J-Smooth Sounds Off

Random Shots

2012-01-22T15:26:00.004-05:00

-can't wait 'til summer rolls around so I can finally conquer Leviathan and Behemoth at Wonderland ... I drive past there on a bi-weekly basis and seeing it on computer animation is one thing, but this is the first time that I can honestly say that I'm intimidated (not scared) by a roller coaster ...

-speaking of the summer, plans are really starting to take shape ... after a write-off (more like non-existent) 2011 summer, I'm looking forward to big things this year ... San Diego trip is booked, as is the hotel at Las Vegas (Caesar's Palace) ... while I'm there, BabyGirl and myself might as well do some "scouting" for prospective locations ...

-2011 also marked the first year since 2001 that I didn't make the trip to NYC ... hoping to make my return on this year's Labor Day weekend ...

-was in a Toys R Us about a week ago and saw vintage Thundercats figures on sale, $25 each, with only Lion-O and Tygra available in the first wave of the series ... kinda steep, but seriously considering it ... speaking of action figures, Wal-Mart has vintage WWF figures on sale, which features an Ultimate Warrior figure (Intercontinental belt included) for $10, now that's more my price range, haven't bought it ... yet ... I guess I'll always be a kid at heart ...

-I thought the previous town I worked in had some racist people, but working in my own "hometown" I feel even more outta place ... I figure I just do the fake office talk and chit-chat with them about the weather as all these Canadian hicks like to do ...

-So Mayweather called Pacquiao personally ... all I have to say is, both guys are prima donnas, they need to get over themselves, sign the contract and cut out their useless middlemen, aka Arum, Koncz, Ellerbe and Haymon ...

TOP GROSSING PPV's of 2011

-If Miguel Cotto and Wrestlemania are outdrawing UFC's top talent (Jon Jones), there is definitely something wrong ... finally, statistical validation to my argument ...

-watched the animated Rio the other day ... not bad, nothing special, good for a one-time watch ... but based on its performance at the box office, I fully expect multiple sequels in the coming years ... in case you're wondering, J-Smooth score 2.5/5 ...

-anyone catch a glimpse of the new Tim Horton's cup sizes? ... what is this? the U.S.? ... I always SMH at the lazy a$$ Canadians that choose to wait 15 minutes in a drive through, when they can get their order in 1/3 of the time by simply walking inside ...

all for now

~J-Smooth~

Favorite Movies from the 80's

2011-12-26T14:46:00.006-05:00

Just downloaded Coming to America onto my iPad ... And thought to myself, damn the 80's were a great era for movies ... The following is my own personal top 10 countdown

10) and 9) Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) - why so low you might ask? ... simply, they fall short of their epic 1977 original ... plus the Spike TV effect has something to do with it

8) The Wizard (1989) - now you're probably thinking "are you outta your mind?! Over Star Wars?!" ... My answer, it's not about filmmaking supriority, it's a subjective list ... I could watch this film over and over because it just takes me back to a simpler time

7) Back to the Future Part 2 (1989) - loved it as a kid but watching it as an adult in pales in comparison to the first

6) Batman (1989) - just set the standard for superhero films and still IMO the best superhero, let alone Batman movie, of all time! ... Yeah I said it!

5) Major League (1989) - probably watched this movie a million times and always has me laughing

4) Beverly Hills Cop (1984) - Eddie Murphy in his prime! First time as a kid experiencing his sarcastic and vulgar type humor had me literally laughing out loud

3) Back to the Future (1985) - just captivated my imagination with a concept that's intrigued me over a lifetime and that's time travel

2) Field of Dreams (1989) - loved it as a kid, appreciated it more as a teenager and today consider it a masterpiece

1) Coming to America (1988) - again Eddie Murphy, but I consider it to be his last moment of comedic greatness ... Downloaded on my tablet for a reason ... fave movie of all time

Damn I miss those days, just enjoying movies without being a critic

~J-Smooth~

2011 post #6 ... Just 6?

2011-12-15T08:59:00.003-05:00

the title says it all ... damn ... on top of all that my first in nearly six months ...

-not the easiest of years for me, most especially in the beginning, losing my grandmother ... one of three that had a hand in raising me ... honestly, inside I don't think I've been the same since ... looking back on it, I was feeling a mixed bag of emotions ... anger for one, for the fact that she was taken from me when there were still a few more things in my life to happen that I wished she lived to see ... sadness another, just knowing that I'd never get a chance to talk to her again and make her laugh like I did many times ... but I will say that it was an honor and a privilege giving her eulogy ... being there for someone that was always there for me, without hesitation or reservation ... I love you Nanay ...

onto less serious matters ...

-the last two movies I've gone to see were Rise of the Planet of the Apes and A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas ... I must say that I was very entertained by both ... Planet of the Apes, puts to bed that terrible 2001 Tim Burton remake ... it was a realistic take on a science fiction concept, dare I say believable ... the character development with the lead 'Ape' Caesar was well done ... the special effects weren't over-the-top either ... 4/5 in my opinion ... I'd rank the third Harold and Kumar somewhere in between the first and second ... had enough funny moments to keep me entertained ... 3/5 ...

-word is that most major record companies will cease CD production by the end of 2012 ... all I can say is that I'm surprised CD's have lasted this long ... I'll probably buy the next Nas album to close out the era ...

-Congrats to Miguel Cotto for exacting his revenge two weeks ago ... for me, by far the most entertaining fight of 2011

-CP3 to the Clippers and possibly Superman to the Nets, gives all parties concerned what they want ... CP and Dwight, join a competitive situation in a "big market", while the NBA saves face by keeping them off the marquee teams (Lakers and Knicks) in those big markets ... the owners' desire/whining for competitive balance is complete BS IMO ... you wanna be competitive? drafting the right guys leads to development, development leads to wins, wins leads to a desirable free agent destination ... it's not that tough a concept ... when Dan Gilbert had LeBron, he wasn't saying sh*t ... now that the Mavs landed Odom for nothing, not a word's coming from Dallas or Mark Cuban ... ahhhh the hypocrisy ...

-2012, looking forward to: another Olympiad ... The Dark Knight Rises, American Reunion ... Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland ... another vacation with BabyGirl ...

-Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all ... thankful for my inner circle, my health and all of God's blessings thus far ...

~J-Smooth~

Summertime Randoms

2011-06-25T08:51:00.003-04:00

-congrats and much love BabyGirl on your milestone accomplishment ... I'm extremely proud of you ... also for getting not one, but two jobs right off the jump ... The place you're in at the moment affirms my position from December '09, I picked a winner ...

-been in serious training mode for the last month and a half ... back to the marathon running ... 10-12 K every morning, yesterday at 4 AM ... I'm loving my new speed bag, I finally got the timing down ... a great compliment to my already great regimen with the weights and heavy bag ... While y'all sleeping, I'm working ... While y'all working, I'm HAM'n ... I've even got BabyGirl doing some pad work ... no word of a lie, she's got fast hands ... my girl gonna kick your a$$es LOL ...

-Prophet and Anthro, I've got a good idea for an app that I'll spin off to you guys when I get the chance ...

-"J make sure you get gas, it's cheap today" ... "How much?" ... "$1.25" ... SMH ... I still remember when it was $0.40 ...

-I was in an Asian convenience store and just needed to break a $20 ... and got the typical response, "you have to buy something" ... that's a "Falling Down" moment right there, just needed a baseball bat ...

-one of the idiots in the Vancouver riots had his address posted on Facebook, subsequently leading to death threats ... then he was on TV shedding tears ... "two wrongs don't make a right" yadda yadda ... but he was asking for it ... trouble doesn't find you, if you don't go looking for it ... maybe you'll think twice the next time you set something on fire you puckhead moron ... zero sympathy ...

-movies? I'm really intrigued by Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Apollo 18 ... I may be convinced into checking out the new Transformers, which is said to be a more mature storyline ... hey being open-minded worked once ie. Fast Five ... although I'm not really interested in Green Lantern, one because I'm not a Ryan Reynolds fan, two I've never been a fan of the character ... if it was The Flash, then we'd have something to talk about, word is that something is in the works ...

-when I'm not kicking Zona's sorry a$$ in NBA 2K11 or Fight Night Champion, I've been on the Batman: Arkham Asylum tip ... I've never been into any nerd games (Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty), but this one is absolutely great ... it combines so many elements: the greatest superhero of all time, detective mode, combat, Bat gadgets ... soooo looking forward to Arkham City, due out this October ...

-Wii U ... meh

-after laughing at Raptor Nation after Thursday's Draft ... I really don't see why everyone's so up in arms, like they're surprised ... but looking at it objectively, would Kemba Walker or Brandon Knight (two combo guards, who'll both need time to develop) really be a huge upgrade over Jerryd Bayless? ... Jonas Valanciunas is from Lithuania, and two past centers that have come from there Ilgauskas and Sabonis were (while not standout) actually capable defenders ... c'mmon, he can't be any worse than Andrea "Primo Pasta and Soze" Bargnani ... call me crazy but the Raptors are not in bad shape moving forward at all ... DeMar DeRozan, mark my words will be a top 5 shooting guard in the league ... I've looked at all the rosters and as far as 2 guards go, the only real standouts are Kobe, D-Wade and maybe Joe Johnson ... as far as young 2 guards, I only see Stephan Curry and DeRozan ... Ed Davis has already shown me that he can be a Jermaine O'Neal/Al Horford type player ... he's got great defensive and rebounding instincts ... he's just got to develop a consistent mid-range J ... DeRozan, Davis and Bayless are nothing to laugh at ...

~J-Smooth~

Soundoff

2011-05-04T19:25:00.003-04:00

-Best show on TV right now? ... The First 48 ... hands down ... just as addictive as TBS Superstation's lineup from a 8 years ago ... The First 48: Missing Persons premieres in June ...

-kinda sad that Smallville ends its run in 10 days ... grew up on that show ... will definitely be tuning into the finale ...

-when the hell are they gonna release the George Lopez sitcom on DVD? ...

-"Justice Served" in Pakistan this week? ... yes it was ... I did feel an emotional connection to the whole 9/11 thing, I was angry too on that day ... but what I saw on the news of American celebrations Sunday night sickened me ... I understand the man was America's Most Wanted, but to celebrate a death? ... very un-Christian-like to me, but they always seem to stick in "God Bless the United States of America" ... respects to Obama and SEAL Team Six for getting the job done ... but America, you "got him", leave it at that ... now they're cautioning Americans about retaliation? ... well, duhhh ...

-Canadian Elections? ... as if Harper wasn't arrogant enough as is, how do you Canadian hicks think he'll be now that he has a majority? ... I've always been a Liberal voter myself, but backed Jack Layton and the NDP this time around ... Layton: right candidate, wrong party ... the Liberal leader is minus a few screws, to put it lightly ... let's face it, the only real swing votes in Canada are Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal ... the parties all have strangleholds in all other regions ...

-gas prices eating 3/4 of my paycheck SMH ... damn, they find any reason in the world to raise prices ... "uh oh a gasline exploded in Siberia, gotta raise gas 3 cents" ...

-Fast Five (review) - I've never caught the other installments in full, maybe half of each of the first three and none of the fourth ... not impressed at all with those I've seen ... but this movie, I really enjoyed ... the action scenes obviously weren't realistic in some aspects but I was entertained by them ... isn't that the whole point of watching a movie? to be entertained, not to be a critic ... plus my boy The Rock was in the film, which was a plus ... disappointed that Eva Mendes and Michelle Rodriguez didn't appear, but, uh well, nahh nevermind ... besides there was enough eyecandy in the movie ... story wasn't the most thought-provoking, but it wasn't bad ... got away from the souped-up ride/poser movie and actually had some substance ... definitely a DVD or Blu-Ray purchase ... score: 4/5

-If you UFC fans were disappointed with the main event at 129, tune in this Saturday for some REAL hand-to-hand combat ... leave it to guys that actually know how to throw proper punches, Pacquiao and Mosley will show you blind "fight fans" how it's done ... oh, GSP non-committal to a Silva fight? LOL ... probably won't happen this year ... what happened to "oh UFC gives fans what they wanna see"? ...

-Kobe gets his 6th ring, while Phil in his swan song gets his 12th and 4th 3-Peat ... just hope they do it against the Heat with LeB!tch James and Chris Foss ... I know Zona wants to see a D-Rose (Bulls) / KD (Thunder) final, but it ain't happening ...

-damn those hackers for knocking down PSN ... put my competition with Zona on hiatus ... luckily I didn't post my credit card number on there ... Obama and SEAL Team Six, you have my permission to find and take out those PSN hackers ... Sony is gonna lose huge from all this, damn ...

~J-Smooth~

Checking In ...

2011-04-11T17:19:00.006-04:00

-major event in my life over the past couple months, which I'll talk about on another day as it's still pretty fresh and still tough to come to terms with ...

-crunch time for me, wost possible time, gotta HAM though ...

-congrats to Octal on his new bundle of joy ...

-miss my Blackberry, sold out to the iPhone 4 ... did it to consolidate all my devices into one, plus I got big discount on the unit (Fido dollars) ... it has it's benefits (ie. file compatibility, camera quality and ahhh yess the apps), but the battery life (or lack thereof) and touch screen give me fits on the daily ...

some movies I've taken in (with scores): ... caught these on plane rides ...

-The Social Network (3.25) actually more enjoyable than I thought
-The Next Three Days (2.5) pretty average, nothing special
-Black Swan (1) boring, messed up
-The Fighter (2.5) really disappointed in it ... maybe I should always ignore the hype, critics
-Faster (2.5) again, nothing special

-looking to take in Red, Machete and King's Speech when I get the chance ...

-nice to see The Rock back in WWF errr WWE ...

-predictions Lakers over the Heat in the Finals (6 games) ... I for some reason see Miami squeaking by the Bulls; and surprise, surprise Pacquiao over Mosley (via KO in 9 rounds) ...

-A Raptor Nation w/o Flop-nani and Frauderon is refreshing ...

-the gym beckons, had Jollibee 4 times and Greenwich pizza twice in the motherland ... lookin to get back to my levels in 2009, mid-2010 ...

-D-Mac doin' what we do: compete ... JSmooth vs Zona in an online gaming competition, NBA 2K11 and Fight Night Champion ... wins are tallied, most by 2011's end gets a free video game ...

-looking forward to a relaxing summer, with BabyGirl obviously, you've truly been a blessing babe ... Anthro should be home for a few weeks, which means kickin' it late nights LOL catch up with you all again when I do ...

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots

2011-01-24T05:09:00.003-05:00

-I said it on Facebook ... Fight Night Champion has been pre-ordered and I'll be serving the community pro bono, so book your appointments now ... If people don't already know it, anything NBA 2K or Fight Night is J-Smooth's domain ...

-I may also be willing to check out WWE All Stars when it comes out ... a more cartoonish take on wrestling video games, but a great roster mashing old and new ... hell, a game featuring Ultimate Warrior, Mr Perfect, Hogan, Rock, Bret, Austin, Undertaker, Andre and for the first time in almost two decades Macho Man Randy Savage, may be worth a look ... and if it's any good, another game to dominate ...

-I also said it on Facebook, He-Man and Ghostbusters have been added to the Teletoon Retro lineup alongside Thundercats and Chipmunks, balance has been restored in the universe ... now I'd be willing to sacrifice chopping G.I. Joe and Transformers (the two most over-rated 80's shows) off the sched, if that means getting Voltron ...

-Still don't see the Lakers losing in this year's finals, with Boston being the only squad with a legit shot of knocking them off ... in Miami's case the biggest thing I saw even from "The Decision" onwards was the lack of cohesion down the stretch of games ... there is a lot of parody in D-Wade and LeFraud's role in end-of-game situations ... trust is a major thing, knowing when to defer, or if/when they trust their other teammates ... Boston's defense is designed to stop the superstar-oriented offense ... just sayin' ...

-I think Pacquiao fighting on Showtime is a great thing ... gives him more exposure to the general public, not that he isn't mainstream already ... plus, the "24/7-style" show CBS is said to be planning should do nothing but boost PPV numbers ... all that bundled with adding Shane Mosley's name to the resume, it's a win-win situation for Pacquiao all-round ...

-There are just not enough hours in the day ...

-If I did have time, I'd check out the local movie theater to watch, in order: The Fighter, Tron: Legacy (in 3D of course) and Black Swan ... maybe on my second Valentine's Day with BabyGirl, I'll get a chance ... second already, damn ...

-finally, one of the best investments I ever made ... I've gone "Beats", thus can never go back ...

~J-Smooth~

Back to my life

2011-01-09T17:18:00.015-05:00

What's good my J-Smooth-a-maniacs?!?! LOL ...

What a Christmas break it was ... eventful, memorable, relaxing, enjoyable all rolled into one ...

-after business was taken care of in December, it was time to head off for sunny skies and warmer weather ... and it was exactly what I needed ... to be able to clear my head ... away from the everyday ... and be away from the seemingly redundant and more recurrent eye-rolling familia gatherings of late ...

-December 22nd, Destination 1: San Diego, California ... a place I've been no stranger to in the past 13 months, my third trip within that span ... of course there were my "must-stops": Jollibee, Maggie Moo's, San Ysidro outlets, Plaza Bonita mall and San Diego Zoo ... I just have to give much credit to Princess and Romeo, because the hospitality was second to none, absolutely more than I could've asked for ... giving me an environment to just relax, without making me feel like an imposition ... much love and thanks to you both ...

Of note

-drove up to LA LA land on "boxing day" with Romeo and had the worst case of itis from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, all I needed was a place to lay down and you could've woken me up a day-and-a-half later LOL ... also hit up the Beverly Center, which didn't feel so "Beverly Hills", they always seem to glam it up more on the small and big screens ... also marked the first time I've ever purchased a basketball shoe (Kobe 7's the Venomenon) on its release date, you can say that was my present to myself ...

-Skype chatted with BabyGirl on Christmas Day ... she's been away in the motherland since December's onset, so I missed her and based on the conversation, she's missed me just as much if not more ... sucks that there was no audio, but I certainly was not complaining about the video, cute as always ...

-December 27th, Destination 2: Phoenix, Arizona ... a return almost 8 years in the making ... can't believe it's been that long ... Zona and AVAD were at the airport waiting for me with smiles and hugs ... great to see them both ... just as in San Diego, the hospitality was great ... Zona and AVAD, thank you both and your mom very much, see you guys again soon ...

Highlights

-there was the relaxation, but spliced with the trademark D-Mac competition ... J-Smooth vs. AVAD in Wii Sports Resort, new record set by yours truly in the 3-Point shootout and a record low by AVAD, nuff said ... then rolling Zona in NBA 2K11, first two games average margin of victory 20, capped of with a brilliant 35-point destruction in the 3rd game finale ... Fight Night Round 4, Zona I have to give you your due ... it took a while to figure you out, but as always, the greats adjust LOL ... that's just a sample of the Fight Night Champion beatdowns you have coming to you LOL ...

-caught the Phoenix Suns game on the 29th against the 76ers, Vince Carter's Suns debut ... I definitely brought the Toronto hate with me ... but my boos were drowned out by the warm Phoenix welcome he got ... finally got to see Steve Nash play live, man his court vision is second to none ... took in the game from our "lower bowl" seats ... Zona "it's what we do" LOL, thanks again for the tix ...

-headed for home on New Year's Eve ... a long time on the road, which included a stopover in Dallas, the terminal layout puts ours to shame for sure ... once I got home from the airport, I had to head back 30 mins later to pick up my parents who were coming home too SMH ... all that probably contributed to my decision to just sleep through the countdown ...

-I thought the holidays were over at that point, but boy was I wrong ... they were just getting started ... I had another week off ... SupermAnthro was in town, which can be described as eventful ... hung out with him almost ever other day this past week, including the past three ... threw back some Sonny's and ran some Super Street Fighter 4 (can you say throwback to 1994, settling disputes via 2D stages and fireballs) ...

-this past week also included dinner with the Newman fraternity ... never a dull conversation ...

-over the past week I spent more time in downtown Toronto (four nights, past three) than I did all of 2010 combined ... nights where SupermAnthro has really lived up to the billing ... it's like seeing the fruits of your labor, knowing I had some measure of influence in building the legend ... SupermAnthro is Durant to J-Smooth's Kobe ... "we're just on a different level homie" ...

-J-Smooth is usually perceived as open-book ... but onto something more ambiguous, but explained as best as I know how ... For all of 2010, I've been going through my life like being champion ... became recognized in the mainstream as champion and the best in the world on a fateful December night just like another Pinoy pugilist ... since then there have been challenges, as a result of being champion, because there are potential opponents that always wanna try and knock you off ... however, there has been no opponent that has been able to get to me, inside the ring or out, because I've had one goal in mind and that's legacy ... I've walked right through their best punches, uppercuts, hooks without even flinching ... but then along came this one opponent in particular, who had a lot of advantages ... and in this match, I went chin first into a punch that I never saw coming and I got buckled ... those are the punches that can potentially hurt, change the course of a fight, the ones that you don't see ... there comes a point in every champion's career where they are tested, a gut check, and have to dig deep and see just how much heart they have ... so when I got buzzed by this punch, it made me stop and think (so much so that I'm doing an entry about it), what do I do? ... I could simply use the ring and run, but what does that make me? nobody respects a coward, fans don't either ... stand and trade toe-to-toe? but after being buzzed, the next clean shot could send me to the canvas ... now I've been knocked down and even lost before, but losing in this situation would definitely hurt legacy and cost me my title ... I've acomplished enough in my career to not take any unnecessary risks by trading shots in hopes of scoring an unlikely knockout of my opponent in this situation ... the prospect of another signature highlight didn't outweigh the potential damage I could sustain just to get it ... sure I could trade shots to please the fans, but is it worth risking my status as champion or damaging my career for that reason alone? ... the outcome? ... I used my head, I was smart in the ring, made the necessary adjustments and used my skills ... worked behind the feints, head movement, jab and body shots, traded when necessary, but most importantly boxed intelligently keeping that distance ... I got through that fight, weathered the storm, legacy intact, still champion, but I have to admit touched up a bit ... what happens now? well like the entry title says, I go back to my life, which is a great thing, because I love being champion ... but with the memory of this fight and as a result smarter on how to handle adversity ...

~J-Smooth~

J-Smooth overdue

2010-11-25T08:18:00.002-05:00

I thought before I hit the books for the umpteeth time in the past few months, for the hell of it, check back into blogger ... I know I left the fans heartbroken in my absence ... what's J-Smooth been up to and where's his head at ...

-I never thought I'd enjoy school as much as I am now ... havin' fun doing it ... sure, the workload is there, just comes with the territory, but I can honestly say that I haven't enjoyed school this much since 3rd grade ... why? ... the material is completely relevant and applicable to real life and it's great to get clarity on some questions that have always intrigued me ... the human body is a complex, yet facinating thing ... I've always believed that if you know "WHY", you'll always be one step ahead ...

-some of the knowledge I've gained can be applied to my workouts/training regimen ... the nutritional and biophysical aspects are things I had a general knowledge of already, but to actually get the nuts and bolts of it all, breaking it down into the little pieces just completes the puzzle ... speaking of workouts, I can't lie and say it hasn't been tough getting a regular training routine, given my schedule is so hectic and staggered ...

-a week or so ago, there was "Facebook: trim the friend fat day" ... been there, done that with my Facebook friendlist cleanups ... I'm proudly down to 160 or so, which I'd like to get down to 125 ... I mean how many people really have 500-600 friends, I mean c'mmon ... absolute garbage ... I've all but eliminated the annoying people off my list ... three things that would save people from cuts on my list ... 1) do I need to contact you for any reason, 2) do I care what you're doing in your life, 3) do I want you to know what's going on in mine ... but there are the exceptions of course, people you can't cut, just 'cause ie. family ...

-speaking of Facebook and family ... I had a status update up ... "Mom: 'J, you're so anti-social' ... Me: 'Actually, I'm selectively social'" ... the context was that since my parents and BabyGirl are all gone for the holidays (more on that later), if I stay here, I said I wouldn't go to our family gathering ... then the "anti-social" thing was brought up ... lately at all our family gatherings, certain people in familia and some in it by marriage, just sit around the table and just brag about material and superficial sh*t ... I'm not down with that ... I can't say that I'm not guilty of that years ago, but over the past few years I've made it a point to never brag about material things ... because my belief is that God can easily take them away ... now myself, casting stones at "braggers" may seem like "the pot calling the kettle black", but there is a distinction, I'll brag about what I can do and what I am, but not about what I have ... the way I see it, you can buy the latest in electronics, fashion or whatever, but in a month or so, someone will have something else better than yours, so what's the point?

-can't do an entry without talking boxing ... c'mmon now, had to know this was coming ... Manny Pacquiao G.O.A.T., Floyd or no Floyd ... doubters can say what they want, but I've been saying Manny's the best since '06 ... people laughed at me back then when I said he'd take out everyone ... now look where he's at, dominating warriors like Cotto and Margarito ... 8 titles in 8 weight classes, that record will never be touched ... I'd like to see Manny finish off by taking out Floyd (if he doesn't go to prison), then Sergio Martinez, who absolutely destroyed Paul Williams with that vicious left hook ... victories over Mayweather and Martinez should eradicate the non-believers ...

-basketball ... I'll say it again, barring injury, nobody is beating the Lakers ... Miami Thrice might be getting the ink, but Kobe and the Lake Show are all about winning ... oh, switching over, the Raptors' addition of Jerryd Bayless (another guy I've been hyping from time) will make them the most exciting lottery team in the league ...

-have been outta the movie scene for a while, but nothing's piqued my interest to get up and hit the theaters or local Blockbuster ... I was thinkin' Skyline, but then again, maybe not ...

-Christmas comin' up ... parents are leaving for the homeland for the entire month of December, unfortunately so is BabyGirl ... no worries, tentatively I may be headed for some sunshine myself, possibly San Diego with my sis for Christmas and then Phoenix with Zona and AVAD for New Year's ...

-speaking of Zona ... we take the rivalry virtual, as he's upped and got his PS3 finally ... NBA 2K11 and the upcoming Fight Night Champion will be where we settle disputes ... I've been steamrolling the competition in 2K11 up to now, my margin of victory has been an average of I'd say 15-20 points ... anyone want it, I'm not hard to find ...

-any downtime I've had has been spent on a couple things ... first, videogames and not much mind you, maybe 30-45 mins total a week ... running mostly EA Sports NBA Jam and Donkey Kong Country Returns, both on Wii ... never really liked Donkey Kong on SNES, but it's fun now ...

-rest of my free time is spent with BabyGirl, who I'm closing in with on one year ... less than a month 'til the anniversary of that fateful day last December ... honestly, it's really a special situation, being with someone that complements me so well ... I mean, sharing the same values with someone as well as common interests ... we watch ball and boxing together, run video games ... and our individual goals are pointed in the same direction ... I have to say that I consider myself blessed and I love you Baby Girl ...

that should be enough for my fans to chew on for the next little bit ... don't know when I'll be back on this, but no blogger obituary yet ...

~J-Smooth~

Westside Wedding Story

2010-08-13T10:42:00.010-04:00

recapping my trip to San Diego and Las Vegas

Wed July 28
-BabyGirl and myself were really excited as it was our first trip together
-arrived in San Diego around 7 local time
-dad told me that everyone was stressed preparing for my sis, Princess' wedding
-arriving at Princess' place, it felt like I'd never left, boy how time flies
-realized how much I missed her dog Mason, who I had a present for, a stuffed basketball
-my cousins from Phoenix, AVAD and Zona, were there too
-myself and Zona had a good laugh about the 6-Pack competition and our Facebook trash talk
-went to In and Out Burgers for dinner, haven't had them since 2003 in Phoenix, let the unhealthy eating begin
-my parents, AVAD, BabyGirl and myself stayed at my aunt's house, whom I haven't seen since 1993 (talk about old school)
-they made some major renovations to their home, expanded it, felt like we were staying at a resort

Thurs July 29
-early morning start
-went to Princess' place to help with the rehearsal and dinner for later
-took a walk around the area with BabyGirl, to check out the Best Buy and Mission Valley Mall
-nearly got into a fight with some white dude that got mouthy with BabyGirl, I was positioning myself to shove him, but luckily my conscience kicked in after seeing his 5 year old kid with him
-went to Maggie Moo's Ice Cream and got BabyGirl her first taste of cinnamon ice cream, she loved it
-after lunch, Romeo (brother-in-law to be) drove myself and BabyGirl to San Diego Zoo
-this was something I've been waiting for, my first chance to see a live panda
-San Diego's Zoo destroys Toronto's, it's not even close
-gave BabyGirl her first sample of churros, loved them too, I haven't had them since '93
-after much walking I finally got my look at a baby panda, sleeping in a tree, but no complaints from me
-there was this long-a$ lineup to see the other pandas, so we didn't bother
-we got tired of walking so we ended up taking the tourbus for the last hour
-the beauty of San Diego Zoo is that it's situated in the same park (Balboa Park) as where the wedding and reception would be held on Saturday, just on the other side, so after we were done at the zoo, it was a 5 minute walk across the park to the location of the rehearsal
-when we got to the location in the park, Prado, we ran into my other family from Toronto
-again how time flies, 8 months before I was scouting this location with my Princess, now the day was almost here
-rehearsals went off smoothly without a hitch
-the dinner was a nice little intimate event back at Princess' appartment complex
-played pool and got into a surprising convo wit my sis' friend's fiancee, a white dude who's a big time hip hop fan, who goes way back further than me, he's also a throwback basketball fan and boxing fan, it's like him and myself were cut from the same cloth, proof positive that you never know who you're gonna meet, people just catch you by surprise sometimes

Fri July 30
-this was left as a free/open day to relax
-went back to Princess' appartment complex, while my uncles from Phoenix, The Philippines and Toronto just arrived in San Diego, introduced them to BabyGirl
-took BabyGirl, AVAD and Zona for ice cream, BabyGirl needed her second helping of cinnamon ice cream LOL
-SIX-PACK CHALLENGE
-myself, Princess, Young Flash and a few others went outside and walked around to find 5 random people/votes to settle this
-Young Flash took the first vote, Princess took the next two, Young Flashed bounced back with the fourth vote
-It all came down to the final vote, I got it on film too, Princess escaped with the victory
-SIX-PACK CHALLENGE RESULTS: 1st) Princess, 2nd) Young Flash, 3rd) J-Smooth
-my familia from Phoenix along with BabyGirl and myself decided to do some shopping that afternoon in San Ysidro, an outlet mall right on the U.S./Mexican border, great deals as always
-went to Jollibee for dinner WOOOOOO

Sat July 31
-Wedding Day!!!!!!!
-got up early to get ready
-BabyGirl and myself looked fresh in our wedding attire
-arrival at Prado in Balboa Park, of course pix were being taken everywhere we walked
-it was nice seeing familia that I haven't seen in years, some even more than a decade
-before the ceremony I was taking some video
-there was already talk about myself being the next one, whoa whoa whoa, my response "can we just enjoy this one first?" LOL
-ceremony went off without a hitch either, no major delays, the most beautiful ceremony I've been to and I'm not being biased
-during the ceremony, I have to confess I wasn't really paying much attention, I was taking in the atmosphere, the scenery, the crowd, my parents' reactions, the emotion on the faces of the bride and groom
-I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a little, good thing I kept my GQ shades on LOL
-the only annoying part of the day was the photo-taking, doing various poses, but I expected that
-myself and BabyGirl wanted to catch a nap before the reception, but we were forced to hang out at the hotel where most of the familia was staying
-uncle joked that when we got to Vegas, he'd take BabyGirl and myself to the drive-in wedding chapel LOL
-the reception was beautiful too
-everyone congregated outside the reception hall for drinks and appetizers, this is where the best photo-ops were, made me feel like a Hollywood star with all the cameras going off at all angles, a simple pose with Princess had 6-8 cameras going off at a time, but J-Smooth is always accommodating to his fans LOL
-Open Bar!!! ... 2 glasses of wine, 6 beers and 3 shots, final count for the night and still not tipsy, super high tolerance, and that's after staying clean for more than a year, no rest and being hungry
-best reception I've been to as well, no long drawn out speeches, no long boring program, everything worked like clockwork, dinner started at 7 dance floor was opened up by quarter to 9
-the food was by far the best I've ever had at a wedding, had the steak and fillet mignon, oh man, heaven!, steak was tender and juicy, perfection!!!
-best wedding cake I've ever had too, apparently the bakers are the best in San Diego according to Princess
-only critique I can make is the DJ, played good songs but didn't run proper sets, but it certainly didn't take away because for the most part people were dancing
-Best Wedding EVER!!! hands down

Sun Aug 1
-departure date from San Diego
-said our goodbyes to my aunt and uncle, and said our thank yous for their above-and-beyond hospitality, hopefully it's not another 17 years until I see them again
-before leaving BabyGirl and myself made a pitstop to Mission Beach, too bad we didn't have enough time to go swimming
-last pitstop was to Princess and Romeo's apartment to say goodbye to them and Mason, I love you all

-VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!
-took the freeway, which was a straight shot from San Diego to Vegas
-on the way we were 5 seconds away from being killed, (my parents, BabyGirl and myself), a pickup truck swerved across all the lanes ahead, went into the ditch, hit the guardrail/fence and flipped over, if we'd been 5 seconds earlier we would've been T-boned, luckily we didn't get hit then or when the pickup bounced off the fence, someone up there is watching over us I'm telling you
-arrived at my uncle's house in Vegas, beautiful house, HUGE! pool and ping pong table in the game room upstairs!
-AVAD and BabyGirl were sleeping on an air-mattress on one side of the game room while Zona and myself were on the floor on the opposite side, Prank Time!
-I crawled on the floor then snuck up from behind the two girls to scare them LOL, which then sparked a late-night pillow battle, "way to act your age J" LOL

Mon Aug 2
-photo-ops at Red Rock canyon, a place I liken to Sedona in Arizona
-the Nevada heat was crazy, I estimate +40C
-got in more shopping at the outlet malls in Vegas, even more deals
-we were supposed to stay at the MGM Grand that night, but plans fell through, boooo
-at night, took the long walk on the strip with BabyGirl, AVAD and Zona
-plenty of photos taken
-my legs were killing me by the end of it all

Tues Aug 3
-swimming at MGM Grand pool
-said goodbye to AVAD who was flying out that night
-walked around some more to the M&M Factory, had the best ice cream cookie sandwich ever!
-at the end of the night, played Wii with Zona, won some, lost some and set a record which I dare AVAD to match
-packed to go home

Wed Aug 4
-6AM flight home, ughhhhh!!!
-tired as hell and didn't want to go back

This trip wasn't long enough at all, but by far the best one I've ever been on ... pretty much confirms that the States is where I want to settle down ...

~J-Smooth~

B-Day; Movie Reviews incl. Inception

2010-07-28T09:51:00.006-04:00

Awesome Birthday this year ... spent the day with and was spoiled by Baby Girl ... grabbed a couple of Philly Cheesesteaks for lunch, caught Inception (more on that later) and kept tradition with dinner at Swiss Chalet with Baby Girl and my parents ... best birthday of the last 10 years hands down ...

The Book of Eli - starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis ... caught this on DVD ... post-apocalyptic event wasn't clear or fully explained, which I thought was good because it didn't matter ... acting quality was never in doubt with Denzel and Oldman ... both solid as usual ... fight scenes were awesome, never envisioned Denzel in those kind of battles ... top it all off, the choreographed fights were the Pinoy martial art of Arnis, points for that LOL ... Mila Kunis, not really a fan of hers, but she did the job with the "eye-candy" role ... never a dull moment in the movie ... really enjoyed the religious aspect of it ... and finally a plot twist that I didn't expect ... overall, a solid movie which I really enjoyed ... definitely a DVD purchase ... score: 4-4.25/5

Toy Story 3 - saw this at the theater with Baby Girl ... I was already in high school when the original came out, so there wasn't that nostalgic childhood feel to it ... not much to say, except that I enjoyed it more than the first two ... it was kind of predictable, but wasn't boring at all ... a good conclusion to the series ... there was a heartwarming moment at the movie's conclusion, one which made me want to take out my childhood toys LOL ... score: 3/5

Inception - directed by: Christopher Nolan, starring: Leonardo DiCaprio ... the hype is what drew me to watch this movie, so I'm guilty there ... but after seeing it, I was left with the same feeling after watching The Dark Knight ... both films, I heard people saying "G.O.A.T.", but honestly they were good, but far from ... evaluating Inception on its own merit, we've seen the concept before already in The Matrix ... like I said on Facebook, Inception is "The Matrix on crack" ... it was easy to follow ... but, there were a couple plot points that were left unresolved and I'm not talking about the ending at all (that was fine the way it was) ... the acting was fine, nothing that bothered me ... special effects were good, but nothing I was awestruck with ... final thoughts, I guess I was just disappointed because I listened to the hype ... like The Dark Knight, I will withhold on the score until I see the movie again ...

anyway, myself, Baby Girl and mi familia are off to San Diego for Princess and Romeo's wedding ... I've been looking forward to this for 10 months since Tatsu and Carteron's crappy-a$$ wedding ... afterwards we'll be spending a couple days in Las Vegas ... always great spending time with familia ... Toronto, I won't miss you at all ... hey, maybe I'll luck out in Sin City so I won't have to come back ... then I'll call into work rich and tell my boss "I'm rich b!atch!!!" ...

~J-Smooth~

The Three Am-Egos; Kobe's Legacy

2010-07-22T13:23:00.007-04:00

I know I'm very late on this, but I wanted to give my dissertation on The Miami Heat, a.k.a. The N.W.O. a.k.a. Miami Thrice or what I call them, The Three Am-Egos ...

First off, Chris Bosh ... I don't blame him one bit for leaving Toronto ... 7 years, two playoff series appearances, three playoff wins and missing the playoffs last year despite career averages ... This incarnation of the Toronto Raptors couldn't win even with Bosh, so time to move on ... but it's just funny how he's enjoying his new found fame ... presenting awards at the ESPY's, talk show appearances and caught by TMZ getting into a limo with a bunch of ho's ... good for him ...

Dwyane Wade ... two major free agent signings and all of a sudden he's Floyd Mayweather, his mouth won't stop running ... calling The Three Am-Egos the greatest trio of all time and saying road teams can thank them now for selling out their buildings when the Heat come to town ... my opinion of this guy has done a complete 180 ... last time I checked, himself, LeBron and Bosh have one ring between them and The Lakers have been selling out on the road for years before ... Wade's career hit its apex in The 2006 Finals ... the NBA is about "what have you done for me lately?" ... re: Wade, all I can think of since '06 is the Varejao dunk ...

LeBron James' b!tch move to South Beach ends the Kobe Bryant debate once and for all, he's not on Kobe's level, let alone Michael Jordan's ... People can criticize his one-hour special on ESPN, but they still watched, myself included ... but all LeBron accomplished is finally opening everyone's eyes on how much of an egomaniac he is ...

Collectively what did The Three Am-Egos accomplish? ... one, they created a new set of villains for the NBA, which IMO is good for business and good for television ... and two, they turned Kobe Bryant into a bigger hero than he already is ... let's be honest, barring injury, the 2011 NBA Finals will be Lakers/Heat, no question ... Chris Paul potentially teaming with Dwight Howard in Orlando could make things interesting, but at the end of the day the eyes of the basketball world in June of 2011 will be on Hollywood and South Beach ...

Onto Kobe Bryant's legacy ... I've stated before, 7 NBA Titles and the all-time scoring title would put him Top 3 of all-time in my book ... right now, I can honestly say he's Top 5 ... a couple weeks ago I got into a bit of a heated argument with my cousin Tatsu's husband Carteron ... He's saying Kobe's better than Jordan this and that ... now Carteron is a f*cking idiot, he sounds/looks stupid talking about ball as much as he does playing it ... he was still rocking his Vince Carter jersey until '08 and thinks Jose Frauderon is a starting caliber point guard ... but my argument was simple and two-fold ... level of competition and accomplishment ...
Jordan went through the Celtics, Pistons, Sixers, Knicks, Lakers, Blazers then later Magic, Sonics and Jazz ... Kobe IMO beat one tough team and that's this year's Celtics, an aging team nonetheless which still took 7 games ... now accomplishment ... MJ: 6 titles, 5 MVP's, 10 scoring titles, 3 steals titles ... Kobe: 5 titles, 1 MVP, 2 scoring titles, BUT he lost twice in the Finals ... hmmmm, geee that's a tough comparison LOL ...

Now Carteron did ask me "what would it take [for me] to consider Kobe better than Jordan?" ... nothing ... Kobe can get the all-time scoring title, which is not unrealistic, 5 more seasons of avergaing 25 will get it done ... BUT, Kobe started playing outta high school, Jordan went to UNC for three years and retired twice ... Kobe can win more rings, but again Jordan retired twice ... prime Jordan wouldn't have lost to the back-to-back champion Rockets and The Bulls could've won a couple more titles if Jerry Krause didn't break them up ...

Finally, Kobe had the better supporting cast, no question ... Jordan had Pippen and Rodman, but the rest were a bunch of Joe Blows, meaning they could've been anyone ... Kobe has Gasol, Odom, Artest, Bynum and Fisher (who IMO is 100x better than Ron Harper and Steve Kerr) ... now all Kobe nuthuggers have to admit, that if the Lakers lost to the Celtics in this years Game 7, they wouldn't have any ammunition in their "Kobe is better than MJ" argument ... so basically, Game 7 in their eyes defines Kobe's legacy ... but what happened in that game? ... didn't Kobe shoot 6-24? meaning he was a non-factor on the offensive end ... on top of that, if either Gasol or Artest didn't play as well as they did, the Lakers lose that game ...

To all the Kobe fans (I'm one of them BTW) at the end of the day there's nothing wrong with second best ...

A couple parting shots to my former team, The Toronto Raptors ... MJ was 100% right in c*ckblocking Frauderon/Evans for Chandler/Diaw, that was highway robbery ... anyway, no chance in hell if they're rolling with "Il Mago" and "The Young Guns" ... although, I do like Demar DeRozan and Ed Davis ... DeRozan can be a 20 ppg scorer, while Davis can be a 15 ppg/10 rpg guy ... but they'd need a better coach and a great point guard (ala Steve Nash/Jason Kidd) to just be a middle-of-the-pack team ... 2011 hello lottery ... again ...

~J-Smooth~

Don't call it a comeback

2010-06-17T18:09:00.010-04:00

"When was the last time you heard your boy [Smooth] rhyme? Never on schedule, but always on time"

Simply put, my fans were due, so here we go

In my opinion, tonight is the single most important game of the last 10 years in the NBA ... call it what you want: legacy-defining, classic, throwback ... I said it on Facebook, that this will define the careers of Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett ... for Kobe, he's trying to reach the rarefied "airness", which many will argue for years to come, but a win tonight would give him a legit case to be considered up there ... for me, a win tonight, plus a couple more titles and the all-time scoring title would put him Top 3 for sure ... for KG, it will distinguish him from a one-hit-wonder and a winner ... a win this year means that they've beat the best that the NBA has to offer ... if they lose, it'll probably be KG's last opportunity as the Celtics will almost certainly be broken up ...

oh and check out an entry from October ... maybe they should call me prophet ... disregarding the last paragraph of course LOL ...

On the May 2-4 Weekend, BabyGirl and myself spent the day in downtown Toronto ... good eats at Lone Star, shopping on Queen Street and caught Just Wright (starring Queen Latifa and Common) at Scotiabank Theater ... a mini-review:

-Essentially it was a Romantic-Comedy with Rappers and Ballers
-Common wasn't as bad an actor as I was expecting
-Kinda predictable
-Rolled my eyes over the adversity the main couple had to overcome
-What saved it for me: it was about ball, Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade's cameos (two of my fave players) and eye-candy Paula Patton
-Would I watch it again? yeah why not
-Would I recommend to anyone? not to the haters LOL
-DVD purchase? yeah when it hits Wal-Mart's 2-for-10 bin
-Score: 2.25/5

If 2009 was about NES revivals (Punch-Out!! and New Super Mario Bros. Wii), then 2010 is about the SNES remakes ... The Wii-exclusive EA Sports NBA Jam was already announced earlier this year, but at E3 2010 Nintendo introduced Donkey Kong Country Returns ... I'll be busy taking care of some business this fall, but come Christmas Holidays, I know how my time's gonna be spent ... also from E3, Mario Sports Mix looks promising, but it won't be released until 2011 ... Thank You Again Nintendo! ... the only run my PlayStation 3 is getting right now is Super Street Fighter 4 ... but, I am looking forward to NBA 2K11, when The G.O.A.T. graces the cover and word is that legendary rosters including "his airness" will be part of the game ... imagine the possibilities ... Jordan, Pippen and Rodman destroying the current NBA, LOL ... if EA Sports keeps its word, Fight Night Round 5 should be out in 2011 ... only 2 requests: 1) drop ESPN and get HBO, it doesn't feel right without Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant making the call, 2) same rosters + Floyd Mayweather ...

speaking of which, I know in my heart that "The Biggest Fight of All-Time" will go down this year ... after that, my lifetime as a sports fan will be complete ... I've seen Tyson, the Jays win back-to-back, Jordan's Bulls dominate, tonight's Lakers/Celtics Game 7, so Pacquiao/Mayweather would be icing on the cake ...

"Until next time, take care of yourself and each other"

~J-Smooth~

The Rebuttal

2010-05-16T10:10:00.004-04:00

Subtle Proph', real subtle, I wonder who you were calling out LMAO ...

but you know J-Smooth doesn't back down from debate ...

Alicia Keys Vs. Mariah Carey

In response to: Black Prophet's evaluation

-I agree with 5 classic albums in 6 years for Mariah
-Butterfly was OK
-BUT, like I've said many times before, the Mariah Carey I know, I haven't seen her since 1997, in other words, she hasn't put out anything relevant since then ... the rest of those albums were complete trash
-thus, in terms of longevity and legacy, Mariah's "run" lasted 6 years and to use Black Prophet's logic, bad albums ruin legacy ... (***cough, cough*** Mobb Deep, GZA)
-with regards to Alicia Keys, Songs In A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys were indeed classics, agreed!
-while As I Am and The Element of Freedom just missed hitting the levels of her previous two, I still consider them to be GREAT albums, for the simple fact that Alicia blows her contemporaries away
-So to sum up my rebuttal: Mariah 5 classics in 6 years, with her "run" ended in 1997; Alicia 2 classics, 2 greats in 8 years, still at the top of the game, with plenty more still ahead
-My comparison doesn't end with the quality of albums, I consider other factors
-Aesthetically, pre-97 Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys are pretty much even, Mariah has crazy range in her voice and can hit notes normal people can only dream about, but Alicia Keys has an amazing raw tone and her transitions between notes are second-to-none
-like I've said before, "plats" don't lie ... Mariah takes that hands down, but for argument's sake, I can say that her "pop" genre is why her albums went platinum in the first place ... Alicia's soul/R&B genre is more of a fringe audience/fanbase ... so in that case, it's like comparing Michael Jackson to Nas
-who's better?, I say Alicia, but time will tell and Mariah's clearly ended over a decade ago

-Mary J. Blige ... only the first two were classics, the next two were just OK to me ... talent-wise she can hang, but doesn't have the accomplishments or longevity to be considered up there ...

~J-Smooth~

The Stage Is Set

2010-05-02T12:39:00.004-04:00

November 14th, 2009 ... Miguel Cotto one and done ... March 13th, 2010 ... Joshua Clottey one and done ... May 1st, 2010 ... Shane Mosley one and done ... no more build-up/tune-up fights, no more excuses ... the welterweight division has been cleaned out and only two are left standing ... Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and Floyd "Money" Mayweather ... Andre Berto and Paul Williams have the credibility but lack on the resume, while Antonio Margarito disgraced himself and lost all credibility in January '09 ...

of course the biggest issue and seemingly the only stumbling block has been the Mayweather demand of Olympic-style drug testing ... all bias aside, my biggest argument is if Floyd felt so strongly about his "cleaning up boxing" campaign, why now, demand this type of testing? ... why didn't he ask for it for the Marquez fight last September or anytime before that? ... I'll leave that open to speculation ... I know for a fact, people react differently to blood tests ... like myself for example, my arm feels sore for a couple days, other people I know pass out ... and for a combat sport, a fighter needs to be 100% ... besides, the Nevada State Boxing Commission as far as I know performs drug tests immediately after each fight, and boxers have been busted for that before ... If Pacquiao was on something, how come he's never tested positive once for anything? ...

Dear Manny and Floyd, get to the negotiating table and get this thing signed ... I can picture the pre-fight press tour, HBO 24/7 and weigh-in already ... here's to hoping that this fight gets done and we can settle the debate once and for all on who is the best ...

~J-Smooth~

Training Tracklist

2010-04-29T22:48:00.002-04:00

What is J-Smooth listening to while he kills it in training?

1. 'Till I Collapse - Eminem
2. John Blaze - Fat Joe
3. Made You Look - Nas
4. N.Y. State of Mind - Nas
5. Bring the Pain - Method Man
6. Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
7. Hero - Nas
8. Jigga What/Faint - Jay-Z & Linkin Park
9. Whatchu Want - Notorious B.I.G. feat. Jay-Z
10. It's Okay (One Blood) - The Game
11. Breathe - Fabolous

~J-Smooth~

Catching up with J-Smooth

2010-04-19T08:32:00.006-04:00

-First thing's first ... Happy 4 months BabyGirl ... everything up 'til now has been 100x better than I could've envisioned ... so many things to look forward to this summer and further into the future ... I love you ...

-A couple weeks ago I said goodbye to an old friend ... was with me through many stages in my life ... some for the good, some for the bad ... but has always been reliable and never wavered ... you will be missed ... hopefully, your successor will serve me just as well ...

-received the news in the mail a few weeks ago that come September I will begin the steps to my career ... as I've learned over the past few years there is a BIG distinction between a "job" and a "profession" ... caught my big break and as far as growth potential, the sky's the limit ...

other randoms ...

-my apologies to my bro Black Prophet ... I picked up the track jacket ... my boy works at Champs and sold it to me at a price I couldn't refuse ...

-Avatar is set for release this Thursday!!! ... like I said before, a Blu-Ray purchase for sure ... Blu-Ray count will be at 2

-Super Street Fighter 4 will be coming out next Tuesday ... still debating whether I should pre-order a copy ... but I will be getting it at EB Games, they're selling it at $39.99 which is more than a bargain for a new game ... new game, means new rivalries ... the beauty of this game is I'm undefeated right now ...

-love Tele-toon Retro for bringing back the Thundercats ... just bring back He-Man and Voltron then it's perfect ...

-Mayweather/Mosley in just under a couple of weeks ... "Who R U Picking?" ... I stand by my original prediction of Money May via a decision ... I just think that Mosley, despite his great showing versus Antonio Margarito, will be just a step slow, given his age and 16-month layoff ...

-finally, I know I have two/three serious competitors in the 6-Pack Challenge, and I know I have to bring my A-Game to beat my sis Princess and my cousin Young Flash ... there's another supposed competitor that wants to shut me up, but guess what, people in the familia don't even know he's in it ... I'm wondering if it's possible to listen to Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and get pumped for a workout, LOL ... the familia really needs our own 24/7 show to cover the pre-competition training, best quote so far: when Young Flash was asked what are Zona's chances of winning? his response "hahahahaha ... zero" ... his aside from that, really looking forward to Princess' wedding in July ...

~J-Smooth~

Boldly Went ... But Never Again

2010-04-08T17:42:00.004-04:00

Star Trek - starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto ... I'll start off by saying, that's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back ... after a lifetime of vowing not to watch any incarnation of Star Trek, I was contractually obligated to do so this time around ... I was told that this particular incarnation was intended to appease the non-Trekkies ... well, mission not accomplished ... let's get this over with ...

1) as far as the actual background behind the story, I was already somewhat familiar, because the names Captain Kirk and Spock are as iconic as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo ... anyway, so this movie deals with the origins of Kirk and Spock and how they got to serving on the Enterprise ... ***yawn*** ... I will give this film some credit, because unlike the original show and The Next Generation this was a lot easier to follow/understand ... but portraying Kirk as an irresponsible young man, destined to become Captain, is not really an original concept ... so thumbs down to that ...

2) the only Hollywood face I recognized in this movie was the captain of the Enterprise who precedes Kirk (the villain from Double Jeopardy) ... sad ... already struggling to keep my attention, this movie couldn't even do one thing right by putting in some "eye candy" ... Spock's girl was nasty ... yeah and that really makes sense, a guy with no emotion having a girlfriend, pshhhh ...

3) didn't really care for the special effects, like the battle between the Romulans and the Enterprise in the beginning of the movie, or the destruction of planet Vulcan ... maybe 3D could've done it some justice ...

4) now being a fan of the time travel concept ... the inclusion of this element should've intrigued me ... but unfortunately it didn't ... because in every movie that includes time travel, it serves a purpose ... thinking about this movie in hindsight, the time travel served no purpose at all ... as the older Spock explained, Kirk and Spock were already great friends in the alternate timeline ... so the purpose of this time-travel was what? my guess ... so Kirk and Spock could learn to become friends ... ughhhhh SMH ...

5) which ties into my final point about the ending ... so the moral of the story was what? ... to paraphrase what older Spock said, something along the lines of for Kirk and Spock to learn what they can accomplish if they work together SMH ... completely cheesy in my opinion ... which capped off a complete waste of my time ...

worst movie of all-time? ... close, but not quite Lost in Translation or House of the Flying Daggers ... what saved it was that the plot was basic and easy to follow, considering it was Star Trek ... score 0.1/5

~J-Smooth~

More Movie Reviews

2010-02-28T07:29:00.007-05:00

this week I caught up on two movies that I was looking to watch ...

The Time Traveler's Wife - starring: Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams ... now the haters can say "soft!" or "chick flick" ... but ever since I was a kid watching Back to the Future, I've been fascinated with the concept of time travel ... so watching this movie was a no-brainer for me ... now the generic chick flick formula is: guy meets girl, guy gets girl, relationship is tested, ultimately end up together ... now in this film, the guy got with and married the girl right away, complete departure from the "formula" ... the movie centers around Bana's character's uncontrollable ability to time travel and the hinderences on his marriage with McAdams' character ... my only complaint about the movie is that a couple of characters that were explicity stated to be "important" figures were merely bystanders, honestly served no purpose at all to me ... but all-in-all, the movie had elements that had the same feel as Field of Dreams and Phenomenon, two movies I loved ... on top of that, one of the scenes in this movie was filmed right in front of one of my university classrooms, which was cool ... score: 4/5

Law Abiding Citizen - starring: Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler ... my thoughts before watching this movie ... 1) a lot of hype, had people buzzing and 2) I'm not a fan of Jamie Foxx and I'm not familiar with Gerard Butler ... well watching this movie, all that got thrown out the window ... this film was just brilliantly done ... Butler's character was what made the movie for me, the quintessential villain ... had a full grip on the question of morality ... a psycho, who had full right to be, but extremely intelligent at the same time, always one step ahead ... had me saying to myself, "how do you out-think an intelligent psycho?" ... so when the movie hit its climax, I had the same expression on my face that Butler's character did ... "brilliant!" ... only a minor complaint ... there were a couple scenes that I saw coming from a mile away, but it didn't take away from the film at all ... score: 4.25/5

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review - Avatar

2010-02-20T06:13:00.006-05:00

went to see Avatar 3D with my BabyGirl last night (our first movie together surprisingly) ... FINALLY!!! ... no lineups, no crowds ... after all the hype, I can honestly say that the movie far surpassed my expectations ... I'm sure the critics will chime in and say, "if it wasn't 3D, you wouldn't be saying it was that good" ... or as I got on Facebook, "it's just Pocahontas with blue people" ... well, a good movie should be able to have your attention from the jump ... yes the 3D was nice, because it was different, but that's not what kept my attention ... and I never saw Pocahontas, so I can't criticize this movie for that ... there aren't many movies that come out nowadays with an "original" concept ... there will always be elements where, "I've seen that already" ... but, it's just the way it was done in Avatar that made it special ... nothing over-the-top or cheesy, just good old fashioned movie enjoyment ... storyline-wise, I enjoyed it ... and would I wanna watch it again? that's a HELL YEAH! ... like I told BabyGirl yesterday right when we walked out of the theater, that's a blu-ray purchase for sure!!! ... oh and I kept the 3D glasses on for the rest of the night ... score: 4.5/5

~J-Smooth~

The Re-Emergence - Part Three

2010-02-16T10:21:00.004-05:00

Now ... what the fans have been waiting for ...

I was actually gonna write down the whole story about how myself and my new girlfriend got together ... but then I thought about it, if people didn't know about the circumstances before this all went public, then there's a reason why they're not privy to that information ... but to sum it up: we knew each other from back in the day, then more than 10 years later, this past December we met up again and the rest is history ...

what I wanna say about my BabyGirl is that being with her has defied all things I believed about relationships ... for instance, I never thought that love at first sight was possible ... I was wrong about that ... second, I never thought I'd meet my "future" in a club-environment ... wrong again ... finally (and this is the honest-to-God truth) I never thought it'd be possible to find someone who meets the criteria of every single thing that I was looking for ... I mean, if three months ago someone asked me to make a checklist of everything that I'm looking for or want in a girl, my BabyGirl meets all those and then some ...

now what's funny is the buzz that's been created over this new relationship ... friends and family have been coming out of the woodwork, inquiring about details ... I've even got phone calls from the Philippines for God's sakes ... being J-Smooth and all, I should be used to the attention, LOL but some of this is just too much ... like I said before, if you didn't know about this before it all went public, there's good reason ... as far as I'm concerned, my entire inner circle was made aware beforehand (which includes: my immediate family; my Newman brothers Prophet, Octal and Anthro; my cousins Juddimac and Kekkle as well) I also mentioned it to a long-time friend Dumpling, but that's about it ... now a bunch of people on Facebook (which includes some family members) are trying to get the inside scoop ... but I'm thinking, "I didn't talk to you before, so what makes you think I wanna talk to you now?" ...

enough of gossip central ... I'm just looking forward to where myself and my BabyGirl are headed ... we've come such a long way from that night in December and this past Valentine's Day was merely an affirmation of what I already "know" ... for those I spoke to about this, start clearing schedules if you know what I mean ;)

~J-Smooth~

The Re-Emergence - Part Two

2010-02-13T02:21:00.002-05:00

I know I said I'd talk about what's "pop", but I'll just be more random about it ...

-haven't been a fan of American Idol in a while ... probably because the only relevant artist to me that's come out of it is Chris Daughtry ... but, a clip I caught of this year's competition was quite a pleasant surprise ... an artist that I've known about on YouTube for about a year is on this year's Idol, Andrew Garcia ... there is a lot of "undiscovered" talent on YouTube in my opinion ... nice to see them starting to get their breaks of late ...

-to think, Dallas is complaining over a few inches of snow SMH...

-speaking of Dallas, the NBA All-Star Game festivities are underway ... in my opinion the past few years have been really boring ... the dunk contest has become cheese and some of the All-Star selections have been pretty questionable ...

-I've got Manny Pacquiao via championship round stoppage over Joshua Clottey next month and Floyd Mayweather via a split controversial decision over Shane Mosley in May ...

-A couple of movies I'm looking to check out in theaters: Avatar and The Book of Eli ...

-Can't wait for NBA Jam to be re-launched on Nintendo Wii ... gives me another game to master and dominate people in ...

-finally, I don't really care much for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver ... the "real" sports are in the Summer Games ...

saving the best for last, the final installment of this three-part entry will talk about the most significant change in my life as of late ...

~J-Smooth~

The Re-Emergence - Part One

2010-02-10T21:54:00.007-05:00

Alright, I've kept my fans waiting long enough ... time for J-Smooth to reinvigorate a buzz back to the blogger scene ... I'd give an explanation for my absence, but bottom line J-Smooth moves when he wants to move and that's that ... this is the first installment of a three-part entry ... so let's get to it ...

a lot of new things in my life at the moment ... one of them being a new job ... after completion of my final course last December I started putting out my resume, completing applications and within two days received a call for an interview with a major Canadian bank (which shall remain nameless) ... I was essentially hired the same day as the interview ... so all in all, the whole process took a week and a half ... I'm not minding the position at all, still learning of course ... but for the most part, it's a job I know I can do and be successful at ... the only downside is that I'm working in a small-town and for those that believe racism is passe, well that's just a myth ... I've heard a few comments, but none worse than what I heard today ...

-"why are they opening a Popeye's Chicken here, there's no black people"

makes me wonder what's said about me when I'm not around ...

anyhow, from my regular work onto some old-fashioned hard work ... I've recently completed Phase 3 of my basement renovations (the only remaining project being the bathroom) ... the newly built section includes my new home gym (which includes my new bench press and punching bag) ... like I said on Twitter, my home gym has become sacred ground, my sanctuary ... unless you're there to work hard, you have no business being there ... now as far as my familia 6-Pack Challenge goes, I'm taking my legit competitors VERY seriously, but as far as the pretenders go (and they know exactly who they are) I plan on fully out embarrassing them, 'nuff said ...

Part 2 of this entry will get into some of my thoughts into what's "pop" ...

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots

2009-12-02T10:26:00.002-05:00

-so Allen Iverson has decided to come out of (a one week) retirement to rejoin the 76ers ... way to sabatoge my fantasy team AI (I currently hold Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert) ... if it does indeed turn out as I'm forecasting, my hate for him will rise to LeBron James levels ... never really been a fan of AI anyway, because I'm partial to winning ... and please nobody bring up his MVP/Finals year, he needed a late season trade for a prime Dikembe Mutombo to get that done ...

-in the aftermath of Tiger Woods' highly publicized car crash, reports are surfacing of alleged infidelities ... a wealthy, elite level athlete accused of stepping outside his marriage ... really?!?!

-based on reports from ESPN and Yahoo's boxing sites, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has agreed to a fight with Manny Pacquiao, the only thing left is for Pacman to give his seal of approval ... I must say I'm shocked ... what's it been? not even a week of negotiations ... I guess the dollar signs kicked some common sense into Money May ... it's true what they say "money talks" ...

-in what was supposed to be a tune-up fight leading to an overdue rematch with Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr. was KO'd in the First Round by Danny Green of all people ... like I said on Twitter and Facebook, how the mighty have fallen SMH ... it's just so sad to see a legend go out like this, something that's become all too common in boxing ...

what's up with J-Smooth?

-I'm not one that can play video games by myself for more than half an hour, no matter how good the game is ... it's been no different when playing Punch-Out!! and New Super Mario Bros. Wii ... since getting each game, I've probably spent a total of under 90 minutes on each ... and in Punch Out, I'm closing in on completing "Title Defense Mode", while in Mario Bros., I've already reached World 8 ... this is a message directed to an individual in particular, who's making his homecoming soon and recently challenged me in Street Fighter 4, under-estimating my skills will be your undoing, LOL ...

-finally, I'm currently in the middle of a competition amongst a couple members of the familia, The D-Mac 6-Pack Challenge ... the name of the competition should be self-explanatory ... the end-date is the day before my sister's wedding next July ... all the losers pool together to buy the winner (the one with the best abs) a big meal of their choosing from any restaurant ... at this point, I only have two serious competitors ... I'll say two things ... one: to my competition, start planning a trip to Jollibee and 7/11 into your schedules ... two: this is a thoroughbred race, unless certain individuals decide to grow some juevos, my little ponies out there should stay on the farm ...

~J-Smooth~

Rumble, errr, Ridiculousness at Rama

2009-11-22T07:38:00.006-05:00

before people make assumptions about what I'm gonna say ... it's probably the exact opposite ... exactly one week after seeing boxing at its absolute best, I witnessed boxing at its absolute worst ... and the sad part it seemed so promising ... two Pinoys on the card, on the heel's of Manny Pacquiao's masterful performace against Miguel Cotto last Saturday ... I've never seen such a poorly put together event in my life ...

-first, the layout of the arena, where I was sitting, there was a glass divider partially obstructing the view ...

-second, the atmosphere (crowd) completely fit the bill of "polite Canadians" ... totally unenthusiastic, sort of like the ACC during Raptor games ... probably because the people there knew jack sh*t about boxing, and yes that includes most Pinoys in the crowd ...

-the first three fights were actually OK, but the last three had some of the most suspect judging I've ever seen in my life, to say the least ...

-the first of those controversial bouts involved one of the Pinoy pugilists, Ciso Morales ... the way I scored the fight, I only had him winning 2 (3 at most) out of 8 rounds ... but he ended up winning by decision ... and yes, I was yelling "BULLSH*T!" after a Pinoy victory ...

-next up was the Steve Molitor fight, he was knocked down once in the fight and I only had him winning one round at most ... but based on the judges scorecards they had him winning 7 of 8 ... I've seen hometown decisions before, but this was a joke, I was yelling "BULLSH*T!" even louder after this one ... some people sitting around me actually left the arena after that decision ... Molitor IMO was a cookie cutter champion, who was protected in his early career (much like Ricky Hatton) but when he faced a legit opponent last year in Celestino Caballero he got completely exposed ... last night was pretty much a confirmation that he isn't an elite level fighter ...

-the main event of the evening featured "Marvellous" Marvin Sonsona ... who unknowledgable Pinoy fans bill as "The Next Pacquiao" ... before last night, I thought he was a decent fighter with good potential, but I never placed that "next one" tag on him ... early in the fight he seemed to be looking for the one-punch knockout ... but then from the mid-rounds on he looked like he ran out of gas ... one indication of not training hard enough ... the other indication was that he failed to make weight, thus losing his WBO Championship on the scales ... I had Sonsona winning at most 3 rounds ... I thought the draw was a bullsh*t decision, because he clearly lost ...

-Allan Tremblay, the promoter, should be ashamed of himself with how this card came off ... word of advice to him, if he's looking to showcase his fighters, put them up against cream puffs to make them look good ...

-I feel bad for my cousin who forked out $150 for his ticket ...

-Freddie Roach is right ... there is only one Manny Pacquiao ... this search for "the next Pacquiao" needs to stop ... fighters like that are indeed one in a generation ...

-only two highlights of that experience for me ... first, winning some money on the slots, always a winner! ... second, meeting Marvin Sonsona in the lobby before the fight ... he's a nice guy, but I'm thinking the fame after his last win, plus "The Next Pacquiao" tag, has gotten into his head a little bit ... it was cool meeting him, but I was thinking, "it's fight night, shouldn't you be in the lockerroom getting ready?" ... just goes to show, a big victory can have just as adverse effects on a fighter as a first loss ... Sonsona clearly had a let down this time after riding such a high in September ...

-there you have it ... an impartial J-Smooth, telling it how it is, regardless of my Pinoy loyalties ...

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots

2009-11-20T09:02:00.003-05:00

-ughhhhh, seems like all I keep hearing about is this New Moon business ... can't escape it no matter where I go ... it's all over TV, on the radio, on newsstands ... on the same level of annoyance for me as Harry Potter ... all I can say is that if you're a dude that goes to the theater to watch New Moon on your own volition, you need to get yourself some panties ...

-speaking of which, while I was in San Diego, my "soon-to-be" bro-in-law Romeo and myself were driving past Hillcrest to pick up some take out ... for those that don't know, Hillcrest is a densely populated homosexual area ... just the way the mannequins were displayed and "posing" in the shop windows, I couldn't help but LOL and SMH ... I've never seen anything like it ... and the people walking around too, V-necks (no exaggerating either) reaching down to dudes' belly buttons ...

-oh man, another current annoyance of mine are the Facebook apps like: Farmville and Mafia Wars, or whatever they're called ... people keep inviting me to that sh*t ... what's worse is that these people are older than me with young kids ... I'm thinkin' are your lives that boring? ... hell, I'll take this a step further, because those same people also annoy me with something else on Facebook and that is their status updates ... F*CK!, I do not need to know every single detail of your life up-to-the-minute ... I must be coming off as a hypocrite, because I have a Twitter account ... but these people I'm talking about are f*ckin' ridiculous: "just clipping my toenails before work", "I just took a dump, is it normal when it's green?" ... well, not exactly verbatim, but I think you catch my drift ...

-I'm lovin' my Blu-ray player/Playstation 3 ... I'm sayin', if it can clean up my DVDs that well, BDs must be the greatest thing since sliced bread ... but with prices for BDs still not at practical levels, I'll reserve those purchases for visual effects movies that rate a 3.5 at least on my rating scale ... a mark I guarantee Star Trek won't even come close to ... ;P

-funny how everyone nowadays is claiming that they're a boxing expert ... honestly, there are only a handful of people all together and more specifically two in my familia that I can have an intelligent boxing convo with ... my dad being one and my Kuya M being the other ... everyone else in the familia is a Manny Pacquiao nuthugger ... nothing wrong with that and completely understandable, but their knowledge of the actual sport extends no further than Pacquiao and namedropping past and potential future opponents ... but I guess that's just how most people are, not just in my familia, they only start jumping on board when something is hot ...

~J-Smooth~

Wii; SD; Manny

2009-11-18T12:50:00.005-05:00

It's official: Nintendo Wii is the greatest console of all time! ... I was ready to hand it the crown after the release of Punch-Out!! in May, but its subsequent releases of Wii Sports Resort and New Super Mario Bros. Wii cements its status ... oh, and by the way, I also have a Playstation 3, so I have grounds to make this claim for the Wii ... don't get me wrong, PS3 is nice, but the games I have so far, ie. Fight Night Round 4 and Street Fighter 4 (great games) are not PS3 exclusives ... the only plus, is the Blu-ray player ... Wii is the perfect combination of innovation and nostalgia ... when I picked up my copies of Punch-Out!! in May and New Super Mario Bros. Wii this past weekend, I was offered a "strategy guide" ... pshhhhh ... playing those games for the first time is the same feeling of getting re-acquainted with an old friend, old school gaming instincts take over just like continuing a conversation from 10 years ago ... but it's not as though they're identical games ... there is that level of familiarity but they're definitely more challenging ... I will say this, they're just as addicting ... sure, advanced graphics are nice, but the core of videogames to me is, a simple concept, but challenging and addictive at the same time ... thank you Nintendo! ...

really missing San Diego at this point ... I think I've said it before, but if the Tri-State Area (NYC, NJ) is my number one choice for where I'd like to end up, Southern California (LA, SD) is officially number two, and for those that care The Bay Area (SF and San Jose) is third ... why? ... I need a cosmopolitan city with a significant Pinoy population ... back to SD, what I miss are the channels, especially HBO on Demand ... I got to watch 24/7 and Pacquiao and Cotto fights at my leisure ... but I also got to watch Slumdog Millionaire ... I won't even do a review, because I was just as entertained as House of Flying Daggers ... now I'm sure my critics will chime in and say, "well if that story was about a Pinoy you would've liked it" ... my response: it's already been done ... someone coming from poverty to being on top of the world and having everything ... but I didn't see it on the big screen, I see it every six or so months in the ring ...

finally, if I had my way ... Manny Pacquiao fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May ... then after knocking his @ss out, takes on the winner of the WBA-WBC unification bout between Shane Mosley and Andre Berto ... if Pacman wins that, he'd add those two belts to his WBO crown and can retire undisputed champion ...

~J-Smooth~

All Hail King Manny!

2009-11-16T17:49:00.006-05:00

I'm still waiting on the possible excuses this time for Manny Pacquiao's latest performace of what's become a legendary career ... the one I can think of: "Miguel Cotto was a shot fighter and hasn't been the same since fighting Antonio Margarito" ... well, that excuse is out the window, because Pacquiao didn't shut him out, Cotto clearly won the first round, outboxing and beating Manny to the punch and in the first four rounds landed some clean, stiff shots ... another one, coming from Floyd Mayweather Sr. ... he doesn't believe his son Floyd Jr. should fight Manny, because something seems fishy, implying that Pacman is juiced ... this coming from a guy who I've never heard produce a proper English sentence (and people criticize Manny's English) ... honestly haters can hate, but the fact is, Manny beat one of the world's top welterweights in his prime ...

As for the fight ... what a fight it was ... like I said in my previous entry, something which I'll be talking about for years to come ... I read my last entry after the fight and I was bang on about everything, from the fight length to what would win the fight for Manny (ie. speed, punch angles) ... Damn!, maybe I should've put money on it ... rounds 2-4 in my opinion can be described as legendary, classic and epic ... those exchanges are what makes boxing live up to its billing as the sweet science ... in all honesty laws of science that Manny defies ... he's got it all: speed and power in both hands, footwork, head movement and a granite chin ... he's the greatest of all time, period ...

As for Miguel Cotto ... I hated to see him take a beating like that because I'm a big fan ... but that being said, any and all criticism towards his cornermen at this point are more than warranted ... why would you let your fighter continually recieve punishment like that, I mean, were they blind?, just look at Miguel's face ... why even ask Miguel if he wants to continue? you know he's not gonna give up on his own ... his "trainer" Joe Santiago has no business being in boxing ... he gave Miguel absolutely no technical advice during the fight ... he should be ashamed of himself for not throwing in the towel, in my opinion should've been done after the 8th round ... if Cotto decides to hang 'em up at this point, I like many would not look down on him at all, he's had a brilliant career ... he showed his heart in this fight and went out like a true champion by embracing Manny after the fight and acknowledging him as the best fighter he's ever faced ... it's hard to dispute that ... championships in 7 weight classes and 50 wins, 38 by knockout ...

of course, the media and fans didn't even let the dust settle after the Pacquiao/Cotto fight, with the attention immediately shifting towards a fight between Manny and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... and the trash talk has already begun ... with Floyd calling Manny "one-dimensional" and Freddie Roach saying he already knows how to beat Floyd and guaranteeing that Manny will knock him out ... this is definitely going to be the biggest fight of all time and will define a generation ... the only stumbling block, of course, will be the negotiations ... if you ask me: 50/50 revenue split, at 147 (no catchweight) and held in Yankee Stadium ... it's inevitable that this fight happens, because there is too much pressure from the media, networks and fans ... on top of that, there is too much money on the table at this point ... I will say this, I was hesitant on making a prediction on that fight, but I'll call it right now: Manny Pacquiao by knockout in the championship (11th or 12th) rounds ...

finally, what did I just see on the cover of this morning's Toronto Star sports page? ... Manny Pacquiao's image? for a minute there I thought I was still in the States ... and inside an article on Pacquiao and another one on another Pinoy pugilist, Marvin Sonsona (whose fight I'm watching live this coming Saturday) ... there might be hope yet for this sports Siberia ...

Pinoy Pride!!! ... Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!!!

~J-Smooth~

Fight of the Year TONIGHT!!!

2009-11-14T14:34:00.002-05:00

It just amazes me that just three years ago, I was looking at this as merely a Dream matchup ... but the prizefighting heavens were looking down on me and other REAL fight fans and decided to give us what we want ... and this is what I'm talking about when I say "boxing builds fighters" ... both Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto have been making noise in the sport over the past three years, establishing their names and reputation, and tonight we get the payoff ... I'm probably more excited about "Firepower" than I was for Pacquiao's fight's with Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton combined ... how could I not be? ... two of my top three fave fighters on the planet and neither have ever produced a boring fight ... it's got a really good feel to it, despite boxing's critics saying the sport's only had three major PPV's this year ... well, my argument is that, it makes the events that much more special ... it's like when WWE had only four major PPV's a year, each one was special ... in my opinion, the significance of prizefighting PPV events is greatly diluted when you have one a month, you over-expose the product and the fighters, and it doesn't give the audience a "must see" attitude, because there is another PPV the next month ... another thing, it really speaks volumes about what level the sport is at compared to its rivals, when all it takes to garner interest from the general public is the 24/7 series (on a channel you pay extra for) ... but all that aside, I have a feeling I'll be talking about this fight for years to come ...

my official prediction (not that I'm the most objective of people to give one), but I see Pacquiao stopping Cotto in the championship rounds (11th or 12th) ... Pacquiao will eat some punches in this fight, I have no doubt about that, but he's got one of the best chins I've ever seen ... and in all of Cotto's fights, Miguel takes waaay too many punches, not exactly a defensive wizard ... I just see him being broken down methodically, and succumbing to the speed, punch volume and the weird angles Pacquiao delivers his punches from ... but like Pacquiao, Cotto and Arum have said, regardless of the outcome, the only winners in this fight are the fans of boxing ... WOOOOOO!!! I've got my Pacquiao shirt on and I'm ready to go ...

~J-Smooth~

LA/SD '09 Recap

2009-11-14T14:07:00.003-05:00

I've been really slackin' on these entries ... but f*ck it, J moves when he wants to move ... I've also been away on my much anticipated Los Angeles/San Diego Trip and as follows is a recap ...

-last Friday: long a** flight ... stayed at the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo ... for dinner, Carl's Jr., man that didn't sit too well with my stomach ...

-last Saturday: my sis M&M and Romeo picked me up and I got a look at their new BMW ... ate at Roscoe's Chicken n Waffles that night ... then made the trek back to their place in San Diego

-Sunday: got acquainted with the newest addition to mi familia, Mr. Mason, their dog ... ate out again, this time at Phil's BBQ ... bar none, the best BBQ chicken and ribs I've ever had ...

-Monday: my sis toured me around the shopping places in her area ... then after Romeo came home from work, we drove to an outlet mall next to the U.S./Mexico border ... I was looking around for a car with a Mexican license plate, because I've never seen one before, when I finally did, the owner came up to the car at the same time ... it was a female and she had a concerned look on her face, like I was immigration or something, LOL ... chatted up with a couple of Chicano boxing fans at the Nike Store, they said they were rooting for Cotto, but they know Pacquiao's gonna win, I guess real recognizes real, just refreshing to talk to some real fans ... for dinner, we went to a mall in "Filipino Town" and had what else, Jollibee ...

-Tuesday: my sis and myself took the trolley (the equivalent to our RT) into downtown, where I got to see The Padres' Petco Park ... afterwards, we hit up another mall, but that was it for downtown, which in my opinion is pretty dead ...

-Wednesday: got a firsthand preview of the site where my sis will be getting married next July ... envisioning it at this point, I honestly think it's gonna be great, I'm really looking forward to it ... afterwards, we hit up Mission Beach ...

-Thursday: my last day, I kept it open ... I decided to take it easy that day, considering I was on vacation, just spent time packing and playing with Mr. Mason ... concluded the night with dinner from this authentic Mexican place and watched my boy Dwyane Wade completely crown Anderson Varejao ...

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip ... completely made me forget that I have a life and responsibilities at home ... things I will miss most, besides my familia obviously: the prices (my brands Jordan and ecko are waaaaay cheaper down there), the food, TV Channels (esp. ESPN where the real sports take center stage), the workout weather (got in a run every day, but one) and my new little dude Mr. Mason ... coming home really confirmed that Toronto is not the place I want to be ...

~J-Smooth~

Undefeated No More

2009-10-31T10:38:00.002-04:00

no words to describe it ... just, "pffffffff!" and wow ... Floyd Mayweather Jr. was absolutely owned by R.A. The Rugged Man in a radio interview ... 40-1, LOL ...

Part 1:

Part 2:

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review

2009-10-17T13:01:00.002-04:00

State of Play - starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams ... starting off with the acting, solid ... I've been a fan of Russell Crowe since Cinderella Man ... Rachel McAdams, looks like she's really trying to establish herself as a bonafide talent, IMO she's really broken away from that chick-flick genre ... storyline, nothing original or mind-blowing, but engaging nonetheless ... this movie is one where you can't have any distractions around you, otherwise you might miss something ... nothing over-the-top, just didn't have that "wow"-factor ... would I want to see this movie again, probably not, but it is definitely worth a look ... score: 3.5 ...

movies that I have in my queue for the Holiday Season: Paranormal Activity, 2012, The Time Traveler's Wife and unfortunately Star Trek ...

~J-Smooth~

What's Good J?

2009-10-15T17:48:00.002-04:00

-finally got my PS3, decided on the "fat" ... only thing is I won't be using the console until at least the end of November ... one VERY important thing that I need to focus on at the moment, can't afford any distractions ... "so why purchase the console now if you're not gonna use it?" ... well, the "fat" 80G's are an endangered species, just my luck I found one ... once my business is taken care of, it'll be time to shake off some serious video gaming rust ... NBA 2K10, Fight Night Round 4, Street Fighter 4 and on the Wii: Punch-Out!! and New Super Mario Bros. Wii ...

-the sports gods must've heard THIS disgruntled sports fan's plight in this sports Siberia known as Toronto ... The motherland's newest pugilistic sensation, "Marvellous" Marvin Sonsona, is coming back to Casino Rama to defend his WBO crown ... and I've got tickets to what will be my first live boxing event ... I was in NYC during his last appearance at Rama and I heard the GTA Pinoys were out in full force ... and if Manny Pacquiao beats Miguel Cotto on November 14th, the atmosphere should be even crazier ... I never plan my wardrobe, but I'll be reppin' my Philippines shirt and flag proudly that night ...

-my flight to Los Angeles is booked ... It'll be good to get on a plane headed out of town, it's been too long ... my sis' fiancee Romeo has made it a point to check out Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles while in LA ... I'll be spending most of my time in San Diego, where I'll definitely be getting a second helping of Jollibee, and third and fourth, LOL ...

~J-Smooth~

Court Cuts

2009-10-07T10:12:00.002-04:00

haven't been on this blogger ish in a minute ... it's gonna be like this from now on I guess ... but with the NBA season around the corner, I wanted to weigh in on that ...

-2010 NBA Finals: The Los Angeles Lakers over The Boston Celtics in a 7-Game Heavyweight fight ... adding Ron Artest and Rasheed Wallace to those already stacked teams is a throwback to the hard-nosed basketball of the 80's and early 90's ...

-in the East: Boston is the team to beat barring injury ... The Orlando Magic IMO made merely a lateral move by supplanting Hedo Turkoglu with Vince Carter, but they're still gonna be tough ... people seem to be bigging up the Shaquille O'Neal signing in Cleveland, but real talk, the "difference-maker" Shaq, I haven't seen him since 2004 ... IMO the sleepers in the conference are: Washington, Detroit and yes I'll say it, Toronto ... but more on them later ... to the other squads, thanks for coming out ...

-in the West: It's the Lakers' conference to lose ... Denver and San Antonio will continue to be solid, but at the end of the day don't have enough firepower to keep up with the Lakers ... people are definitely sleeping on Dallas ... Portland won't catch anyone by surprise this year, with Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge's continued improvement and the addition of Andre Miller, they should be even better ... Utah's alright, but they don't impress me ... everyone else, pshhhhh ...

-given that I have a 'vested stake in this squad until 2012, I'll go on record now by saying, if Jay Triano removes the blinders and starts Jarrett Jack, J-Smooth will return to Raptor Nation until the end of '12 ... as for the team ... Hedo Turkoglu gives the Raps a LEGIT 2nd option to Chris Bosh, no more scrubs like Anthony Parker for Bryan Colangelo to sell us on ... re: Jack, like I said on Facebook "attacking the rim, pushing the ball, keeping a man in front, all from the PG position ... a new concept in Raptorland" ... Reggie Evans, my definition of the Anti-Raptor, which is toughness ... Demar DeRozan needs time to develop, but Antoine Wright should be a nice role-player for them in the meantime ... in all honesty, everyone else on the squad is expendable ... call me nuts, but I see them winning 50 games, based on the fact that they were trash last year, thus a lot of teams will be sleeping on them ...

~J-Smooth~

The Great Debate

2009-09-24T07:25:00.002-04:00

if you all haven't noticed, I welcome debate ... I love it ... especially when I have to go it alone, even against the world it seems ... among those battles I've taken on my shoulders:

-my distaste for Euro ball players as a whole ... zero toughness, zero defense and IMO the only reason why they're in the league now is because the NBA changed their rules to cater to soft players ... most specifically, my well documented beef is with Jose Frauderon, who's been touted as a premiere PG in the NBA, by the idiots here in Toronto ... but last season proved my point that he's nothing more than a glorified backup at best ... this season will simply re-inforce that point ...

-most recently my HV teammates and myself have been in a debate over the greatest female R&B vocalist of all time ... I'm officially ready to hand the crown to Alicia Keys, but my boy Skip is siding with Mariah Carey, while NC is holding firm with Lauryn Hill ... short and sweet, all three of Alicia's albums have far surpassed any albums Mariah has put out post 1997 ...

-Boxing vs. MMA ... Dana White = Eric Bischoff ... so many parallels with their outright arrogance ... before Saturday White claimed "boxing is in trouble"? ... well the public has spoken with a resounding HELL NO!!! ... Money May nearly tripled UFC's PPV in buys ... UFC and MMA are fads ... much like AND1 Streetball a few years back and where the hell are they now? ... like I told Zona: MMA is for the unintelligible, Boxing is for everyone ... seeing the audience shift in interest at Boston Pizza last Saturday, combined with these PPV numbers is a sweet victory ...

next debate I plan on undertaking is baseball vs. soccer ... most people I talk to, love to bash baseball for being "boring" ... I'm of the opinion that soccer is THE most boring sport on the planet ... I guess by saying that, I'm also saying that most people in the world are delusional, considering soccer being the most "global" of all sports ... but J-Smooth vs. The World, I wouldn't have it any other way ...

~J-Smooth~

Welcome Back Money May!

2009-09-20T01:38:00.003-04:00

on the surface it was a mugging, but at the core that was boxing in its purest form and I loved it ... Floyd "Money" Mayweather is the Detroit Pistons of boxing ... he'll bore most people, but hey, I guess that means winning and domination is boring ... sure, Juan Manuel Marquez was too small, too slow at 147 and completely outclassed, but you can't take away the fact that Floyd is a boxing genius ...

I watched the fight at a Boston Pizza in the hometown B-Town, with Anthro's bro Mags ... now the Floyd fight was being broadcast on side-by-side screens with UFC's PPV ... and the crowd was pro-UFC, I could tell because everyone was into each of the bouts ... but when the Money May fight started, something strange happened, nobody gave a sh!t about the UFC card, and with the exception of two people, the attention shifted to boxing ... DAMN RIGHT!!! ... I'm glad that I watched the fight there, and seeing the two sports broadcast side-by-side, because the difference in skill level was so evident that even Ray Charles could've seen it ... every fight on the UFC card, turned into a stand-up toe-to-toe bout and I could write a dissertation on how horrible it was ...

veering a bit ... I should've expected it, being in B-Town and all ... it was a high school reunion of sorts, because I ran into a few people at Boston Pizza ...

back to Floyd ... he's definitely back and hasn't missed a beat ... but in order to solidify his legacy in mine and most people's eyes he has to defeat "legit" opponents such as Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley ... I missed it, but apparently the latter came in the ring after tonight's fight and challenged Money May, eventually leading to the two being separated ... I never agree with Max Kellerman, but he hit the nail on the head when he said the biggest "mega fights" that can be made are any permutation of Mayweather, Pacquiao and Mosley ... isn't that what I've been saying for months? ... talent-wise, I think Floyd and Manny are the best, but I honestly think Mosley can beat them both ... but Pacquiao/Mayweather is what everyone wants to see ... and despite what happened to Marquez tonight (nice knowing you Juan, by the way), Pacquiao is a different monster all together ...

tonight affirmed one thing for me, boxing is the number one combat sport and it's not going anywhere ... I don't care what the final PPV numbers turn out to be ... HBO Boxing put out the better product tonight, no question ...

~J-Smooth~

Queen Alicia

2009-09-17T08:44:00.004-04:00

just listened to Alicia Keys' new single Doesn't Mean Anything just now ... I'm honestly feelin' the song ... as I said on a tweet, if the album is just as good, Alicia takes the crown of the Greatest of All-Time, as far as female R&B artists go ... why? Songs in A Minor was not just a great debut, but a great album, period! ... and when most artists usually go through a sophomore jinx, Alicia I.M.O. topped her debut with The Diary of Alicia Keys ... while her third solo album As I Am was a slight step below her second, it was an affirmation that Alicia is leaps and bounds ahead of her contemporaries ... now if she's able to string 4 great albums in a row, there's no way she doesn't belong in the discussion with the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston ... I definitely plan on picking up the album on the first day ... good on her for keeping R&B alive, not an easy task with artists like Rihanna and Chris Brown doing some irrepairable damage to it ...

other music notes:

-Kanye West, never liked him or his music ... the media and public have come down on him hard and rightfully so ... I know his ego craves the attention and spotlight, but I know I wouldn't want President Obama calling me a "jack*ss" ...

-getting slightly less pub was Lil Mama's hijacking of Alicia Keys and Jay-Z's performance ... just looking at her or when she opens her mouth is like nails on the chalkboard ...

-I've really been sleeping on the 2009 album releases, ie. Busta Rhymes, Method Man & Redman, Raekwon, Jay-Z ... I'll get on them soon and put up reviews for you all ...

-finally, one of Jay-Z's lines on his new joint Thank You elevates him to my top 5 All-Time emcees list ... "Name keep popping up, face keep popping up, on the tube I'm just watching Pacquiao box 'em up" ...

~J-Smooth~

at the ballpark

2009-09-13T18:29:00.003-04:00

first semi-long blog in a while, but a convo with Anthro has compelled me to do a post on America's favorite past time ...

-congrats to Derek Jeter for becoming the all-time Yankees hits leader ... not that the media hasn't done it enough, but to put things in perspective his accomplishment is nothing short of extraordinary, considering all of the legends that have donned the Yankee pinstripes ... and in "the asterisk era" with all these 'roided up cheaters (ie. A-Rod, ManRam, Bonds, Big Mac), it's nice to see a guy who played the game clean standing on top ...

-as for the Toronto Blue Jays ... 11K for a ballgame at the Dome ... pathetic! ... the natural inclination at this juncture is to call for the firing of J.P. Fraud-ciardi (what I've been saying for years), but even if they did now, it's 4 years late in my opinion ... the damage he's done to the organization will take at least another "5 years" to undo and fix ... among his most idiotic moves: letting go of Carlos Delgado and Chris Carpenter for nothing and the signing of Frank Thomas ... Roy Halladay has every reason to want out ...

-speaking of which ... who's the best pitcher in baseball? ... Anthro argues to the death for one of his man-loves Roy Halladay, plus he likes to rub in his "I called it from day one" ... don't get me wrong, Halladay is great, I'm a fan, but I'd have to give the nod to Johan Santana ... in my opinion, Santana's just got better "stuff" ... is it his fault that the Mets have been injury depleted the entire year? ... the Halladay argument that I hear all the time is that he's winning on a bad team ... but for people who ACTUALLY KNOW SOMETHING about the game, my question is then "what the hell was Santana doing on the Twins for years?" ... the proof is in the pudding, he was racking up wins on a mediocre team at best ... and last time I checked, they've always had a smaller payroll than the Jays, but Santana still got them into the post season four times (so the low budget, can't compete with the Yankees and Red Sox excuse doesn't work here) ...

-and there's more to being a great pitcher aside from wins ... it's also about stepping up big, in big games ... Game 7 of the World Series, I'd take a prime Randy Johnson, any day of the week, twice on Sunday ... others: Dave Stewart and Curt Schilling ... and another thing, Cy's don't lie ... that's why I don't think the Atlanta Braves' pitching staff of the 90's, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz, will ever be touched, 7 Cy Young awards between them ... what's even more impressive is that these guys (with the exception of Smoltz) didn't do it by over-powering guys ... Glavine and Maddux, two of the best control and pure pitchers in history, period! ... getting back to Santana vs. Halladay, last time I checked Santana has 2 Cy's (on the Twins), Halladay only 1 ...

-can't end this without a mention of my all-time favorite players ... I'll name the top 3 ... 2A and 2B are Jeter and Delgado ... Jeter, because he's the textbook definition of a 5-tool player ... Delgado, because he's the only power hitter of the asterisk era with legit stats, a threat for 40 HR and 120 RBI on the yearly, I just think of all the honors he was robbed of, which will likely end up costing him a spot in the Hall of Fame ... number 1 on my list is definitely Joe Carter ...

~J-Smooth~

NYC '09 Recap

2009-09-10T16:26:00.004-04:00

NYC Highlights:

-I did get myself a new wardrobe to accomodate the slimmed down version of J-Smooth ... but NYC was more of a sightseeing trip this time around ... among the sites I took in: The Waldorf Astoria, Wall Street and Battery Park ...

-Jollibee, I can't even tell you how nice that food went down ... ditto on White Castle ... the funny thing is, I ate so much junk while over there, but I still managed to drop 2 pounds ...

-Based on some of my convos, not with just Pinoys but Puerto Ricans and black people, Miguel Cotto alone is bigger than UFC in NYC ... YESSIR, Real Sports Fans! ... my aunt's Puerto Rican friend is a huge Cotto fan, but loves Manny too, he said he's not betting on that fight, LOL ...

-my evenings were spent in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach at my aunt's ... she subscribes to the Filipino channels, so I managed to catch Manny Pacquiao's new sitcom "Show me the Manny" ... F'n Hilarious! ...

-St. Patrick's Cathedral is definitely a wonder ... I recommend that whenever you are in New York City (Catholic or not) to check it out ... the place is HUGE! ... something I'd expect to see in Europe as opposed to NYC ...

-Finally, there was Yankee Stadium ... this was planned from time as I'd purchased tickets to the game months ago ... Wow!, a city and stadium where baseball is still relevant ... the fans are so into the game ... now I can say that I saw the great Derek Jeter play ... it was a great feeling just being there, and with my dad ...

-one thing that happened Labor Day Weekend in Toronto that I missed was Marvin Sonsona's fight at Casino Rama ... I always said if a Pinoy was fighting there, I'd go ... no worries, he's slated to come back in November a week after Pacquiao/Cotto ... as for my opinion on Sonsona, he still needs some polishing, but he's nice, pretty good "pop" in both hands, plus a good chin ...

-some sad events took place when I was away as well ... a senior member of CPO, "Doc", passed away ... it was expected, however still sad ... "Doc" and his wife are good friends of my parents ... I found out from a voicemail when I returned on Tuesday morning ... the viewing was held later that night and it was nice catching up with my old CPO Fam despite the circumstances ... "Doc" was one of the nicest and warmest people I've met, my deepest sympathies and condolences to his wife and daughter, RIP and God Speed ...

~J-Smooth~

I Love New York

2009-09-03T15:38:00.003-04:00

2nd post of the afternoon, since I likely won't have internet access this weekend ... as most people close to me would know, Labour Day Weekend means that I'm in NYC ... for those that care, my itinerary is as follows:

Friday Night: overnight drive

Saturday: shopping at Woodbury Outlets, Jollibee in Queens and time permitting Manhattan

Sunday: Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, wandering Manhattan

Monday: my first ever New York Yankees game at the new Yankee Stadium with my dad

Monday Night: overnight drive home

for those that care even more, I'll likely text a tweet, or two, or three ... so if you're in need of your up-to-the-minute dose of J-Smooth check my Twitter, LMFAO ... I want to wish everyone a safe Labour Day Weekend ...

~J-Smooth~

Mission Accomplished

2009-09-03T14:56:00.002-04:00

one year ago on the Labour Day weekend, yours truly made the conscientious decision towards a "fast food sobriety" ... well, despite all my doubters and detractors, I've successfully pulled it off ... well, with one exception, I did consume Subway sandwiches throughout the year ... I figured, it's no different from myself purchasing the ingredients on my own and preparing my own sub sandwich ... but what I call the "cardiac cousins" McDonald's and KFC, among others, have been avoided all together ... I can honestly say that I'm proud of myself and it really shows what I can accomplish when I'm driven ... on top of that, my dedication to fitness and nutrition has really become a lifestyle change, moreso an obsession ... the results have been in my view gradual, but staggering ... The proof is in the pudding: I'm at the lowest body weight I've been in 5 years (dropping 35 pounds in the last 6 months), shedding at least 3 waist sizes, finally my strength and conditioning is the best it's EVER been in my life (I never thought I could run distances I have, or be able to lift what I'm lifting) ... the payoff has been: a trimmer figure (something noticeable and surprising to those around me), an enhancement to my level of play in sports and a new burst of confidence (LOL, not that I was lacking any to begin with) ... now one year later, being in the Labour Day weekend (my annual NYC trip), I'm definitely rewarding myself ... I know for a fact that the White Castle, Nathan's and Jollibee are gonna go down nice ... guilty pleasures no more ...

~J-Smooth~

You know you're ghetto when ...

2009-09-01T17:23:00.003-04:00

(courtesy of Twitter)

-you boil water to take a bath in

-you think you're getting a stimulus package

-you use water instead of milk with cereal

-you still have a beeper

-your mom is dating your ex

-you eat mayonnaise sandwiches

-you and your dog eat the same food

-you sew the holes in your socks

-you brush your teeth with a washrag

and mine,

-you're going to school for VCR repair

I needed a good laugh ...

~J-Smooth~

Asian Handicap

2009-08-24T07:47:00.002-04:00

If you haven’t already, click on the YouTube link up above ... there you have an Asian girl, Cathy Nguyen, who sings the same style as pop’s current princess, Miley Cyrus ... Cathy’s voice is 1000x more appealing, as are her looks ... but Cyrus is the multi-million-pushing-billionaire while Cathy is without a deal ... how twisted is that? ... that’s probably the biggest beef I have with the music and entertainment industry ... talent and now apparently even looks aren’t enough to get you to the top (unlike sports where talent is always recognized) ... it’s what’s “marketable”, which takes us to my point about the Asian Handicap ... you’ll never see an Asian rise to the top in the American (or Canadian) market, unless they’re mixed ... don’t believe me ... well, name one ... Apl.de.ap? looks more black ... Nicole from Pussycat Dolls? looks more white ... Cathy Nguyen is mixed, but looks more Asian ... I’m not gonna pull out the racism card, because I think that’s been overused ... I’ll just say that the psyche of overall society is tough to change ... small moves ... but if you ask me how long it will take for an Asian to crack the North American market, I’ll say at the minimum, the same amount of time it took for the United States to elect a black President ...

~J-Smooth~

Reviews - District 9, Tyson

2009-08-19T08:44:00.003-04:00

District 9 – starring nobody recognizable ... I’ll start off by saying that I was left with the same feeling from watching this movie, as I was with The Dark Knight last year ... left with a few unanswered questions ... BUT, that being said, I have to give this movie some major props for being different, original, unpredictable (Thank God) and realistic ... to elaborate on the last point (which I’m sure some of you will question considering this is an alien movie), the characters in the film reacted to situations how I would expect them to if this really happened ... I will say that this movie is definitely not for everyone ... One thing I liked about the movie was that it was not some “Grand Hollywood” production, ie. typical apocalyptic/disaster flick shot in one of the big cities (NYC, LA, London), as it was set in South Africa ... lastly, another element of the film that I liked was that a good percentage of it was shot documentary style, props to the director on that ... District 9 wasn’t bad at all, I just wasn’t wow’d ... score: 3.25/5

Tyson – documentary/biography by James Toback ... picked up this DVD on the first day of release like I said I would ... there was a lot of hype about this film and after viewing it, I can vouch that it is as good as advertised, if not better ... I’m kind of biased, because Mike Tyson was one of my childhood heroes as I’ve mentioned before ... but what I enjoyed the most about this film was that Mike’s accounts and dialogue were as real and as raw as it gets, really taking you into his frame of mind ... and his logic, I’m sure to most people, will come off as really twisted and borderline psycho ... his life is really just a tragic story, but I feel that he’s redeemed because (and whether you choose to believe him or not) he owns up to everything he’s done in the past, saying various times “I can only blame myself” ... over the years Mike’s come across like an insane animal (and admittedly much of it was his doing) but you really get to see the human side of him which is just a sad individual, some scenes saw him fighting back tears ... the film gives you Mike’s account of the significant moments in his life: his early years, career, marriage to Robin Givens, Buster Douglas, prison sentence, return to glory and fall from grace ... finally, in my opinion, if Tyson had gotten the opportunity to face Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis in his prime, he would’ve gone down as the greatest to ever lace up gloves, because they both would’ve fallen ... he may not have gone down as THE greatest of all time, but his documentary/biography definitely is ... score: 4.75/5

~J-Smooth~

Ringside Rundown

2009-08-16T11:12:00.002-04:00

-to buy or not to buy, that is the question ... Manny Pacquiao/Miguel Cotto tix on sale this Monday ... and I'll be in the Southwest U.S. at that time, so it would make sense ... BUT, at the same time, $150 for microscopic view nosebleeds compared to $49.99 for a birdseye view from the comfort of my own home, what's the better investment? hmmmm ...

-what a GREAT 2009 end of year sched ...

-Sept 19th: Floyd Mayweather Jr./Juan Manuel Marquez

-Oct 3rd: Kelly Pavlik/Paul Williams; Showtime's Super Middleweight Elimination tourney

-Nov 14th: Pacquiao/Cotto

-and there's talk about WBA 147 Champ Shane Mosley in a unification bout with WBC 147 Champ Andre Berto for December

-if you haven't already clicked on the video above, Mike Tyson's documentary is set to be released on DVD this Tuesday ... only thing for me to figure out now is: Best Buy, Future Shop or HMV ...

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review - A Perfect Getaway

2009-08-12T06:18:00.002-04:00

A Perfect Getaway - starring nobody notable (although Kiele Sanchez is alright looking) ... went from a somewhat interesting film to flatlining about 85% of the way through, which was the point of the plot twist ... in my opinion, this is a Made-for-(Sunday Afternoon)-TV movie, which somehow managed to sneak its way onto the big screen ... basically the plotline evolved from realistic/believable to "WTF?!" ... I've said before that the art of the plot twist has been lost ... this film was proof positive of that ... or maybe it's just me, because nothing surprises me anymore in "who done it?" kind of films ... I won't degrade this movie (like Lost In Translation or House of Flying Daggers), because it did keep my interest for a good percentage of it ... BUT, the plot twist REALLY killed it ... score 1/5

in some unrelated ... I've seen some good dramas and action movies over the past few years, but I haven't seen a good comedy in a long time, Along Came Polly was probably the last ... I guess There's Something About Mary and American Pie set the bar so high for comedies, that everything else just pales in comparison ...

~J-Smooth~

The People's Church

2009-08-10T06:34:00.002-04:00

This weekend we had some visitors over from The States ... among them was my godmother whom I hadn't seen since '93 ... this was her first trip to Canada, so of course I was designated as T-Dot tour guide, something which I didn't mind at all ... driving to Downtown Toronto for reasons other than "business" was a refreshing change ... really all I had to do was drive them around on a sightseeing tour, because her mother has difficulty getting around ... we drove past the usual sights: CN Tower, SkyDome, ACC, Queen's Park, The ROM, City Hall, Eaton Centre, Dundas Square and Bloor Street ...

afterwards, I took drove them to their church, for Sunday service ... The People's Church in North York ... they asked me to join them, something which I wasn't opposed to at all ... part of it was that I was somewhat intrigued, because they apparently broadcast these services on television, which my godmother can watch all the way from Los Angeles, where she's from (you'd think it'd be the other way around) ... now this was an inter-denominational church of all Christians, so it was very diverse in terms of the different cultures in attendance ... as for the inside of the church, just imagine a theater ... the format of the service itself was very different from what I'm used to (myself being Catholic) ... it's basically a show, nothing solemn ... in the beginning, the congregation sings upbeat religious songs (and everyone is into it) ... then comes the preacher, who gives his sermon frequently referencing the bible, which everyone in attendance does as well ... after about a half hour's sermon, the service concludes with a final blessing ... now what did I think of all of this? ... in a nutshell, it's basically an extension of what we do at my church ... what's funny is that The People's Church has things I wish my church did (ie. a great choir and a charismatic preacher) ... another thing I loved was that, from my perspective, there is no conflict between this church and my own ... they can go hand-in-hand, as I said, merely an extension ... just goes to show, there is more than one way of showing love and appreciation to The Almighty, who's given us everything ...

~J-Smooth~

How 'bout them Blue Days

2009-08-08T07:18:00.003-04:00

my second post today, but yesterday's dose of nostalgia is worth talking about ...

I posted it on Facebook and Twitter ... watching last night's reunion of the 1992 and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays World Series Championship teams, brings back a lot of great memories, but it is another painful reminder of how the mighty have fallen ... I'd have to say my love for the Jays back then was greater than my love today for basketball and boxing combined ... I would reflect on the highlights of those years, but they're pretty much self-explanatory, so I thought I'd talk about some of my fave players ...

Joe Carter: probably my favorite baseball player of all-time

Roberto Alomar: the Derek Jeter of those days and as much as I love Jeter, he comes up short compared to Robbie in terms of ability ...

Juan Guzman: at the time, one of the most feared pitchers in the game ... the guy had an absolute gun for an arm, and when you throw 95-8 mph, you don't have to worry about anything, all you have to do is throw strikes ...

Paul Molitor: the biggest reason for why they repeated in 1993 ...

Devon White: the best defensive center fielder I've ever seen ...

Ricky Henderson: what a difference a uniform makes ... absolutely hated him when he played for Oakland and loved him when he landed in Toronto ...

Dave Winfield: one of the classiest guys, not just in baseball but, in sports history ...

The Pitching Staff: Jack Morris, David Cone, Dave Stewart ... we're talking three of the best pitchers in the history of the game ... Tom Henke and Duane Ward, the best closers in the game at the time ...

Others: Tony Fernandez, Jimmy Key, Dave Stieb and even though he wasn't a part of those teams Fred McGriff ... in my opinion the greatest trade in baseball history was McGriff and Fernandez for Carter and Alomar ... other greats came along in the years following (ie. Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay) but never a collection of greats like those teams ...

Probably my favorite memory from those World Series Championships was watching Game 6 of the 1992 World Series at the SkyDome ("Rogers Centre" pffft) on the JumboTron with my Uncle Shark ... talk about emotions, the Jays were one strike away from the title, the Dome is loud and going crazy ... but Henke blew the save and it was like the air was let out of the place ... then going crazy again with Winfield's clutch 2-out 2-run double in the 11th inning ... when that final out was recorded, talk about chaos, it was pandemonium ... everyone in the stadium going nuts ... I was near tears, hugging people I didn't know, singing Queen's "We Are The Champions" ... then nearly got crushed walking down a celebratory Front Street ...

Damn I miss those days ...

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review - Knowing

2009-08-08T05:41:00.003-04:00

Knowing - starring Nicholas Cage ... the main themes of the movie are prophecy and destiny ... the premise is a man (Cage) who discovers that the world's major disasters over a 50-year period, have been predicted with grave accuracy (ie. 9/11) ... in light of his discovery, he finds that there are disasters which have yet to occur ... the film is dedicated to how he deals with this information ... now if someone were to ask me how good the movie was, I'd say it would depend on what kind of person they are ... would they consider themselves a person of science or a person of faith? are they a realist or a believer? ... I'm more of the latter on both points, but with a hint of the former ... the movie to me wasn't the greatest, but it was entertaining ... score: 3/5 ...

~J-Smooth~

NBA Sched; Raptors

2009-08-05T06:15:00.003-04:00

-got a peek at the 2009-10 NBA schedule released yesterday ... there are only a few real dates that interest me ...

-first, is the Christmas Day schedule ... it's become a great holiday tradition for me to watch ball on that day ... this year definitely won't disappoint ... I was hoping for Lakers/Celtics, but that's what the Finals are for ... Celtics/Magic and Cavs/Lakers are more than good enough ... ABC had to make up for their desired Kobe/LeBron Final last year and I'm sure they'll be hoping for a ratings explosion on Christmas Day ...

-the other dates that interest me are on the Raptors' schedule ... particularly when the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, and to a lesser extent, Blazers, Hornets and Heat come to town, because I want to catch at least a couple of games at the ACC ...

-I was tweeting back and forth with my squad from HV, about predictions for the upcoming season ... it's still waaaay too early, but I have The Lakers over The Celtics in the Finals ... Also, I have the Raptors winning 51 games and reaching the Conference Finals ... this may come as a shock to many, even moreso coming from me ... I'll elaborate at a later time ...

~J-Smooth~

Wii Sports Resort Review

2009-08-03T12:09:00.002-04:00

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it right now that Nintendo Wii is the greatest console of all time ... I awarded the console that status after the release of Punch-Out!! in May ... but they've re-affirmed their greatness with Wii Sports Resort ... this game is the much anticipated sequel to Wii Sports ... bundled with the game is the new Wii Motion Plus attachment, which provides much more accurate sensory movement ... Sports Resort features 12 mini-games ... the best ones in my opinion are the Table Tennis and Swordplay ... the only downer with those is that the experience is much better when playing with others ... and as everyone knows, J-Smooth doesn't shy away from competition ... the best solo mini-games are Archery and Power Cruising which highlight the brilliance of the Wii Motion Plus ... the other mini-games are so-so, but still fun ... Thank You Nintendo!! ... and I'm positive your greatness will only reach more epic heights with the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii this coming holiday season ...

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review - Crossing Over

2009-08-02T11:17:00.002-04:00

Crossing Over - starring: Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta ... in a nutshell, this movie was cut from the same cloth as Crash ... the only criticisms I have of the film were that: there were a few spots that were a bit slow-paced and some storylines in hindsight really served no purpose ... the moral of the story is the value/significance of becoming an American citizen ... so if that concept makes you roll your eyes, this movie may not be your cup of tea ... nothing wrong with the acting or character development ... but a solid movie nonetheless, I enjoyed it ... score: 3.5/5 ...

~J-Smooth~

Redesign Notes

2009-07-27T09:06:00.003-04:00

unless you've got a vision problem, you will have noticed a few slight modifications to my site, a few notes on these:

-The Twitter widget that I originally had up wasn't really working for me ... it made the page seem a bit cluttered ... on top of that, Flash player is kinda wack ... something which became apparent when it would fail to pop up on occasion ...

-Some of you may be wondering why I created a link to my YouTube channel ... well, it's a chance for my fans to see what I'm watching (under favorites) and commenting on (of course, 'cause your boy's always got an opinion) ... when the time finally comes that I purchase my Blackberry, I'll shoot some videos with it ... maybe later invest in a good webcam and do some podcasts ... then I'll upload all of those onto YouTube ...

-I currently own the "JSmoothOnline" domains for Blogger, YouTube and Twitter ... yes, your boy's trying to establish (if it isn't already) J-Smooth as a brand name and intellectual property, LOL ... next stops, my own reality show and clothing line (back in high school, J-Smooth "Pimpgear") LMFAO ...

-now as for the picture links of my "affiliates" ... it's something that I wanted to have when I first created this blog page ... but it wasn't available back then ... I'm a visual kinda guy and text links don't really compel me to check something out, this way has a bit more appeal ... another plus to the pic links is that it puts a face to the name when I mention one of my dudes in my entries ... come to think of it, they should all be thanking me for making them look G ...

-any suggestions?, because your boy is all about the fans ...

~J-Smooth~

Summer Weekend Recap

2009-07-26T16:41:00.002-04:00

-kicked it with Prophet on Friday, then again on Saturday at Octal's ... got in some much needed socializing with Fam ... I know we're older now, but it still doesn't feel like it ... same ol' Oc', same ol' Proph', same ol' J-Smooth ... I said it last night and will echo the same sentiments today, House of the Flying Daggers has got to be one of the worst movies I've ever seen ... not even worthy of a rating ... the only brightspot, if any, was Zhang Ziyi, she is amazingly hot ... I think I've got a new crush, LOL ...

-parents come home today from the motherland ... so my freedom ends today, on top of that I have to pick them up this afternoon which means a departing from the regular Sunday pick-up ball ... double downer ... but on the upside, my parents always bring me home some good stuff (ie. food, clothing) from back home, so I can't complain ... plus, mother nature dashed any hopes of ball today ... this Canadian weather is nuts ...

-RIP Vernon Forrest ... for those of you who don't know him, he was a great boxer, most known for being Super Welterweight Champion and defeating the great "Sugar" Shane Mosley twice ... He was gunned down in an attempted robbery in Atlanta last night ... Michael Jackson, Steve McNair, Arturo Gatti and Vernon ... the count is now at four, of celebrities that are dead and quite frankly shouldn't be ... the scary part of Vernon's death is that Proph' and myself were talking about him, literally just hours ago ... proof positive that you're only guaranteed today, tomorrow is a gift ...

~J-Smooth~

Random Rundown

2009-07-22T16:51:00.003-04:00

-TMZ is set to release the footage of LeBron James getting dunked on at his camp ... I hate TMZ, but anything that makes LeBron look like a b!tch has my full attention ...

-anyone else getting sick of seeing Seth Rogan on movie trailers? ... all his movies with the exception of one, have been complete trash ...

-I'll say it again, the Raptors are gonna be tough to hate on this season ... It's a New Jack City! ... what the acquisitions of Jarrett Jack, Hedo Turkoglu and Demar DeRozan do is give me a fighting chance in a bet I made in '06 ... call me insane, but I can see the Raptors finishing as high as 4th in the East this year ... further evidence of a diluted talent pool in the NBA ...

-Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto, has finally been agreed upon for November 14th ... word is that A-list sports and entertainment personalities have already been contacting Bob Arum for tickets ... I wonder what Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s excuse will be when Pacman outdraws his fight ...

~J-Smooth~

Roadtrip!!!

2009-07-19T14:55:00.002-04:00

highlights/lowlights of my visit Stateside:

-the day's weather started out promising ... clear, blue skies ... but that changed in a hurry ...

-went to mass at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston ... every time I visit, it's like coming home ...

-I'm utterly devestated ... The Old Country Buffet has been closed down ...

-lookin' to see what all the southern fuss is about, I went to TOPS and picked up a box of Grits ... just had a bowl, not bad, but I'll stick to my Quaker Oats ...

-picked up a few things at the Outlet Mall, not many deals though ... the prices at Niagara Outlets are usually a good gauge for what prices are like at Walden Galleria Mall, so I didn't bother going there ... maybe a blessing, I'm probably better off saving for my annual NYC trip ...

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review reviews; The Bank Job

2009-07-18T23:06:00.004-04:00

I've been looking over my entries from the past year ... most specifically my movie reviews ... I can't believe that I've watched over 40 ... not that I keep track, but it seems like that's the most I've ever watched in a year's period ... now looking at the scores that I've given, I'm going to change my ratings on two movies ... Rendition, I'm downgrading to a 4 from a 4.5 (which in retrospect, despite being a great movie, was a little too high) and I'm marking up Taken to a 4 (which I surprisingly graded very low originally) ... but all the scores still seem to be pretty accurate ... the following is a list of my upper-tier movies:

4.5 - Traitor
4.25 - We Own The Night, Love Actually
4 - Shooter, Rendition, Taken
3.75 - The Departed, Notorious, The Other Boleyn Girl

Anyhow, I just got through watching The Bank Job ... and it was another solid movie ... that makes it two in a row ... I'm not even going to get into "critic"-mode for this one, because I can't even break this movie down like that ... I just enjoyed it, all the way through (and that's what the movie-goer experience should be) ... but I will give it a score, 3.75/5 ...

~J-Smooth~

Milestones

2009-07-17T02:39:00.002-04:00

2 YEARS, 300 POSTS ...

again, I'm amazed on how fast time has gone by ...

my sophomore year on Blogger has seen my output reduced by half ...

no new design this year, I think I'll stick with the current layout for a while ... but if you haven't noticed already, I've added a couple new features to this site ... first, the Twitter widget (again thx to Garneteye) which are more up to date on what's goin' on with yours truly ... second, the YouTube video up top, I'll post any video worth watching before any of my entries ...

I guess on to this entry ...

-watched the movie Taken ... solid film ... score 3.25 ...

-listened to Daughtry's new album ... average ... score 2.75 ...

-if the Toronto Raptors manage to pry Jarrett Jack from the Indiana Pacers, that means they will have 3 players I actually like (Hedo Turkoglu and Demar DeRozan, the others, 4 if you include Chris Bosh) ... hating them might not be as easy this year ...

-the Boston Celtics acquisition of Rasheed Wallace may very well put them over the top ... but if Lamar Odom returns to the Los Angeles Lakers, the finals next year will be a heavyweight fight ...

-what's up with women in the world? ... they don't seem to be acting like ladies anymore ... RIP Arturo Gatti and Steve McNair ...

-this may be a little late to comment on, but I thought Michael Jackson's memorial/tribute was very well done ... I tried to be tough, but got a little misty-eyed watching it ...

-finally, I've got my ear to the ground ...

J-Smooth

RIP

2009-07-16T14:18:00.003-04:00

It's the one year anniversary of the death of the D-Mac familia's patriarch ... I can't believe it's already been this long ... but at the same time, the memories of that day and those following are still very much fresh in my mind ... how has it changed me? ... well a self-observation (at the risk of sounding cliche), I've come to appreciate life a lot more ... I mean, I've always loved life, but now my approach is more of an easy-going, cautious one ... I keep all the people I'm close to, close ... and not sweat all the trivial and superficial things ... lastly, I just wanted to say, once again, T****, I Love You and Thank You ... RIP

~J-Smooth~

The Twittersphere; Local Ball

2009-07-06T14:07:00.005-04:00

-your boy has uped and decided to enter Twitter Nation ... I wasn’t really compelled to at first, because of the concept ... for those living under a rock, Twitter is basically one element of Facebook (the status updates), to let people know what you’re doing and thinking at the moment ... I was just scrolling through my Facebook Wall the other day and an observation I made was that my usage of late has been very Twitter-esque, thus I just decided to not be a hater and give it a chance ... currently I’m “following” (Twitter’s equivalent to a Facebook friends list) people like: my little bro Zona, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Charlie Villanueva and even U.S. President Barrack Obama ... but like I said in one of my “tweets”, it seems half@ss tweeting without a Blackberry (which I hope to get before year’s end) ... because that’s the other feature with Twitter, you can post tweets via Blackberry (on the go, so to speak) ... I’m not sure if long-term I can see Twitter being implemented into my day-to-day cyberspace activity, among others things like YouTube, Facebook and various boxing and basketball news sites ... but I guess we shall see ...

-ran some ball yesterday at the local court, something which has become a weekly practise ... I’ll just say it straight up, I haven’t played against ANY legit competition, with the exception of a couple of Pinoys from my area ... my city is currently expanding, thus more-and-more people are moving in on a yearly basis ... I’m willing to bet more than half our population has moved in within the past 5 years ... anyhow back to ball ... over the past few weeks, I’ve played against different people, but what’s funny is that squads are usually made up of guys of the same race, who “stick together” (blacks, browns, Chinese, Pinoys etc.) ... what I want to address are the black and brown ballers that I’ve played thus far ... nearly all of them have big mouths and all act so damn hard, thinkin’ they’re “G’s” ... I’ve got a big mouth myself, so I can’t hate on that ... but what I love doing is taking dudes with big mouths and shutting them up ... The group of black guys caught sight of our squad and started sayin’ sh!t like “this shouldn’t take too long”, “let’s make this quick” ... then I whispered over to my boy Youngblood before the game that I knew we could run these guys ... little did I know how prophetic I had been ... playin’ ball, I’m a combo guard, but yesterday I primarily ran the point on offense while manned the middle on D (I was the biggest guy on our squad, so really by default) ... on offense, I was attacking the rim and setting up my squad all day ... on D, playing down low allowed me to be more vocal and see the court better ... let’s just say the opposition got their @sses handed to them ... best part about it, was there was DEAD silence after the game, they couldn’t say sh!t ... moral of the story, don’t under-estimate the competitiveness of THIS Pinoy ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Craptors; BEP; Redemption

2009-07-04T11:45:00.001-04:00

-I’ve been searching my previous entries and Facebook sent messages for where I called it ... but I know for a fact that I predicted Hedo Turkoglu’s signing with the Toronto Craptors ... I know I told the fam and mi familia ... the Jermaine O’Neal/Shawn Marion trade from earlier this year confirmed it for me, but I already had a hunch about it before that ... now the question is, WTF was Bryan Colangelo thinking? ... probably something like “yesssss!, another Euro player, but this time he’s actually ‘legit’ because he played for a winning team, now I can justify over-paying for this guy” ... now don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Turkoglu, but on the Craptors, his signing negates everything they’re trying (or what they say they’re trying) to do ... Colangelo said that they want to get tougher, more athletic and better defensively ... nope, nope and nope on the Hedo signing ... but then again, does any logic in Raptorland make sense? ... they want to run, so they draft a great athlete in Demar DeRozan, who can finish the break, OK fine ... but who’s gonna get the ball to this guy and run alongside him? ... the word “push” was obviously omitted from Jose Frauderon’s Spanish-to-English dictionary ... now as far as toughness and defense go, the projected starting line-up has not improved at all and I’d even say has gotten worse, if that’s even possible ... they lose A LOT, minus Marion ... as it stands, you’ve got Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Turkoglu, DeRozan and Frauderon ... someone please explain to me why Colangelo remains convinced that Bargnani can play the 5? ... he can’t guard guys at that position, period ... and I’m not even talking about Dwight Howard, I’m thinking of tier 2 guys like Kendrick Perkins and Tyson Chandler ... Bosh, as good as he is offensively, is not exactly a defensive stud ... Hedo played in a defensive system in Orlando, but is not a good man-to-man defender ... DeRozan is still a rookie who I’m expecting to take his lumps in his early career from guys like Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade ... and Frauderon, is allergic to D ... The only thing the Hedo signing does for the Craptors is give them another 20PPG scorer ... but points are meaningless if you can’t stop anyone ... Toronto Craptors basketball, “where WTF? happens” ...

-I finally listened to The Black Eyed Peas’ new album The E.N.D. ... their first single “Boom Boom Pow” is pretty catchy ... while not exactly as good as Elephunk, it’s on par with Monkey Business ... and apl.de.ap continues to prove why he’s one of the most under-rated and under-appreciated emcees in the game ... I’d rate the album as a whole 4/5 ... and there is absolutely no sarcasm or Pinoy bias at all in that score ... ;P

-almost 7 months after, J-Smooth finally avenged his only two losses in a storied career ... those losses came at the hands of Anthro, but this time around J-Smooth responded with an emphatic and convincing beatdown ... think Pacquiao/Hatton ... when it comes to Mario Kart Wii, J-Smooth is the P4P and PPV King, LMFAO ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Tribute to a King

2009-06-27T09:52:00.003-04:00

When first hearing the news about Michael Jackson, to describe my reaction as stunned would be the understatement of the modern era ... as everyone knows, I’m an admitted nostalgiaholic and the 80’s to me were all about the “3 Mikes” and Hogan, that is (to steal a line from Biggie) “Tyson, Jordan, Jackson” and The Hulkster ... as far as music went, Michael Jackson WAS my childhood ... to me, there was MJ and then there was everyone else ... He’s the first artist that I listened to over-and-over again ... I would’ve commented on this the day of his passing, but the significance of his death to me warranted its own entry and some reflection ... since his passing, all I’ve been listening to are his classic tracks (even as I type) ...

My first memory of Michael was hearing the tracks from his “Off the Wall” album, in particular ... what I remember was the vinyl spinning on the turntable playing the immortal hits “Rock With You” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” ... my parents tell that those tracks always had me dancing ... something which I can confirm still holds true today ... prime example, last night at a fave hangout with Anthro and Octal, they ran a full set of MJ’s music ...

After the release of his follow-up album, “Thriller”, (at the risk of sounding very cliché) music for me was changed forever ... it set the standard for greatness, period ... and the memories ... my first time watching the video for “Thriller”, I remember being completely freaked out and in complete awe of the dance moves at the same time ... again, setting the standard, this time for what defined a great music video ...

Then who can forget Motown 25 and his first moonwalk to “Billie Jean” ... Michael was a great illusionist, people to this day still think that to do the moonwalk they push off the pointed foot ... amateurs! ...

The other classic off the “Thriller” album “Beat It” can be described as my childhood anthem ... finally, the apex of my love for Michael Jackson was at the release of the charity song “We Are the World” ...

As time went on, especially into the 90’s, I obviously started listening to other artists, but I never stopped being a Michael Jackson fan ... even throughout the allegations of sexual abuse which remain a black-eye on his life, because to me that’s precisely what they were unsubstantiated allegations ... I don’t want to cast a dark shadow over this entry by discussing specifics about those accusations, but I will say one thing ... the fact of the matter is, every one of his accusers took a payoff ... now my question is, if this happened to one of your loved ones, would you take a payoff and turn a blind eye? I know I wouldn’t ... but it definitely puts into question the motives of his accusers and legitimacy of the accusations ...

As I stated on my Facebook status, the words “legend” and “icon” are thrown around a lot, but rarely are they ever warranted, but for Michael Jackson, he fits the bill for both ... To me he is the Greatest of all time ... and I’m not just saying that because of his passing ... I distinctly remember telling the boys this many times ... I’ve never been one to shy away from saying that “Thriller” is my favorite album of all time ...

I won’t get into the question marks concerning the circumstances of his death, because right now most of it is purely speculation ... for me, I choose not to think about how he died, but rather reflect on how he lived ...

In closing, my deepest and heartfelt condolences to Michael’s family and loved ones ... June 25the, 2009 will be remembered as the day that Michael died and when part of my childhood died with him ... he gave up his childhood to make the music of my childhood great and for that I want to say, Thank You Michael! ... Rest In Peace!

Hardcourt Headlines

2009-06-26T07:32:00.003-04:00

I will touch on the passing of THE Icon, THE Legend, The King of Pop, but he deserves his own entry ... a tribute entry to come ...

On the lighter side of things, I’ll run down the recent happenings in the NBA ...

The trades:

Shaquille O’Neal to the Cavaliers – this isn’t the same Shaq from his Laker days, far from, but at least they didn’t have to give up an arm and a leg to acquire him ... I’ll say the same thing I said after Cleveland’s moves last summer, it’s not going to be enough ... this was a move directly made as an answer to Dwight Howard, nothing more ... if the Cavs don’t make it into at least the Finals this coming season, the fans in Cleveland will be bidding adios to LeBron James ...

Richard Jefferson to the Spurs – I guess the Spurs finally figured out that their core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker could no longer warrant their team as perennial contenders ... they needed help, RJ will provide that in terms of his scoring, BUT contenders? I don’t think so ... I’ve always thought that Parker was/is highly over-rated ... and the heart of the team Ginobili has been hit with the injury bug in recent years ... I can honestly see the Spurs busting up the core within the next couple of seasons ...

Vince Carter to the Magic – despite what I think of Vince, this definitely has to make the Magic the early favorite to repeat as Eastern Conference Champions, probably even for the 2010 ‘ship ... I’ve always thought that the only weakness the Magic had was not having a closer at the end of games ... sure, Hedo Turkoglu has been clutch, but with all due respect, he’s not as offensively gifted as Vince and sure doesn’t command the opposition’s best defender ... this does make for an interesting situation, whether the Magic hold onto Hedo or not ... if they do, 2010 Champs,

The draft:

-am I the only one that doesn’t think Blake Griffin as that special as he’s been touted?, I see a Marcus Fizer ... he’ll help the Clippers (a team annually in need of a talent infusion), but he’s not a “program changer” ala Dwight Howard, Chris Paul ...

-WTF is Minnesota doing? Picking at 5 and 6, they really dropped the ball again, 3 PG’s with their first three picks? ... and among them, another highly over-hyped Spanish PG ... I saw him play in last year’s Beijing Olympics and what people see in this guy is beyond me ... everyone already knows my sentiments towards European players and Ricky Rubio doesn’t help their case much ...

-as for the Craptors, Demar DeRozan, a GREAT pick in my opinion ... like I told ‘Zona, I’ve seen this guy play 3 or 4 times this year and he reminded me of a young Tracy McGrady ... I may be kind’ve biased, because I have love for most Pac-10 guys ... I have a feeling that looking back on this draft 5 years from now, the other eight teams who drafted ahead of Toronto will regret passing on this guy ... this move will not draw me back on board as a Craptors fan, but at least if I have to watch any of their games, they won’t be as boring as last season ... if they can find a way to hold onto Shawn Marion, Chris Bosh and re-acquire Carlos Delfino, they’ll definitely be a playoff team ... now all they need is a legit point guard to run the show and to give me a fighting chance in my bet with Zona ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots

2009-06-22T22:13:00.001-04:00

-I’m seriously thinking in investing in some nose plugs for the next couple of weeks ... I remember the stench of the last garbage strike in Toronto very well ...

-there are movies which people are encouraging me to watch, such as: Gran Turino, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler ... but there’s nothing compelling me to do so at the moment ...

-I was however compelled enough to check out Terminator: Salvation ... HUGE mistake (cue, Proph’ “don’t say I didn’t warn you”) ... I understand why they veered from the original formula of the previous installments, but in my opinion they veered into another galaxy with this one ... horrible!, no score necessary ... it’s not Terminator ...

-just like Terminator: Salvation is not Terminator, Mario Bros. in 3D is not Mario ... thankfully Nintendo Wii (The Greatest Console of All-Time) is correcting this with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, slated to be released sometime around the Christmas season ... Mario is at its best in 2D ... plus, multi-player Mario, what a great concept! ...

-I didn’t watch the MMVA’s, but I did hear on the radio this morning that celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was beat up after the awards show by the manager of The Black Eyed Peas ... I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, but why anyone even cares about or pays attention to Hilton’s opinion is beyond me ...

-speaking of the Peas, as a fan, I need to get to listening to their new album ... I’ve really been sleeping on the new album releases ... Busta Rhymes is one, Method Man & Redman is another ... I’m pretty sure Daughtry’s new album is set to drop as well ...

-of course, I couldn’t close this entry without quickly touching on some in ring stuff ... Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto on November 14th ... I’ve let it marinate for a bit and I’m fine with it ... like I told ‘Zona the other day, as long as Pacman isn’t facing some cream puff (ie. anyone other than Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Miguel Cotto) it’s cool with me ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Movie Reviews

2009-06-17T15:26:00.001-04:00

The Taking of Pelham 123 – starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta ... you’d think that pitting two of Hollywood’s A-List stars in an action movie, set in The Big Apple would be the perfect formula for a great movie ... well, not quite ... like I was telling one of my friends a few weeks ago, as we get older we all become critics, which in my opinion takes away from the movie-goer experience ... so in order to avoid this, before watching the movie, I tried to convince myself to keep an open mind ... but alas, the critic could help but surface ... now I’ve always admired the work of both Denzel and Travolta throughout their decorated careers ... and they were their usual selves in this movie ... Denzel dons his cape as the strong protagonist, while Travolta is definitely believable in his role as the villain ... the movie was definitely fast-paced, not dragging at any point ... but at its conclusion, I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed ... reasons for this? ... it could be that it had elements that I’ve already seen in other films ... or it could be that some moments were very predictable ... maybe it could be that the background and motivations of the two principle characters were spoon-fed to the audience ... but in the end, I somewhat had the feeling of “what was the point of it all?” ... strangely enough, I enjoyed watching it, the movie just didn’t have that “wow”-factor ... it wasn’t the cliché, “edge-of-your-seat thrill ride”, but I was definitely engaged throughout ... better than average, but nothing special ... score 3/5

The International – starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts ... set in various locations around the world, particularly Europe and The United States ... it’s a story about corruption within an international bank which is networked with various organizations (some of which terrorist) throughout the world ... Owen and Watts’ characters are heading an investigation into the inner-workings of this bank, trying to “bring down the system” so to speak, which puts the lives of many people, including their own, in danger ... what did I think? ... well, it was extremely slow in various parts, I found myself struggling to not doze off ... it wasn’t bad by any means, but just not my cup of tea ... score 2.5/5

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Nostalgic Injection

2009-06-10T14:02:00.003-04:00

Saved by the Bell Reunion?!?! ... Yeeaaahhhhh!!! ... I always wanted friends like Zack and Slater, they were the coolest!!! ... never had a girl like Kelly Kapowski though, but I was pretty close ...

also I just watched bits of the Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection DVD, which I picked up yesterday ... ahhhhh, Miss Elizabeth, my first ever crush ... as the years went by, she still looked in mint condition ... RIP ...

talkin' like I'm wasted ... my name is J-Smooth and I'm a nostalgiaholic ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Predictions

2009-06-03T22:20:00.002-04:00

-NBA Finals: Orlando Magic vs. Los Angeles Lakers ... Magic in 6 ... my common sense and conventional wisdom says Lakers in 6, hell even President Barrack Obama thinks so, but Superman and The Magic just won’t be denied ... it would be nice to have a CLASSY guy like Dwight reppin’ the L as champion ... if that sounded like a slight on LeB!tch James, damn right it was ...

-June 13: Miguel Cotto vs. Joshua Clottey ... Clottey UD ... plaster-of-Paris or not, Cotto’s been a “gun-shot” fighter since his TKO loss to Antonio Margarito last July ... he was less than impressive against Michael Jennings and Clottey, while still fairly unknown, is a legit threat/fighter ...

-July 18: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez ... Mayweather TKO 10 ... I see it being a boring fight as many anticipate in the first half of the bout ... but the “Mexican” in Marquez will have him forcing the action in the later rounds to have any chance of winning on the cards ... Floyd’s made a career out of this, taking advantage of an opponent’s over-aggressiveness and if this scenario plays out, he’ll catch Marquez ...

-Oct 17: Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley ... WOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ... top 10 fight of all-time ... guaranteed action, two warriors ... my two fave fighters on the planet ... both guys have my blessing to retire after this ... I do have to caution this though, because nothing’s been officially signed, but if there’s any weight to recent interviews and articles I’ve read, Pacman and Sugar Shane are on a collision course ... I guess this is their way of both saying “screw you Floyd!”, based on his unreasonable demands (asking for $20M upfront to face Shane and a 60/40 favorable purse split against Manny) ... Pacquiao/Mosley should draw 1M+ buys easily ... whomever comes out on top, will have enough leverage over Floyd for a future fight ... if Manny wins, he beat the guy Floyd’s been running from for years ... If Shane wins, it all but eliminates the dream bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather, Shane would likely be recognized as the top pound-for-pound fighter, thus any excuse Floyd comes up with not to fight him would make it obvious he’s ducking and he’s simply back for the money ... as for how I see Pacquiao/Mosley playing out ... honestly, I wouldn’t care either way ... I’m a fan of both and I’ve been a fan of boxing before I was a fan of both ... Mosley looked awesome against Margarito in January, but Pacquiao looked even more spectacular against Ricky Hatton ... hand-speed, power and foot-speed are pretty much even ... Shane’s naturally bigger, but Manny’s younger ... Shane’s never been stopped, but lately Manny’s looked unstoppable ... honestly, Manny’s got that “X-Factor”, “aura” that I just can’t explain and I just don’t see him losing ... It’s gonna be an awesome fight, going close to the distance ... but I see a championship round stoppage, probably in the 11th with Manny prevailing ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Pacman + SF2 + YouTube = Classic Vid

2009-06-01T09:31:00.005-04:00

This has to be amongst the greatest YouTube videos I've ever seen ... it's in pretty exclusive company, up there with: the "Usain Bolt spoof", the "botched marriage proposal at The Houston Rockets game", Shaq's Kobe spit/diss and the "Lightsaber duel" ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

The Rundown

2009-05-27T10:21:00.003-04:00

a few things on my mind to rundown, so let’s get to it ...

-congrats to Proph’ ...

-I looked it up and Busta Rhymes’ new album Back On My B.S. is actually out ... came out last week and I didn’t even know ... for those that would question my status as a Busta fan, I’ll explain that this album has been pushed back for the last two years and I didn’t expect it to make the projected release date ... I’ve heard the first four released singles on YouTube and if that’s any indication, this may be the album where I declare Busta doesn’t have it anymore ... I mean the track featuring Jadakiss and Lil Wayne, the collab sounded funny to me even before hearing the song ... I mean, Jadakiss appeals to the hardcore fans of hip hop, while Lil Wayne, I don’t even need to go there ... after hearing the song, I must say I’m disappointed with both Busta and Jadakiss, esp. Jada, those are the weakest lyrics I’ve heard from him, probably ever and that’s saying a lot ... I’ll give a full Back On My B.S. review when after I listen to the album in its entirety ...

-I picked up the latest issue of SLAM Magazine with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James on the cover in a boxing-style face-to-face posedown ... now I’ve been meaning to address the “Who’s better Kobe or LeBron?” issue for a while ... Kobe hands down ... for the simple facts that I like his game better and he’s a winner ... what I like to see in a scoring wing player are finesse and killer instinct ... Kobe has a lot of flash and artistry to his game, like other players I such as D-Wade and Jordan ... plus, in the fourth quarter, The Black Mamba is a killer, there’s nobody in the league that I’d rather give the ball to in clutch situations ... LeBron on the other hand, his offensive game is a bulldozing, freight train style, just running people over, it’s just not my cup of tea ... plus that “crab dribble” is annoying as hell ... defensively, he’s good, not taking anything away, but man-to-man, Kobe’s just better ... The thing I hate most about LeBron is his arrogance, now there’s cockiness which Kobe is, but then LeBron takes that to the next level 100-fold ... but what else would I expect from someone who got everything handed to him before he even stepped onto an NBA court ...

-I’m pulling for a Lakers/Magic Final ... with Orlando and my fave player Dwight Howard coming out on top ... don’t get things twisted now, I’ve made my predictions, but this is what I WANT to see ...

-I don’t know if any of you caught Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s tirade on ESPN’s Brian Kenney ... Floyd likes to call himself “Money Mayweather” and “Cash King”, I simply think of him as “The King of Contradiction” ... in this interview, none of his points made any logical sense and he contradicted himself numerous times ... buggin’ out on a commentator did him no service, it just made him look like an unintelligible, arrogant, piece of trash, not to mention looking like “Mama Klump” ... I’m personally glad to see Floyd back in the game, because I’m a fan of his talent, but it would be nice, just once to see someone press the mute button on his big mouth ... I say, who better than Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley ...

-condolences to “Iron” Mike Tyson, who’s 4-year-old daughter Exodus accidentally strangled herself to death ...

-speaking of the former heavyweight champ, he’s got a documentary out in theatres which I want to see, entitled Tyson ...

-other movies I’d like to go and see are Terminator: Salvation and Angels & Demons ... I’ve always been a fan of the Terminator series, both the movies and the show ... my boycott of FOX has begun after they officially announced the cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, in my opinion the best show on TV by miles ... Angels & Demons, meanwhile, is the sequel to The Da Vinci Code ... the original, if memory serves, I didn’t find half bad ...

-finally, what a shocker, the Toronto Blue Jays have been sent spiralling down to Earth in their recent slide, which included 2/3 losses to the Yankees and a sweep by the Red Sox ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

ABC Survey

2009-05-23T12:19:00.003-04:00

I've deleted the non-applicable questions

A
1- Available: ALWAYS
3- Annoyance: FAKENESS
4- Animal: PANDAS

B
5- Beer: HEINEKEN, SAN MIGUEL
6- Believe in God: DEFINITELY
7- Best Friend(s): ZONA, PROPH’, ANTHRO, JUDDIMAC
8- Body Part on [a guy/girl]: EYES
9- Best feeling(s): ADRENALINE FROM SPORTS AND JUBBIES
10- Blind or Deaf: NEITHER
11- Best weather: FALL WEATHER
12- Been in Love: NOPE
13- Been on stage: YUP
14- Believe in Magic: BEFORE DAVID BLAINE I WOULD’VE SAID NO
15- Believe in Santa: YUP

C
16- Candy: I EAT THE MOST OBSCURE ONES, EX. POPEYES
17- Color: BLACK
18- Chocolate/Vanilla: CHOCOLATE
19- Chinese/Mexican: MEXICAN FOOD, NOT EVEN CLOSE
20- Cake or pie: MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKES
21- Continent to visit: AUSTRALIA
22- Cheese: PROPH’S TASTE IN TV SHOWS

D
23- Day or Night : NIGHT
24- Dance in the rain?: WTF? I’M PINOY AND I’M A DUDE

E
25- Eyes: BLACK
26- Everyone's got: SECRETS, PROBLEMS

F
28- First thoughts waking up: BREAKFAST

G
30- Greatest Fears: GOD, MY FATHER
31- Goals: STABILITY, SUCCESS, HAPPINESS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
32- Gum: DENTINE ICE
33- Get along with your parents?: YUP
34- Good luck charm: NOPE

H
35- Hair Color: BLACK
36- Height: 5’11”
37- Happy: CONTENT
38- Holiday: WHICH EVER ONES MEAN I DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING
39- How do you want to die: OLD AGE

I
40- Ice Cream: MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP
41- Instrument: PIANO

J
42- Jewelry: USED TO, BUT I’M NOT FLASHY LIKE THAT ANYMORE
43- Job: TEACHING

K
44- Kids: NONE OF MY OWN; I’M A BIG KID MYSELF
45- Kick boxing or karate? BOXING, BUT I’VE DONE KARATE
46- Keep a journal?: NOPE

L
47- Love: HAVEN’T FOUND IT YET
48- Letter: J
49- Laughed so hard you cried: YUP, JUST LAST WEEK WHEN WE WERE CRACKING ON ANTHRO

M
50- Milk flavor: CHOCOLATE
51- Movies: LAST MOVIE I WATCHED, THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
52- Motion sickness?: NOPE
53- McD’s or BK: NEITHER, BUT IF I HAD TO PICK, MC D’S, FOR THE CHICKEN NUGGETS

N
54- Number: 11

O
55- One wish: ALL MY GOALS TO BE MET

P
56- Perfect Pizza: JUST NO OLIVES OR ANCHOVIES
57- Pepsi/Coke: NEITHER

Q
58- Quail: YEAH, THEIR EGGS ARE NICE

R
59- Reason to cry: LOSS OF A LOVED ONE
60- Reality T.V: MOST IDIOTIC CONCEPT EVER, 99% OF THOSE SHOWS ARE PURE GARBAGE
61- Radio Station: FAN 590
62- Roll your tongue in a circle?: NOPE

S
64- Song: ONE MIC
65- Shoe size: 13
66- Salad Dressing: CHIPOTLE SOUTHWESTERN
67- Sushi: YUCK
68- Slept outside: YUP
69- Smoked?: NEVER
70- Sing well?: MAGIC MIC SAYS I DO, I’LL TAKE IT’S WORD FOR IT
74- Strawberries/Blueberries: EITHER OR

T
75-Tattoos?: NOPE
76- Time for bed: N/A
77- Thunderstorms: LOVE THEM WHEN THERE’S A HEATWAVE

U
78- Unpredictable: DESCRIBES ME SOMEWHAT

V
79- Vacation spot: USA, PHILIPPINES

W
80- Weakness: MY SURPRESSED ANGER
81- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: NONE
82- Who makes you laugh the most: MYSELF
83- Worst feeling: LOSING SOMEONE YOU LOVE
84- Wanted to be a model: HELL NO
85- Where do we go when we die?: HEAVEN
86- Worst Weather?: WHEN IT’S RAINING AND STILL HOT

X
87- X-Rays: I’VE HAD ‘EM
88- Ex's: ONLY ONE I STILL HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR

Y
89-Year it is now: 2009
90-Yellow: LACOSTE SHIRT

Z
91- Zoo animal: PANDAS

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots XXL

2009-05-18T07:10:00.001-04:00

J-Smooth has returned from hiatus to do what he does best, put people/things on blast ...

-starting off with some stuff in the T-Dot ... now before I sound off on Ruby Dhalla, I first have to say that I must be cautious because I read somewhere that making false statements on blog sites such as these can constitute defamation of character ... that being said, I’ll just deal with the facts ... for those unfamiliar with this case, Ruby Dhalla is a Brampton MP and she is being accused of mistreatment by her former Live-in Caregivers, two Filipino ladies who say that they had their passports confiscated by Dhalla and were only paid over a dollar per hour ... in statements prior to her formal hearing at Parliament, Dhalla said something to the effect of: why would they (the nannies) make statements fifteen months after they had left ... then at Parliament deny that they were employed by her, saying they were employees of her mother and brother ... now, if that is the case, why didn’t Dhalla say that up front? ... second, if you are new immigrants in a country, hoping to land permanent status, unless you’re a keener you wouldn’t have good knowledge about your rights in the country nor would you want to do something to jeopardize your immigrant status, such making a stink with your employer ... if Dhalla is in fact found of any wrong doing, she should be removed from her position and criminal charges should be laid ... like I was telling Prophet the other day, this problem with mistreatment of Live-in Caregivers has been going on for a while and it’s only center stage now because there is a face to the problem ... if Ruby Dhalla has to take the fall for it, so be it ... it would serve her right for her arrogance ...

-something that’s been a thorn in the side of Toronto commuters over the past few weeks are the Toronto contingent of Tamils ... their protest is a call to the Canadian and United States governments to intervene in the crisis in Sri Lanka ... aside from the fact that I think that their protest is pointless, disorganized and lacks any kind of direction, I could care less ... I’m sure people will chime in and say, “if it was the Philippines J, you’d be singing a different tune” ... actually no I wouldn’t, there are rebel insurgents in the Philippines as we speak ... if it’s an “in-house” problem, it should be dealt with in house ...

-how ‘bout them Toronto Blue Jays? ... that was a generic/rhetorical question ... I’ll be reserving judgement until a third of the way or halfway point of the season ... but it’s nice to see baseball fever back in Toronto, a city definitely starved for a winner ... everything just seems to be going the Jays’ way at the moment, the pitching and offense are both clicking thus far, in contrast to years past where they’d only get one or the other ... as for guys I like on the roster: Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, Scott Rolen and Roy Halladay ... speaking of Halladay, I got into a bit of a debate with Anthro the other day about who the better pitcher is between “Doc” and the Mets’ Johan Santana ... he thinks my preference for Santana means that I’m a Halladay-hater, which couldn’t be any further from the truth ... I like them both and I think that they’re the two best pitchers in the game, galaxies ahead of their peers ... but I just think Santana has better “stuff”/movement on his pitches, which would explain his tops/top 2 ERA and SO total ... if he was pitching for the Jays, I guarantee he’d have 9 wins by now ... what I would give for the Jays to acquire Santana, if they did I would call for them to win the World Series right now, because of the fact that they’d be tough to beat in a 7 game series with two aces ... as for Anthro, when he gets on an athlete’s nuts, they’re coming off, he’s the textbook definition of “fanatic” ... LOL, it’s all love bruh ...

-I’ve watched a couple movies recently ... no need for reviews, they both sucked @ss, I would rate both less than a 1 out of 5 ... The Day the Earth Stood Still starring Keanu Reeves and The Reader starring Kate Winslet ... I have nobody to blame but myself, because I listened to outside opinion ...

-NBA Conference Finals Predictions ... first let me say that I’m ecstatic with the dethroning of the Boston Celtics, those arrogant and classless MF’ers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce got exactly what they deserved ... Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers ... I hate to say it, but Cleveland will probably take this series ... they’re better defensively ... the Magic have enough firepower/shooting to keep themselves in the series, but the Cavs having the homecourt advantage makes things even tougher ... Cavs in 6 ... Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets ... this is going to be a fun series, watching two players I like, Kobe Bryant and Chauncey Billups ... I just don’t see the Lakers losing, but not after another tough series ... Lakers in 7 ...

-what’s up with J?, not much at the moment, but there are 3 things I’m very much looking forward to ...

-1) late summer, the September Labour Day weekend, my annual trip to New York City ... this will be a bit different from previous years ... we’ll be staying longer, going on Thursday night and leaving on the Tuesday ... on top of that, aside from the usual shopping and wandering around the city, I will be definitely be going to Jollibee and also will be attending my first Yankees game at the new Yankee Stadium ... I really wanted to go to a game at the old stadium last year, in fact, the weekend I was in New York last year, they were playing the Blue Jays ... ahh well ... maybe I should make it a point to visit the other two remaining “classic” ballparks before the Cubs and Red Sox make decisions to re-locate from Wrigley Field in Chicago and Fenway Park in Boston, respectively ...

-2) end of September, Tatsu and Carteron’s wedding ... not that it’s any of my business, I’ll say it anyway, Tatsu is out of her mind with her wedding expenditure ... I will not disclose the exact figures, but I’ll say that she’s not a celebrity so she shouldn’t be trying to have a wedding like one ... but whatever ... the reason why I’m looking forward to this is because it’s a family reunion of sorts and I’m not in the wedding party ... I find that when you’re part of a wedding party, it’s not as enjoyable, because you have to follow the bride and groom everywhere for pictures and all that stuff ... this way, I can just kick back and have fun with Zona, Juddimac and the rest of the Familia ...

-3) late fall, beginning of November, finally a trip to the U.S. southwest, Las Vegas, San Diego and Los Angeles ... this trip is 100% for sure going to happen, the only thing yet to be determined is the length of my stay ... I wish I could’ve included Phoenix into this vacation, but practicality didn’t permit it ... First stop Las Vegas, my Uncle Shark works and owns a home there now ... hanging with him is always fun ... next stop, San Diego and visiting by sis M&M and her new life ... she’s already given me word that there is a Jollibee over there ... Woooooooo! ...

-Finally, after much anticipation, it’s here! ... Punch-Out!! for the Wii hits stores this week and EB Games has already called to inform me that my pre-ordered copy has arrived ... I’ve been reading the reviews online, and for videogames, online reports are usually accurate ... if it’s as good as people have been saying (those that have already played it), then I will officially crown Nintendo Wii as the greatest console of all-time ... the top four games of all-time, in my book, in order Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Kart ... I’m almost positive Punch-Out!! will rank among those ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Pacquiao/Hatton wrap-up; Mayweather

2009-05-04T08:30:00.004-04:00

I wanted to let the events of Saturday night soak in before I weighed-in ... what was my initial reaction when all was set and done? ... well, I was shouting practically every obscenity in the book ... just in complete awe over what I’d just witnessed ... like I said in my previous entry, there was just something in the air on Saturday, where I knew something special was going to happen ... I had my Pacman shirt on nearly the entire day ... so many things to comment on ...

-quite an impressive celebrity turnout: Mark Wahlberg, Mickey Rourke, Denzel Washington, Jack Nicholson, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z among many others ... I really didn’t expect Hollywood to come out, I assumed that this was an international event, but I guess Pacman has really caught onto the American mainstream ...

-what caught my attention about Manny’s entrance into the arena was that he came out flanked by Michael Moorer and Batista ... quite the security team if you ask me ...

-my father and myself were pumped ... hell, even my grandmother ... if you’re Pinoy and not pumped before a Pacman fight, there is definitely something wrong ... I had my San Miguel in hand and was ready to go ...

-Round 1: started out fast and Manny looked sharp ... I was very surprised that Hatton just came out brawling, I guess he figured he could just bully Manny ... but I was also thinking “is that really the strategy Floyd Mayweather Sr. planned out?” ... when Manny caught Hatton with that right hook at the 0:56 mark, talk about pandemonium! ... my dad and myself were up on our feet going nuts ... then again at 0:08 when Manny dropped Hatton for a second time, I was screaming at that point “it’s over!” ... not to be ... I was shouting “what you gonna do now Mayweather? what you gonna tell him now, ‘best trainer of all-time’?” ... one more note on this round, you gotta love commentator Jim Lampley’s call, “Pacquiao’s hands are blindingly fast! ... Pacquiao’s landing at will! ... This is the brilliance of the Filipino slugger! ... A Tsunami for Manny Pacquiao in Round One!” ...

-Round 2: I knew Manny would come out looking for the jugular and he came out a little wild, but settled down as the round went on ... but then came that “special” thing that I felt was going to happen ... at the 0:07 mark, a flush left hook to Hatton’s chin, “picture perfect”, Manny got all of it, Hatton took the full force of that hook and went down in a heap ... I'll be honest and I'm not exaggerating at all, I didn't see the punch watching it live and if I didn't see it, how the hell could Hatton see it ... I was stunned, then I said “oh my God, he’s really hurt” ... my dad echoed that “Holy Sh*t, he’s dead” ... we were excited over the Pacman victory of course, but at the same time really concerned over the welfare of Hatton ... when they turned him on his side and seeing the glazed look in his eyes, that was really scary ... I really felt for Ricky’s family at that point, especially his fiancée, who was understandably shaken ...

-it was at this point that I saw Floyd Mayweather Sr.’s true colors ... In my opinion, he’s no different than a pile of dog turd ... when Hatton was laid out in the middle of the ring, where the f*ck was he? ... way to show concern for your fighter Floyd ... then when Ricky was on his way back to the dressing room, again, Floyd nowhere in sight ... then later in post-fight interviews, all he was talking about was how Ricky didn’t listen to him in the fight ... for f*ck sakes!, didn’t even say, “I hope he’s OK” or anything like that ... seems that he got his money and washed his hands clean of everything ... fortunately CAT Scans turned out negative ... Floyd’s completely lost my respect as a human being ...

-getting back to the man of the hour, Manny Pacquiao ... well what can all you haters say now?, what excuse can you all possibly have? ... his performance Saturday was indeed Tyson-esque and he left no doubt about who’s the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet ... and Juan Manuel Marquez’s name shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath ... if they fought again today, Marquez would get laid out and early ...

-I was talking to my father the following day and he said, “Hatton had the same look in his eyes as De La Hoya when they entered the ring” ... I concurred whole-heartedly, maybe a look of concern, but whatever it was, they looked like defeated men already before the fight ...

-on Ricky Hatton, he’s accomplished a lot in his career, but it’s really time to hang it up ... he has only two losses on his resume ... unfortunately, they just so happen to come at the hands of the two best fighters of the modern era, no shame in that at all ...

-Freddie Roach ... what can I say about the man, A Complete Genius! ... he had Hatton scouted to a tee ... Freddie, the greatest white man in the history of the world! ...

-of course, after the fight, I got phone calls from various members of the familia ... most notable my Uncle Shark, who was at the MGM Grand for the fight ... we only spoke briefly because Cedric The Entertainer apparently entered the room as we were speaking ... but the one thing he did say was “you have to come down for the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight ... I don’t care if we have to pay $1000” ... you can bet your a$$, I’ll do everything in my power to make it down to Las Vegas for that ...

-leave it to Floyd Mayweather Jr. to try and steal Manny’s thunder ... he conveniently announced his return on the afternoon of the Pacquiao/Hatton bout ... like we’ve been hearing for weeks, he’s coming back to face Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18th, a fight in all honesty Floyd should win decisively ... at the press conference, he came out with his usual swag and cockiness ... but Manny stole the thunder right back later that night and did his talking in the ring with that thunderous left hook ...

-I never thought I’d see the day when Floyd Jr. would come out and actually say something intelligent, but he did ... “Boxing is number one and this sport is here to stay. The reason why is this: boxing takes true hard work, dedication and skills. You’ve got other sports out there, where they claim that they’re bigger and better than us ... [in MMA] you’ve got fighters coming off the streets becoming number one, that’s not gonna happen in the sport of boxing ... this sport is here to stay.” ... AMEN!!! ... Welcome Back Floyd! ... boxing needed a mouthpiece to put that other so-called prize fighting sport on blast ... I’m sure all you advocates out there will come back and say, “it takes skill”, “there’s strategy” ... well I’ll add to what Floyd said and respond to those fans, by asking, what really sets that other “sport” apart from a school yard sissy fight? What’s really the difference? ...

-so where does the boxing world go from here? ... well the prize fighting heavens, harcore and casual fans all seem to be beckoning for a clash between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... I’m going on record now saying that when this fight gets booked, it will smash all live-gate and pay per view records ... there’s no other prize fighting event or organization that can compete with that ... I could just imagine the promotion, build-up, “24/7” leading up to the fight ... it will go down as one of the top 3 fights in terms of significance of all-time ... how could it not? ... the two best and most talented fighters in the world today, both in their prime ... This is Tyson versus Ali ... I’ve said it before, I would never bet on this fight, because I honestly don’t know who would win and after Manny’s decimation of Hatton on Saturday, it becomes even tougher to gage ...

Boxing ain’t goin’ nowhere! ... Thank You Manny! ... PINOY PRIDE!!!

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

The Battle of East and West

2009-05-02T13:56:00.000-04:00

There’s something in the air on this spring day ... can you feel it? ... Something I can’t even describe ... last time I felt this way was back in 1993, the day the Toronto Blue Jays won their second of two World Series Championships ... I woke up that morning almost 16 years ago and something just felt different ... Anxiousness? Nervousness? ... maybe ... not exactly ... It’s a feeling that everything’s gonna work out, how do I know? Because I just do ... I honestly didn’t even feel this way prior to “The Dream Match” ... it’s also a feeling that it’s gonna be a great day ... how do I know? I just do ... When Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton step into the ring tonight, something special is gonna happen ... this is boxing at its best, two prime fighters with tremendous fan followings going at it ... from Day One, I’ve always viewed Ricky Hatton as a threat and have never looked at him lightly ... does Hatton have a chance? sure he does ... in boxing, one punch and 10 seconds can change the world ... but despite what Hatton’s camp, especially the outspoken Floyd Mayweather Sr. says, one thing I’m almost certain about, I just don’t see Manny Pacquiao losing ... maybe it’s the aura about him, maybe it’s Manny’s devout belief in The Lord, maybe it’s the hopes of my home country ... how do I know? I just do ... Manny knows what’s at stake, his Pound-for-Pound crown, the honor for the Philippines, a date with Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... likewise, Hatton’s got a lot to lose, his world title and possibly his career ... a loss would definitely put him at a crossroads, much like after his loss to Floyd ... this is his second crack at the Pound-for-Pound title ... it’s a second chance, but I just have a very good feeling that the result will be the same and that the Pound-for-Pound jinx will continue to haunt Ricky Hatton ... how do I know? I just do ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

So Long Little Sis

2009-04-28T08:11:00.001-04:00

“change is good”, “change is hard”, “change ... that’s life” ... I hear those a lot ... but in this instance, I’d pick the latter ... my little sis M&M and her “fiancée” Romeo left for San Diego yesterday morning ... but I didn’t find myself holding back tears at all ... it’s a day everyone knew was coming for over a year now ... people have been quizzing me about how I feel about M&M leaving, my response as always, “it doesn’t really bother me at all, the great thing is that it gives me another place in The States to visit, semi-regularly” ... which is true ... I can add that to the list, among others: New York City, Phoenix and Las Vegas ... on top of that Los Angeles is literally a commute from San Diego ... Am I gonna miss my sis? ... maybe eventually ... but, I’ll be seeing her a couple times over the next few months, in September for Tatsu/Carteron’s wedding and in November because I have some business to take care of in LA one of those weekends ... another reason why I don’t feel anything at the moment is because, M&M not living here is something I’ve already become accustomed to ... I mean, she left for school for four years, then she just moved back in early this year after 10 months of living elsewhere, so I’m used to it ... living with M&M and Romeo, like I said when they first moved in, there were really no concerns about finding a way to co-exist ... but man, I thought M&M and myself were polar opposites, but it’s the exact same thing with Romeo and myself ... after 3 months of living with the dude, I only found one similarity and that’s Mario Kart (something which he says he’s going into serious training for, in anticipation of my November visit) ... anyways getting on to M&M’s last few days here, the weekend before this past, we went to downtown at some bougie-a$$ restaurant, which wasn’t a shocker by any stretch, then afterwards hit up “The Fam’s” usual spot “Squid” ... I’ve got stories/jokes about that night, but maybe another time, another entry ... then this past weekend was the familia gathering at the house ... so M&M has moved onto the next phase of her life ... one of those life altering moves, where there’s no turning back ... good on her for doing it ... hell, like I’ve said time and again, the first offer that comes my way, I’d be gone from Toronto in a heartbeat ... change, a lot of the times you have no control over it and you can’t shy away from it either ... change ... that’s life ... so long M&M, best wishes and much love to you and Romeo ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Pugilism

2009-04-22T18:03:00.001-04:00

-got my own countdown to May 18th, when Punch-Out!! makes its return to the virtual world ... the trailer above previews a few of the returning characters, in addition to a sneak peak into the game’s head-to-head player mode, something which the franchise’s original incarnation didn’t have ...

-from the virtual to the rumored ... there’s much internet buzz about a possible showdown between the returning Floyd Mayweather Jr. squaring up against none other than Juan Manuel Marquez ... when Marquez made the challenge just over a month ago, I laughed it off ... but this would be HUGE ... surprisingly, the hold up in this fight becoming official is not the “money”, but an agreeable catch-weight ... Floyd is looking to stick at 147 and Marquez is lobbying for a fight at 140 ... my opinion, Marquez is not exactly in a position of leverage at the moment for a number of reasons ... first, it was HIM that called Floyd out ... second, Marquez doesn’t exactly have a track record proving that he’s a big draw (case and point, Casamayor, Diaz) ... but if a fight does get signed, word is that it’s gonna be on July 18th, not the 11th which was initially said to be the date Floyd was looking to return ... I’ve read that HBO doesn’t want to compete with that other supposed prize fighting organization ... they should’ve done it, Floyd’s return would’ve blown those other guys out of the water ... last word on this fight, it seems almost a certainty that the winner would be in position to square off with the winner of “The Battle of East and West” ...

-from the rumoured to reality ... can’t believe that it’s just under two weeks away ... I’ve been watching HBO’s Pacquiao Hatton 24/7 series, great stuff ... on episode two, it’s probably the first time that I’ve seen the lighter side of Floyd Mayweather Sr. ... he seems really genuine about his love for his son Floyd Jr. and seems to have a lot of regret about their current estrangement ... anyhow, back to Manny Pacquiao ... he’s tapering down in his training now, even took a break in training to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the San Francisco Giants game ... word is that the game was sold out ... what can I say, wherever “Pacman” is, the Pinoys come out ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

NBA Playoff Predictions: 1st Round

2009-04-18T13:11:00.000-04:00

I think that I should’ve held off on my initial take on the NBA Playoffs, considering recent events, ie. the seeding, Kevin Garnett’s injury ... but anyhow, here are my 1st Round playoff predictions ...

Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs. Detroit Pistons (8)
-when Detroit traded Chauncey Billups, they lost the heart and soul of their team ... just goes to show what Allen Iverson’s all about, if he actually knew how to play with great complimentary players, there’s no reason why this club shouldn’t be contending ... the Pistons’ time of Eastern Conference dominance has pretty much run out ... at most they’ll be able to get one win out of this series ... Cavs in 5

Boston Celtics (2) vs. Chicago Bulls (7)
-KG’s injury is a serious blow to the Celtics’ quest for a repeat ... but that being said, they still have enough talent to get by the Bulls ... Celtics in 5

Orlando Magic (3) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (6)
-the length of this series is predicated on how well Dwight Howard’s supporting cast is shooting the basketball ... if they come out cold, I can see this series going six games ... but as long as two of their other starters play to their season averages, it’s pretty much lights out for the Sixers ... and everyone knows that they don’t have any answers for “Superman” ... Magic in 5

Atlanta Hawks (4) vs. Miami Heat (5)
-the Hawks have really developed over the past couple years ... the addition of Mike Bibby has really stabilized the team ... and the Hawks are young and athletic and pose tons of matchup problems for the Heat ... but it’s hard to ignore what Dwyane Wade has done this year, he’s literally put his team on his back ... if D-Wade is playing like he did in the 2006 Finals, this is going to be a very competitive series ... but, I just get the feeling that the Hawks will have too much and will run the Heat out of the building eventually ... Hawks in 6

Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs. Utah Jazz (8)
-Kobe Bryant ... nuff said ... Lakers in 4

Denver Nuggets (2) vs. New Orleans Hornets (7)
-this is probably going to be the most competitive series out of all the first round matchups ... the Nuggets have a lot of offensive firepower, but Chris Paul is just unreal ... it’s gonna be a very enjoyable PG matchup to watch between him and Chauncey Billups ... but I’ve thought this for a couple years now, Paul is surrounded by a bunch of guys that have over-achieved ... for the Hornets to win, James Posey has to keep Carmelo Anthony in check ... but that’s easier said than done ... Nuggets in 6

San Antonio Spurs (3) vs. Dallas Mavericks (6)
-here’s a series I could care less about ... the Mavs’ run, just like the Pistons, is pretty much over ... but I’m sure Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry will get hot for at least one game ... Spurs in 5

Portland Trailblazers (4) vs. Houston Rockets (5) -The Blazers! ... My Squad! ... Houston, no T-Mac, no chance ... Blazers in 4

Let's see just how psychic J-Smooth is ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

The Regimen

2009-04-17T06:48:00.002-04:00

I’ve been stumped over what to do an entry on ... I figure I might as well let people in on my training regimen (well, where it is, at the moment) ...

TRAINING (Monday-Saturday):
first thing in the morning:
-100 curls, 100 presses, 100 push-ups ... how’s that for a 300 workout?
the official daily workout: (mid-day or early evening)
-30 minutes treadmill (alternating between jogging and sprints)
-15 reps bench press
-100 sit-ups
-20 reps, 4 sets each, of: presses, lateral raises, curls (with long curl bar) and curls (with dumbbells)
-after each set of dumbbell curls, a set of 25 push-ups
-Fridays and Saturdays, I add four sets each of 2 Total Gym exercises

Of course, the most important thing of any regimen is the diet ... I’m not “dieting” by any means, I love food too much ... but I have been watching what I eat ... people say no rice during training ... I say, “F*CK THAT!”, I’m Pinoy ... lastly, I do take my “cheat day” every week, I usually pick one weekend day, because I’m not home ...

NUTRITION:
-every morning, 2 hard-boiled eggs and a small bowl of oatmeal
-OK, time to plug a few food products ...
-I drink water on the regular, probably 1-2 glasses on the hour
-snacks have been limited to: Quaker Crispy Minis, Quaker Chewy Bars and Yogurt
-for lunch and dinner it varies, but if it includes rice, then the portion is a “fist” size
-sometimes, I have a sub from Subway, my usual order is a 6-inch chicken breast sub, toasted on whole wheat, loaded with all the veggies and topped with chipotle sauce
-another thing that I’ve been buying lately is Booster Juice ... best smoothies I’ve had by far ... I usually get the “Sonic Soy”
-before every workout, I drink a half-bottle of Gatorade or Vitamin Water ... I find that it keeps me hydrated longer on the treadmill, as opposed to water which has me feeling thirsty halfway through my cardio
-finally, after workouts, I down a protein shake

Well there you have it, where my training regimen stands at the moment ... as I’ve said on previous entries, I increase the intensity each week ... I do that by adding more reps, increasing the weight and increasing my time on sprints ...

I plan on training hard until the end of September ... at that point I’ll probably taper down to 3-4 workouts a week, but I will be working out regularly from here on out, there won’t be any hibernation this coming winter, it’s gonna be a year-round thing ... I’m really hoping that my conditioning pays off when I play basketball and golf this summer ... I fear the D-Mac that dares to challenge J-Smooth, LOL ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Pacquiao Hatton 24/7

2009-04-11T14:03:00.002-04:00

2nd entry today, but this needs to be mentioned ... Pacquiao Hatton 24/7 ... even though Canada has HBO now, it will be airing on The Score on Sundays at 9PM ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Facebook, Playoffs, FOX and more ...

2009-04-11T06:47:00.004-04:00

Let me start you all off with a classic, not particularly a Common fan myself but this song is up there with the all-time greats ...

-I recently updated my status for my Facebook newsfeed ... It was intended to mock the, I’d say, 85% of people on Facebook who use the function to brag about their lives ... ie. “headed to Cancun” or “attending a Hollywood party”, almost begging for others to respond with “oh you’re so lucky” or “wow that’s amazing, I’m so jealous” ... I said that I was “lovin’ my new Range Rover” ... for those that I actually talk to, they’d know that this is impossible at the moment for me ... BUT, I wouldn’t lie, I really did get one, it just so happens to be a diecast 1:18 scale model ... I thought it would be so much of a stretch that people would respond along the lines of: “yeah right” or “in your dreams” ... it’s really comical of what Facebook has evolved into ... in a lot of cases used to brag and beef ... in other Facebook matters, I’ll probably get started on Phase 2 of Operation: Facebook Clean Sweep ... I cut about 70 on Phase 1 and I’m looking to take out 50 this time around ...

-when it comes to the NBA nowadays, the only things I tune in for are Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and the Portland Trailblazers ... sad, but I’ve said it time and again, the league’s really been “p*ssied” down since the 80’s and early 90’s ... but I will give my two cents with regards to the playoffs coming up ... in the East, I don’t really care what Cleveland’s record says, Boston is still the team to beat ... Cleveland is The LeBron James Show, nothing more, the rest of their roster is filled with a bunch of guys that are over-achieving, ie. Mo Williams and Delonte West ... they only look more effective than they are because LeBron is attracting the doubles, triples on the regular ... matched up player-for-player with Boston in a 7-game series, I don’t think Cleveland can stop all 3 of the Celtics’ “Big Three” ... in the West, it’s the Lakers’ to lose ... but I’ve said it from Day 1 of the season, look out for Portland ... they’ve got the talent, youth and athleticism to compete with anyone ... I know the playoffs are a different ball game, but I wouldn’t be stunned at all should they upset the Lakers ... prediction: Lakers over the Celtics in the Finals ...

-I’ve been boycotting ABC for the past couple of years for cancelling “Invasion” and “The George Lopez Show” ... now it looks like I’m gonna have to start boycotting FOX ... from what I’ve been reading online, there is every indication that they’re gonna pull the plug on my favourite show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, which in my opinion is by miles the best show on television today ... I saw the writing on the wall when they moved the show to Friday nights, which is essentially the “graveyard shift” of television ... although nothing official has been announced, I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that the show won’t be around for a third season ...

-speaking of Terminator, they aired a preview for Terminator: Salvation, the fourth movie of the franchise ... regardless about what I think of Christian Bale, I really respect his acting ... I’m really looking forward to this movie, which comes out on May 21st ...

-what have I been up to lately? ... for those that want to know ... workouts and home renos ... I’m going on my ninth straight week of workouts, picking up the intensity each week ... as a result I’ve dropped about 11 pounds ... it’s really a drug, once you get started on a workout with a goal in that you’re dead set on reaching, it’s really hard to stop ... as for the home renos, I’m about ready to start with a new paintjob for my room and phase two of our basement construction ...

-finally, I’ve put down my deposit for Punch-Out!! ... May 18th can’t come soon enough!! ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Movie Reviews

2009-04-09T04:50:00.003-04:00

Body of Lies - starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe ... another one of those terrorist/US Government movies ... had I not seen Rendition or Traitor prior to this, I probably would've thought it was very good ... but seeing those two great movies really took away from watching this one ... honestly, parts of the movie were really slow paced ... on top of that, it was kind of hard to determine the point of the movie, DiCaprio's character tracking a terrorist group or his love story with a Middle Eastern woman ... overall the movie left me pretty underwhelmed and as stated before, when compared to Rendition and Traitor, it comes up well short ... but on its own merit, it's good, just not mind-blowing ... score 3/5 ...

Zack and Miri Make a Porno - starring Seth Rogen ... this movie sucked HUGE! ... sure there were a couple parts that had me laughing for about 5 seconds, BUT, even that wasn't enough to make me question whether I could've spent my time doing something else ... score 0.5/5 ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots

2009-03-28T09:07:00.001-04:00

-I haven’t posted a YouTube video in a while, but here’s one that’s most appropriate, considering my re-discovery of the lost 80’s ... another reason why I’m posting it is because I just recently heard a remake on the radio ... remakes, sometimes they work, others crash and burn ... this one is definitely the latter ... the original is Africa by Toto, IMHO a timeless classic ...

-so much for Chris Bosh’s squeaky-clean image ... his ex-girlfriend’s filed a paternity suit on him ... I was having a convo with Prophet the other day about this ... Young and Rich athletes that have it all ... I mean, if I was an NBA superstar, it’d definitely be hard to turn down all the temptations that come along with it ... sure, I have my morals, but I’m not perfect by any means ... it’d be like hitting up a club with Prophet and Anthro, then all these fine @ss jubbies come up to us ... I would question each one of our sexualities, if we chose to ignore them ... besides, J-Smooth loves his fans, LMFAO ...

-speaking of Anthro ... he’s back home for a few days ... his tales from the land down under have really got me into thinking (like I’ve mentioned in previous entries) about disappearing for 6 months ... getting a fresh start somewhere else ...

-so a FOX news roundtable discussion about the Canadian Military has many Canadians’ panties up in a bunch ... personally, it didn’t offend me one bit ... but I understand the anger ... but the way I look it is, it would be like a Canadian telling me that beer from Canada is superior to that from the Philippines ... yeah, keep drinking that Canadian moose p!ss ... whatever ...

-I was watching a YouTube video on “European Racism” (type that in the site’s search bar to view the video yourself) in soccer ... now that’s something that riles me ... how those attitudes are just somewhat tolerated over there and turned a blind eye to ... it just brought back my disgust about the Spanish basketball team with their “slit-eye” gesture last summer at the Olympics ...

-Finally, looks like I’ll be 0-2 to Zona when it comes to our fantasy leagues head-to-head ... I just had some bad luck with the NBA and was given some misleading info about the NCAA ... ahhh well ... our friendly rivalry is not limited to fantasy leagues (besides, there’s always next year and years after that) ... Zona is still a rookie when it comes to video games ... PS3 dude! ... Fight Night Round 4, Street Fighter 4 and NBA 2K10 ... those are an absolute must bruh! ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

How Smooth spent his Sunday

2009-03-15T22:21:00.003-04:00

-today was our monthly rosary for my grandfather ... one of the songs that I uploaded on the jPod today really struck a chord with me and brought thoughts of him front and center ... Can't Cry Hard Enough by the Williams Brothers ... time has passed and looking back on the events 8 months ago, I have to say it really took something out of me ... more than I expected when it first happened ... the resiliency of the human spirit is truly a wonder, but it's truly our experiences that shape who we are as people ...

-being with familia is always nice, especially my young nieces and nephews ...

-everyone in my family seems to have a planned vacation in their near futures, with the exception of myself of course ... could really use one to be honest, just to break this state of monotony that I'm currently in ... there's just something about getting away, for me it always seems to have some sort of healing/rejuvenating power ... My Uncle Rev and his family are already in Las Vegas and will be spending some time with Zona and Uncle Shark ... my parents are off to Cuba this week ... I was telling Proph the other day, that I wouldn't mind spending 4-5 months in the Philippines and 1 month in Phoenix/Vegas ...

-As I mentioned, I uploaded a library of songs to the jPod, from multiple sources (cousin's iTunes, uncle's flashdrive, old CD's that I stumbled across) ... my library has quadrupled since my initial upload ... much of the music I uploaded today was 80's music, hence the jPod tracks on the left column ... it's really amazing how one song can bring back a whole wave of experiences from day's past ...

-Temperatures are really on the mild side ... I even managed to go out in my shorts today to run some ball ... rusty as I fully expected ... with my workouts and diet as of late, I have so much more energy ... well duh, that should be expected ...

-I started thinking about my birthday this year, which is strange, because in year's past I've almost forgotten it ... my major purchase for my birthday last year was the iPod, something which really has become another appendage ... I'm thinking this year for my birthday, I'll get myself a Blackberry (yes, I've chosen it over the iPhone) ...

-overall, today was simple and I'm hoping for more days like these ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Idol; DVDs; Workouts; Cold Case

2009-03-12T00:07:00.002-04:00

J checkin’ in on the happenings of his exciting life, LOL ...

-I actually watched American Idol on Tuesday ... I wasn’t planning on it, but the parents tuned in while I was using their computer ... I sat through most of it ... quite honestly there is one girl that just blows the competition completely out of the water ... the red-headed rocker Latina, Allison ... in my opinion this isn’t even a competition, there are a few here and there that have serviceable voices, but all pretty much forgettable ...

-How do I keep myself entertained nowadays? ... DVDs ... I just picked up a couple from Wal-Mart, The Rundown and Planet of the Apes ... now those two movies I enjoyed watching the first time, but I just held off on picking them up, saving my money ... but they just so happen to be in Wal-Mart’s 2 for 10 bin ... now that’s right around my price range ... The Rundown is one of The Rock’s movies, he’s put out some good movies in my opinion, he can actually act, unlike other wannabe actors/former pro wrestlers (ie. Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper) ... out of the Rock’s movies I liked, in this order: Gridiron Gang, The Rundown and Walking Tall ... for those that know my rating system, I score all those movies in the upper 3’s ...

-If I’m not watching movies, the rest of my spare time is spent working out ... I’ve really picked up the intensity in my training, one day this past week, throwing up after ... gotta keep up with one of my heroes Manny Pacquiao, LOL ... he’s in training now for the Hatton fight on May 2nd ... I’ll keep with the intensity in my workouts until fight night ...

-For the past couple of months I’ve had what murder/homicide investigators call a “cold case” ... but, when I least expected it, it seems I’ve gotten the break I was looking for ... the information honestly just fell into my lap ... kinda like when the investigator gets an anonymous tip ... now it’s up to myself to figure out the best way to take advantage ... ahem ***clearing throat*** ... best utilize the information ... let’s just say the information explained a bunch of things, in addition, could potentially blow this “case” wide open ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Movie Review

2009-03-08T18:56:00.002-04:00

The Da Vinci Code - starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen ... I've been meaning to watch this movie for a while, but for some reason I keep forgetting about it ... I did hear comments about this movie from random people in passing, and I'd hear things like "the movie sucked", "it's not as good as the book" ... but whatever, I gave it a chance ... The movie is about church conspiracy, which threatens to undermine the very foundation of it ... also calling into question: Jesus' true essence, his relationship with Mary Magdalene and The Holy Grail ... What I found was that the movie was really slow-paced in some spots, kinda dragged and it seemed to be pretty over-booked storyline-wise ... It had the same feel as the movie Stigmata (starring Patricia Arquette), but I thought Stigmata was a better movie ... I felt that there were some pointless characters in this movie ... finally, the film furthers my theory that the art of plot twist has been lost ... Overall it was just slightly better than average for me ... Score: 2.75/5 ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

even more Random Shots

2009-03-06T07:09:00.002-05:00

-I just heard that Michael Jackson is doing a series of concerts in London this summer, which has been dubbed "the final curtain call" ... hell, why doesn't he do a worldwide tour, I'm positive that he could still pack stadiums if he truly means that "this is it" ... I must confess that I've never, EVER, been to a concert in my life ... sad, but I've just never been passionate enough about an artist to want to go ... but if I did, number one on the list would be "The King of Pop", the best all-round performer of all time, Period! ... next one down the list would probably be Alicia Keys ... I would say Usher and Nas, but hoodrats and posers are in full effect at those shows ...

-come to think of it, in addition to concerts, and this may come as a shock to many, I've never been to a pro wrestling event ... I've gone to press conferences, autograph sessions and FAN AXXESS (sort of a WWE fair), but never a live event ... the reason why I bring this up, is 'cause I just found out Wrestlemania is coming up in a month ... looking back on things, I wish I'd attended Wrestlemania 18 in Toronto, word is that scalpers started giving away seats outside the Dome after the event had already started ... sad to say, but with my love for wrestling reduced to mere nostalgic flashes, it looks like I'll never attend an event ...

-as a Busta Rhymes fan, it's been a bit frustrating to keep hearing about his next album release being pushed back for the ump-teenth time ... it was supposed to be released last summer, if I'm not mistaken ... I know it was held up the first time because he was dropped by Interscope/Aftermath, but I wonder what the hold-up is this time ...

-whatever the case, May is shaping up to be a red-letter month, LOL ... Pacquiao versus Hatton (2nd) ... the release of Punch-Out!! (18th) ... and (hopefully, finally) Busta's album B.O.M.B. (24th) ...

-I just found out that Rock Band will be releasing a special Beatles edition ... Wow!, I grew up listening to them, as my father was a fan ... I can honestly say that I like their music (I just transferred by father's CD's onto my iPod), good meaningful, original lyrics, unlike that fraud Elvis Presley ... I did end up returning my Rock Band 2, but I'm definitely going to re-purchase it just in time for the release of this new game, on September 9th, or as advertisers put it 09/09/09 ... I'm sure my father would sing alongside me, when I play, LMFAO ...

-I've had my phone (the RAZR) for a while now, I'm getting the sudden urge to upgrade to something new ... iPhone or Blackberry? any suggestions? ... now I've never been one to buy into the hype of new gadgets, or feel the need to get the latest device upon its release, so I guess I would be staying true to this since they've been out for a while ...

-The way the media is playing out this whole Chris Brown/Rihanna saga is really getting annoying ... as if their music isn't annoying enough ...

-when the hell are they gonna release the 3rd-6th seasons of The George Lopez Show on DVD? ... I guess ABC axed any plans of that after George Lopez called them out following the cancellation of the show:

"TV just became really, really white again,"

"So a Chicano can't be on TV, but a caveman can?" Lopez told the paper in a diatribe sprinkled with profanities. "And a Chicano with an audience already? You know when you get in this that shows do not last forever, but this was an important show, and to go unceremoniously like this hurts. One hundred seventy people lost their jobs."

-Finally, a happy birthday shoutout to my #2 and #5 fave cousins, AVAD and Giggs ... AVAD is Zona's little sis, and someone I look at as my own little sis ... to me she'll always be that little girl that used to follow me around, I guess it's easy to see that I miss those days ... Giggs is someone who I've always looked up to as an older brother ... we're not as close as we were, which is understandable because he's married with kids (both love me by the way) ... probably also because I have no love whatsoever for his wife ... but he'll always be the older brother I never had ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Random Shots

2009-03-01T13:03:00.001-05:00

-I was watching 20/20 before I went out on Friday night and they had two intriguing stories ... the first was about two female friends who were in a car accident ... to make things worse, the helicopter that was to transport them both to the hospital crashed en route ... the crash killed everyone on board, except one of the girls ... talk about the worst luck in the world ... the second story was about three men, who also were in a chopper crash, but this time in Columbia and they were subsequently captured by Columbian militant extremists ... they were held captive from 2003 to 2008 ... upon returning home, a couple of their marriages came to an end as their partners had moved on ... I guess love doesn’t always stand the test of time ... but like one of the guys said, “five years is a lot of time, they didn’t even have iPods when we were captured” ...

-A lot of sh*t has been stirred as a result of Russia flying a bomber plane over Canadian airspace during last week’s Presidential visit ... I share the same sentiments as everyone, seems kinda suspect ... I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, the only purpose of a bomber plane is to drop bombs ... and it doesn’t seem just out of pure coincidence that they were headed towards Canada during Obama’s visit ... maybe it’s just flexing of muscle on Russia’s part ... my position, if Russia has hostilities with the States, leave Canada out of it (kinda hard when we’re stuck in the middle) ...

-Nintendo revealed its release date for Punch-Out!! ... May 18th ... looking forward to it ...

-Juan Manuel Marquez stopped Juan Diaz last night in 9 rounds, much to my dismay ... I was kinda pulling for Diaz, so Marquez would be permanently be taken out of the picture ... Now Marquez is talking all big saying Manny Pacquiao doesn’t want none of him, so Marquez himself will now go after Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... huh?!?! ... did I miss something?, is Marquez on crack? ... Mayweather just turned down $8M to fight Shane Mosley, so why the hell would Floyd fight a guy whose never been a draw in his career? ... but if Floyd ever did fight him, Marquez would get his proverbial *ss kicked ... there are only three big time attractions in the game today, Manny, Floyd and Oscar ... hey Marquez, know your damn role and take a number, because you’re behind in the pecking order (Mosley, Cotto and Hatton) ...

-My Filipinoness keeps growing exponentially ... I was at the LCBO yesterday and was going to pick up Heineken, until what caught my eye? ... San Miguel ... yeah baby! Filipino imports ... downing a bottle as we speak, LOL ...

-Finally, keeping with the Pinoy stuff, they’ve opened a Jollibee location in Queens, New York City!!! ... YEAAAAH!!! ... first one on the East Coast that I know of ... I’m already checking the calendar for when I can go next ... that’s why New York City is the greatest city in the World, showing love to the Philippines ... Jollibee, the best fried chicken on the planet! Period! ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Movie Reviews; Randoms

2009-02-26T12:32:00.002-05:00

J-Smooth’s deepest apologies to the J-Fans for his disappearing act of late ... so a bit of a long entry to make up for lost time ...

A couple movie reviews ... But a quick aside, to appease and provide clarification to one of my fans, an explanation for the J-Smooth rating system ... LOL ...

>or= 4 - has to be a movie that I would want to see again; I was fully engaged the first time; worth the money spent on the movie theatre experience; I would want to purchase the DVD; The movie exemplifies its genre (ie. if it’s a comedy, then I should be laughing; if it’s suspense, it shouldn’t be predictable; if it’s action, it shouldn’t be slow-paced); Movie was believable and acting is on point ...

4 > and >or= 3 – missing one of the above, but better than average; Everything about the movie is solid but not mind-blowing; I wouldn’t recommend against the movie theatre experience ...

3 > and >or= 2 – average, mediocre on most of the above; only worth a “rental” ...

2 > and >or= 1 – not a good movie at all; save it for when it airs on TV and when you have nothing better to do ...

1 > - trash! Don’t bother ...

OK onto the movies ...

Notorious – starring Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke, Angela Bassett and Anthony Mackie ... The Biggie biopic ... I must say that I enjoyed this movie ... I’m just glad that producers didn’t try to portray Biggie as a saint and they kept it as real as possible ... there is definitely that “one side of the story” impression, as Death Row or anyone from the West Coast would portray 2Pac in a different light, but the movie did explain this via Biggie’s narration “If you ask ten different people about Pac, you’ll get ten different answers” ... Like I told Prophet after the movie, I would’ve liked to see them show some of the other artists Biggie came up with, ie. Meth, Jay-Z and of course Esco, but I thought about it and with artists like: Faith, Puffy, Lil Kim and 2Pac already being spotlighted, there would’ve been no time to do it ... I probably wouldn’t watch this over-and-over, but I may purchase the DVD, because the movie was solid, nothing spectacular, but solid nonetheless ... score: 3.75/5 ...

Kickin It Old Skool – starring Jamie Kennedy, Maria Menounos, Miguel A. Nunez Jr. and Michael Rosenbaum ... it’s about a kid who was in a break dancing crew at age 10 and during one of their performances, he does a back-flip and lands on his head, subsequently putting him in a coma for 20 years ... when he wakes up at age 30, he still has the 10-year-old mind, but everything is different, his friends have obviously grown, his girlfriend is with his rival and his parents are in danger of losing their house because of the medical expenses ... so the kid (Justin) decides to bring his crew back together to win a dance contest, in order to help his parents and win back his girl ... Let me first say, I had no expectations at all for this movie, just something I decided to watch before our TMN subscription expired ... some parts literally had me busting a gut laughing ... by conventional standards, and from a technical and quality standpoint, most people would find this movie horrible ... but surprisingly enough, I enjoyed it for some reason ... the only thing that really bothered me was Maria Menounos ... eye candy, yes that was my first thought, but she couldn’t act if her life depended on it ... last thing, it’s the same type of humor as Jamie Kennedy’s other movie Malibu’s Most Wanted, which I enjoyed on the same level ... despite liking it as much as I did, I won’t undermine my rating system ... score: 2.75/5 ...

This has been a long entry already, but what’s up with J? ...

-I’m still debating on whether I should hold onto the Rock Band 2 set, which I picked up the other day for my Wii ... I like playing it when I go over to my cousins’ place, and it’s fun playing with people, but that’s just it, you need people ... On one hand, I’m leaning to keeping it, because I’ve pretty much finished Mario Kart Wii, and I need a new challenge, and like I said before, I like playing Rock Band ... But on the other hand, I’m leaning on returning it, for the reason I mentioned before, and it’ll probably go down in price in a few months so I could save a few bucks ... anyone have any suggestions on which way to lean? ...

-I had a dream last night, which I swear to God felt so real, this is the first time in years that a dream was that real ... to the point that I was p*ssed when I woke up ... Like the majority, I think that dreams mean nothing in the real world, they’re only a cocktail of your deepest thoughts, memories, past experiences and feelings ... most dreams are easily forgettable, and I don’t remember 99% of them ... but this one left such a lasting impression, that I remember it so clearly ... I know you’re all thinking, “O.K. J, enough with the build up, what was the dream?” ... well, it was myself at a point in my life where I’d already achieved some of my goals for the immediate future ... but the one highlight was the completion of a “project” which I’ve alluded to a few times on past entries ... damn, felt so real, Morpheus was right, “if you were unable to wake from that dream, how would you tell the difference from the dream world and the real world?” ... I’ll end this by saying, call me Cypher, because “Why the hell didn’t I take the blue pill?” and “I choose The Matrix”, LOL ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

A Smooth Survey

2009-02-17T20:32:00.002-05:00

I got a survey from an old friend the other day and it was harder to complete than I first thought ...

USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? project
3. Your hair? shaved
4. Your mother? perseverance
5. Your father? respect
6. Your favorite thing? panda
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? Heineken
9. Your dream/goal? control
10. What room you are in? bedroom
11. Your hobby? billiards
12. Your fear? God
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? America
14. Where were you last night? Family’s
15. Coffee? sure
16. Muffins? depends
17. Wish list item? PS3
18. Where you grew up? Brampton
19. Last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. Your TV? flat
22. Your pets? none
23. Friends? diverse
24. Your life? funny
25. Your mood? chameleon
26. Missing someone? no
27. Car? Pilot
28. Something you're not wearing? plaid
29. Your favorite store? Ecko
30. Your favorite color? blue
31. Your favorite number? 11
32. Your favorite season? Fall
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? forgot
35. Who will resend this? whoever
36. One place that I go to over and over? basement
37. One person who emails me regularly? nobody
38. My favorite place to eat? America
39. Why you participated in this survey? blogger
40. What are you doing tonight? sleeping

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

A Sub-par Showcase

2009-02-16T07:47:00.002-05:00

I guess it’s time to check in on the 2009 NBA All-Star Game festivities in Phoenix, Arizona ...

-big news coming into the weekend was the trade that sent Shawn Marion to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon ... Way to go, Colangelo! ... trade the only guy that showed any kind of heart this season, for a someone that’s been underachieving 100-fold ... I’m not a JO advocate by any means, I thought it was stupid trading for him in the first place, but does it make sense to trade the only guy on the team that has a defensive bone in his body? ... what do I think of the deal from T.O.’s perspective? ... can you say, “rental player” and “salary cap clearing” ... I’ll be willing to put money down that says the Craptors sign Hedo Turkoglu to max money, max years this summer ...

-Dwyane Wade’s fashion sense was kinda suspect this weekend ... he’s jokes ... what was with the Urkel look? ... LOL ...

-you know you’re the man when you get the world buzzing about a change in hairstyle ... Allen Iverson’s finally growing up, can’t be a “G” forever ... he said something to the effect of, Obama’s president now, it’s time for change ... the change in hairstyle will take a little getting used to for me ...

-I actually caught the Saturday events the next day ...

-Shooting Stars and the Skills Challenge are boring, ditto for H-O-R-S-E ... my opinion, they should scratch those and do a 3-on-3, 2-on-2, or 1-on-1 tournament ... four teams, in tournament style ... what possibilities ... Kobe vs. LeBron, LeBron vs. D-Wade, CP3 & Superman vs. Kobe and D-Wade ...

-and your 2009 NBA 3-Point Shootout champion ... Daequan Cook! ... who?! ...

-another dunk competition, more cheese ... “Kryptonite”?!?! ... c’mmon now, how cheesy can you get? ... to Nate Robinson’s credit, it’s pretty hard to do what he did ... but Superman is still Superman ... that side-backboard dunk was just crazy ... big news coming out of this, is LeBron James putting his name into the hat for next year’s competition ... my question is, what’s been stopping him to this point ... if I had my way for next year’s contest: LeBron James, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade ...

-I didn’t realize that the JabbaWockeez were big time now ... that number they did with Shaq was jokes ... just Shaq, bein’ Shaq ... their number was to Esco’s Hero track, yeah! ... did anyone catch a look at the female DJ during that routine? ... hotness! ...

-the anthems ... why the Canadian anthem is necessary is beyond me ... but if they hadn’t, I would’ve been deprived of seeing Tamia ... my, is Grant Hill one lucky man ... Jordin Sparks has a big booming voice no question, and she’s had some commercial success, but quite honestly I don’t think she’s anything special, if I just heard her sing on the radio, I wouldn’t even be able to tell it was her ... no hate, but there’s just nothing unique about her voice ...

-Nice to see Team USA re-united somewhat ... pretty nice rings ... playing on that team seemed to do those guys some good ... granted it was just an All-Star exhibition, but from watching the game last night, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul really seem leaps and bounds ahead of their peers in terms of level of play ...

-this game got pretty boring pretty fast ... I actually fell asleep ... the last thing I remember was the start of the third quarter ... so I missed the MVP being awarded ... co-MVP’s this year, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal ... nice to see them put everything behind them ...

Despite all my comments on All-Star weekend, it was extremely underwhelming for me to say the least ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Commenting on the Controversy

2009-02-11T23:05:00.003-05:00

-big news from the Grammy Awards making the rounds is the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident ... now I don't ever condone a man ever laying hands on a woman, unless it's in extreme cases of self defense, but I wonder what made Chris Brown snap? ... Now I've known some women that have been in abusive relationships and people always seem to take their side automatically because they're the woman ... but I'll say this, you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and some of these women that seem like perfect angels in public, believe you me, nowhere even closely resemble angels behind closed doors ... now I have no knowledge whatsoever of Chris Brown and Rihanna's relationship, nor do I care for that matter, and neither am I condoning his alleged actions, but there's always two sides to every story ...

-Roberto Alomar, allegedly has full-blown AIDS and a former girlfriend is suing him for transmitting the disease over to her ... Wow, what a fall from grace for Robbie ... I remember him for two things: his stellar defense as a Blue Jay and his McCain "catch the taste" commercials ... I've heard hearsay stuff over the years about how Alomar was a real womanizer at clubs in his hey day ... so if the news is true, it doesn't at all surprise me ... but I will say this, the fact that the woman has gone public with her lawsuit, it's one of those situations of "where there's smoke, there's fire" ... Now again, I don't know this woman personally, but it would be pretty idiotic of her to go public, and risk a counter-defamation suit, if she was making this all up ... If true ... tsk tsk Alomar ...

-so it's true, Antonio Margarito did have loaded gloves prior to his fight with Shane Mosley ... now he's been suspended for a year ... the thing that puzzles me is, how he claims to have no knowledge whatsoever about his tapeman placing the illegal substance into his handwraps ... c'mmon now, the tape is being put on right in front of you ... I guess the Miguel Cotto rematch will ultimately be scrapped with Margarito banned from fighting in The States ... I'm assuming this opens the door to a Cotto/Shane Mosley rematch ... I'm all for it, to see Shane Mosley add to his legend, then move on to a potential showdown with Manny Pacquiao, which Freddie Roach says is very much a possibility ... then the winner of that getting a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... what a great time to be a boxing fan ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

What’s good J?

2009-02-08T21:09:00.002-05:00

Sleepin’ on this blog ish again ... but life hasn’t been interesting enough for me to check in ... let’s run through some randoms ...

-before coming home one night this past week, I decided to make a detour to the hometown ... Sonny’s was long overdue ... I noticed that they sell Vitamin Water now ... For the record, I’m feelin’ Vitamin Water, in particular Orange and XXX ... I’d like to try their Peach-Mango and Grape flavours, but they don’t seem to be available in Canada ... I was told that 50 Cent is a part-owner of Vitamin Water, which kinda turned me off, but when it comes down to it, I like how it tastes, at this point moreso than Gatorade ... the way I see it, any product we buy, we’re helping to line someone’s pockets ... if there’s anything I despise more than mindless, arrogant celebrities, it’s corporate suits ...

-keepin’ with the retro, I had bubble tea the other day ... what a throwback to high school ... a couple of my ex’s were hardcore with that ish, subsequently exposing me to it ... that ish is good (taro flavour), but pricey ...

-got a call from Supermanthro the other day ... sounded like someone put him through the 300 workout, sounded tired, voice scratchy ... but I did manage to hear a few tidbits on what he’s been up to ... I’d definitely like to see Australia some time in my life ... with The Game’s Anthrodesiac (yes, another J-Smooth coined alias) down there, it gives me an excuse to go ... he’s given me a positive review on these Aussie jubbies, LOL ...

-Grammy’s on tonight, haven’t watched them since high school, meaning to say, I could care less ...

-Pro Bowl, ditto ...

-I caught the Lakers/Cavs game today ... what a week for The Black Mamba, 61 at the Garden, then beats the Celtics and Cavs on their own homecourt ... I’m gonna stop over at my local newsstand, ‘cause the next SLAM magazine cover will be King Kobe himself ...

-I purchased NBA Street Homecourt for PS3 ... but I don’t have the console yet, how backwards is that? ... I copped it ‘cause it was on sale for $19.99, and with the game at that price it usually signals that it’s an outgoing game with those being the final copies ... I can’t wait to get myself the system ... I’ll do my usual and create my own J-Smooth character, then I’ll team up with ... hmmmm, let’s see ... how ‘bout Dwight Howard and Chris Paul ... that’s a stern warning to all that dare to challenge ...

-the sis and Romeo moved in ... they’re here temporarily until it comes time for their West Coast departure ... the way THEY do, is definitely a 180 from how J do ... but that doesn’t mean there are any barriers to trying to co-exist ... they’re trying to get me into the things they’re into, in a suggestive way ... one thing, snowboarding ... oh hell no ... my response was two-fold, first I pointed to my skin color, second “I like my knees the way they are” ... but then they stepped into my world, Nintendo Wii ... to put it lightly, they got their @sses rocked! ...

-the following was one of my jams back in the day ... can’t find the CD in stores anywhere or a torrent either, I guess eBay is my last resort ... this is one that definitely needs to be on the jPod ...

-f*ck man, this get’s J’s mind fixated on a specific task ... maybe gotta bring out young J one more time, but at the same time utilize veteran J’s tactical prowess ... it’s time to get this done, one way or another ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Wii Workout; Weekend Wrap

2009-02-01T23:13:00.003-05:00

-Based on my “early assessment” ... I’m goin’ on record and saying that the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPod are two of the greatest investments I’ve ever made ... the iPod, I take it nearly everywhere I go ... the Wii, I was really enjoying Mario Kart, but had yet to pop in Wii Sports ... among the games: boxing, baseball, tennis, golf and something else which I can’t remember ... on Saturday, I tried out the game for the first time ... AWESOME, simply because it’s a workout in its own ... I tried the tennis first, and you actually have to make full out swings to play it ... I went the equivalent of one set (6 straight games) ... then I tried out the boxing ... like I said on my Facebook page, “who needs cardio”? ... after six rounds of that I was spent ... you could literally squeeze my shirt like a sponge and sweat would gush out ... later on that night, I felt like I’d just run a hundred miles and I hadn’t felt that sore since the first time I’d ever lifted weights (back when I was thirteen) ... Today, I decided to combine the Wii boxing and tennis with 45 minutes on the treadmill ... my workouts have been pretty sporadic over the past while, the Wii has definitely sparked me again to cutting even more weight ... I figure if I keep with the treadmill and the Wii boxing (gradually increasing to 12 rounds per session), I should reach my desired body weight by May ... If Punch Out Wii is anything like Wii boxing, that would only be a plus ... what a concept, video games that actually do you some good ...

-Shane Mosley has come out and challenged Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... I’d pay to watch both fights ...

-I read that Dwyane Wade doesn't put it beyond the realm of possibility to join the New York Knicks alongside his boy LeBron James in 2010 ... Everyone has been hyping up that free agent summer class to be the biggest thing to ever happen in NBA history ... "will LeBron join the Knicks?", D-Wade?, Bosh?, Amare? ... then it just occurred to me, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for any team to miss out on any of those guys in 2010 ... they’ll get a second chance in 2012 when Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have the chance to opt out of their deals ... after summer 2010 is all set and done, I’m sure there’ll be a countdown to 2012, and within that time teams will be scrambling to clear their books ...

-surprisingly I caught the end of the Australian Open Men’s Tennis Final ... surprise, surprise, it was a Federer/Nadal final ... I haven’t followed tennis seriously since the days of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi ... I will say this about the game though, I consider it more of a sport than soccer and hockey ... I say that because it’s a lot tougher to play, just as a leisure sport ...

-I did catch the Super Bowl ... definitely not the same anticipation as last year’s (New England’s pursuit of perfection), but definitely worth a watch with the Cinderella Arizona Cardinals ... The game was not as exciting as last year’s, but then again what compares to the greatest football game ever played? ... however, this game did have just as much drama ... to make things more interesting ... my sis’ man Romeo loves off the Pittsburgh Steelers, and with my love for Phoenix and wanting to play the villain, I was rooting for the Cardinals ... gotta feel for Kurt Warner, the dude did everything possible for his team ...

I can't believe it's February already ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Wii, PS3 Randoms

2009-01-29T07:48:00.003-05:00

My sis just found out that I had the Wii at home ... she advised me to get another Wii remote, because she wants to play me in Mario Kart ... my response “Sure, I’ll shell out the cash to give you a beating” ... at the moment, Mario Kart is the only major game that I have for the console (I have yet to play Wii Sports which came with the console) ... I do have to say Mario Kart is fun, I’ve nearly completed the entire thing ... but the games I like make for a better experience when I have some live competition ... playing against the computer gets stale pretty fast ... I’m currently waiting on Punch Out to be released, I’m anxious to tryout the gameplay using the Wii remote ... I just found out that Street Fighter 4, which is due out in February, will not be released on the Wii ... now that really sucks, but I have a feeling that there will be a demand for it, thus being released eventually, kind of the same deal as Rock Band ...

I eventually plan on getting myself a PS3 ... There are rumors of a price slash, so I’m guessing summertime would be the optimal time to pick one up ... as for the games that I’m interested in purchasing for it ... First, NBA Street Homecourt ... I’ve always enjoyed games in the series, especially the first one, Yeti Snowman was an absolute beast in that game, LOL ... Homecourt is the first of the series released on the console and is also an older game, released a couple years ago, but from what I’m hearing, EA has put the Street series on hiatus, so it’ll probably be a while before the latest instalment is released ... next game, Street Fighter 4 ... Prophet and Anthro need to be put in their places, nuff said ... and I know there's a retired vet sitting out there, who back in the day to me seemed indestructable at Street Fighter, A'yo Octal, if you wanna come outta retirement, that's an open-ended challenge, well there it is, LOL ... next game, Fight Night Round 4 ... now this is my most anticipated game in years ... Mike Tyson returns to the video game circuit, and we’ll finally get to see Tyson vs. Muhammad Ali ... I’ve looked at the roster, among the notables: Tyson, Ali, Lewis, Holyfield, Foreman, Frazier, Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Jones Jr., De La Hoya, Hopkins, Pacquiao, Mosley, Mayweather Jr. ... everyone seems to be there ... finally, NBA 2K10, I’m not sure if that’ll be the official name, but I’m getting that game nonetheless ... I’ve been an NBA Live guy for majority of my PS2 days, but the NBA 2K series is king on the PS3 console ... If any D-Mac that wants to step to this, they can all try, but like it's been as always, they all will fail ... Two games you definitely won’t ever see in my collection are Grand Theft Auto or Halo, two of the most over-rated games in history ... I plan on tapping into the online gaming thing, once I get my PS3 ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Ringside Rant

2009-01-28T10:59:00.001-05:00

I’m honestly still feeling the lingering effects of that Antonio Margarito *ss whooping at the hands of the great “Sugar” Shane Mosley, so I figured I give my thoughts on what’s happening in the game at this point ...

To me there’s only one marquee division in the sport at the moment and that’s 147 welterweight ... Mosley is the man right now, holding the WBA version of the title ... Manny Pacquiao has proven that he can fight at that weight ... Floyd Mayweather Jr. is supposedly “waiting for God” to let him know when it’s his time to return, but his god is the almighty dollar, which means he’ll be back ... Then on the periphery you have Miguel Cotto, who is looking to position himself among the elite once again ... pit any 2/3 of Mosley/Pacquiao/Mayweather against each other and you have a boxing blockbuster event ...

I know that I said I wouldn’t bring up that “other” prize fighting garbage, but the battle lines appear to have been drawn ... As I brought up in a previous entry, that owner, brought up boxing in a recent interview, basically speaking negatively about it and it’s not the first time he’s done so ... now, my question is, why would you do that? ... there’s only one possibility, he views boxing as his competition and he’s trying to hurt them ... this is reminiscent of the WWE vs. WCW wars ... never do you hear, boxing analysts on HBO or anywhere else for that matter bring up the “other guys”, they just worry about their own product ... I understand that the owner of that other product wants to promote his business and bring it some legitimacy, but why must he constantly bring up boxing in the discussion? ... to me he comes off like a dude with a small “package” jealous of another guy that gets all the women ... the new guy wants to compete with the established brand, I say bring it on, we all know how the WWE/WCW war ended ... last Saturday spoke volumes, 20,000 at Staples Center ... says to me, if you put fighters in the ring in fights people want to see and price it reasonably, fans will turn out and pack the arenas ...

Now the reason why I brought up those other guys is because there’s some controversy brewing over Oscar De La Hoya’s decision to attend an event of “theirs” which Golden Boy co-promoted, instead of being Ringside at the Mosley fight ... there’s only one major promotion within the human cockfighting ranks and De La Hoya, ever the business man, is trying to create some competition ... I saw this coming from a mile away ... People say boxing’s corrupt because of all the big money thrown around and the politics, well my message to fans of the “other guys”, y’all will have your day too ... people in the boxing world are upset with De La Hoya for associating himself with the other product ... but I’m all for it, if this leads to their downfall all the power to him ... kill the competition that’s trying to kill you ... Like I was telling Anthro, Prophet and Mags the other day, “do you think if GSP was offered a five-fight deal for $10M to sign with Golden Boy, that he’d actually turn it down?” ...

Anyhow, enough of that garbage ... there’s more controversy in boxing, but what else is new? ... apparently Antonio Margarito tried to sneak an illegal substance in his hand wraps prior to the Mosley fight ... a substance when dried, is described basically as a concrete block in your gloves ... To me it certainly does cast a shadow over Margarito’s career (same way as Felix “Tito” Trinidad, who attempted to use the same thing against Bernard Hopkins a few years back) ... All I have to do is look back to the Cotto fight ... Now I’ve seen Cotto cut before, but never like he was against Margarito ... If Margarito is found of any wrong doing, I hope he gets a lifetime ban with his records/accomplishments wiped out ... Boxing is dangerous enough as is, you could kill a man even without a “loaded” glove ... luckily Mosley’s trainer Nazim Richardson caught it ...

I’ll end this with a question, moreso to any boxing fans, if you had to choose between watching a mega fight or attending a friend’s special day, how would you decide? ... me, it would all depend on how good a friend that person is, LOL ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

More Movie Reviews

2009-01-26T18:47:00.002-05:00

First off, safe travels and best of luck to Anthro ...

I’m really feelin’ this package from my cable provider, that we have over the next month ... I’m loving the movies on demand ... saves money on renting or purchasing DVD’s ... I was scrolling through the list and there seem to be a lot of Tom Cruise movies ... must be a theme month ... among them, Eyes Wide Shut, an older movie that he did with ex Nicole Kidman ... someone told me years back that the movie was stupid, but there is a lot of sexual content and nudity ... hmmmm, maybe I’ll save that one for a rainy day, LOL ... I also checked the late night listings and there is free porn on one of my stations ... hmmmmm, if I was like some of my friends, I’d be staying up until 4am every night ... but I’ll be completely honest, no word of a lie, I haven’t watched porn since my second year in high school ... I’ve always managed to have a girl to take care of those needs ... really, I remembered getting more laughs out of watching those movies than turned on ... the womens’ reactions are just so exaggerated, the background music is great ... but other than that, I prefer the live experience with real women ... I’ve always had that kind of self-restraint when it comes to things like that ie. smoking (never tried a cigarette), porn ...

Anyhow on to a couple of movies that I’ve watched so far ...

The Other Boleyn Girl – starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana ... I’ll first answer the obvious question “Why possessed you to watch that J?” ... answer, Natalie Portman ... while I don’t think she’s overwhelmingly hot, she’s that classic beauty type ... I don’t like blondes either, but Scarlett Johansson ain’t bad ... anyhow, another reason why I watched the film is because I always like getting the back story on historical events and figures ... I’ve always heard the name “Anne Boleyn” thrown around, but I’ve never really known much more than the fact that she was supposedly instrumental in the schism of England from the Roman Catholic Church, and that she was beheaded ... anyhow, as for the movie ... I honestly thought it was pretty well done, it kept my interest for pretty much the entire two hours ... the acting was pretty good as well ... there was one part in the movie, where I said to myself “please God, don’t go there, I don’t want to see that, I don’t want to throw up” ... I won’t spoil that part for those that want to see this movie ... after I finished it, I went online to check the critics’ reviews ... A quick Wiki said the movie was pretty much panned by critics ... ah ha, more reason to not listen to those fools ... solid film in my opinion ... my score: 3.75/5 ...

We Own The Night – starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall ... there’s no need to even explain the first reason why I chose to watch this movie ... the second reason is, that I respect Mark Wahlberg’s work (no not his Marky Mark days, and not because he’s a Manny Pacquiao fan) ... his movies are hit-and-miss, but I enjoyed Shooter and despite what others thought about it, I liked Planet of the Apes ... anyhow ... one of the opening sequences of this movie made me say, “Sold, that made it all worth it” ... What drove the story was the idea of “conflict of interest” ... It’s about a police chief (Duvall) and his two sons, one of which (Wahlberg) just received a major promotion within the police department, while the other son (Phoenix) has a “lost” sense of direction in his life, on the wrong side of the law ... It’s a crime drama set in New York City, in a “wild west” type environment where the police department is described to be at war with the crime lords of the city ... a very good pace to the movie, combined with good acting, very believable in my opinion ... there was only one moment in the movie that made me roll my eyes ... but other than that, it was a very good movie ... score 4.25/5 ...

I’m planning on taking full advantage of this package over the next month, by catching up on some of these movies I’ve missed ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Mosley and More

2009-01-25T00:14:00.001-05:00

HOLY SH*T!!! ... What a start to the year in boxing! ... What a beatdown! ... “and the NEW WBA Welterweight Champion of the World, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley!!!” ... when everyone doubted him, saying he was too old, saying Antonio Margarito would destroy and be the first to stop him, with all the distractions (steroid scandal, switch of trainers, divorce) Shane Mosley, my 2nd fave fighter in the game right now, and one of my fave ever, proved why he is one of the G.O.A.T. ... Two straight HBO Boxing events, both of which had me on my feet going nuts, and all this from the comfort of my own home ... So many thoughts racing right now ...

-who says boxing is dead? ... I say to those people F*CK YOU with a side of KISS MY *SS!!! ... 20,000 plus at Staples Center in Los Angeles for a non-Oscar De La Hoya boxing event ... I’d say boxing is just fine ... what does that owner of that “other” supposed prize fighting “sport” have to say now? ... I just heard him talking on the radio last night about how his “sport” has surpassed boxing ... maybe it has, with the new generation of the world that think they actually know something about what prize fighting is ... the new generation needs something to call their own, and I respect that, but like in hip hop, prize fighting is always best in its purest form ... I will never mention that “sport” or anything else associated with it by name ever again on these entries ... because they have no legitimacy in my eyes ...

-I love HBO Canada ... well worth the $12.99 over the next month that we’ll be subscribing to it ... my father and myself got it solely for the Mosley fight, but it’s way more bang for our buck as opposed to the one off boxing PPVs ... Like I said, we have it for a whole month in a package, along with The Movie Network and the U.S. Superstations (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston) ...

-Where does Margarito go from here? ... certainly not the big money fights ... he’s supposedly slated to go against Miguel Cotto next, but if I were Cotto, why fight Margarito when Mosley has the belt now, Margarito beat Cotto before, and Cotto beat Mosley ... if I were Cotto I’d rather go for the belt against a guy I’ve already beaten ... On the other hand, I’m not sure if Cotto would beat Mosley a second time around ... as for Margarito, now I’m understanding why Manny Pacquiao thinks he could beat him ... Size Matters but Speed Kills, Manny proved it against Oscar and now Shane tonight over Margarito ...

-What about Mosley? ... the vets seem to be finding their fountain of youth, first Bernard Hopkins over Kelly Pavlik, now Mosley does his thing ... after tonight, I’d certainly favour him over IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey and WBC titleholder Andre Berto ... I’d call this victory over Margarito the greatest of his career, even better than that over Oscar De La Hoya ... Even after his decision loss to Cotto, I said the result wouldn’t have been the same had Mosley been in his prime ... right now Mosley is “The Man” in the welterweight division, he controls his own destiny ... I support him with whatever he chooses ... whether it be a title unification bout or a rematch with Cotto ... or hey, here’s an idea, a match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... knowing Floyd, he’ll keep ducking Mosley as he’s been for the past 3 years ...

A great night of sports watching spent with my father ... we watched the Orlando Magic – Miami Heat game earlier ... how could it not be entertaining with Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade playing ...

Tomorrow Prophet and myself kick it with our brother Anthro one final time before he heads for greener pastures in “The Land Down Under” ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

The Business of Boxing

2009-01-22T08:43:00.007-05:00

With the much talked about Manny Pacquiao - Ricky Hatton bout "all but dead", I guess it would be time to weigh in on it and give my two cents ... This is simply the harsh reality of how boxing works nowadays ... it's not like before when it was "let the best man win" and the winner takes home the "winner's purse" ... now there are pre-determined purse splits, PPV revenues, promoters with their hands in the "cookie jar" ... it's not like the pound for pound era of the 70's and early 80's with Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran all willing to fight each other ... or the Muhammad Ali era, when he took on all comers: Joe Frazier, George Foreman ... an aside, the whole PPV thing was started by Ali, so blame him, LOL ... anyhow, back to Pacman-Hitman ... the way things work in today's day in age is one guy makes the challenge and the bigger name/draw gets the bigger purse split ... I personally don't see anything wrong with it ... I've been reading articles online (as credible as they all may be) since The Dream Match ... no where have I read that it was Pacquiao challenging Hatton ... he has never called Hatton out ... it was the other way around ... Pacquiao obviously did have an interest in fighting Hatton though ... so then it came down to the purse split ... Being impartial, Manny is the universally recognized Pound-for-Pound best in the world ... and on top of that, aside from De La Hoya and Mayweather (as of this moment both inactive fighters) has proven to be the biggest draw/attraction in the sport ... so I understand, with Hatton making the challenge and Manny being the bigger attraction, why shouldn't Manny get the larger share of the pie? ...

So when Hatton first threatened to pull the plug, he said he had another 80,000 capacity fight in London lined up ... now that the Pacquiao fight's been called off, what's the first thing that comes out of Hatton's mouth as to future plans? ... the winner of Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz or a Floyd Mayweather Jr. rematch ... so where is the 80,000 capacity fight? ... Everyone's been making much about the 50-50 purse split that Hatton wanted and all parties supposedly agreed on, saying that Hatton will be bringing in millions from the U.K. PPV revenue ... they make the point that his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. drew over a million buys in England ... but how has he done since? ... his last two fights drew nowhere near those numbers ... I was thinking about this exact thing weeks ago, and I argue that those numbers were moreso the fact that he was fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... as for his previous two fights, he looked horrible against (a guy I've honestly never heard of) Juan Lazcano and looked decent against (in my opinion greatly over-rated) Paulie Malignaggi ... now he's calling out a guy who fought in three different weight classes in one year and looked better and better each time ...

now the promoters have their panties in a bunch because Manny refused to sign the deal, subsequently leading to Hatton walking away ... I'm very surprised with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, imposing deadlines on the only "cash cow" in his stable ... yeah, he sets up the fights, but he's figuratively putting a gun to Manny's head, by making deadlines, practically forcing him to sign ... and as for Arum's Golden Boy counterpart Richard Schafer (the biggest De La Hoya kiss-*ss, the only reason why he has a job in the first place), he's been extremely vocal in the media ... calling Manny a "young spoiled kid" ... he has even less right trying to force Pacquiao to do anything, Pacquiao's helped lined his pockets too ... It's an example of two greedy promoters that just want their money ... bottom line is, their job is to put options on the table, do the negotiations, for those that actually have any knowledge about how the system works, they have no right to force the biggest attraction in the sport to do anything ... Arum better be careful, or Pacquiao may pull a De La Hoya and Mayweather Jr. (both former Top Rank fighters) and cut him out all together ... on a personal note, everyone knows how J-Smooth feels about a white man telling a Filipino what to do ...

In the aftermath of all this, I honestly only care what Pacquiao does after ... maybe he does the unthinkable and positions himself to fight the winner of Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito ... now that would be an even bigger challenge than Ricky Hatton, both would be way tougher fights ... on top of that, the winner of the Mosley/Margarito fight would be in possession of the WBA welterweight championship, something attractive to the belt-seeking Pacman ... which may explain why Manny's in Los Angeles right now to see the Mosley/Margarito fight ... selfishly, I'd like to see my two fave fighters in the game right now (Pacquiao and Mosley) throw down ... or maybe this would get "The Real Dream Match" in the works with Pacquiao squaring off against Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... But, I get the feeling that Manny and Hatton will get this thing resolved and will end up fighting ... hey, they said that "The Dream Match" with De La Hoya was "dead" and it still went down ... I've said it once, I'll say it again, Ricky Hatton is an over-rated fighter who hid in England for most of his career, and when he came over to the States, he was proven to be the fraud that he is and got his *ss kicked by Mayweather ... So it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Manny to not book this fight ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

setting the record straight

2009-01-21T21:15:00.003-05:00

now this is getting funny ... fantasy league issues, seem to have gotten personal with some people, even taken to heart it seems ... over one rule change that I made as commissioner ... now looking at it from outside the box, yes it looks underhanded in a way ... but, there are somethings called balances and checks ... if people knew how to read, on my commissioner's note I clearly stated and I quote "if there are objections to any deal, I will evaluate them by formal protests ... if there is enough of a backlash, I will overturn those trades" ... If there was enough backlash from the league, I'm a man of my word, I would've recinded those deals ... I made that rule change for two reasons actually, the first reason I clearly stated in the post ... I didn't want to see trades c*ckblocked by the simple click of a button on a vote ... I wanted those GM's that objected to state exactly why they objected to the trade ... second reason, it expedites the process, I really wanted to see a trade go down, no matter what it was, whether it involved me or not, by eliminating any barriers ... and please, if any other GM got away with "robbery" as my deal has been referred to, I stated from day one that I wouldn't do anything to stand in the way ...

so whatever, I've resigned from my position as commish, to appease one in particular ... I could air out my real thoughts to the situation, but I'm not gonna get into a back and forth, and I'm not gonna do the immature thing and call out blood by real name on a public forum ... this is the last time I'm gonna address this topic here or on the league boards, so from my position this bullsh*t ends now ... in the heat of competition things will be said ... but there are only a hand full of people in the world that have earned the right to say what they want about myself, without me coming back hard at them (unless they're REALLY asking for it) ... I'll just say that one person in particular is lucky they are on that list ... and I'll leave it at that ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Big Screen Junk

2009-01-21T08:35:00.003-05:00

watched a couple movies the other day ...

Eagle Eye - starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thorton, Rosario Dawson ... This movie layed the groundwork pretty nice in the beginning ... fast paced, made you question what's going on ... kinda gives you the impression that the movie is about "big brother" watching ... then right around the middle when the main question was answered, it'll make you think "oh c'mmon now, that's stupid" ... now I'm a believer in "anything's possible", but this really pushed the it beyond the realm of possibility ... the movie is actually about another of those "consequences" issues, which I can't say, for those that actually want to watch this movie ... Dawson's character had absolutely no point in the film, because she played no role when the movie reached it's final resolution ... The ending will make you sarcastically say, "oh I didn't see that one coming", but luckily they didn't push it more than they did ... Not a good movie at all, but I won't pan it among the worst I've seen ... my score 1.5/5 ...

Atonement - starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley ... one of those critically acclaimed movies, nominated for multiple Academy and Golden Globe Awards ... After watching it, I said to myself "why haven't you learned your lesson already?" ... that lesson would be, don't ever trust those "Critically Acclaimed" "Nominated for X Awards" tags ... those tags should honestly be disclaimers ... every time I've watched a movie like that I come out thinking "this movie sucked huge, that was the biggest waste of time" ... this movie was no exception ... I honest to God fell asleep watching it ... when I woke up, I said "I'll finish the rest of this tomorrow" ... which I did, just because I was already deep into the movie ... I never trust the opinion of critics, people that are paid to review films ... I'm more likely to listen to the common movie watcher, who (maybe pay to) watch movies to enjoy them ... anyways back to this film, I was honestly more entertained with Jumper, and that movie was trash ... my score 0/5 ...

There is one movie out in theatres right now that I'm looking to watch and that's Notorious ... people that've watched it say that it's good, but people that know me, know that I'm more than capable of forming my own opinion ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Hail the Kings of NYC & Hip Hop

2009-01-18T21:58:00.001-05:00

Last year around the same time the greatest emcee of all time was rippin’ it at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC ... So this year (well Boxing Day 2008 actually) Nasty Nas decided to do it all over again ... Hip Hop’s Undisputed Heavyweight Champ keepin’ it real as always ... I wish I could’ve been at that show, watchin’ on YouTube, it was hot ... I was reading an article about Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Kanye West and Diddy doin’ a recent show together recently ... but compared to this Esco concert, it’s not even a contest ... and Nas opened the show with his classics, and real talk, these tracks are timeless, I listen to them today and still get pumped ... This is my Hip Hop generation right here ... Nas dropped Illmatic in ’94, J-Smooth was Christened in ’95 ... and Nas didn’t come alone ...

For the first time in I can’t remember how long, God’s Son was joined on stage alongside AZ ... For all you young bucks out there, who are fans of the garbage put out nowadays, I wouldn’t expect you all to even know who AZ is ... Well just a little history lesson, an emcee that Nas came up with, his running mate in the short-lived group The Firm, and alongside Nas in my opinion formed the best Hip Hop duo ... At this concert, they did a 3 track set together: Life’s A B*tch, Affirmative Action and Phone Tap ...

Also in the building, same as last time, the most underrated emcee of all time, Busta Rhymes ... If Nas is #1, Busta is #2 ... Those are the only emcees in the game right now, that have had the longevity and still put out hot tracks ... Busta took the stage to give Nas a water break, LOL ... and he dropped his new joint Arab Money, followed by the immortalized classic Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See, then finished up with his most recent Nas collabo Fried Chicken ... Again, just like last year Busta took the mic and declared that Nas is the best emcee in the world ... Preach on Bus! ... but he’s being modest himself, ‘cause he’ll go down as one of the best ever as well ...

Those are parts 3 and 4 of the concert posted by the user, parts 1 and 2 are also posted ... Much respect to Nas, Busta and AZ for keepin’ the art form alive ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~