2010 wrap up and awards

This year was rough for me and i'm really glad that its over. But through all the bad there were still many goods and I have indeed learned from the bad. With all that said I've come up with the 2010 awards as I did in the past, so without further adieu...

Best Movie of 2010

Inception

Is this a surprise? I'm sure nearly everyone had this one in mind. Everything that Christopher Nolan touches is gold and I look forward to more masterpieces in the future.

Best Album of 2010

Kanye West- Twisted Dark Fantasy

C'mon this is hands down an easy choice. Kanye came back in 2010 with a blazing fury. Sure Eminem had a dope album, so did Bruno Mars and Ceelo Greene, Linkin Park also played on loop on my deck for a bit, but Kanye takes this one. Not only is it G.O.O.D. music but in a sense its art in music. That's something thats rare these days.

Video Game of the Year

Starcraft II

This was a tough one. 2010 was definitely a great year for games. Surely I could have picked the usual picks; COD Black ops or WoW Cataclysm, but Starcraft II is my choice. It brought me back to appreciating RTS and has taken me away from the MMO treadmill... well sorta... hopefully it will permanently.

Best Artist of 2010

Kanye West

I hate to sound like i'm all up on his .... but really he had a great year. Lets look outside of what he has done from just the great 13 tracks on his album. Besides if I were to select "Best song of 2010" it would have to be "Runaway" as #1 with Linkin Park's "catalyst" as #2. Pre-release of his album for about 2 months straight, Kanye released FREE downloads to his fans on twitter. A lot of these songs were tracks not on the album but still very well could have been as they were solid tracks. I'm talking tracks with big-name cameos such as Jay-Z, Le Roux, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, etc. and all for FREE for his fans! Next... lets take a look at not only his creative artsy videos, but his performances as well. His MTV VMA, SNL, etc etc performances were so well put together and extremely well coordinated. You can tell he didn't just walk up 5 min on stage before the cameras started rolling and just sang. Taylor Swift tried to hit the public with another attack on Kanye at the VMAs but when the world saw West's performance I think they realized that it was check-mate....

Best Breakthrough Artist

Katy Perry

Ok ok so she might have debuted in 2009, but to me she really broke through in 2010. I didn't really like her much when she came out but through the horrible pop music of the likes of Ke$ha K.P. really shines. Hell she even won Maxim's hottest female of the year award, which has nothing to do with my choice, or does it o_O . no really... it doesnt.... Anyhow, what many don't know is that Katy can actually sing really well outside of her pop music genre, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJSS0VDS0ko&feature=related

Biggest Disappointment of the Year

Cliff Lee

No not Lebron James, although realistically it really should be... not Brock Lesnar losing his title, not BJ Penn losing to Frankie twice..... its Cliff freakin Lee signing with the Phillies... he pulled a "Lebron" and took his talents to Philadelphia after the nation thought he was committed to joining his friend CC Sabathia with the Yankees.... now the future doesn't look good for my Yankees next year but we'll see...

and that wraps it up! Kind of short this year but I'm looking forward to what 2011 will bring. Have a safe and Happy New Years everyone!

Happy turkey day blog!

Just wanted to stop in and wish everyone a happy thanksgiving.

Blizzcon 2010

Added pictures from Blizzcon 2010 in Anaheim, CA on my Creative side blog!

New York Comiccon 2010

Added NY Comiccon 2010 pics on my Creative page.

weird dream scenario

I just woke up from a nap... and it was starting to turnout to be a nightmare but not really... its weird. I dreamt that I was in a town (las vegas looking but it wasn't what the real Las Vegas). This town was a place that I've been to in dream-land before and I recognized that place in my dreams before. I found it really eerie that I recollected a dream from the past within the dream itself. The kicker is everytime i'm in this "town that looks like Vegas" I have to escape for my life from zombies and i'm the only one alive. It's really weird. I know its my creative side running amuck and that I should really stop playing Dead Rising, Resident Evil, and other zombie like movies but I found it really weird that I have created this little place that I seem to go back to once in awhile. Some psychological inception crap going on right there..

Update on my identity theft crisis

Wow look at that, two consecutive blogs in two days! I just wanted to share my fiascos of my court case that ive been battling.

So it started in late August, when I got a notice of suspension for my drivers license in the mail that was sent by the DMV. After calling about this notice,it turns out that someone received three ticket s under my name and address in June. Baffled, I thought hard on how this whole mixup happened especially since I know I haven't gotten pulled over nor received any tickets in June. Then it hit me, i lost my drivers license a year ago and some scumbag must be using it! I was told to show up in district court that following Monday to "speak to the judge.". Low and behold when I appeared to court the new York judge did not give me an opportunity to speak and instead said to show up for an adjourned date with a lawyer.

That's when I met my new lawyer, and he would be classified as an "ambulance lawyer" one that hangs around courtrooms and helps out with clerical work in turn to get clients. Long story short this attorney wasn't the greatest, in fact he borderline sucked. But...when jumped on he would attempt to do something. I did most of the leg work and paid most of the fees to retrieve info from the DMV. My case was then adjourned again due to the judge stating that it's best for the cop to identify me.

Fastforward to today. Just got a Tex t from my lawyer saying that we will show up to court tomorrow and they will dismiss my charges. He also said that probably since the DA didn't do his job to ask the officer in advance as requested he feels bad since he somewhat believes my story. Now I think if I had a good lawyer he would have taken care of this before any adjournment and I wouldn't have to pay him for additional appearances. Lessons I have learned was NEVER lose my drivers license and also take more time in picking a good lawyer. This whole case really made me think differently about new yorks justice system. I mean I really felt like it was"guilty until proven innocent" and not the other way around as it should be.

Oh well, lesson learned and I'm hoping that my charges indeed get dropped for a crime I did not commit and I don't have to worry

First iPad blog

Hello world from my brand new iPad! My MacBook is up on bay for sale and has one day left. The current price already covers the cost of this iPad and even leaves me with some extra money for accessories and apps! I'm pretty stoked and pleased with the iPad, and since I got the 3G model, I'll be able to blog more often!

Don't know if this is real or not, but apparently this email NAS wrote to the defjam CEOs got leaked to the media. I'm riding with NAS on this one.

http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/nas-puts-def-jam-execs-on-blast-stop-being-your-own-worst-enemy/

“From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SHIT OUT!

Peace to all,

With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY’s slave. This is not the 1800′s, respect me and I will respect you.

I won’t even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist’s dream and aspirations. You don’t help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don’t even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren’t…. not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn’t work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation”

(continued after the jump)

This isn’t the 90′s though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about “my label.” I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason……. they believed in me. The didn’t give a fuck about what any radio station or magazine said….those dudes had me.

Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It’s smart and after 5 years it’s still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I’m feeling is disturbing. Don’t get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog shit on a MAGICAL moment.

You don’t get another Nas recording that doesn’t count against my deal….PERIOD! Keep your bullshit $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain’t many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don’t even have shit coming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let’s get money!

-N.Jones

Hello Blog World!? Have I been missed? I missed you!

So I've been really busy and I mean it this time recently and once again put blogging on hold. BUT... I got a lot to share so stay tuned!

Here's a recap in a flash of what's been going on:

-been a victim of identity fraud - had to pay for an attorney that I didn't commit - going to court to fight my defense next week - fell for a girl that's probably a lesbian - went to my first UFC live PPV event - only to see my favorite fighter lose - but to also meet his family - which kind of strengthened my belief in him as a fan - been tweaking out on Starcraft 2 - picked up a large rejuvenated interest in comics and artists again - hence picked up a large interest to want to draw again - applied for a job in seattle - friend got the job - good friend leaves me in NY - applied for his job - never heard about it yet, but being optomistic - computer overheated and nearly blew up - spent loads of money to rebuild/upgrade my super computer - running 4.0ghz overclocked on an i7 930 woot - now graphics card is about to blow up - no money to buy a new one - bills bills bills - will recover - will post more - will be a better person! STAY TUNED

Canon T2i First Impressions

I'm back!! I know I've been away, and while I wanted to update the blog world with small reviews, thoughts, and such, I just was too lazy to share. I apologize for my selfishness... But!! Lots has happened since I've last posted. One happening is that I lost my Nikon D40 DSLR :( However, one curse turned into a blessing as it allowed me to upgrade to a Canon T2i. I just got the camera and am in love with it. It is allowing me to further venture out into the world of photography and video even more then what the Nikon D40 did when I first got it.

So enough talk, go take a look at the first shots I took with the camera:

http://jasonkoyama.blogspot.com/

Celebrity Warcraft

Thanks to Justin, I'm going to Blizzcon!! In related News, I was browsing the net and came across some of these celebrities that play WoW. It shouldn't surprise me however, especially since Blizzard is pushing 12 million subscribers of WoW.

More on "Moonchie Gaming"

LOST - The End!

Don't read below if you haven't seen LOST yet.... but I wanted to share my theories since I typed this long thing for a lot of people wondering what I thought:

Don't Read below if you haven't watched!!

(Warning long read ahead)

To be honest with you I’m kind of content with the way it ended last night. The internet is bashing the show for the way it ended, but honestly I think I got some good closure at the end. Sure it left us with some questions but if you look at the bigger picture, that stuff isn’t important, and the important stuff was answered and the producers left us to use our imaginations to fill in the gap for the remaining unanswered questions.

After sitting and thinking about it for 30 minutes last night after the show ended, I think I kind of finally understand a lot of it. Let me know what you think about my theories:

1) I believe the island wasn’t purgatory like many originally thought it was, but instead this season’s flash sideways “alternate reality” was purgatory. The island did happen. we saw Jack die on the island and then "crossover" to purgatori at the end when he died the same way he arrived on the island. He was lying down... See More looked up and saw the Oceanic plane that was supposed to signify that he crossed over through his death. Some may argue that plane was Kate, Sawyer and Company flying away but I think it was more to give you a sense of crossing over

2) Desmond played the Grim Reaper in the flash sideways. His job was to collect everyone who had that "bond" on the island. Remember when Miss Whitmore (crazy lady with the white crazy hair) asked him "so you're taking my son too?" and Desmond said "he doesn't need to come with us." Meaning that he's not ready to go yet. Same scenario with Ben Linus not being "ready" to move on as well. There are some that still need their closure to “move on” hence why we didn’t see them in the church scene.

In some way or another, I feel that the island was a test for each person. A test to see if they're going to heaven or hell. Jack's test was shown at the end last night. Some may have had to do a little more off the island and others passed the test on the island but somewhere down the road those that were in the final church scene passed the test and is ready to journey to the next point.

3) I also feel that they all did not die at the same time, and hence why Christian told Jack there is no constant time here. Furthermore, I feel that they subconsciously created the happenings in the flash sideways as a way to find each other in the long run so they could all move together to the next step. (IE: Jack thinking he has a son)

4) Side fact: That church at most of last nights episode was actually my highschool's sister school. Two episodes ago when Jack picked his son up from my school the background was at my highschool. Last night's church was actually at Sacred Hearts Academy an all girls catholic high school down the street from my school. Throughout the whole show I was pinpointing the different shooting locations that the crew chose and found it really interesting how they transformed that into different scenes.

NYC Mini life

This video is awesome! A day in the life of New York City in miniature.

Iphone 4 Leaked!!

So.... interesting news that Justin made me aware about...
Some engineer from Apple, left his phone on a bar counter accidently. No big news, it happens to the best of us right? Well, what if that phone was the new iPhone 4 that you are supposed to be testing and is one of the most highly anticipated devices of the year!?

Gizmodo got their hands on the device and examined it top to bottom and even took it apart!
http://gizmodo.com/5520471/the-tale-of-apples-next-iphone

Unsigned Hype

So as many of you know, I'm big on finding that next big superstar through browsing Youtube independent artists. So here are a few good ones that I recently found, I like them all and wish them the best of luck in getting signed and successful.

Lisa Scinta


David Choi


Boyce Avenue


Marie Digby
Ok so Marie is kind of big now, especially in Japan, but she started the same as these aspiring youtube artists. Check her out!

Jay-Z Concert with Trey Songz and Young Jeezy Nassau Colliseum

Had a blast at the concert! I was going to write a post about it, but found a great article by a Hofstra student. I posted some of my vids at the end of the posting.

http://www.hofstrachronicle.com/arts-entertainment/jay-z-keeps-coliseum-up-past-its-bedtime-1.1267089

By Catherine Sodano
Staff Writer
Jay- Z brought the house down on March 12 at the Nassau Coliseum for his “The Blueprint 3 Tour.” It was a sold out concert that began around 8 P.M., opening with Trey Songz. Trey Songz sang some of his famed hits such as “Say Aah,” “I Invented Sex,” “Successful,” and “Neighbors Know My Name.” He dazzled the stage with his presence, leaving the ladies in the audience asking for more. He set the mood with candles on the HD big screens behind him, bringing up a fan on stage to serenade her with a glass of champagne.

After Trey took the stage, fans were roaring in anticipation for Jay-Z’s big arrival. He kicked off the show with hit song “Run This Town,” with every fan rapping each word. Fans shouted alongside Jay for his two-hour performance. The concert even ran a bit late, Jay-Z said, “we’re going into overtime here,” with his fans approval. Jay-Z blew past the Nassau Coliseum’s 11 p.m. curfew and end time for all concerts, because he was having too good of a time enjoying every moment of the enthusiastic fans.

Jay-Z was the focus of attention for the night undeniably, but his 11-piece band, and effects can be considered just another colossal success for Jay-Z. He brought out Young Jeezy, and Memphis Bleek, who rapped with him on stage for a straight three minutes, sparring back and forth. With the outstanding acoustics in the arena, and the laid back band blaring their horns, bass, and drums, Jay-Z knew just when to bring it all to a stop. He told the band to hold the music for his hit song “Hater” because the crowd shouting the lyrics was so boisterous he thought the song would sound better a’capella.

Jay-Z also took special notice of his more dedicated fans at the show; one girl sitting on the floor held up a sign saying “I’ve been to your past 12 shows and I’m going to AC to your show tomorrow to see you again,” so he called her out in the middle of his performance saying “I recognized you from the past 12 concerts,” and proceeded to bring the fan on stage to give her a hug. Jay-Z made the pricey ticket cost all worth it for the fans.

San Francisco Day 2

Ok so its about one week from San Francisco day 2 actually happened, but its still fresh in my mind so let me take you back....

4:45 AM 2.13.10: Alarm goes off, head to my cell phone and call Janning to see if he's awake. He is. Great! Time to get ready, and in minutes we're picked up to head to Tahoe. On the way, we stop over at a diner and eat some breakfast. Janning is feeling a bit tired so I take over driving for about an hour and a half, then swap out back to Janning. I have no idea how I fell asleep but I did even while Janning was speeding downhill @ 70mph dodging and weaving traffic.

I'm awoken by Annie while she points out the window. There's an awesome view of the Tahoe landscape with pine trees covered with snow from above. Ok, now i'm pumped. Soon after, we get to the mountain and its go time. Nicole had to get rentals and sign up for lessons which was on the other side of the mountain so we told her to go ahead while we get ready and change. Adventurous Janning decides that it'll be better to take the lift to the top and then ride down to meet Nicole on the other side instead of waiting for a shuttle. I was a little skeptical of that idea since I knew I hadn't gone boarding in over 2 years. But as soon as I strapped on my bindings, I knew I still had it in me and it all instantly came back. We made it down and I felt bad for Annie since she had to tread down a Black Diamond as her first trail of the morning. But it's all good we got through it.

The day was a blast, as we went up and down the many trails. Trying half pipes, rails, boxes, ramps, jumps and conquering and eating them at the same time. Let me tell you I had some crazy spills and hard falls that day, but it was fun all in the process, and thank God for my helmet. One of the most memorable trails was the very peak of the mountain which cashed in at 9,900 feet in the air and led to a double black diamond which to me felt like a verticle drop. But hey, CONQUERED IT!

We started to head home at about 5pm after a great time at Kirkwood Mountain. This was only the beginning of another adventure. Janning decideds to play Initial D and weaves and dodges traffic again at 70mph on the way back. I tried to calm him down, but didn't want to throw him off his game as I know one sudden miscalculation can = bad things. So I decide to take a nap. I awake to see that we're in a parking garage for a... Casino!! What a surprise! Janning says its just a bathroom stop, but we can get some free drinks while we're at it complimentary of the casino. Awesome! After the break we head back and stop for some German food in Daly City. I was so extremely tired and exhausted that I had no appetite whatsoever. So I gave Janning my Schnitzel dinner for his lunch tommorow, and shared a sausage platter with Annie. The suprise of the night was one specific sausage that tasted like... Nacho Cheese!! Just thinking about it makes me want to try it again haha.

On the final leg back, we get a carwash, run from cops, and the whole nine yards... what an adventurous day!! The next day was my last day in San Fran and was filled with good times as well.

Take me to San Francisco! day one

So here i am in San Francisco! I was going to wait to post anything until I can get the pictures up, but I wanted to share my experiences so far since its fresh in my mind. So here I am typing morning of day 3 staying at the Le Meridian hotel in the financial district of SF. What a wonderful last two days it has been.

Lets start with my departure from NY. Of course being me, I decided to sleep at 1, to wake up at 4:30 to catch the train to the airtrain to the flight and depart at 8. (Kudos if you even followed that last sentence) Arrived in LAX for a layover that turned out longer then expected due to weather conditions in SF. Finally got to SF @ 5. Thankfully, my friend Annie picked me up and we went to get some grub, long awaited Santa Ramen that I wasn't able to eat last year. I was amazed at the line already starting to form before doors opened at 5. This restaraunt has a huge following and opens weird hours. Overall, I personally give it a 3/5. However, as I've been told I didn't order their specialty which is the Special Pork broth, ughh.

The rest of the day on Friday me and Annie drove around SF to find her a nice snowboarding helmet. We got one at our last stop and she was ecstatic! She dropped me off at the hotel and I checked in, to await Janning to get off work. Few minutes later, Danny gives me a call and I am picked up for dinner at Naan & Curry. At Naan & Curry we meet up with Janning, Nicole, Sandy, Danny & Tammi. Good food & Good times!

After eating, Janning heads home to get some rest for tommorow's big day and maybe I shoulda did the same... but hey you only live once right? Plus I wasn't feeling the lack of sleep from the previous night before. So we go to Yancy's down the block and get our drink on. Took down a few shots and beers and talked the good talk. That pretty much ended the night and we were set to wake up in 4.5 hours to go snowboarding in Tahoe!!

Utada Hikaru Live in the Flesh 2010... NYC The Fillmore Irving Plaza

After a 2 hour and a half wait in the cold 20 degree NYC weather, we finally got to see Utada! Well first we got to defrost for about an hour and a half while DJ Mike Rizzo entertained us with the same ol pop music you will hear on the radio.

The show was great! She played stuff from her two english albums and a lot of japanese songs. I was on cloud nine when she started to play her japanese songs. She also talked to the crowd a bit and didn't have much to say being that she was in shock from the overwhelming response NYC was giving her. Being her hometown and all, I'm sure there was a lot of sentimental value performing at the Fillmore. Her cousin and high school friends were in attendance as well.

Below are some pictures from the event and a youtube video. I took the first picture while risking getting kicked out of the venue. Security was incredibly tight last night constantly checking to make sure no one takes pictures. The other stuff was pics/vids I found from others who also got to sneak a shot, or two, or video!


Blurry Pic I took



someone got a good shot from the VIP area


Utada threw out these signature balls that she drew out, too bad I didnt get one.

Hana Yori Dango

Been watching a few J-Dramas recently since Nodame Cantabile ressurected my interest once again. Came across this drama from a few references after a drunken night out at a Japanese Karaoke bar in Hawaii. Hostesses were calling me and my 3 friends "F4" and that made me curious to see what they were talking about since all my friends seemed to know. Found out that F4 is a group of super cool cats that run a rich elitist high school society. But wait there's more! Makino Tsukushi a girl who comes from a poor family decides to stick up to the F4 bully's only to find out that she is falling in love with the ringleader. Great story line, good cast, and got me hooked!! Here's a link to learn more: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hana_Yori_Dango

There's a total of 2 seasons (9-12 episodes each) and a Special Finale movie. Check it out!!

Crap....

Lots of crap going on... not good crap.... but whatever...

quote of the moment:
"The difference between boys and men are the lessons that they learn"

Update

A little update on what's going on. Well, since I got back from Hawaii, I've been frantically trying to finish this paper that's needed to complete one of my courses from last semester. To be honest, I don't have any creative juices flowing in me recently to and no motivation whatsoever to finish. However, the deadline is coming up on Monday, so one way or the other I have to finish it ASAP.

If you haven't donated to the Haiti fund yet, I strongly recommend that you do. It's very sad to see what has happened, but on the brighter note its good to see many pulling through to make a donation. If you don't know what organization to donate to, just pick one there are so many. I prefer the Red Cross or Yele, but the choice is yours. Starbucks has a partnership with Red Cross and Yele and you can make your donation @ any local starbucks.

Lastly, this year it seems like I've been big on my return of my vice, World of Warcraft. I've joined a raiding guild again which is consuming way to much of my time and is once again proving to be a time sink. But, somehow it seems like im managing and doesn't seem to be a problem... yet. I'm sure that if it does i'll quit again, but for now back at it in full force!! You can track my recent activities on the right here, as I added a RSS widget that posts my recent accomplishments.

Til next time, peace!

Happy New Years!!

Happy New Year everyone! I know I have been slacking recently on the blog but I've made it my resolution this year to post more!! Here's a vid of my New Year's in hawaii. (well at least the fireworks)