, was less than 0.100. That's not just bad; it's unacceptable. So, he's now gone from the team.

Also, it's nice to see that the M's have one of the best pitching rotations in MLB. Hernandez, Lee, and Fister are amazing, and Vargas and Roland-Smith are not exactly slackers. Hell, the M's have the 2nd best collective ERA right now. Sadly, despite being built up as a pitching team, the M's organization seemed to forget one important thing in the offseason; a good defense will help to win games, but only a good offense can get the runs to seal the deal.

I also, for unknown reasons, watched New Moon. I normally wouldn't even talk about seeing such a horrible movie. I mean this is just embarrassing to admit. However, I have to say that this series (I sadly saw Twilight a few months ago) is one of the best examples of bad cinema I've ever seen. It's the only movie series I can think of in modern times (maybe even in all history of mainstream cinema) that glorifies f#@$ed up relationships.

Bella, the main protagonist, is the worst example for young girls that has ever existed in a movie. I think Charlize Theron in Monster is a better example of how a young girl should grow up than Bella...and that's talking about a psychotic killer being a better example than a young woman who just wants to live a good and wholesome life. In what other movie series is a girl told more so that she should chose between a violent boyfriend who could severely scar her, physically, for life and a boy who shows complete detachment (to the point of causing mental scars and obsession) and also manages to throw her against a wall in the name of protecting her. I mean that is the Twilight movies, so far, in a nut shell. What type of anguish is better and how much should one get mentally messed up in the name of love?

Anyway, I think I'll stop talking about the nightmare that is Twilight now. While I'm deeply ashamed to admit I've seen the first two movies, I just had to say how truly bad they are, and not just in terms of plot or acting...both of which have their own unique take on lowering the bar for all other tween-targeted movies.

On a final note, I'm still playing Lunar 2 on the PSX (well, on the PS3, but a PSX disk/version). I can't say too much so far, but I will say that some of the changes versus the Sega CD original are not for the better. On one hand, the running mechanic is annoying since you movie so slow, and you can only run for about 1 second at a time, with a two second cool-down period. On the other hand, the menu system is crap compared to all other versions of either of the first two Lunar titles. At least the game is still fun...just not as good as the Complete version of Lunar 1 was.

Malik

Malik (5/5/10)

Minor Lost spoilers today. Ok, major spoilers if you didn't catch last nights episode yet.

I found it funny, in a very un-humorous way, how last night played out. When Sayid died, I said to the people I watched with, "In standard Lost fashion, another minority is killed...now they just need to kill off Sun and Jin." Yes, I forgot that Miles is still around, but he seems to be on the back burner for now. Little did I know at that moment that there was only so many minutes left before Sun and Jin died in a very lame way.

Ok, with Lost, all death is something that can only be partially accepted. I mean dead people come back from time to time in one way or another, and dead people can miraculously survive and resurface in a few episodes. I mean Jin already "died" once before.

I have to say, first off, that Sayid dying does put a bit of a dark cloud on the rest of the series. I mean here we had not only an awesome character, but one that was shafted this season. He started near dead, before becoming fully dead. Then he was back, but he was just a bit of a shell with very little personality showing. I mean Sayid spent the last six or so episodes as more of an automaton than a character as he just shrugged his shoulders, moved around, and did whatever was commanded upon him. The only thing he did that showed personality, before his final minute of life, was in the "other reality" clips.

More than that, I have to say the death of minorities is pretty weird with Lost. It's been this way since the beginning. Of the main non-very-white characters we have had on the show, we've seen Eko, Anna Lucia, Michael, Jin, Sun, and Sayid die. We've also seen Rose, Walt, and Miles go from being pretty important in their own right to being gone or nearly gone from the show...usually without even anymore mentioning of them. The only one who seems to remain in any position that is not completely in the background is Hurley...maybe Miles, but he seems to have gone from "constantly present" to "oh yeah, he's still alive, isn't he?" Oh, and I don't count Richard (A.K.A. Bat-Manuel). Richard has always been interesting, but he's never been a main character.

Anyway, I'm probably saying half of that from frustration at seeing awesome characters like Sayid and Jin get kicked out of the closing of Lost, while someone like Kate can remain. Not only have I constantly felt annoyed when Kate is on screen, but last night was just ridiculous. I mean she was shot. Not just a minor grazing wound, but a major injury, considering the amount of blood they showed. Then she's in a sub explosion, swims through ocean water to the beach, and seems no worse for wear...despite the, supposed, gaping bullet wound she should still have. Why do I get the feeling that, above most others, the one mystery that will definitely remain after the show concludes, in my mind, will be "how did Kate not die?"

Malik

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