for some odd reason, HBO and Cinemax magically appeared on my cable the past week so i have been racking up more movies under my belt. of the most recent, i have watched: Crash and Amityville Horror (remake).

after watching Crash, i can understand why it has won so many awards last year. its one of those pulp fiction-type movies that are in segments and intertwined only to let you find out that the characters are related at the end in some way. besides the fact that the movie is produced in this unique way, the movie's key ingredient is that it puts you into the perspective of each person who inflicts or is affected by racism/stereotypes. in the end, no matter what.. because of ignorance, sometimes evil prevails, and the innocent suffer. 9/10

good horror films are those that leave you "checking behind your back" after the movie is over. the remake of amityville horror is one of them. when it first came out, i thought it would be a badly directed film just because ryan reynolds is the main character. i say this because in his resume of films, hes always been the funny guy who never took things seriously and im thinking this remake would be a "spoof-like" film. it turns out that this film ranks among the top of my favorite horror movies list. ive watched the original amityville horror and i would still say it is good, but the remake has those extra added effects due to modern technology and the fact that it was based on a true story. 8/10

Бумер 2 - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6401743760486454099

due to the fact that i was bored out of my mind, i watched my first russian movie without subtitles, "Бумер 2". its odd that they call it "bimmer" because the plot has nothing to do with a BMW except that the main character drives an X5. ive watched mandarin movies without subtitles therefore i thought i would have a good chance of understanding this movie. so, if you cant understand what the characters are saying, the only choice you are left with is to use facial and verbal recognition to find out what the relationships are between the characters of the movie. after piecing one thing with another, i finally understood the main idea of the movie. in a sentence, it talks about a reformed russian gangster who is wrongfully bribed out of jail only to find out that he has caused dreadful, unforeseen repercussions to a totally innocent girl and then ultimately to himself. the storyline is good, acting is good, svetlana ustinova is a cutie, i wonder how much better this movie would be if i actually understood the words? 8/10

this weekend consisted of an unusual combination of activities: shooting at a gun range & shopping at 99 ranch market. speaking of 99 ranch, when i was about 5 years old, the first 99 ranch market took over my favorite local grocery store where my mom and i used to shop at after kindergarten class. i was pretty bummed. it came to pass, that the 99 ranch market is the reason why my city is now a thriving epic center of chinese people which also has its pros and cons. it has made our city a valuable business sweet spot and whenever im hungry, i can just run down the street for some first-class, authentic chinese food. even the crowd at the local dennys restaurant is replaced with procrastinating asian students. but at the same time, the city is saturated and overpopulated with traffic, which is one of my annoyances. and to make traffic even worse, are the chinese women behind the wheel of their mercedes that expect you to avoid them. terrible. but in the end, i am happy that 99 ranch had taken over the grocery store in 1987. if that had never happened and if the city had never developed, i wouldnt have the same appreciation and my chinese culture would have been so limited.

the shooting range was so awesome. my first experience with a gun was back in 10th grade. but back then, my puny arms can barely handle the extreme fire power, therefore making it an uncomfortable and nerve-racking time. things change, as i now can actually hit the target in front of me. after that day, i decided to purchase a gun for myself, the glock 19 compact. its basically the "honda civic" of guns, because it isnt that expensive, and there are so many parts available for it to be modified and even turned into fully automatic. it looks like i have a new hobby.

awesome way to end my spring break.

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ive finally reached nerd status after beating the custom level of minesweeper :)

24 x 30 grid with 150 mines:



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so my toenail finally fell off and its pretty cool. ive always wondered how it felt underneath a nail and now i get a to see firsthand how it feels like. to explain it, its tender, it doesnt hurt, but it is highly sensitive to touch. i would post a picture, but its probably too gruesome for you.