HD-DVD RIP!! Long Live Blu-ray!!!

I am actively keeping watch of the Hi-def format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Back in January, Warner's move to back Blu-ray exclusively spelled the eventual death of the opposing format. I have bought a PS3 last year even before I bought my new Sony 52" XBR4 LCD TV!! I have started buying Blu-ray software ever since.

Today, the news came that HD-DVD has called it quits!!! You can read it here.

I have followed the format war at High-Def Digest....and boy, is it heated. I'm glad I was on the winning team. Now I can confidently start buying up Blu-ray releases. I am not going to upgrade my present DVD collection, except for a few big titles. However, I am glad that my quest to collect Anime (アニメ) and Tokusatsu (特撮) shows from the '70s is practically complete....and a high-definition transfer for these shows will not make much difference since Japanese don't take care of their films and will definitely not going to spend the $$$ to digitally clean the film up. Like they say: "garbage in, garbage out!"

My first real party!!

After all the money, time and energy spent on my house renovation, I finally hosted a decent party. I spent days cleaning and vacuuming. I had over 45 people attending. It was a blast!!! Originally, my friend Kerry was going to be my barytender tonight...but he blew me off because of a tennis tournament in Fremont!!! I just had an open bar for people to mix their own drinks. I had plenty of white & red wine, vodka, gin, etc.


The Open Bar...People doing it for themselves!!!

For appetizer, I steamed some Shanghai Dumplings, Xiaolongbao (小籠包). My friends Dat and Adam hovered around this dish....they just kept eating and eating. Apparently, they thought this was my main dish. But most of my main dishes was being catered from a local Chinese Restaurants, namely one of my favorites: Spices (294-8th Avenue).


The folks (Danny and Donnie) who hover around the food...

What I have learned is that guests will tend to gather where the food is served. There weren't that many people mingling downstairs until later in the night. All-in-all, it was a success...and I got a lot of compliments on the renovation!!! I am looking forward to my next party...probably some time in the summer with an outdoor BBQ (when my backyard is more presentable).


Cookie is tired after everybody succombed to her cuteness and fed her....