Laughing Foot.

We've all seen at least one boxing movie right? Rocky, Ali, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby. And we all know what usually happens at the end. The protagonist will either come back in the final round to overcome his rival in a heroic series of blows or lose the match yet have the respect of the nation or become a quadriplegic and receive euthanasia by an old man who used to star in spaghetti westerns and is known for saying, "You've got to ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punk?!" We see it all the time right? Well what do you do when there are two protagonists facing against each other in the ring? What do you do when you want to root for both fighters but can't imagine what would happen if one lost. What you do is just sit back and watch.

Crying Fist is a movie that tells the story of two characters who don't meet until the final round of the lightweight championship. One is an ex-con ex-dreadlocked dude fighting for his dead father and dying grandmother while the other is a homeless, washed up former silver medalist at the Asian Games fighting for his son and his pride. The end result is mind blowing. Well not really. But it's still a good movie. You may recognize one of the boxers to be an Oldboy. It's directed by the same guy who did City of Violence, the movie which I enjoyed and wrote about earlier. The only bad thing about this movie is that it might be trying to do to much at once. It feels like The Pursuit of Happiness meets Ali meets American History X meets Skull meets Boy Meets World meets Meatloaf. It easily could have been two different movies, but that's what makes this film different. It's not a regular boxing movie. Some fights are shot in one single take. From the friendly glove tap in the beginning of the match to the knockout at the end, you can see the actors go at it in real time. No match cuts of a punch to a guy turning his head and spitting water. But all in all. It was a time well spent. Oh yeah, and if you get really uncomfortable seeing male buttocks and ten year old penis remember to close your eyes.

Superbowl 43.

The conference championship games finished this weekend. The two teams going to the Superbowl are the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was happy with the results, I’m a Redskins fan, so the Eagles losing is as enjoyable as a soft kiss from an elf on an ancient medieval battlefield, or licking jelly off Jessica Alba’s elbows. The Steelers winning was rather annoying, seeing how most of their fans annoy me, and Troy Polamalu reminds me of Slash, which makes me uncomfortable. Overall Superbowl 43 should be a game filled with big hits, flashy plays, big hats, and fishy gays. I won’t be there; I will be promoting this blog in Akaa Finland, home of the first cherry popsicle.

Flash.

I received a gift from a good, old friend the other day. Dan Gordon, a newly famed artist from New York who I went to school with took time out of his newfound hectic lifestyle to look back on the little people in his life. He sent me an autographed four of a kind, two piece work of art from his memorable exhibition last year. The only other people in the world with this original is his mother, Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama. I am proud to showcase this above 60 inch flatscreen.

In Mickey D Uniform.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the hottest team in the NBA right now. They blew past the slumping Boston Celtics last week, moving them into first place in everyone's power rankings. Everyone's except mine, where they are third behind the Wizards and the Bullets. There’s no doubt that the Cav’s can pay their success to the intensity that the teams vocal leader, Lebron James aka King James aka LBJ The First Black President according to Duy, shows on a nightly basis. The picture above shows him growling after he tells opposing fans that he’s a panther. He spent the following 2 minutes hissing like a cat. After the hissing, he subbed into the game and in an instant did an off-the-backboard one handed windmill from the three point line over DeShawn Stevenson. Three minutes later the game ended, with the Wizards winning 171-46. The league's The Next Big Thing turned into The Big Thing and then just to The Thing as he ended his game in defeat.

3 4 10.

I don't know what it is but I really like cheesy, stylized action movies. There's something about a guy dressed in a black and white suit who can repel metal objects mentally, walking up to a gang of youths shooting a salvo of bullets at him and then having a little girl in a school uniform throw a knife at his head while she says "Dodge This" and he says "Huh?!" and then dies in dramatic form. Amirite!?

I stumbled upon a three for $10 bin of DVDs and looked around. I picked up everyone's favorite thumb sucker starring in Thumbsucker and the "That Movie With That Guy Who Worked With Wes Anderson" movie, The Squid and the Whale. But what I'm most excited for is the Korean movie The City of Violence. I had never heard of it but it had everything that I liked on the cover. I've always said judge a book by its cover, it usually works out for me. Well this DVD had two dudes in suits flying in the air while kicking other dudes, perhaps also in the air and/or soon to be in the air due to the kick by the dudes already in the air, in black and white and with the color red in the titles and some blood here and there splattered about. It's also called The City of Violence. Just think of it. It's a whole city...of violence. What more can you ask for? And if you say country of violence you are a sick person who needs to seek professional help. And plus, most of the movies I've come across with "City" in their name have been pretty good. Sin City, City of God, Sex and the City... I mean was this a mistake? Was it supposed to be in the bargain bin and not the $28+ DVD shelf at FYE? I found myself casually walking out of the store with this, so far, awesome movie for only $3.33 looking at my periferals to see if anyone was chasing me saying, "Wait Sir! There's been some sort of shelving mistake!" or "Hey Punk! you have to pay for that!"

I haven't watched it yet but have seen the trailer on YouTube and the number of spinning back hook kicks performed over the amount of blood and teeth flying at the camera create a trustworthy ratio that I can believe in. Whatever that means...

Jizz In My Pants.

This is the new Jizz In My Pants video. If I hadn't made it any clearer, I can't wait for this game. That's why I have it. The good folks at Square jetted me over a demo of the first ten minutes in the game when they first saw my enthusiasm for this work of art. I haven't played it yet though due to the dreaded "second week of the new year" business meetings everyone in the know knows about. But anyways, I'll play it eventually. I might even wait until it comes up and play it and then get the real thing.

P.S. Here is the old Jizz In My Pants video.

Most Anticipated Video Games of 2009.

This year is almost over and that means a few things; newly made resolutions, time standing still for one second, a soon inaugurated president, a year closer to the apocalypse, breaking newly resolutions, and of course video games. Here are a few I'm looking forward to.

Street Fighter IV may be a success or a big failure or maybe just another fighting game. Regardless of what it is, I am extremely excited to see what it will bring. I've always been a fan of the series, especially when they included everything I loved into the Marvel vs Capcom games. It included almost everyone and you could tag in and out. I love tag games although this won't be one. In straight up Street Fighter spirit, it's 2d with 3d characters. Kind of like Super Smash Bros. The trailer looks great, but it's been such a long time since I've played a real SF game that I'm not sure that I'm even good at it. Those VS. games were much different. Will I have to figure out all the little moves and counters to master this game? Probably. Or I probably will just be horrible at it and let the real pwners pwn. It should come out February 17th in North America.

I've always liked the final frontier better than middle earth. That's why I can't wait for StarCraft II. WarCraft (Not WoW) was fun and all but space is where it's at. The Frozen Throne had me playing for years with its ladder matches and custom games like DotA and Snipers (I was a semi-legend on USEast). And considering people still to this day play StarCraft I on Battle.net, StarCraft II should be as epic as those two games combined.

StarCraft II will actually be a trilogy with the main game coming out first with the Terran campaign, then two expansion packs released with the Zerg and Protoss missions. Blizzard has said that the expansions will feel like full games because of all the content in them. The story line of SF1 was great and I cannot wait to see things unravel in the upcoming trilogy. Kerrigan is back! I would have liked to see a new species or something introduced but Blizzard are sticking to the original races this time. The game doesn't officially have a release date but has been in development since 2003 so hopefully it will come out sometime in '09. Although I can't wait for the game, I'm not sure if this will be a purchase of mine. It will come out on the Mac OS, but I'm not sure how I feel about playing it on a Mac. Although it would be the only game I ever needed. Hmm.
I only recently heard about Heavy Rain and I'm really liking what I see. The video for it is a casting call with an actress playing the role of a wife who has found out about a cheating husband. It looks incredible. What all PS3 games should look like. It's got some special engine or something and is developed by a French company. I have no idea what the game is about but it is highly stylized like a film and if Origami Killer means anything, it's about a killer. Who kills with paper cranes! Maybe? Who knows.
I played the developing studio, Quantic Dream's previous game Farenheit aka Indigo Prophecy last year and it had a really interesting concept of gameplay. Hopefully this game will not disappoint. Out sometime in 2009.

I was never really into horror games or even horror films. Why? I don't want to have nightmares, DUH. But sometimes, I just want to blow up some damn zombies. And when is a better time then at the release of Resident Evil 5 on March 13th? No longer will it be another a girl in a miniskirt shooting up dogs in the middle of Times Square, it's now some white dude shooting up African villagers. Which is good right? I've only played one RS game and I couldn't figure out how shoot for about 30 minutes. Hold R2 first?! I think the only reason I disliked the RS series was because Parasite Eve made me brown my pants ever since I was little and that put me away from all games like it. But 2009 is a new year! We'll see how this goes.

I've waited for this game for a while now. Don't know much about it other than Team Bondi is developing and Rock Star is publishing. I think it's a sandbox game, it apparently has a perfectly created LA. Oh yeah, did I mention it takes place in the fucking '40s? Excuse my language, but I just love that era. The drugs, the corruption, the jazz! I've seen the trailer for it probably a hundred times and it still amazes me. Looks great. Check out L.A. Noire out sometime in the 2009 fiscal year.

Tekken 6, has one of the most confusing.. I don't even know what it is. It's been out in the Japan arcades since 2007 and is coming out again under one of those ":" titles in October 2009. I love this series, especially Tekken Tag, ever since I owned a Playstation, but I don't know if I can keep all of the moves for Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 6 in my head so I may only choose one. It's the only 3d fighting game I like. I hated Soul Calibur. The more I write about this game, the less I think I will like it. Too many characters have been introduced for me to keep up and it's slowly slipping off my list. I think I will remove it. But will only keep it on the list to have record of me saying that it is off the list...

Look. I don't need to explain this to you. Just know, if we make it past 2012, The Sims will be the only game we play. Why? Because it can simulate anything! Career - Football Player. BAM, the whole game changes into Madden 2049! It's crazy. Someone needs to do everyone a favor and pirate this and all future expansion packs of this for the Mac immediately. It can simulate everything! But true love...
Is it weird that I don't kill my sims but instead make them all have perfect lives, and having a single sim marry every hot sim in the neighborhood? But then when I kiss one in the same household, everyone gets pissy at each other so that I have to restart the neighborhood and make five different sims each with an alias of Duy Nguyen and have them marry all the hot redheads and brunettes and blondes and aliens? Is that creepy?! Released on February 20th on Windows...

It started with VII. That game single-handedly changed the way I view my life. When viewing it as a nerd bored thinking of RPGs. I actually only played FFVII. I didn't want to be exposed to any other game in the series because of its imperfections. (Well maybe that's a lie. I played 9 and liked it but didn't have the last disc. And also X and X-II which was horrible.) I never even beat VII because I never wanted it to end! FFXIII Versus seems like it has the potential, aesthetically at least, to be the next VII. It doesn't look like another X clone. The regular one looks alright as well. I guess I'll get both. If they ever come out that is. What I really want though, is for Square to re-release VII on the Ps3. C'mon! Haven't you read the petitions?

Street Sk8er to THPS. I love skating games. It makes me want to go out and skate. But then skating wants to make me go home and cry. But no other game can do both like the realistic Skate 2. Getting this game will really just be an excuse as to why I never got the first one. I'm just really assuming it will be better because it's the sequel. And based on the introduction movie, it looks so sick. Hopefully not all hype. January 21st.
Well those are the games that I will probably get next year. And the following are some that I regret getting. Worst of 2008.

So I didn't really get this guy. I downloaded it for about a week, read some reviews, then deleted it from my computer. Creature Creator was fun, but there are just so many ways one can make a giant penis. The actually game Spore was probably the most disappointing game of the year. It was supposed to change the way we play games or something. It ended up just staying on the shelfs. I guess I should have given it a chance. But I don't have any time for that. I have meetings to go to...

This was definitely my biggest disappointment. Resistance 2. I only bought it because I loved it's predecessor. It was nearly perfect to me and I only stopped playing it because people moved onto Warhawk and stole all the noobs to own online. I ditched the awesome CoD4 to get this game. Worst decision. It has great reviews, but I don't understand why. I feel like it has worse graphics than the first, and the online is obviously less organized. And for the first month or two it wouldn't even work. I think it tried to be too much. took on a similar perk system from CoD and failed. 60 players online is insane but is kind of unnecessary when you think about it. I like to get to know the noobs I'm killing. This game was a no-no. Anyone want to trade for World at War?

I hate every Madden game except for '95. Plain and simple.

A few honorable mentions for anticipated games; MadWorld, God of War III and GTA: Chinatown Wars.
MadWorld looked interesting before I read it was coming out on the Wii. God of War III looks good and probably should be on this list. But I haven't really played I or II so I can just buy those. The new GTA is on the DS but focuses on the Triads. I'm sick of crappy sandbox games that are based on Asian culture but are just so bad. It's about time we had a Triad or Yakuza game that was good. too bad it's not on the Ps3 or 360. (The Yakuza game doesn't count.)

St. Peter and John Wayne.

Every year, Christmas was the time I looked forward to the most. The songs, the lights, the whole feeling of Christmas and everything that came with it. However recently, it seems disappointing each time it arrives. When I was young, the whole family would gather in one house, from the morning to late in the night of Christmas Eve. I would play with my brother and cousins, running around the house being kids and oblivious to everything around us. We were not worried about fixing our cars, paying the rent, or anything about that. We were just kids.

Every time we would hear the doorbell ring, we ran to see who it was. Mom's sister, Grandmother's brother. You see the house we were all at, was the first house owned by our family in America. It housed my family members that just came over from Vietnam, helping them get on their feet and move out. And after they'd move out, they'd all return for Christmas. For just one day. And it was great having literally everyone under one roof.

But now, I'm years older and Christmas has lost its touch. Those people that rung the doorbell, the people that had me running to see are gone. Either they're at the spouses family, or just simply off of this world. There's less family. And that's what I miss. That's what Christmas was for me. It's not even that the gifts came in the masses as a kid. It's not that the toy guitars and action figures have turned into the form of bills and cards. It's the massive gap between generations and the disconnect that has came because of it.

At least we still have those Christmas songs. They give me hope of someday having the perfect Christmas again. Maybe in five years someone will light our house on fire. And we'll all gather back in that little house. The whole family. Maybe I'll light the house on fire. I wish I was 10 again.

Lab.

So a lot of people have been confused with what I've been "teasing" them with. Apparently it's not even teasing if you don't know what your being teased about. Well let me give you some clues. You recently saw a post of some tees that are "coming soon". Right now I'm working in Illustrator on some graphics. So can you put those together? Huh?

2008 Shopping Guide.

Well as Christmas draws closer, less than 24 hours closer, some of you fellow rich, important, "unaffected by the economy" folk need some quick presents to bear but have no idea where to start. Well here's a little guide I made that to help you if your price range is around $1,000 to $1,000,000. This would have been my wish list if I didn't already go out and buy five of each myself.

The Nikon D90, for the "I May Actually Know What I'm Doing With A Camera" type. This thing does everything that the common D40 can do and then some. The main reason why I wanted this over my already capable D60 is because of a couple things. The autofocus motor. I have an AF 50mm and 10.5mm and the only AF-S is the decent kit 18-55mm. I'm perfectly fine with manually focusing, but when it affects my pictures in low-light areas, that's bad. It's too dim to even see how sharp something is. Help me out robot. With this bad boy, you can walk around campus knowing you have a better camera than all the other noobs with the kit D40. And by not having the D40, you'll probably know how to use it too. Not bashing on the D40 at all, it's probably the only camera you'll ever need. I'm just an elitist when it comes to other photographers. But seriously, stop with the flash photography.

Another thing is the 24 FPS 720p HD Video mode. That's right. You have probably seen me drooling over this in a recent post. This is the first DSLR camera able to record video. So you and your Canon can suck it Bobby. So what I stole this whole layout from you? The least you can do is return my calls dammit! That takes us to our next gift on the list...

You can never have enough glass. This is the best wide-angle zoom of it's kind on the market. It's also the cheapest. For the "I Lurked Flickr To Find Out What Lens People Use -- I Heart Ken Rockwell" type. I bought 5 of these because they're that good and I am that wealthy.

This is a big flash. If you have this flash I will not hate you for using a flash. Just make it bounce. For the "I Don't Want To Look Like The Tool Without A Speed Light While At The Latest Dance Party" type. Add this and a MB-D10, and you'll look like the most pro dude out there. Don't forget your hood lens!

Collectibles! For the "I'm Into Cool Toys From Japan That Sit On My Window Sill And Show What Kind Of Person I Am" type. You can get them the entire Final Fantasy VII x Play Arts collection, the tall standing 19 inch Cloud Strife Masterpiece Arts work of art for only $400. I bought them all but Square Enix will be restocking on May 2nd. Don't forget about Old Snake. And Naked Snake, Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake, Camo Naked Snake, Boss, Big Boss, Raiden, Grey Fox, Meryl, Naomi, Vamp, Otacon and the whole MGS Crew too.

When I said you can never have enough glass. I meant games. You can never have enough games. For the "I Am Not Really Good At Video Games So I Just Buy Them All To Compensate" type. Just to name a few games that I have yet to receive; Assassin's Creed, Heavenly Sword, Mirrors Edge, Bioshock, Call of Duty 5, and Rock Band World Tour just to name a few.

I know what you're thinking. "Duy, I thought you said you didn't want a bike and would skate everywhere." To be honest, it's hard skating on cobblestone roads and if I plan to get a job anywhere off campus, I'd rather not leave an hour before work and show up panting and smelly. So this present is for the "I Want A Bike To Go To Work And Other Things Like That" type. No this doesn't have to be a fixed gear, I don't like humping my bike to have it brake. But it can be a fixie. A lot of my friends are those "fixie kids". And they're all the rage right? I could say I got the bike from my Dad who used it in Vietnam where it wasn't trendy, it was just cheap. Yeah, thats it!

When I said you can never have enough games, that also goes for Authentics. They'll keep making different colors, and even then your white ones will get dirty so there's really no excuse. And wouldn't they go great with my bike? For the "I Keep It Real By Just Wearing Vans, I Have 50 Pairs..." type. I remember when the slip-ons were all the rage. I thought I was such a trailblazer when I bought the Converse slip-ons. Then little Tim Roskie comes up rockin' a pair of "the Vans with the Laces". 

But seriously, whatever you decide to get your little sister, older brother, significant other, or gay lover, make sure it comes from the heart. And at least costs $100. When you have purchased your gift, make sure you send them to me first so I can sign them.

Teaseee.

I told you it would be here soon. More photos to come...