Six Weeks Before Christmas!

There are only six weeks before Christmas! That means, it's time to prepare my wish list.

Now that I have my preciousssss BlackBerry Torch, I don't need a digital camera, any of the other BlackBerry models, or the iPhone. So what would I like to receive on Christmas?

• DVR - Yes, I still need a DVR. I can't bear to miss The Big Bang Theory too much because of The Vampire Diaries. I need my Big Bang fix! Also, I don't wanna wait until summer to see the current season of Castle. I also miss new episodes of Criminal Minds. Lastly, I don't wanna have to choose between The Good Wife and V when the latter comes back from hiatus. The Shaw on Demand that we have only works for House and Hawaii Five-0, and I can't watch either when someone's recording something. So I need my own DVR.
• LOST: The Complete Collection (Blu-Ray) - I know I have the box sets for all six seasons, but I want to see the additional bonus features. That's at least two more hours of LOST goodies. (I really can't let go, can I?) I'll just sell the box sets that I already have.
• Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man - I have a lot of books in my reading list. But I really want this graphic novel series. Really want this one.
• DVDs/Blu-Ray Discs
• Inception
• Salt
• Kick-Ass
• Avatar
• Splice
• The Prisoner (2009 Miniseries)
• Paranormal Activity
• The Informant!
• District 9
• FlashForward: The Complete Series
• Precious
• Invictus
• Legion
• Smokin' Aces [UPDATE: Got it!]
• Books
• The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown)
• The Road (Cormac McCarthy)

I hope to get at least four of these items. Hehe....

LOST Snubbed at the Emmys

If y'all followed me on Twitter - or if you're my Facebook friend - you'd know how I felt about this year's Primetime Emmy Awards. Particularly the last 10 minutes.

Apart from last week's Creative Emmys win for the LOST editing team, the show was shut out of the major categories. Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad took the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award, instead of either Michael Emerson or Terry O'Quinn (who deserved another Emmy for his dual role in Season 6, as Flocke/The Man in Black and Sideways John Locke). Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad achieved a three-peat on the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series race, beating Matthew Fox, who was phenomenal as Jack Shephard during the final season. Taking the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series award, Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy's writing for Mad Men beat Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's excellent crafting of the LOST series finale. Steve Shill's directing of an episode of Dexter earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, beating Jack Bender's incredible direction of the series finale. The most painful loss is in the Outstanding Drama Series category, which Mad Men won.

I would be very happy if I woke up from this horrible nightmare or if I found out that LOST won all the awards for which it is nominated in an alternate timeline.

*Sigh*

The night started well, actually. Glee's Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Amber Reilly, Chris Colfer, 30 Rock's Tina Fey, LOST's Jorge Garcia, and The Vampire Diaries's Nina Dobrev were included in Jimmy Fallon's opening number. That was fun. Then Eric Stonestreet of Modern Family won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Then Glee's Jane Lynch won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy. Then Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory - so deservedly - won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy. Archie Panjabi of The Good Wife surprisingly won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series award.

Thankfully, the rest of the LOST fandom on Twitter complained about the Emmy snubs as much as I did. And after the Outstanding Drama Series upset, we comforted ourselves with the fact that LOST will remain the best drama series for us in 2010 and for the six years it was on air.

I know I said that I'll be happy with the 13 nominations even if LOST didn't win anything. Of course, one win out of 13 is better than nothing. But this is the last time the Emmy voters could honour LOST for its greatness. There'll be no more chance for them to honour the series with another Outstanding Drama Series award, because the show is done. The Emmys even staged a funny musical tribute for shows that just ended, including LOST. That is not enough to recognize a show like LOST.

You have no idea how much I cried after the Emmy telecast. I am incredibly sad that the Emmy voters failed to recognize LOST for the outstanding show that it was. Even Modern Family's Outstanding Comedy Series win didn't ease the pain of LOST being snubbed tonight.

LOST was robbed tonight.

Oh, well.

To make us all laugh after tonight's depressive Emmy Awards, I leave you with the Season 6 bloopers from the Season 6 DVD/Blu-ray set. Thanks to user glennD for making the video embeddable.

August 24th Dilemma

We're only halfway through the sixth and final season, but the release date for the LOST Season 6 DVD/Blu-Ray set has been announced. It will be released in North America on 24 August 2010, three and a half months earlier than the last two seasons. Per Lostpedia and TVShowsOnDVD, the set will contain five discs and the usual bonus features, plus original scripted content produced by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and Crafting a Final Season feature. The DVD set's current price is USD$59.99 (CAD$79.99), while the Blu-Ray set is on sale for USD$79.99 (CAD$94.99).

Interestingly, LOST: The Complete Collection, which includes all 121 episodes from Seasons 1 to 6, will also be released on 24 August 2010. Per the same sources above, the DVD/Blu-Ray set will contain all previous extras, plus one bonus disc with at least two hours of additional content. The DVD set price is USD$229.99 (CAD$269.99), while the Blu-Ray set price is USD$279.99 (CAD$349.99).

What, oh, what am I going to get???

Obviously, I wanna see the goodies in the Season 6 set. I have the DVD sets for Season 1 to 4 and the Blu-Ray set for Season 5, and the bonus content in all of them are freaking amazing. And, like most fans, I usually get the DVD sets for the bonus content, especially in Season 5 where I got to download the episodes from iTunes before the DVD was released. But I also want to see the additional two hours of content in the Compete Series bonus disc. However, what am I gonna do with the Season 1 to 5 sets that I already own?

I have both the Season 6 Blu-Ray set and the Complete Collection Blu-Ray set on my Amazon.ca wishlist. I need to put in my pre-order soon, so I have to decide which one I'm pre-ordering ASAP!!!

Maybe I'll decide after the series finale? Whaddya think?

Buon Natale!!!

That's MERRY CHRISTMAS in Italian!

So, Christmas has come and gone. It`s one of the quietest Christmas I've had. 'Twas neither too exciting nor too boring.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the encore presentation of our church's Children's Ministry Christmas play entitled The Best Christmas Present Ever. It was a hit, just like last Sunday's presentation. My niece sang in the choir and spoke a bit towards the end of the play.

Then we went to our churchmate's - and family dentist's - house for a Christmas dinner party. The C's came with us and I mostly hung out with them. Other churchmates attended the shindig and we wished each other a merry Christmas. I missed MuchMoreMusic's broadcast of VH1 Divas 2009, featuring Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Jordin Sparks, and Jennifer Hudson for this party.

We left with Christmas gifts - mine was suspiciously shaped like Purdy's chocolates - at around 11 PM. We stopped by Shoppers Drug Mart for about half an hour so my sister could get the antibiotics that our dentist prescribed. Then we went home.

We opened the presents just after midnight, after a couple of Kodak moments (i.e. picture-taking sessions). I gave my nephew the Casio watch (a.k.a. Usher's watch) that he wanted, a $50 iTunes gift card, and $100. I gave my niece a copy of Rhythm Heaven Nintendo DS Game and $100. I gave Miss KC a $50 iTunes gift card and $100, because she only asked for money. I gave Little Mr. JC a Rex the Dinosaur collectible figure from Toy Story and $40.

And what did I get?

Aside from my mom's early Christmas gifts during Black Friday, she also gave me Ferrero Rocher. Yum! As I guessed, my dentist gave me Purdy's Hedgehog chocolates. Double yum! The C's gave me the Inglourious Basterds DVD and He's Just Not That Into You Blu-Ray disc. Then the A's gave me Stephen King's Under The Dome and Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever. Yippee!!!

At least I got four items from my updated wish list. Hehehehehe... Didn't get the BlackBerry Curve 8520 or the first issue of Y: The Last Man, though. Oh, well. Maybe I can get these on my 27th B'Day? Hehehehehe...

After all the excitement from the gift-opening, we sat down for a bit of eggnog and coffee for the grown-ups and hot chocolate for the kids. Then I brought my Blu-Ray player to the living room so my bro-in-law could hook it up to his Bose system. Then we watched the He's Just Not That Into You disc. We finished the movie at about 3:40 AM and they went to bed. I stayed up until 4:30 or 5 AM, then I fell asleep.

I woke up at noon on Christmas Day and stayed in bed until about 1 PM. Then I went upstairs to eat. I went back to my room to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and the rest of the trilogy. However, partway through Disc 2, I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until 10:30 PM. I was hungry, so I went upstairs to get some food to bring to my room. I  continued the trilogy; it's now 5 AM and I'm watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Disc 1.

I must finish the movie, and maybe get some sleep before tonight's party.

Buon Natale! And Happy Boxing Day!!!

Only Eight Days Before Christmas!

Now that I have the Blu-Ray player, I think it's time to update my Christmas wish list.

Of course, I still want the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 or the first and subsequent issues of Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man. Oh, and $25,000. Hehehe...

You know what else I want for Christmas?

DVDs/Blu-Ray Discs

• Angels & Demons
• Burn After Reading
• Inglourious Basterds
• Public Enemies
• He's Just Not That Into You
• The Reader
• Rachel Getting Married
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

 Books

• Under The Dome (Stephen King)
• The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown)
• Salem's Lot (Stephen King)
• Duma Key (Stephen King)
• Best Friends Forever (Jennifer Weiner)
• The Road (Cormac McCarthy)

Phew! Wonder if I'm gonna get anything from these lists? Hehehe...

Sony Blu-Ray Player Out-of-Stock? No Problem!

The women in my family went to Wal-Mart last night to get our electronics using my sister's 20% employee discount. My niece got an HP Mini Notebook that was listed at CDN$328. My sister paid approximately CDN$294, excluding any environmental fees and including GST & PST. 

However, my Sony BDPS360 Blu-Ray Player was not on the shelf! I looked high and low for it, but all I found was a Sony DVD Player. There were other Blu-Ray players: Samsung and LG. I thought, "What am I gonna do? Order it from Amazon? Find another auction on eBay? Abandon the idea altogether? Or buy a Blu-Ray Player from a different brand?" I looked at my sister, who was waiting for me at the counter.

I grabbed the giant LG box and plopped it on the counter.

It's an LG BD370C Blu-Ray Player. It was easy to connect to my Toshiba TV. The picture is so much better since there is an option to watch a disc (standard DVD or Blu-Ray) in Cinema mode. Standard DVDs - Wanted, for example - are also up-scaled so they look better onscreen. You can also play standard CDs - Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted, for example - although you'd need an Internet connection to get the track names and you'd need the TV to actually listen to the songs. You can also view pictures and films, as well as listen to music, from a USB flash drive. With an Internet connection - which my Blu-Ray player doesn't have right now, because I lent my router to my brother-in-law - you can watch YouTube videos, as well as download content through BD-Live. I just have to figure out how to get Internet connection in there and I can fully enjoy my Blu-Ray player.

Oh, it's listed price was CDN$218. My sister hasn't shown me the receipt, but I expect to pay her CDN$195, excluding any environmental fees and including GST & PST. That would be CDN$10 less than I would have paid if I got the Sony BDPS360 Blu-Ray Player.

Now I hope December 8th gets here sooner so I can have my LOST Season 5 Blu-Ray Disc set!