TediVillasor.com

The passing of an artist

July 3, 2010.

Michael Turner (right) and I pose for a photo during the Wizard World Los Angeles Convention in 2006.

How time flies when you are busy with the everyday happenings that make up one’s life.

I am no different.

Well, as I was going about some research online, I was suddenly reminded of the 2nd death anniversary of Aspen MLT Inc. founder Michael Turner.

Here is a tribute I wrote two years ago.

In Memory of Michael Layne Turner (April 21, 1971 – June 27, 2008)

Michael Turner.

Much has already been detailed with his eight-year battle with chondrosarcoma, so this tribute would basically be one that celebrates his life.

Cover of Supergirl #1 (2005) by Michael Turner.

Early history

From what I recall, Turner and a family member took a year off (commonly known as a “gap year” in the United States) before entering college to pursue medicine.  The duo decided to move closer to the beach as Turner had a loved being around water despite living all the way in Crossville, Tennessee.  During this time, the pair waited on tables to make ends meet and soaked up the sun and waves whenever they could.

Eventually, Turner–a gifted artist– turned to the comic book industry to provide supplementary income.  He eventually dropped out from school and immersed himself in his craft.  Among his most notable works at this stage of his career was the co-creation, covers, and interiors of Top Cow’s Witchblade.

By the turn of the century, Turner had gone full circle and founded his own company–Aspen MLT Inc. which was bannered by several of his creations: Ekos, Soulfire, and Fathom—the latter being a story of a heroine who is constantly in the water.

Fathom was one of Michael Turner’s finest creations.  It is also possible that he may have lived vicariously through her (Fathom) as cancer treatments had left him unable to engage in his true passion—surfing and diving.

My signed Michael Turner and Jim Lee Jam Cover from the Wizard Millennium Edition: Michael Turner.

In 2004, Turner signed several deals with giants D.C. Comics and Marvel Comics to either write, do cover illustrations, or interiors of some of the industries most popular characters: Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc.  Turner was also responsible for bringing back into continuity Kara Zor-El, who is better known as Supergirl.

Meeting the man

In 2006, I had the opportunity to meet Michael Turner at the Wizard World Tour in Los Angeles, California.  The lines were long, our meeting was brief, but in that short time, he was gracious and generous—signing everything that I brought—including the Turner inspired Supergirl shirt I was wearing.

Michael Turner passed away yesterday at the Santa Monica Hospital in California due to complications brought about by his bout with cancer.

He was 37.

Michael Layne Turner (April 21, 1971 – June 27, 2008).

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Logo

A chance encounter

A young woman jumped in my path as I was headed for a meeting at a local mall yesterday.  She looked at me straight in the eye, smiled, and extended her hand.

The next thing I knew, I was whisked to a table in the corner and (among other things) asked this question, “What am I doing to save our environment?”

Good question.

Doing my part

When it comes to the environment, I am quite ashamed to say that I haven’t given it as much thought as I should have.

But looking over the card that was given to me that evening, I guess I have done some good.  In my own little way of course.

For instance, I believe that a number of our bulbs at home are CFLs or LEDs, we have a number of power strips at home (thanks to mom), I am a big believer in maximizing a number of household and office items (sometimes to a fault), and I do love my Mac Pro which the card says “consumes 5x less electricity.”

Good times!

Earth Hour Logo

With that said, I am dedicating this point to Mother Earth.

It is also my sincerest hope that the people who come across my site in search of the latest news on NBA players that were born in the 1970’s, the Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, or the latest news on the Psychology Bill, etc. would pause and think…

“What are you doing for the planet?”

Here is what was on the back of the card:

Make a difference with these simple steps.

Replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs: These last 8 to 10 times longer and use 25% of the power.

Use a dipper instead of showering: Save as much as 30 liters of water.

Use a power strip: This eliminates phantom drain, which still consumes 10% to 60% of full power.

Reuse, reduce, recycle: Maximize usage of all household and office items.

Love your laptop: Use a laptop instead of a desktop.  Laptops consume 5x less electricity.

Green homes: Open the windows for light and air circulations.

Buy energy-efficient appliances: Energy star appliances save power and reduce your bills.

Patronize local businesses: These have far smaller footprints than imported goods.

Buy locally-sourced items, including food: These allow indigenous businesses to thrive.

The less packaging, the better: Use totes instead of plastic bags.

For more ways to save Planet Earth, click here

Clayface from the Toys R' Us Exclusive DC Universe Clayface vs Batman/Fists of Clay Box Set

It took awhile but I was finally able to find the time to update my planned Villasor Collection website.

Thank you Flash and Tumblr.com for helping me get this “work in progress” started.

May 10, 2010

7:35 A.M.

Lines growing with centipede-like precision

It has been 35 minutes since The Automated Election Systems (AES) went on-line and started tabulating the votes that will determine our leaders for the next six-years.

I’m excited.

This is after all the first automated election in the history of the Philippines and I’m about to be a part of it.

Navigating through a sea of humanity

As a sea of humanity hovered around numerous poll tables in my local poll precinct, I finally collected by official ballot and slowly made my way towards an empty seat by the glass window.

The first thing that came to my mind as I sat down and collected myself was, “I’m quite fortunate to be sitting here and not standing there.”

My gaze fixed firmly on the numerous lines growing with a centipede-like precision in each of the registration tables.

*whew*

Checking the other side of your ballot

Who I voted for may surprise you... But there is a reason behind it.

Just looking at quality of the entire ballot made me realize how much money was put into this entire production called the national elections.

Starting at the top right side where the poll organizer affixed her signature, the ballot form seemed to go on-and-on due to the burdensome 167 Party Lists wherein each voter was required to only select a single member from the aforementioned number.

What a waste of money and space!

Certainly, the government could have instituted a safeguard similar to the one used to weed out nuance candidates as it is the people’s taxes that are paying—not only for these forms—but the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines as well.

After doing a quick scan of the ballot that comprised the candidates for president (select at least 1), vice-president (select at least 1), senators (select as least 12), and the preferred party list (select at least 1); I turned it over and saw the candidates for my area’s local elections.  These were for the positions of mayor (select at least 1), vice-mayor (select at least 1), representative (select at least 1), and district counselors (select at least 8).

Later on, I discovered that some voters were not aware that there was anything at the other side of the ballot and immediately proceeded to the PCOS machines to cast their vote.

The government did a great job of informing the general public on how to fill out their ballots.

Bad times.

Although their vote for president, vice-president, senators, and the preferred party list were cast, the PCOS machine invalidated any possible votes for mayor, vice-mayor, representative, and district counselors.  It’s a feature of the optical scan machine that functions much the same way if someone were to vote for more than one president or shade 13 ovals for senators instead of 12.  Basically, it would invalidate that entire section.

However, I believe that the government did a splendid job in educating voters on how to properly fill out the ballot (e.g., correct way of shading the ovals) through poll center banners, stickers on every table, and helpful poll watchers.  Yet no one mentioned that there was anything that needed to be filled out at the back of the ballot.

Sometimes, that which is most obvious can be the hardest to spot.

Epilogue

After less than an hour inside the polling center, I am ready to feed by ballot into the PCOS machine.

The device hums as it instantly snags the ballot from my fingertips.  The PCOS machine then proceeds to verify my votes and then greets me with this message.

“Congratulations!  Your vote has been cast.”

At the bottom it adds that I am the 37^th vote that was rendered into the Compact Flash (CF) card of this massive device.

Wow!  Now that’s our taxes finally working for us.

“It might extend Steve’s career five or six years if Dragić keeps playing like that.” – Greg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs Head Coach)

I remember when I used to have the time to watch almost every NBA game scheduled for the week on television.

But work, coupled with our version of an NBA channel moving into a pay-channel format, has limited my options to enjoy NBA Basketball.

But not today.

Game 3: 2009-2010 Western Conference Semi-Finals – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs

The Suns Goran Dragić shoots over the defense of the Spurs Tim Duncan.

As I tuned in, I see Suns backup point guard Goran Dragić throw up one of the most awkward three point attempts ever and it goes in!  Subsequent replays showed that Dragić had intended to initiate contact from the outstretched arm of his defender (most likely San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill) and go to the free-throw line for three shots.  But he got something better—the three-point basket and a foul—for the possibility of a rare four-point play.

The television announcers then fill me in on game.

The San Antonio Spurs were down by about nine points after the 24 year-old Dragić’s And 1 free-throw and were playing catch-up basketball.  The Spurs had given up a considerable first-half lead with the heady play of Goran Dragić —who spelled Suns starter Stephen John Nash with about two or three minutes left in the third quarter.

After a time out several possessions later, I see the Dragić masterpiece unfolding through several replays: post up-and-under moves, jump shots, drives into the lane.

The native of Ljubljana, Slovenia was certainly in the zone.

Hitting everything he threw at the basket certainly opened up the lane for Suns guard Goran Dragić.

Being in “The Zone”

In their book entitled “Flow In Sports” (1999) by Susan Jackson and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describe “The Zone” as a heightened level of performance that every athlete aspires to reach.  It is a moment that cannot be attained at a whim—rather an instant that an athlete prepares for when that moment does arise.

This is one of the reasons why athletes practice.

So that they know what they have to do when they are fortunate enough to be in “the zone.”

That special moment wherein “everything seems to fall into place” and “they can do no wrong.”

All Dragić in the 4th

In less than 18 minutes, the 6’4’’ Goran Dragić was simply on fire.

He hit 9 of 11 shots on an assortment of hard drives to the basket, step-backs, post-moves, and cold-blooded three-point shots (Dragić connected on 4-4 from downtown in the 4^th).

It was a performance that allowed the Phoenix Suns to stick with their second unit—comprised of Leandrinho Barbosa, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, Channing Frye, and Dragić —for most of the fourth quarter.

On a night where Suns center Amar’e Stoudemire only scored 7 points.  Dragić, who coming into Game 3 had only averaged 7.9 points in the regular season and 5.6 points in the playoffs, had a perfect game (outside of those two missed foul shots and heat check jumpers) to lead his team to victory.

Here is his stat line for the game:

Goran Dragić – 17:27 minutes, 10-13 FG%, 5-5 3PFG%, 1-3 FT%, 3 (1) rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no turnovers.

Suns forward Grant Hill (left) considered Dragić's fourth quarter playoff performance as the best he has ever seen.

Arrival into The Valley of the Sun

Touted as the second-best point guard after Memphis’ Derrick Rose in the 2008 NBA Draft, Goran Dragić impressed Suns’ Director of Player Personnel Todd Quinter and Suns’ senior vice president of basketball operations David Griffin with his speed and quickness in a camp held in Treviso, Italy, two weeks prior to the NBA Draft.

The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro shares that the Phoenix Suns were ready to take Dragić with the 15^th pick in the draft had Stanford center Robin Lopez not been available.  Fortunately, the Suns were still able to snag their man after working a deal with the San Antonio Spurs to trade second-round picks (An agreement that involved giving the Spurs $500,000 and a future second-round pick that turned out to be Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair).

After drafting Dragić, the Suns then bought out the point guard’s contract with his Spanish ACB club CB Murcia and rewarded him with a lucrative $7.6 million dollar contract spread over four years.

Tonight, that financial investment certainly paid off.

Category: Movies
Genre: Action & Adventure

“I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one.” – Anthony Edward “Tony” Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.)

See that thing in my chest? Those things can kill you...

As the comic pages turn to reveal the famed Marvel Logo, we hear the voice of Anthony Edward “Tony” Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and gradually news snippets of him flubbing through his Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) cover story before announcing to the world that he is indeed Iron Man.

It is breaking news that reaches millions of viewers worldwide.

Some respond in cheers, while others with questions.

But to disgraced and dying physicist Anton Vanko (Yevgeni Lazarev), it represents yet another reminder of what should have been his legacy, and not that of the Stark family.

Anton Vanko passes, but not before leaving his son—physicist Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke)—with the knowledge necessary to bring the Stark legacy to its knees.

The opening credits roll as Anton proceeds to create a miniature arc reactor based on the 1960’s designs of Anton Vanko and Tony’s father, Howard Stark (John Slattery).

Six months pass…

I'd like a double cheese burger and hold the lettuce...

Set six months after the events of Iron Man, a number of themes have been set into motion by Director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux.  Among them are Tony’s failing health (a fallout of the crippled arc reactor technology that stops shrapnel imbedded in his chest from reaching his heart), his increasing dependence on alcohol as a short-term solution to pain, flippant behavior that he deems philanthropical (e.g., donating his entire art collection) or stimulating (e.g., deciding to drive his Grand Prix race car minutes before the start of the Monte Carlo race), the ascension of Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as CEO of Stark Industries, the pilfering of the Mark II armor by Lt. Col James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and its evolution into the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit known as War Machine, the laughable and youthful antagonist in Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), S.H.I.E.L.D. undercover agent Natalia Romanova a.k.a. The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and the expanding roles of Colonel Nicholas Joseph “Nick” Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and surprisingly driver Happy Hogan (Director Jon Favreau) who got about five or six big scenes in this sequel.

Hey! It pays to be the king!

This is just for starters.

Enjoy the movie guys!

I’ll flesh this out in the coming days!

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Now playing: AC/DC – Back In Black
via FoxyTunes

My copy of Republic Act No. 10029

Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) President J. Enrique G. Saplala, Ph.D. reports that as of this afternoon, Sub Bill 6512 or The Psychology Bill was approved and signed by Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and is now known as Republic Act 10029, or the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009.

Professional licensing is the next step.

Time to get my papers in order.

Addendum:

This link has been quite popular since the passing of RA 10029.  With that said, I’ll be making a review (in the near future) as things have been quite hectic at work.

I will say this though, there doesn’t seem to be any prohibition to applying for a PRC license under RA 10029 if you already have one under the Guidance and Counseling bill.

After all, there is no Philippine law that stops an individual from having more than one profession.

Exemption:

Genalyn Kabiling of the Manila Bulletin shares that practitioners are exempted from taking the examinations if they have “obtained a doctoral degree in Psychology and had accumulated three years of work experience; obtained a master’s degree in Psychology and accumulated five years of work experience; psychologists employed in public and private agencies who have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and accumulated 10 years of work experience. These applicants, however, must still file with the Board in the next three years an application for registration and issuance of certificate of registration and professional identification card with the necessary credentials.”

That is awesome news!

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Now playing: Incognito – We Got Music (Matt Cooper’s Outside Mix)
via FoxyTunes

John Mayer will be visiting the Philippines on May 2010

For this exuberant price tag (a death sentence in this economic climate), Bridgeport, Conneticut’s own John Mayer had better not bring any of that heavy blues or Battlefield Studies experimental stuff onto Philippine Soil.

That would be just…wrong…

Mayer invades Manila, Philippines on May 16, 2010.

Addendum:

Around this time last week, I got word that the John Mayer concert would be canceled due to “unforeseen scheduling conflicts” (which I sincerely doubt!).

In my mind, the exuberant ticket prices had a lot to do with it.

Mayer “may now” invade Manila, Philippines on October 1, 2010.

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Now playing: Incognito – Don’t Turn My Love Away
via FoxyTunes

I can still hear Marv Albert commentary, "A spectacular move by Michael Jordan!"

With the 2009-2010 National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs & Finals right around the corner, I looked back and realized that this is my 20^th year of watching professional basketball.

Has it really been that long?

The Memories

I can still see the Los Angeles Lakers Sam Perkins drilling a three-point shot to stun the Chicago Bulls at the end of Game 1 as well as Michael Jordan’s classic right-to-left under goal lay-up over the same Sam Perkins in Game 2 of the 1990-1991 NBA Finals.

Bulls versus Lakers.

Those were the years.  The veteran laded Los Angeles Lakers versus the hip, up-and-coming Chicago Bulls.

Memories.

The Questions

With that said, I decided to test that memory (use of references are forbidden!) and challenged myself with these questions: Over the last 20 years, which teams have participated in the NBA Finals?  Who were the winners?

Tall order?

At least not initially as the key to these questions would be to determine who were the winners and the bridesmaids would surely follow suit.

Clutch City won it's first NBA title with the five of Hakeen Olajuwon, Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, and Otis "OT" Thorpe.

The Answers

Starting with the 1990-1991 season, this was a no-brainer as it signified the first Chicago Bulls dynasty (1991, 1992, and 1993).  This was followed by the Jordan-less years of 1994 and 1995 wherein the Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston Rockets dispatched the New York Knicks in seven games en-route to the first NBA Championship (1994).  The Rockets then repeated in 1995 when they swept the youthful Orlando Magic in four games.  The championship also etched the Houston Rockets in NBA annals as the lowest seeded playoff team (6^th) to capture the title.

From 1996-1998, the Chicago Bulls again regained their dominance over the NBA with their second three-peat.  In the 1998-1999, the league played a 50-game lockout shortened—no All-Star Weekend—season.  The finals featured the overachieving New York Knicks (8^th seed) and the Twin Tower (“The Admiral” David Robinson and “Big Fundamental” Timmy Duncan) led San Antonio Spurs.  If I am not mistaken, it was Spurs in six…or was it in five.  One thing is for sure, the Spurs were simply too much for the Ewing-less Knicks.

The partnership between Tim Duncan (left) and David Robinson has produced two NBA Championships for the city of San Antonio.

The turn of the century brought yet another string of championships for Coach Phil Jackson (2000, 2001, and 2002), but this time with a Los Angeles Lakers team that was bannered by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.  In 2003, the San Antonio Spurs gave their “Admiral” David Robinson a great retirement gift when they captured their second NBA crown.  This also marked the only finals match-up wherein I was unable to recall whom the runner-up was.

Hitting the curb

NBA seasons from 2003-2006 took a little more time to flesh out.  Questions such as the three seasons wherein the San Antonio Spurs captured championships as well as the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat championship years were among the last to be identified.  But once the aforementioned sequencing and cast of teams were identified, everything fell into place.

Back to business

Shaquille O'Neal and a young Kobe Bryant set aside their differences in order to win the coveted Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy in 2000.

The 2003-2004 NBA season featured future hall-of-fame members Karl “The Mailman” Malone and Gary “The Glove” Payton joining the potent Los Angeles Lakers for another run at an NBA Championship.  However, this was not meant to be as they had the rug pulled out from under them by the blue-collar Detroit Pistons led by the likes of Ben Wallace, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups.

The following season (2004-2005), Detroit again made it back to the NBA Finals but lost out to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.  This season, in my mind, was best remembered for those Rasheed Wallace WWE inspired NBA Championship belts that he got for the whole Pistons team.

I wonder what ever happened to those belts?

The 2005-2006 NBA season featured two first-timers to the NBA Finals stage: The Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.  This season was a classic example of momentum gone awry as it really looked like the Dallas Mavericks had this series all but locked up with a 2-0 advantage and a huge lead in Game 3 of that series.

Then Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. happened and the rest is history.

Miami upset the Mavs in Game 3 and proceeded to take the next three contests and captured their first NBA championship.

Whatever happened to WWE inspired Championship Belt named "Roscoe"? Only Rasheed knows the answer to that one...

The NBA Finals in 2006-2007 was forgettable to say the least.  I remember that the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers finals match-up to be one of—if not the lowest—rated finals in history.  I didn’t even bother to try and watch any of the games that year.  Spurs swept the Cavs in four.

On the other hand, the 2007-2008 season was more promising with Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge engineering several trades that brought Kevin “KG” Garnett and Walter Ray Allen, Jr. to the Celtics for practically everyone on their team with the exception of Paul “The Truth” Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins.  This development, coupled with the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol the year before, set the stage for a Lakers verses Celtics finals match-up.  One that fans haven’t seen since 1986-1987.

It was a great match-up with the Celtics capturing their league-leading 17^th NBA banner in six games.  For more information on this season, I’ve written an extensive post on the Celtics championship season here.

Lastly, the 2008-2009 finals match-up featured the Los Angeles Lakers returning to the big dance along with the young Orlando Magic team lead by the dominating Dwight Howard.  In this particular series, there was a lot of heartbreak for the Orlando Magic as they squandered numerous opportunities to truly establish themselves in the finals.  However, this does not take anything away from the Los Angeles Lakers who truly deserved the The Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy.

After Game 2, everything that Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. threw up against the hapless Dallas Mavericks just seemed to go into the bucket.

This championship also broke a tie between legendary icon Arnold Jacob “Red” Auerbach of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson for most NBA championships by a head coach.  Jackson now takes the top spot with 10 championships.

In summary

Well, that was 19-years of NBA Finals basketball and I look forward to the end of the 2009-2010 NBA regular season, an interesting NBA play-offs, and hopefully, an epic finals match-up.

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Now playing: Incognito – Don’t Turn My Love Away
via FoxyTunes

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps Preview Poster (2010)

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is the first squeal of director Oliver Stone (Platoon, JFK, Wall Street) and stars Michael Douglas (Wall Steet, Fatal Attraction), Shai LeBeouf (Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Eli Wallach, Frank Langella, and Charlie Sheen who will briefly reprise his role as Bud Fox.

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps opens in cinemas on April 21, 2010.

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Now playing: Incognito – Can’t Get You Out of My Head (Latin Project Remix)
via FoxyTunes

Doesn't the Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps Poster look a lot like this?