4/29/2009

THE AWESOMETOWN YARD SALE

So yes... we are moving out of "Awesometown" but us and most of the other residents in our complex are having a MASSIVE YARD SALE. Here's the deets:
  • WHO: Us and most of our neighbors
  • WHAT: The Awesometown Yard Sale
  • WHERE: E. Pender & Glen, for the GPS'ers out there: 1071 E. Pender St.
  • WHEN: Saturday May 2nd - 8am - 12 noon
  • WHY: Cause we all have a lot of good stuff to sell
  • HOW: How what? How now? I don't know how... umm, friendly-like? How are we having a yard sale? Friedly-like me says! That's how!!!
Anyway, come on down to Awesometown this Saturday and take a look at lots of cool stuff like: Furniture, Baby Gear, Kids stuff, Toys, DVDs, Kitchenware, Movies, CDs, Video Games, clothing, Books and a whole cornucopia of stuff.

4/27/2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

Despite all the craziness in our world right now (with all the packing, moving, purging & planning), I want to take a moment and acknowledge the birthday of the loveliest lady in my life, my wife Michelle. This whole job search/global adventure has put a lot of the spotlight on me for the last few weeks but Corsiworld is a two-person operation and people sometimes forget that all these shenanigans affect her just as much as it does me. Michelle has been awesome, she's cleaned, she's packed, she's organized, she's prepped, she's dealt with issues, she's done it all and she's still smiling and excited for the adventure in Singapore.

I couldn't ask for a better partner in crime and a better person to start a new life chapter with. I love you Michelle, I hope you have a great birthday and I'll see you as soon as I publish this :-)

TIKI BAR TV - 4th Anniversary Party

I went to meet my castmates and good friends down at the SS TIKI for two days of filming and then joined them for the 4th Anniversary Party of the Podcast in what will surely be one of my most memorable nights in recent history. 

As you may or may not know, I play the evil MR. AMBASSADOR in the podcast known as TIKI BAR TV and for four years, this Podcast has built up quite the cult following. Doctor Tiki (Jeff) the leader of the band decided along with his Producer and sometime Guest Star, Tiki Tosca, to hold an Anniversary Party and invite the fans. And did the fans come? Yes, to both the main party and the after ticket party. It was surreal, when I took the stage as Mr. Ambassador, I was booed... BOOED! I couldn't stop smiling as it was an awesome feeling, then I cracked a joke in what I like to call "the worst russian accent ever" and the crowd gave a big laugh, it reminded me of my old improv days. The main party went till about Midnight and then we moved to the "After Party" at the Tiki Bar Set! Johnny Johnny slung drinks all night long and the 70+ tiki fans who came had a great time! Needless to say, the party was still going strong when I left at 5am.

Happy Anniversary TIKI BAR TV, thanks for letting me play in this great world and thanks for a great party!

Here's the pics from three days of TIKI GOODNESS

4/20/2009

QUESTIONS ANSWERED...

A lot of people have been asking a lot of questions about our upcoming Singapore adventure, so I thought I'd share my thoughts:

WHY LUCASFILM SINGAPORE?
Well, like most guys my age, at one time or another, I was (and still am) a huge STAR WARS fan and when I saw the original movie at a young five years of age, it made quite the impression on me. So much so, that I vowed at one time or another I would some how and in some way, work on STAR WARS. Two years ago, I interviewed with Lucasfilm San Francisco and met withy legendary producer Rick Macallum (cool nerd moment for me) for a potential job and then last year, I almost accepted a job working on the CLONE WARS animated series but the deal didn't work out. Finally, when I lost my Nexon job this year, I contacted Lucasfilm and was informed of the position in Singapore. I thought to myself, "third time lucky" and started the ball rolling.

WHEN DO YOU START?
My first official day is May 18th, we arrive in Singapore on the 12th.

WILL MICHELLE BE ABLE TO WORK?
If she wants to yes. She automatically gets a "Dependent Visa" through me which allows here to live in Singapore and look for work. If she finds a good job and that company wants her, they change the "Dependent Visa" to a "Work Visa" in quick 48-hour process. Singapore is all about people coming to work there, their Visa process is quite quick and painless unlike some other countries in the world (I'm looking at you USA).

WHAT ABOUT YOUR HOUSE?
We are putting it up for rent and we are putting it up for sale. Whichever happens first, wins!

WHAT ABOUT THE DOGS?
Well, there are conflicting reports on whether Singapore is a "dog friendly" city so they are staying behind for now and potentially forever. Luckily, my parents are taking them, they have a big backyard, my stepmom is always home and they both love the beasts. Now, if we find out that Singapore is a great place for the dogs, we have some thinking to do. They have to fly around the world in crates, with a couple stopovers (without us), then once they get here, a minimum of 30 days quarantine no matter how healthy they are. Then there's the heat, our Bostons overheat easily and that mixed with the brutal travel may not be the best for them. Worst case, they stay here, stay happy and we miss the hell out of them.

WHAT ABOUT THE CAT?
Our Awesometown neighbors Steve & Gemina were looking for another cat and luckily fell in love with "the Pinch" when they came to meet him. He will be going to a great & loving home only a stone's throw from his current abode.

WHAT ABOUT ALL YOUR STUFF?
Other than clothes, a few personal items, some camera & gaming equipment and some cook books, the rest is being sold, that's right, we are getting rid of everything. Interested in something? Check out our continually growing sale here: CORSIWORLD ONLINE SALE

WHEN WILL YOU BE BACK?
Time will tell...

4/18/2009

G.I. JOE RESOLUTE IS HERE...

...and it's awesome!

I've always been a fan of G.I. JOE whether it's the toys, the comics or the 80's morning cartoon but what always bothered me about it is that machine guns fired lasers and no one died, they always escaped via parachute no matter how brutal the explosion. They never treated the source material as adult. I had some heightened hoped for the G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA movie but it looks like such a departure from the original source material I don't know if it should even count as G.I. JOE. It looked like I was never going to see the G.I. JOE I always wanted to see.

Then I heard about G.I. JOE: RESOLUTE. Last year at Comic Con when they were talking about the movie, they showed a two minute clip of this new JOE cartoon Hasbro was working on which you can see here. Wow... now that has potential! Well, it's been over a year since we saw that little clip and now G.I. JOE RESOLUTE is finally on the air.

This kick ass PG-13 take on the classic franchise was written by Warren Ellis (Planetary, Transmetropolitan, Ultimate Galactus, Thunderbolts) and is being presented as ten 5-minute shorts, and one 10-minute conclusion piece. After that it will be presented as one hour long film and hopefully then will appear on DVD.

The first three parts are out now which you can see here: PART 1, PART 2 and PART 3. The other parts are airing over the course of the next week so check out Cartoon Network, Teletoon or look for it online!

This is the G.I.JOE I was always looking for, fast, brutal and characters die (morbid I know but after years of watching Duke fire a gun straight at an enemy and nothing happening, so then he has to run up to the guy and knock him out with his fist - you crave a little more reality). The animation looks stellar and I think this will help alleviate the sour taste that RISE OF COBRA will probably leave in my mouth.

Yo Joe!

4/17/2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

April 16th is an important day for Corsiworld. Why? Well, it's the day that my pops, Big Daddy Mario, celebrates his birthday. My dad means the world to me, he's my confidant in times of need, my inspiration when I cook in the kitchen and no one and I mean no one... mumbles better than my father. Last night we celebrated his birthday with a big dinner at the Red Lion. Gina had a bunch of relatives in town from Mexico and my bother Victor returned from a 3 month adventure in Europe so it was a great evening to be sure. The best part was seeing my dad surrounded by family and friends and smiling the entire time.

Happy Birthday dad! We love you!

4/14/2009

LANCE & RAYELLE


Michelle and I took a bunch of Engagement photos of our nephew Lance and his soon to be bride Rayelle. We spent the afternoon on Granville Island and despite the rain, managed to snap a few winners. You can see some of our favorites HERE!

Congrats Lance & Ray!!!


4/08/2009

IT IS OFFICIAL!!!

Last night, Michelle's and my Visas were approved, we are moving to Singapore as I have accepted a position as Executive Producer for Lucasfilm Singapore in their games division. It's an awesome opportunity, an awesome career step and it will be an awesome adventure for both of us. We leave May 11th and I start on May 18th... let the good times roll! There are a million questions to answer, a million things to do and very little time to do it. Wish us luck and we'll keep you posted!

4/07/2009

I HAVE MET THE ENEMY

For eons, I have been afraid of spiders, deathly afraid. So much so, I have developed a type of "spider-sense" which allows me to "feel" when I am in the vicinity of say a house, wolf or recluse spider. I know when those bastards are lurking, ready to jump onto my face and drink from my eyes.

For years, we have lived with a shaky peace, they stay in their dank, dark corners and I stay everywhere else, it's been good. Well now, the Kingdom of the Spiders have upped the ante and like the next generation of terminators, they have unleashed a new terror to deal with!

This is the Assassin Spider. It lives in Southern Africa and – surprise! – Australia.

You know what? All of the horrifying animals native to this country sure go a long way toward explaining their national motto: “Australia: Even though nature vomited monsters all over this barren isle of Lovecraftian horror, we fucking live here anyway, because we just don’t give a shit.”

But I digress. While the Assassin Spider may look a little sinister in that picture up there - as though it is plotting some sort of nefarious scheme to finally do away with that pesky Superman - that’s not why it made the list. This is:


See, the Assassin Spider is named for the uniquely long neck that separates its head from its thorax which, in conjunction with its proportionally gigantic venom-coated fangs - up to ten times the size of a normal spider - allow it to strike like a snake does: It snaps its elongated neck out and uses those forward-thrust mandibles to spear potential prey.

So hey, fucking check that shit out!

It’s a spider with a spring-loaded giraffe neck, which it uses to hurl its unearthly face (topped with disproportionately large venomous fangs) out at you like a grappling hook made out of my childhood nightmares!

Awesome.

Yes, that is fantastic news that something like this abomination exists. I love not sleeping for the rest of my life. I’m so glad I have an excuse to do that now. Michelle is not afraid of spiders but I bet she would break into a cold sweat if she saw this devil coming at us. Me? I'd probably slip into a brain-dead coma right then and there.

Welcome to the world Assassin Spider, I hate to meet you.

4/04/2009

MARCH SHENANIGANS

March was a big Month, take a look...
  • I created my first simple iMovie video titled THE BEASTS. I know it's not much but you gotta start somewhere.
  • I went to Singapore for an amazing job interview and a few days of sightseeing. I liked it so much, I took the job! More on that in the coming weeks once the Visa is finalized. For now, check out my five great days in SINGAPORE
  • I spent a great week in San Francisco taking part in GDC and then enjoying the sights and the city with Michelle, it was an awesome TRIP!
  • As always, here are the rest of our pics for MARCH!

4/01/2009

SAN FRANCISCO

What a week indeed, so much has happened it's hard to believe it's all over but at the same time, I'm glad it is and I am home...
  • DAY 1 - Came down to GDC (The Game Developers Conference) on the 6am flight to have an interview with an awesome company in Europe which went quite well. Then I went to the conference itself and met some old co-workers and made some new contacts. I went for dinner with some friends at TWO and ended the night by hooking up with Adam, Kraig, Tim and a few others for a night of boozey fun. I also popped into the Edge/LucasArts Party.
  • DAY 2 - More GDC, more meetings and I signed a deal! That's right, I HAVE A NEW JOB!!! Now... I won't say what the job is until the Visa situation is confirmed as I don't want to jinx it but until that time, let's just say it involves a move to "Singapore" and it involves "Star Wars". You got it? More on this in a few weeks when it's all finalized (keep your fingers crossed). We ended the night with a great dinner at HOUSE OF NANKING, which still remains the "Best Chinese Food, I've ever had" and then drinks at the W.
  • DAY 3 - Woo Hoo! Michelle is coming down this afternoon to spend the weekend with me so we can celebrate our new adventure. But before that, more GDC, meeting folks who work for my new company and then making plans with Brooke & Buckley (Buckley is down here for work, Brooke is here visiting). While I was in a Seminar, my phone started going crazy as Michelle was desperately trying to get a hold of me which is odd because I thought she would have been on the plane by now! Turns out, her passport expired and they wouldn't let her on the plane. She got her flight moved to 7pm, and then over the span of three hours, got a new application, new pics, a new signature and two references which resulted in a new passport and she made the plane at 7pm. A Huge thanks to the team at Dr. Gloag's office, Victoria and Chad for assisting Michelle in her adventure. Anyway, she made it down, we had a late Mexican dinner at CHEVYS, then met Chris & Brooke for drinks at W.
  • DAY 4 - The final day of GDC, I took Michelle to the Conference and introduced her to a bunch of "work" folk, she also got to wear my pass and see the nerd-o-naughts in full action. We then went to Lucasfilm at the PRESIDIO and got a full tour by my old friend Matt (which was awesome, such a cool campus). We then went to FISHERMAN'S WHARF, UNION SQUARE, home for a siesta then dinner at an awesome Thai place called OSHA.
  • DAY 5 - We started with coffees and shopping on MARKET STREET, we then met Brooke & Buckley for brunch at CITIZEN CAKE. We walked up the street to look at THE PAINTED LADIES. Then Jen met us and while Michelle & Jen went for pedicures, Buckley, Brooke and I walked down MARKET STREET, we separated and I went home to watch THE SPIRIT (awful). I met up with Michelle and Jen again and she took us for a driving tour around the city (LOMBARD STREET, THE MARINA DISTRICT, CHINATOWN) and then we went for some kick ass Mexican at TRES AGAVES. Jen dropped us off in NOB HILL and we went for drinks at THE TONGA ROOM (a tiki bar) and TOP OF THE MARK (a sky bar overlooking the city). Sweet!
  • DAY 6 - A quick jaunt down to the EMBARCADARO for a fantastic brunch at FOG CITY DINER, then another walk along FISHERMAN'S WHARF. We then hopped onto a CABLE CAR back downtown before heading to the PALACE OF FINE ARTS. From there we walked to CRISSY FIELD and then back to the MARINA DISTRICT for a late afternoon drink. We then hooked up with Adam & Jen for a goodbye dinner in their hometown of HEYWOOD (outside Oakland). Then back to the Hotel to pack for the flight home...
It was an awesome trip to SAN FRANCISCO for both work and pleasure and here are the PICS to prove it! We had kick ass weather the entire week and got to see one of the most beautiful cities in North America, plus I got a job! That sounds like a pretty good week to me!