Actually,

Sometimes I do think about this.

Except it's not so much a fear as it is an occasional "Well crap, I look all spiffy and I'm not going anywhere important today." 

First world problems, I know. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, BITCHES

Yeah.

So I forgot to pack my Rent DVD when I came home, thus breaking what would've been a three year streak of a Christmas-all-nighter + Rent viewing. Sad days.

I realize that for me, I will always associate Christmas with family. And it's a bit mind blowing, knowing that our eldest cousin is bringing her significant other to meet the entire family later today for Christmas festivities. The first cousin to do so. Dang. We're gonna haze the hell out of him...

Just kidding. Not really. But seriously.

And I can't think of a single Christmas that I haven't spent with my entire family. Not just my siblings and parents, but my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and especially cousins. I feel like Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without my cousins. So it makes me wonder what will happen in the future when we all grow up and have our own families. I know personally, I'd make sure my significant other and I would make the effort to visit both her family and my family, but would my family still include extended family? I kinda hope so. I never say it aloud, but I love all my family, even though each of us is crazy in our own, special way. But then again I guess we wouldn't be what we are if it weren't for our personalities.

If the day ever comes where I have to spend a Christmas without my family...well. I think I'll just try not to think about that.


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This short film

I may have shed manly tears by the end of this short movie. Just saying. So beautiful.


....uh, quick! Something that will re establish what little manliness I have left! Oh, wait, I know: Facts and Chicks, a website/blog that is literally pictures of hot women with a random piece of trivia/fact of the day captioned over the image. The fact has nothing to do with the picture of the woman on the background, nor vice versa, but hey. Facts and Chicks. Gotta love it.

"Can men and women be just friends?"

A video that addresses that question probably made famous by When Harry Met Sally. 

Then again the poll was taken from a rather selective group, being from a college campus but still. I think it's interesting. 

Rap.1

I'm not much of a rap-listening kind of guy, but man. This is good.

Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) "Heartbeat"



I've listened to some of his other tracks on this album, but like I said, I'm not a big fan of rap. I just like this number.

Or, okay, I'm not a fan of rap where the message is all about power, money, sex, etc. I know there's good rap out there, that can tell a story, that really moves me.

...To be continued. I'm swamped with finals, yo.

We would be one, we would be just fine

I love it when I discover a good blues song.



Mmmmm...tasty.

On another note I finally managed to get Spotify installed on my computer. Nifty. Although I think I'll refrain from connecting it to facebook, because to be honest, I'm already pretty wary about people going through my ipod/music library. It's just so, exposing. It's like someone going through your underwear drawer or however that short saying goes. I feel like your music collection says a lot about you as a person. I know it does for me. So it's rather unnerving if, say, I'm driving with people I'm not super great friends with, I get bored of what's on the radio so I turn on my ipod instead, and I try to filter through my usual car playlist and pick things that would have the most general appeal. Or, you know, maybe I'm just super paranoid about people judging me based on my tastes in music. Whatever. Haters gonna hate, okay?

This commercial.

So. Much....

...

D'aaaaawwwwwww...

Death to hashtags.

Felt like crap today, went to dance practice anyways. I talked about it to one girl and she said I have the flu.

...Excuse me? Sorry Ms. Web MD, like hell am I gonna get the flu.

I don't think I've ever really had the flu before. And I sure as shitburgers ain't gonna start right now. But of course now this makes me think I should've gotten the flu shot back in October or whatnot. Oopsies.



You know what I don't understand? Why the heck do people use hashtags outside of twitter? Or even in twitter, people use hashtags for the most un-hashtag worthy of things. And yes, my talking about twitter most likely means I have one. I think I started around...what. End of last spring? And I have something like 10 original tweets since then. I just don't find the need to tweet about my current mood or the awesome cereal I had for breakfast or oh noes, whining about a test/assignment/project. But I can definitely see the appeal in it for some people, of having all of your friends and even people who aren't your friends "follow" you, as if you have something worth saying. It feeds the narcissist in all of us I suppose. Anyways, hashtags: KEEP THEM IN TWITTER PEOPLE. It makes absolutely no sense at all if you make a facebook update along the lines of "Finally starting this paper #procrastination #Englishmajorwoes." I mean, why not just weave those last two bits into the actual phrase? I just, I don't, it's, I mean, UGH. Twitter is basically facebook statuses on crack. Is it even called a status anymore? Who knows, it gets changed around so much these days, so whatever.



Also Thanksgiving came and went, obviously. What am I thankful for.
I'm thankful that I'm in a better place now than where I was a year ago.
For family, broken as we can be sometimes.
For dance, sparking a new passion within me I never knew I had.
For new friends and just meeting more people in general, allowing me to adapt my person and adjust how I interact socially.
For finally feeling secure in what my path is going to be.


Still, it's rather intimidating that I'll be graduating at the end of next spring #notreadytofacetherealworld #whoaslowdowntime.

Ok just kidding about that. But you get my point now, right?

This is one of those times

when you discover music/a song that you feel is almost too good to share with other people but at the same time you just know you probably have an obligation to do so.



The song is free for download if you go to his site!

I'm a winner.

So this whole reddit/imgur business. Don't quite understand it. Reddit, anyways, but I've been keeping up with imgur.

Last night I posted a caption under this image. Didn't really except anything. 2-3 hours later I check back and I'm on top with 200+ upvotes. Holy freak.

And now, 22 hours later, I'm still at the top with 750 upvotes. What the fricking freak.

I win this corner of the internet. Kthxbai.

Sounds about right.

There ain't no Devil, just God when he's drunk

I've just discovered Tom Waits for myself.

But first, I'm currently on this Blues craze. Streak? Phase? You get the idea. I'm craving and looking for any and all music that is Blues.

But I'm specifically wanting really slow Blues, not necessarily fast, blues rock. No, no, biiiiig difference here. That kind of blues would be like, Crossroads, by Cream. It's got the Blues riff and chord progressions and it's its own type of vibe and emotion, I'll give it that. And that's great. Really.

What I want is Blues music that really slows things down. Music that wrangles my soul. Sounds that make me sway and groove.

Or I guess, in short, as I've learned to call it: slow blues. Simple as that. I guess.

Which brings me back to Tom Waits. I was watching a west coast swing video and the music in the background piqued my curiosity. There wasn't any indication of what the song was in the video description, so I used the Soundhound app on Sebastian to find out what it was. And it was Heartattack and Vine, by Tom Waits. It's quite good, and really fits the description of the type of Blues music I'm looking for.

Damn, what a voice. It's unlike anything I've heard before. And I like it. Someone, maybe a commenter or a professional critic, said it was like someone took his voice, dipped it in bourbon and cigarettes, and ran over it with a car. Sounds about right.

So I did some more exploration into his music. And he's got a lot of music. Whew.

And I came across this:



...Wow. What a song. What a story.

Pigskin and Patriarchs

The males of my roommate's family (his two younger brothers and his dad) were at our apartment earlier today to watch a football game on the television. I eventually emerged from my bedroom to at least be polite and greet his dad and the youngest brother since they'd driven a considerable distance to be here (the other younger brother goes to the same university as we do) and I was immediately offered some food/snacks they'd brought. So I sat down, munched on a wing or two and watched about a quarter of the game on television with my roommate and his family -1.

1) I still don't really find football to be that exciting. It's a game. It's a sport. It gets millions of people across the nation, mostly men and boys, really riled up. But I just can't see the appeal in it. A bunch of guys on opposing sides attempting to move a pigskin into the other team's boundaries, gaining control, taking power...wait. That does sound very American. Hm. 

Sports in general just don't interest me a great deal. Sure I'll watch some major sporting/athletic events on television. Some World Cup matches. Bits of the Olympics. Otherwise I don't pledge my undying allegiance to any sports team. Hell I don't even have that much spirit for my own school's teams. I guess people enjoy it for the social aspect? If that's the case, then I can just crash friends' tailgates, but when kickoff rolls around - see ya. A part of me wonders if I'm missing some fundamental "man" characteristic that I should have when it comes to these sorts of things. In a similar vein, 

2) It intrigues me greatly to see some of my guy friends interact so well with their fathers. It doesn't even have to be some kind of deep emotional bond (because everyone knows men aren't capable of serious emotional attachment. Hah) but just basic interaction and conversation that seems to flow rather naturally astounds me. Like today, with my roommate's dad throwing jokes back and forth with him and chatting about the game like it's something as common as breathing. Or when another friend told me how he talked to his dad about romance issues he was having with a girl. These kinds of thing surprise me. I can't see myself having that level of comfortable interaction with my dad. And to be blunt, he is certainly one of the last people I would ever go to for relationship and romance advice. That much is clear. As for the interaction, well. I suppose it's something that could be slowly constructed to some basic level. I just find it difficult to try and share things with him I find interesting or hobbies I'm pursuing when I worry that everything could probably be turned around by him asking how do I find time to study concentrate on school etc so as a result I try to avoid such lectures by not talking about my interests in general. Helpful? Nope, probably not. 

I've promised myself I will strive to be an excellent father one day. I don't know how successful I'll be as I feel I don't exactly have the best model to work off of. But maybe it's a model that I can learn from its mistakes. 

Jealousy's a bitch.

A lard-ass, green, grimy bitch that plops herself into your best, leather arm chair and let's a good fart rip so loudly that your windows vibrate. Maybe even crack.

But a friend reassured me admitting jealousy is good. The important thing is to make sure one doesn't act or speak under the influence of it.

Things to keep in mind, I suppose.

Sisterly Words of Wisdom

"Sometimes I picture myself in a fight with a friend and wonder who would win. Sometimes I realize 'Oh I would totally get my ass kicked by her,' but other times, 'Oh yeah I could totally kick her ass.' And I only imagine scenarios with girls." 

Haters Gonna Hate

I feel like I've been living by that saying more recently.

Haters gonna hate.

I know it first started as, or well, at least I first discovered it through the internet in a series of meme images emblazoned with those three words. It's rather tickling, and one of the better memes out there, in my opinion.

And I just took it at face value with whatever person/animal/object was strolling in some nonconformist fashion, basically not giving a flying fuck what everyone/thing around thinks.

But then in the past days and weeks, I've actually realized I've been saying it along with thinking it. Guy doesn't like my cardigan? Well I love it, haters gonna hate. Get caught doing a silly dance during a lapse in practice and totally getting judged by my partner? Whatever, I'm having fun, haters gonna hate. Doing pretty much anything questionable/out of the ordinary and getting the strangest looks from people? Haters gonna hate.

Screw what other people think, and only regard the opinions of those who matter most to you. Life's too short to get beat by shallow thoughts and pointless criticisms. Stay classy. Stay fabulous. Stay fierce.

Stay extraordinary.

You know what,

Spring's great and all with the birds and bees and whathaveyou. Cool. Awesome. Right.

But fall makes me feel all sorts of romantic. Romantic? (capital R?)

Maybe it's the cold weather that makes you want to hold onto someone. Maybe it's all the warm drinks that come with it. Hot chocolate. Apple cider. Maybe it's the holidays. Maybe it's all the awesome clothes you can finally pull out and start layering. Maybe the cold air just keeps me on my toes, expectant, and ready for the unknown. Maybe it's because cold weather outside is pretty nice for escaping into when you're all hot and bothered and sweaty from dancing inside a room thick with body heat.

No wait, that last part wasn't the least bit r/Romantic at all. Whoops. But gotta admit, having that cool outside air to cool off is pretty nice.




Anyways, you get my point.

Don't be afraid to dance. Don't be afraid to take a chance.

Steve Aoki, featuring Rivers Cuomo (frontman of Weezer) in new single "Earthquakey People." 

Hm. I like it. Haven't really listened to any of Aoki's work prior to this; I just knew about this single because I follow Weezer. Heh. I at least knew that Aoki's a electronica-house artist. I get credit for that, right? 

So a little while ago (maybe early September?) Rivers announced he was working with Steve Aoki on a new single. Sweet! And there it is. 

I think Rivers' vocals adds a certain element. People think Weezer and Rivers, they think nerd-rock. Or at least when they first started out. But I think he still has that quality in his singing. He's not the best voice, but he sounds like he has so much fun when he sings, regardless. And that comes across in this track. People jumping around, dancing, having a good time. That's totally Rivers. 

Meanwhile, Steve Aoki also did a remix of his song, titled "Earthquakey People (The Sequel)." 

I kinda like this version better, to be honest. It's got more of a house feel. Kinda wish the drop after Rivers' vocal loops had more of a...well, drop. More oomf. More kick. Bass. Thump, whatever it is. Maybe there's a way to tweak it somehow...

On an unrelated note, I was in TJMaxx looking for black pants when I discovered this chain here in Athens carried Penguin ties. I WANTED TO BUY ALL OF THEM. But of course that would be ridiculous. 

So I bought two. Lolsies! 

Dance marathon unsuccessful.

My attempt at dancing every day for 11 days straight was thwarted when I remembered I bought a ticket to see a university play on Tuesday night.

Curses. Got in 8 days of straight dancing and then two more afterwards. Oh well. I tried.

Also I realize just about every other post I make seems to be about dancing in some shape or form.

JUST LIKE THIS ONE.

So this is a first that I've seen: a dual-partner west coast swing routine (holy shit, that rhymed). I think it's pretty awesome, not gonna lie.



UGH, so good. And really clever too, with bits of humor sprinkled in for good measure. The parts when the two follows and two leads started dancing with each other was really great.



I'm trying to choreograph a west coast swing routine to Moves Like Jagger. This would be a lot easier if I had a partner to get a feel of how certain moves I want to use would work and what they look like. Peh.

Sweet jesus.

So for a while now I've had a penchant for frozen bananas.

But now I've just discovered frozen bananas with condensed milk.

Condensed. Freaking. Milk.

May god have mercy on my waistline.

Dance on ALL THE DAYS.

I was talking with other BPGers and we realized one could dance on every single day of the week starting with this previous Monday and going all the way to next Monday...and then some.

Monday: Practice
Tuesday: Swing Night
Wednesday: Practice, Salsa night
Thursday: Argentine Tango, Blues
Friday: Friday Night Dance Party
Saturday: Fall Dance
Sunday: Community Dance Day
Monday: Practice
Tuesday: Swing night
Wednesday: Practice, Salsa night
Thursday: Argentine Tango, Blues
DONE.

So it's more like one week plus four extra days. 11 DAYS OF DANCING OMG. Feet are gonna hurt so good. I'm not quite exactly sure what the Community Dance Day event is, but it's hosted by the Dance department here and BPG has one or two guest performances. AND I'M IN ONE OF THEM. Oh yes, I got cast, yo. It's a swing number to "Ain't Nothin' but a Kiss" from the musical Memphis. I've never actually heard of or seen this musical before we started learning choreography to this song, but supposedly it's coming to Atlanta in January/February/sometime around those months. Exciting. I'm gonna be in my first BPG performance, aw yeah!



Anyways, I love wimp. It's how I keep up to date with relatively viral videos and other cute shenanigans. Besides the plethora of cute animal videos I keep linking my sister, I have a thing for cheesy cute wedding proposals. Like the guy who flash-mob'd his girlfriend at Disneyland. Or the guy who got his friend to hack some building lights into a proposal message. Totes adorbz.


...I can feel your judgmental eyes staring me down. Whatever. Haters gonna hate.

Interspecies Erotica

I think I heard that term in Clerks 2. "It's not bestiality, it's interspecies erotica!" Or however it goes.

Anyways, THIS MAN IS GETTING MOLESTED BY SEALZ. Just kidding. Who knew though, seal pups just need some cuddlin' love!

Or you know. 'Dem sealz are about to go all Deliverance on his ass. He gon' git raped.

REJECT STRUCTURE. EMBRACE PASSION.

Yeah I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. 

So the Atlanta Swing Classic was in town (by that I mean Atlanta. Obviously. And not Athens). I wish could've gone for the entire weekend and only managed to go on Saturday. STILL I was so excited to go because A) It was for west coast swing. Mostly. B) Workshops taught by Ben FREAKING Morris. Or Ben Morris, who's a pretty awesome wcs dancer (and lindy hopper but I like wcs more). I mean, he's only famous in the wcs world for winning/placing in multiple swing competitions and such, no big. Yeah. And C) IT'S WCS. My favorite dance.

For a while I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to make it because I've had to do backstage crew work for a theatre production here as part of my major requirement, BUT, thanks to UGA football we had no show on Saturday and I was free and able to attend the dances/workshops! Winning.

It was a great deal of fun. I kinda wish we learned more patterns and such, but all the lessons about technique and refining certain basics really helped a lot. Open dancing was just as enjoyable, even though I was probably the youngest guy there for the entire day. Yeah. I feel like the majority of the women I danced with fit in the 30-60 year old range. Eh heh. But hey, some of these ladies were incredible follows and really fun to dance with, which is more than I can say for some of the girls I've danced wcs with here in Athens, where West Coast isn't very prominent. It's also taught a little different at Swing Nights. The style is just...different. The manner of dancing is different. I think it might have something to do with most of the people in the swing community here are lindy hoppers first, which is an entirely different attitude compared to wcswingers. Hm. Guess I'll have to try to make the trip to Atlanta more frequently for some Wicked Westie. The problem is it conflicts with Argentine Tango lessons on Thursday evenings as well. Gah. The conundrums.

Argentine tango has been an extremely frustrating experience so far. It's rather unlike American/Ballrom tango in many, many aspects. There's less of that "sharp" attitude in Argentine compared to American, what with its dramatic head snaps and flicks and whatnot. Argentine is a bit more...soft, perhaps. The attitude is still there, but it's much more subtle. Moves and leads and follows are also much more subtle which makes the THAT much more difficult to dance. Basically you have a basic pattern, a few deviations from that pattern that can transition into multiple combinations of foot play, and the foot play is where things get frustrating. Because you can literally do ANYTHING you want to with these plays; just make sure you retain a sense of musicality. Oh yeah, did I mention you don't have to dance exactly in time/on beat with the music? Yeah. I mentioned it now.

But I'm slowly getting the hang of it...I think it's a matter of, as a lead, recognizing what moves can go where and when during a dance. There's a lot of looking down at our feet, which normally is frowned upon in other dances but I think it's kinda important in Argentine because leads have to place their foot/feet in places that will facilitate/indicate a certain move is to be done by the follow. Yeah. Only slightly important.

Basically I'm realizing I don't prefer dances where I feel like I'm confined to a structure. I like playing with a dance. Doing whatever the hell I want (within reason of course). Wcs has a structure, but it's rather easy to inject any personal attitude and movement. Argentine is all about musicality and play. And blues dancing...well. There really isn't a structure for blues except a basic swaying motion and using every and all emotion you get from a blues song for a dance. Yep.

Cereal Dubstep? Cereal-step?

So I know dubstep is all the rage and whatnot these days blablabla, but holy shit, this commercial is insane. Little girl's got moves, yo.

Man this takes me back

I remember watching and loving this lil' flash short movie a looooong time ago. I think I was in 8th or 9th grade, heh.



And since it's my birthday and all, thought I'd also share the song. This song is so damn happy, it's impossible not to jump around and bop and dance to it. Weee!

21st birthday on a Monday kinda sucks, but hey, whaddaya gonna do. I think...I'll go to sleep early. I am tired after returning to my first BPG practice after a two week hiatus. Dear lord am I behind, but I'm quick learner when it comes to this so I got most of the new chacha/tango/foxtrot number. Woh.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves now

But damn does this feel great.

Zambezi

My cover of Zambezi, by Tinashe.



I think I must've stumbled across the original video/performance. I also saw it on Wimp a while later.

It's a really sweet song, but almost sad, towards the end. And this is why I like the mbira version of the song compared to the original because I feel that the original lacks the emotion found in the mbira version's simplicity. The original is great; it's powerful, upbeat, inspiring, but I just prefer the mbira track in terms of mood.

I also feel like my cover is a bit "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" in terms of strum pattern/sound...haha. Guess I was going for that folk sound.

Anyways I've got to stop recording and mixing these things at such a late hour. But the song was calling my naaaaame...! I had to.

You've got some explainin' to do

So the skirt mentioned in a previous post was for a costume to a party. A Harry Potter themed party, more specifically. And since Cho Chang is the only Asian character in the series (sorry Patel twins, I just don't consider you guys Asian) well....yeah. Haha. Aw yeah, cross-dressing.

I also got to experiment with my makeup kit for my makeup design class. Pretty convenient if you ask me. But I think what really might've made the look more believable was if I'd done my eyebrows. My eyebrows are already rather thick and dark enough - most masculine indeed. I tried to experiment with ways to cover my brows and then draw more feminine ones over them, but the gluestick method wasn't working and I was too scared to try spirit gum, heh. So I just left them as is. But apparently it was enough because those who noticed my makeup remarked that I was rather pretty. Then again those people who said that might've had just the right amount to drink, but hey, whatevs, people thought I was pretty, damnit. And they like my costume, since most of ones who said anything seemed to get it. Hah.

Also, I have a new respect for girls and skirt-wearing. Damn. That's all I'm gonna say.

hehehehehehe

So many pugs! But only one is real...

So cute! 

Awkward? Naw...

So I'm just doin' my thing, looking for a skirt at Goodwill when an employee walks by. She looks at me and assumes a friendly tone. "How are you doing today sir?"

I smile and reply, "Fine, thanks!" 

"Ok. Well if you need anything just let me know." 

"Mhm!" 

Heh. Eheh heh heh. 

Oh, right. Why was I shopping for a skirt? More on that to come...

D'aaaaawwww

This short film.  Preeeetty cute, not gonna lie.


Although I definitely called it for the ending. At least the main bit. The ending-ending was unexpected but just as adorable.


I think it was really clever writing, in terms of the Seth's ability for throwing/tossing, how they introduced it in the office setting and then showed him using it in a date setting. Really nice.

In general though, I'm trying to pay more attention to how a movie or film is written. I think it's good practice for my dramatic writing class I'm taking this semester.

Sexeh Songs are Sexeh.

My music preferences seem to jump around these days. Last week or two I was expanding my tastes in house music (holla Lydia for introducing me to Porter Robinson. Shit's tight.)

But now I'm currently obsessed with finding songs that have this bluesy, smoky, sultry, seductive feel to them. It started with hearing this song one time at swing night a few weeks back:



I could tell it was blues song, or that the dance to do to this song was supposed to be blues. I'm not a great blues dancer. Yet. I really like the idea of blues dancing...I just need more practice, probs.

So yesterday I suddenly remembered hearing this song and I wanted it. Really badly. Got it. Decided I wanted more songs like this and I remembered hearing another song I thought had a similar vibe on an 8tracks playlist I stumbledupon one time.

Behold:



This song was a PAIN in the ass to find. But I did. And it is eeeeexcellent. The only way I can describe this song is...it's sex. In song form. Aw yeah.

But anyways, after listening to that "Cyclone" cover about 6-10 times in a row, I am determined to choreo' a number at 9 to it. It's gonna happen. Oh yes.

BPG hosts a Friday night dance party every other friday throughout the semester, or about twice a month. The number at 9 is a piece that's done by several BPG members, choreographed by a BPG member. And it is performed around 9 o'clock. Hence the name. So I want to attempt to choreo a West Coast Swing number to this song.

The thing is, I've noticed that just about all the number@9's I've seen so far have been choreo'd by girls. Are girls just better than guys when it comes to dance choreography? Maybe, I have to be gay to be a guy and choreograph a kick ass number? Or maybe just none of the other guy members of the group want to put in the effort to choreograph? Well, here's to THIS guy trying to choreograph a number@9!

Also, why West Coast Swing? Because, um, WCS is now my favorite dance. ECS is probs a close second. I just love the versatility of WCS, how it can be danced to a range of tempos. It's also the easiest dance I know so far to improvise and have fun with. It's just been something of a challenge for me to find a decent number of good WCS follows in the group, or girls who actually like WCS.

When I first learned this dance: "OH MY GOD I HATE THIS FUCKING DANCE."
Now: "OH MY GOD I FUCKING LOVE THIS DANCE!"

Yeahhhh.



Also, as excited as I was to try to choreograph this song, I came across a video of two people already dancing WCS to this song! NO. Well ok, I guess it's not that bad...but now my excitement has gone down just a little knowing it's been done before already. Le sigh.

Yeah I'm not even going to embed/link that video here. That's how disappointed I am. Hah. Hah.

White on Rice (2009)

I came across a trailer for White on Rice (2009) back around the year it was opening. The premises and indie-ness of the film intrigued me and I had it on a list of movies I wanted to watch at some point in time. Cut to the present, and I'm in a Dramatic Writing class where I've decided to write a play somewhere along the lines of themes expressed by David Henry Hwang and other Asian American writers. During a brainstorm session of trying to pinpoint exactly what story I wanted to write, I remembered the name of this film and looked it up. I was pleasantly surprised to see White on Rice's IMDB page had a link to a full version of the movie (except with Hulu ads, but eh, I'll take what I can get). So I watched it to see if I could glean anything from it.

Before I get into any of my personal speculations on its themes, I thought the movie overall was quite charming. 40 year old Jimmy is in something of a rut in his life. He sleeps in the top bunk of his nephew's bed while living off of his sister Aiko's oblivious generosity and testing the patience of her husband, Tak. Jimmy's just a little out of touch with his life ever since his wife left him, so he thinks that if he could just get re-married all his problems would be solved. But when Tak's niece comes to live with the family, Jimmy gets a huge crush on her, and all of his intentions to win her affection go seriously wrong.

It's a comedy, for sure. The writing is rather crisp, and the comedic timing on the actors' parts hits the mark for most of the film. It was also nice to see that while the bulk of the story's conflict rests on Jimmy, the film also shows some of Tak's struggles as well, which was a nice juxtaposition. And on a more fanboy-ish note, James Kyson Lee, who played Ando on the tv series Heroes, has a supporting role in the filme too. Wee!

Now I really like the indie-ness of the movie, I really do. It's quaint and delightful in all the right places. My question is, why did Dave Boyle, who wrote and directed the film, decide to go with a Japanese-American family as as the main players? I feel the story could've been told exactly the same, but just replace all the Asian characters with White ones. With the exception of Bobby, Jimmy's nephew and Aiko and Tak's son, being the model child for all over-achieving Asian-American children, everything else in the context of the story could easily be done with White characters. Does making the family and supporting characters Asian give the movie a more interesting appeal versus had it been written with a White family and dominantly white supporting cast? I really don't know. But it does appear that Mr. Boyle has a thing for working with Asian Americans as I've checked that his previous works do feature Asian American artists.

I'm not complaining, really. I'm just rather curious as to why this choice was made because going into the film I really thought it'd play more on Asian American themes. Themes I might've been able to take inspiration from and use in my own work, obviously. Ahem. Roight then.

Trollololol of the day

I think despite some of the WTF Japan moments, (<--ok, this one isn't so WTF as it is pretty darn hilarious) they do some pretty awesome pranks. Like this one. 

Haha! Brilliant. I think I may just start carrying around a bicycle bell in my hand and ringing it just to see if slower walkers on campus will move out of the way. 

Speaking of which, there are something like an extra 800-1000 Freshmen (I might be exaggerating. Or under-exaggerating. Can't find the actual number. So bite me.) on campus this year. This means campus is especially more crowded = buses even MORE packed = glad as hell I'm not riding the bus and instead riding my bike around campus = LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET, DAMNIT, OR ELSE I WILL FUCKING RUN YOU DOWN ON MY BIKE (THAT IS YET TO BE NAMED). 

Seriously. There have been too many times where I almost hit people while I was riding my bike. Whatever happened to look both ways?! This is also why I don't particularly like walking around campus with headphones/earbuds listening to music because I need to be able to hear if there's a car/bus/bicycle barreling down the hill, threatening to flatten me if I make a stupid move. I also do NOT recommend biking with headphones/earbuds. This is probably 5 - 10 times more dangerous as I am sharing the road with cars and buses and trucks and other faster, larger, heavier vehicles that can knock me down. I need to be able to hear if there's a car starting to drive past me. Walkers can listen to music if they so desire since they're usually on the sidewalk and usually out of a car's way. 

Anyways, on more somewhat vain note, I like the muscles I'm building in my legs. Lookin' gooooood. I'm starting to like this commuting-via-bike to campus thing. 

So it begins.

Attended my first practice as a BPG apprentice. Exciting! 

And utterly exhausting. It's great that I get to learn more technique while also seeing how an ensemble operates. In social dancing, it's quite easy to start losing form, getting sloppy, all simply enjoying myself and having a good time on the dance floor. But in the group, everyone must appear the same, so it's critical to make sure everyone's basics look similar, certain moves, spins, tucks, etc also look alike for all the dancers. I find it rather mentally stimulating because it gives me much more to think about. 

On an unrelated note, I think I might've broken my facebook account. Or that I locked myself out of it, somehow. So, I had it set to where if I/someone logged into my profile from another computer/"device," it would alert me via email and I could verify the login. Otherwise, I could take the steps necessary to retrieve and reclaim my account should I get an alert of unauthorized login (why anyone would try to force-hack  [no, not those silly oh-look-I'm-on-so-and-so's-profile-I'LL-CHANGE-HIS-STATUS-LOLSIES hacks] my facebook is beyond me but hey better sorry than safe.

Anyways, so earlier today I was making a status update about how I got called "Ms. Kim" (...I'm a guy, in case you can't tell from my writing) and I was getting notifications of people responding to it. On a side note, the fact that I'm writing about facebook makes me want to facepalm myself. Twice. But bear with me for a bit. So I try to check what people are saying but facebook was being all glitchy and not showing what was going on I tried a few remedies such as logout/re-login, quit and reopen the browser, then opened a new browser system (such as switching from Chrome to Safari) to see if anything would change. 

Well...I did just that, the last thing on that list and I must've clicked something because it counted that as an unauthorized login. Point is, I'm now locked out of my account. Every time I try to login I just get a "Sorry, something went wrong," page. Occasionally I will get a page that tells me someone (read: me) tried an unauthorized login blah blah blah click continue to take the necessary steps to retrieve your account. I click the button, and I get "Sorry" page again. 

Am I annoyed? Honestly, yeah, I am. But hey, maybe it's a good thing that I'm blocked from the thing. It's kinda like I deactivated it. Permanently. Except...my account and info and everything is still there and open to people. Looks like no communication via facebook for me! 

Ironically, one of the first things that came to my mind was writing something on facebook about my facebook being broken--WAIT, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE--*world implodes* 

Heh, so...yeah. Maybe I like the thing a little too much. Or it's not that like it. It's become almost something of a reflex on the internet which also concerns me. So, here's to maybe getting this thing fixed sometime, and if not, oh well, if people are that damn curious they can find an explanation by following a link on my abandoned facebook profile to this blog, bahahaha. 

Uh oh.

So the other night before I joined some peers at Blues dancing, I was strolling through the Rite Aid next door and I accidentally shoplifted. 

...oops! 

Behold the fruit of my unintentional labors: 

Why yes, it just so happens that Chapstick Shimmer Ultra: Sparkling Citrus is indeed my kind of chapstick, thanks very much. I had my messenger bag with me (COUGHPURSECOUGH) and I guess as I was turning around in an aisle, the gap between the flap that closes my bag and the bag itself must have caught this item. It was funny actually because I left Rite Aid and walked to where Blues was being held and I passed a friend when the aforementioned pilfered good fell onto the ground. 

My friend picked it up and he asked me, curiosity laced in his words as he examined the item, "Hey did you...drop this?" 

I take a look. "Uh, nope. It's not exactly my flavor." 

"Well no one else is near us and I'm pretty sure I saw this fall out of your bag."

"...oh shit. I think I just accidentally shoplifted." 

Annnnd yeah, that's about it. Le gasp, I'm a criminal. But just think, if the Chapstick fell out of my bag as I was leaving Rite Aid, THAT would've been bad. Eh heh. 

Anyways about Blues Dancing. Holy damn. This is one smoldering, sexy dance. I believe it falls under the Swing style. I'd have to say this dance is pretty much based upon your abilities as a lead (me.) to improv, probably around 85% improv. Yikes. It's really all about hearing and feeling the music being played, and moving to it. Granted, just about all dancing requires that, but Blues dancing, at least for social dancing, really depends on it. And me, well my improv skills are not amazing to begin with, so it's just a liiiiittle intimidating when I was watching all these other people from the Swing scene in Athens slidin' and swayin' to some Blues. And plus it requires you to be pretty comfortable with being close to your partner. And when I say close, I mean chest-to-chest close. Ehh, not quite me. Yet. (Yet?) 

Also I'm beginning to question my motives for being in BPG. Makes me wonder. 

Lastly, this song. The past few days, this has been mine. It's been an amalgam of so many things going on in my head. 

It's Official

I am a nice guy.

And you know what they say about those types.

Music, not so much the Talk

If I'm driving at night and my head's a mess, I like listening to NPR.

What can I say, classical music's rather soothing.

However, evidently Athens doesn't like NPR. 50% of what comes through Carla's stereo for NPR is static.

:sob:

Sounds About Right

Oh Scumbag Life. You bitch.

Ah Yah, Buns and Thighs (and Calves)

And now I realize these first couple of weeks are gonna make me preee-ttyyy tired. Commuting to campus via bike is going to be something of challenge. But I feel it'll be a rewarding one. Hot and bothered as I was when I arrived at my first class this morning, it was totally worth it being able to streak down the road, passing all the cars that were backed up for the usual beginning-of-the-year/morning traffic rush. Can I get a "Hell yeah!"?

Thank you.

One of my classes this semester isn't technically a class, I feel. It's only a 1 hour credit and it's a Theatre major requirement, titled "Senior Seminar." Basically, it prepares seniors (as it's open only to students in their graduating year) for the "real world" of theatre work. Supposed to be constructing resumes, having mock interviews, hearing from people already working, etc. But honestly, I feel extremely out of place, even a bit awkward. Here are all my peers who study theatre because that's what they want to do, or something connected to the theatre, whereas I'm studying theatre simply because I enjoy it and have no real intentions of going immediately into the professional theatre field after graduation/preparing and saving money to move to New York or Los Angeles for theatre/film related jobs and such. Granted there's maybe one or two other students who intend to pursue something non-theatre related, but studying theatre and the arts along with whatever second major they're completing gives them some kind of boost that might help them in their jobs. Me, I'm planning to hopefully secure a job or do research while I nervously await results of dental school applications. The professor leading this seminar remarked on the reality that a few students in the class aren't going into the theatre field at all; she once had a student who was studying geology and wanted to go into that field. I honestly don't know whose direction is more polar to theatre: that kid's, or mine.

But our professor touched on an interesting point, and that it is perfectly ok to be diverging of this theatre-geared path. It really comes down to what we, as individuals, desire/need in our lives. Actually, we're supposed to write this manifesto of some kind, stating just that, what we need and absolutely can't do without. Once I write mine I'll probably post it here as a reminder to myself. For what, I'm not entirely sure yet.


On another unrelated note, I find it rather interesting and extremely frustrating and perhaps somewhat amusing how a single text message can knock me back on my ass when I thought I'd gotten up already. Le sigh.

Mid-paragraph numbering is the best.

Tomorrow marks my last, first day of the year as an undergrad. Eek! Time flies so fast. It's unfair. It's cruel. It's unusual. 

It's a little stressful actually because, for some reason, I don't know why it got to this, but I feel extremely unprepared to begin this semester. My schedule is all wonky. I'm attempting to commute to campus via bike. Motorbike? I wish. More like bicycle. Yeah. Why? Because apparently, even though I swear I saved/registered for parking back in May for 2011-2012 campus parking permits, I didn't fucking get one so I got back on the wait list sometime in mid-July and I've been pushed farther and FARTHER back on the damn thing even though I'm technically a senior by year-time/hour count(?) so I said "FUCK IT I'M BIKING TO SCHOOL, BITCHES." However I'm trying to figure out how to combat 1) Stupid Georgia humidity 2) when it rains 3) when it gets freezing cold later 4) that stupid fucking hill right before my apartment complex. Biking to campus isn't that bad. It's coming home that'll be a pain in the ass. I'll have buns, quads, and calves of goddamn steel in a month or two if I can keep this up. 

Anyways I figured at least for the heat and humidity I can pack and extra shirt and towel, no big deal. Plus once I re-establish what pathetic cardio I used to have I won't sweat so much and it'll make the commute a little better. Also: how much I carry. Weight's gonna be a factor when I bike to and from campus. I'll probably have to stop packing Leeroy. But that's ok, because I have Sebastian now! And if I need a computer, I'll just go to the student center or library etc. Lookit me, trying to be resourceful. 

Then biking in the cold can also be tricky particularly because of the extra layers I'd be wearing. It constricts movement a lot. And it can also be a little sweaty, and sweating under a sweater+peacoat etc isn't pleasant. 

...basically, I GUESS this means I'll have to buy one of the remaining, available parking permits that's on a rather inconvenient location (try the very edge of the campus) but hey, at least I'll have a method when the sky pisses rain or when it's freezing over. 

Maybe I'll just print this out and tape it to my bike to remind myself the benefits of a bicycle commute. Hah! 

Meanwhile, it's good to be back, if at least for dancing! Stoked to start going to practices and learning new shit. Hellz yeah. I'm also beginning to discover 3 hours of straight dancing is my limit (as of now). My energy really starts to flag by the last half hour or so. Fun stuff. 

Last night, I went with the Athens Swing group to the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert. The publicist for the concert contacted a bunch of dance groups in Atlanta and Athens and offered free tickets to people who wanted to come out and dance at the event. What a deal! Funny thing is I first heard about this concert back in May or so and I was excited because 1)BBVD is a kick-ass swing band 2) I thought, "Man! How awesome would it be if at this concert people started getting up and dancing in the aisles! But too bad I don't really know anyone around well enough to go to this kind of concert and dance..." But lo and behold, people were assembling! And tickets were free! It was like 6 kinds of awesome. I don't even know what those 6 kinds are, but that's ok. The concert was great. BBVD was kind of hosted by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra which was cool too. Somewhere on that stage, my former violin teacher was playing. Nice. 

With this being my last year and all, I'm also starting to get this fear that I haven't accomplished everything I wanted to do in college. Gonna put together a bucket list and hope everything gets done by the time I graduate. To be continued...

And lastly, this made me 'lol. 

You shall be called Sebastian

And your ringtone shall be Nyan Cat.

Ah has a smart phone now (early birthday present). Oh boy. It's like I have all this power in my hands. And what do I do with it? Make nyan cat my ringtone of course. And "SPAAAAAAAACE" as my message notification sound. Nerdy much? Just a little.

I'm actually writing this post on a Blogger app! Neato.

Runnin' android by the way. So far, me likey.

Movie Madness .4

Earlier today I stumbled across something I probably shouldn't have seen. And it definitely wasn't meant to be seen either. And now I need a vent. This blog is not the place to do it.

So I'll try writing about something else to take my mind off of it. For now.



Watched a couple of Korean films recently, both similar in genre: I Saw the Devil (2010) and The Chaser (2008). I Saw the Devil is about a detective who goes on a hunt for revenge after his pregnant fiance is the most recent victim of a serial killer. He blurs the lines between moral right and wrong as he stalks this killer, blind with rage and hurt. Great film, I have to say. For me, revenge-stories are a guilty pleasure of sorts in terms of movie type. Gotta love antiheroes. The Chaser has a slightly similar scenario. A detective-turned-pimp must use his skills from his former job after several of his girls go missing. Spoiler alert (not really): it's a serial killer. But the interesting thing is, apparently this movie is loosely inspired by an actual Korean serial killer who killed prostitutes and such. Also, this movie features a hammer. Seriously, what is it about Korean killers and hammers? (Oldboy reference). Anyways, The Chaser is also a pretty good film. Had to say I enjoyed Devil more, but they're both worthy of a watch.

Browsing the netflix, and came across Strictly Ballroom (1992). Had to watch it. It's about a fella who dances competitively, but he detests the strict regulations of certain-steps-only dancing in the competition and wants to incorporate some of his own, flashy, crowd-pleaser steps. Of course, this gets him in trouble. He loses the first competition, his partner ditches him, and his coaches and friends are none too pleased. Then the story turns into an ugly duckling type of story when another dancer approaches him and asks to be his partner, and even wants to do his steps. This of course leads to some friction with the coaches and such, since the girl is a beginner. But apparently she's of some Spanish origin, because her entire family does the Paso Doble and the guy learns some kick ass Paso Doble from the girl's father.
My main irk about this movie? The actors and the set are in Australia. And whoa, are their accents thick. For the first 5-10 minutes of the movie, I could barely understand what anyone was saying. I think this has something to do with Baz Luhrmann directing. Now realized the chap's from Australia. He also did Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!, so I get a feeling of some dazzle-style, colors, music, art. Did a bit of research, and evidently these three films were his "red curtain trilogy," which was a reference to a certain style of film making. And his parents did ballroom competitions, which explains for the use of neat ballroom choreography in Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge!, but I really don't remember Romeo+Juliet well enough to throw that in in terms of personal experience.

Speaking of ballroom films, I watched the original Shall We Dance? (1996), that is, the Japanese film. (Shall We "Dansu?" heh heh.) The Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez version of the film is definitely nearly identical to the Japanese one, except for one thing: the culture difference, obviously. What I found really interesting about the Japanese film was how it opens with a brief narration on married couples and ballroom dance in Japan during that time. I don't know how it is now, but apparently in 1996, according to the narration, Japanese married couples weren't exactly the most PDA-type of people. So for couples to even consider ballroom dancing, where they'd be in close, seemingly-affectionate embraces in front of an audience to see, would be embarrassing. And then for either man or woman to dance with other partners: shameful.
No idea if that's actually true or not, but that's the theme they stuck with in making this film. They even showed the married couple sleeping in separate beds in this movie. Huh. Interesting. 1996 Japan? Go figure. The thing is, this Japanese social stigma associated with ballroom dancing at the time is a key difference that separates it from the 2004 Hollywood version of the same film. Ballroom dancing started out as an English sport, so it makes sense that it carried over and is perfectly acceptable in American society. But the 2004 story is set in America, while the Japanese one is set nearly a decade earlier. The time difference is a factor. The culture difference is a factor. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Mr. Sugiyama, the protagonist in the 1996 film, has a stronger conflict to deal with compared to the Richard Gere-character in the 2004 film. The potential for embarrassment is higher, the potential shameful consequences are higher, etc. And you just don't get that in the 2004 film. I think it's an interesting dynamic.

Then there's Harry Potter 7.2, as I'm calling it. Self explanatory if you're even vaguely familiar with the series. It's good, but I wouldn't call it epic. Who knows, maybe it's because I'm just not as big of a Harry Potter fan as some of my friends are. Sometimes I wish I was. I feel like I missed out on a big part of being a kid by not reading the Harry Potter books when I was little-er. Thanks mom, and all your spiels about "Harry Potter is about witches and magic and sorcery! It's un-Christian! You're not reading these books!" Yeah, well, if you'd stuck around long enough, you'd find out Harry is basically a Christ figure in the end. So suck on that!

Just kidding. But really, it was the summer before and the beginning of my senior year in high school before I finally caught up and read all 7 Harry Potter books. I started because that was the summer book 7 came out, and it was all hypey-hypey, so I figured "What the hell, might as well read 'em." And the rest is history, I suppose.

Movie Madness .3

This one's a doozy. Whew, here we go:


Ip Man 2 (2010)

Sequel to the amazing Ip Man, which I've lightly discussed in a previous post. The second film picks up right where the first film ends, with Ip Man fleeing his Japanese-occupied hometown for Hong Kong and opening up his own Wing Chun studio. However, he meets stiff resistance by already established martial arts studios and masters, and eventually realizes the hostility is the result of British Colonial rule in the city. Long story short: the Brits are trying to promote how their boxing is superior, Ip Man decides to show them who's boss.

Like in the first movie, this one has that theme of foreign presence threatening the Chinese way of life. In this case, the foreigners are a bit more unfamiliar with Asian cultures in general, and their unwillingness of understanding said culture causes a rift among the people.

Anyways, Ip Man is still pretty bad ass. However, I simply enjoyed the first movie more, maybe because  an invasion and brutal overtaking is much more severe than a foreign presence coexisting.

Also, a little Bruce Lee makes a cameo at the end of Ip Man 2! It was great.


No Strings Attached (2011)

I thought the synopsis for this movie seemed...well, trashy and simplistic, when I first saw the trailer. Nat Portman is this emotionally detached gal and Ashton Kutcher's the funny, charming guy and they try to just be fuck-buddies until one of them starts wanting something more. The point is, this movie is completely predictable (obviously. It's an American rom-com.)

Yet despite it's somewhat vapid plot, the movie overall is just so darn...cute. They're like-able. Funny, at times. Maybe the actors do a decent job of making the characters human as opposed to just characters on a screen in a story. Maybe I'm just a sucker for Nat Portman. I guess the way one of my cousin's puts it: it's so bad, that it's so good. Fair enough.

And then another movie was just recently released: Friends with Benefits, I believe? As far as I can tell, these two movies are exactly the same, just with different actors. But what I find somewhat interesting is that FWB stars Mila Kunis. She and Nat Portman were in Black Swan. And then they each go an star in a film that has the exact same synopsis. What? Weirdly coincidental.


Chocolate (2008)

I've been in a kung-fu/martial arts movie phase, it seems. Chocolate is a Thai action movie about an autistic girl who has an uncanny ability of learning martial arts just by watching it being performed either on tv or in person. Her mother is sick and needs medicine, but the girl's friend discovers some people owe the mother some money back when she worked with gangs and shit. So friend and girl set off to get the money back. How? With plenty of good ol' ass whupin, of course.

The director of this movie also did the Ong Bak movies. So the focus is on Muay Thai, Thai Kick-Boxing, which is pretty bad ass if you ask me. Lots of elbowing and kneeing. And then all the actors do their own stunts in these movies. And there are no wires or strings - it's all actor-controlled and combat-acting. And people actually get hurt in these movies, man. During the end credits of Chocolate, it showed some behind the scenes looks during filming, and these people are hurting themselves, falling, hitting each other...! Geez. It's intense.

It's an exciting film. Makes me kinda want to learn Muay Thai, heh.


Dead Snow (2009)

Norwegian zombie film, and boy, is this the most unorthodox zombie movie I've ever seen. You know how typically, zombies are either slow-shufflin' or fast-sprintin', decaying, undead people who only want to eat you? And they're usually devoid of any kind of conscious, or a form of communication among one another? Well in this movie, a group of friends are spending their Easter vacation in an isolated cabin up in the mountains for some fun and skiing and whatnot, but their trip is ruined when they're attacked not just by zombies, but Nazi-zombies, rumored to have been buried in the snow from WWII. But the thing is, these Nazi zombies still function like an army, and obey the orders of one Colonel Nazi zombie, and it's just...it's just mind boggling, because these zombies are communicating with each other! Coordinated attacks! What!

Otherwise, it's your typical zombie film with plenty of blood 'n guts to keep you happy. If you're into that sorta thing, you know.



The Hard Times of RJ Berger

This is a television series that airs on MTV, and surprisingly, it is not another reality show or let's-follow-some-celeb/pregnant chick-around-and-see-what-his/her-personal-life-is-about. It's an actual television series with a story, characters, and everything. I know, crazy, right?

RJ Berger is a loser at his high school. He has a best friend, Miles, and another good friend, Lily, who's kinda in love with him ever since they were little kids. But RJ is head over heels for Jenny Swanson, school hottie, but currently dating a complete douchebag jock who constantly makes life for RJ a living hell. And while Miles is a complete horndog itching to hump any decent looking girl who'd give him a chance, RJ is...nice. He's a nice guy, and he tries to do the right thing when it comes to his friendships, his parents, Jenny, and school.

Otherwise, much of the plot for the seasons and episodes are fairly predictable, your typical omg-high-school-sucks-I-just-want-to-be-popular world. And as much as RJ wants the girl of his dreams, he's just different from other guys and is just...nice.

There are two seasons for RJ Berger, with a third one supposedly in the makes. I've really enjoyed what I've watched so far. Maybe it's because I can relate to this character in a lot of aspects.

Oh yeah, Weezer makes a guest appearance in one of the episodes in season 2. Awesome!


Sherlock 

I'd heard about this BBC mini-television series somewhere, which sparked my interest in watching it. It's basically a modern, present-day take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The first season is only 3 episodes long and each episode is 90 minutes, but boy, this series is good. The actor who plays Sherlock is just brilliant. The character is crass, a bit hostile, rather emotionally detached, but pure genius, witty, and wildly resourceful. And Watson is an veteran army doctor, obviously older than Sherlock. Ah, another thing: this Sherlock is really young-looking. The contrast between Sherlock and Watson is somewhat displacing, but it works so well.

The episodes themselves are great too. The mysteries are clever, with ample amounts of suspense and danger. And watching Sherlock fire away with his infamous deductive reasoning skills is pretty amazing.

To say the least, I cannot wait for the second season to air. So good.




Captain America: The First Avenger

I really like super hero movies. I think if I had to redo my younger childhood years, I'd be a complete comic book geek. Or is it nerd? I keep forgetting the difference. Anyways, Captain America never struck me as one of the cooler super heroes. I mean, the dude can fight, his weapon is a...shield...yeah, and his costume just screams "AMERICA, FUCK YEAH." I never really knew the story of the Captain prior to watching this movie.

But whoa, this is pretty great. I think the strongest point of this movie is the emphasis of how Steve Rodgers/Captain America is good, not just because he fights for justice, but because he understands the importance of not giving up and giving in to an evil purpose. Can't really describe it, but it's just somehow rather motivating in some aspect.

And I'm pretty excited because this movie is the beginning of a segue way into the The Avengers film!...which is expected to be released sometime in 2012. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor...man. All these super hero characters and villains in one movie? It's gonna be awesome.



And lastly, I've started watching the television series Modern Family. This show is hilarious! I don't think I've laughed this hard watching a new series for myself since I began watching Scrubs for the first time. The title explains it all, and follows the lives of this family. Claire and Mitchell are the children of Jay, who you'd call the patriarch, of sorts. Claire is married to Phil, and they have three children, Haley, Alex (girl), and Luke. Mitchell is life partners with Cameron, and they have an adopted Asian baby, Lily. Meanwhile, Phil is remarried to Gloria, a smokin' hot Colombian woman nearly the same age as Claire with son Manny, who's almost the same age as Luke.

Yeah...it's all rather confusing at first. But all these unconventional family-ties already set up the characters for rather humorous debacles and conflicts. The style of story telling reminds of me of The Office, where at points in the episode, the story will break to have the characters talking to someone, most likely a questioner, in an interview style about things relevant to the current episode plot. And then even during the episode, characters will occasionally break the fourth wall and glance at the camera, as if there's a film crew just following all these family members around. It's rather interesting and makes me wonder why I don't watch The Office more often.

I think what's nice about this series though is that even though this family is dysfunctional as it gets, they're still a family and love each other hugs and kisses awwww. But it's great. Check it out.

Also, the actress who plays Haley - she TOTALLY looks like a little Mila Kunis. It's crazy.



"The thing about being a good dad, well: sometimes things work out just the way you want it. Sometimes they don't, and you gotta hang in there. Because when all is said and done, 90% of being dad is just showing up." ~Modern Family

Shit that happens at work

Not in a bad way, just things I find interesting/amusing/worth my brain power to think about.

-----------

Yesterday as I was wheeling out an elderly patient, her husband asks me, "You want me to bring my car around, boy?"

...boy?

I told him yes, do bring your car to the front of the building, but I kept thinking about that. "Boy."Call me single-minded and how I jump to conclusions, but all I can associate with that use of "boy" is slavery in America and/or racial segregation and discrimination. Now, I'm certain this elderly gentleman had no ill-intentions towards me by saying that. It very well could've been the way he was brought up, and the people he's friends with, and how they all converse that way. Still, I couldn't help but pause and think, considering how I am a minority myself. It's just, why "boy?" It almost makes me feel inferior, in some aspect. Almost condescending. Why not "young man?" Or just drop the title/name to being with? Who knows. Like I said, I'm sure it's not like the man just hates minorities. Right?

Fortunately today, I was wheeling out a different patient and her husband addressed me as young man. Much better, k'thanks.

--------

There are two main restrooms in the building: one on the first floor, one on the second floor. Since most patient traffic happens on the first floor, I usually go upstairs if I need to do some business since it's quieter and less busy. However, both restrooms have two stalls, and BOTH of these sets of stalls has at least one stall-lock that is broken/missing. Pretty inconvenient.

After lunch today, went to the second floor men's restrooms, reached my hand to pull open the stall -- and it was locked. Mind you, there was no one in that stall, or even in the restroom. This stall, the only stall in this restroom with a functioning lock, was somehow locked from the inside-out (or is it outside-in?).

How the dump could this happen? I kept having recurring images of a child, wanting to pull a devious prank, slid the lock while he was in the stall, then shimmied out underneath the stall walls, and exited the restroom, cackling like a little imp he would be.

...ok, maybe I only had that image because that's what I would've done.

Or perhaps someone closed the stall door behind him and the impact of the door closing jostled the lock shut. I could've stood there and brainstormed theories on how and why this could've happened, but truth of the matter was, I needed to poo. And I was not about to get down on my belly and slide under the stall walls. Public restroom floors give me the heebie jeebies (ESPECIALLY pool restrooms. Another rant for another time.) But evidently, I guess I didn't need to poo extremely badly, because while I could've easily just snaked my way on the floor and under the walls, or even more easily gone back downstairs to use the other restroom, I decided I would try to open this door, someway, somehow.

I thought about how you can unlock a sliding chain-lock door form the outside by using a rubberband and some wire (I think. Or is a card? Youtube that shit yourself, whatevs.) So I went back to the employee break room, got my keys which has a small pocketknife on it, a rubber band, and a wire coat hanger. I was determined to unlock that stall.

Went back to the restroom, tried to finagle the rubberband around the knob of the sliding lock and fling it back open. Failure.

Bent the wire coat hanger so I had a wide loop/hook on one end and fished it through the cracks and tried pushing the lock open.

Success! I was pretty freakin' proud of myself. I had just Macgyver'd the shit out of that lock by using a coat hanger.


TL;DR -- Locked out of a bathroom stall, used a wire coat hanger to unlock it from the outside. Success.

...coincidentally enough, this actually DID have to do with shit that happens at work. Sorta.

Someday

I really like it when at work, an elderly patient comes in for an eye exam, and her husband is right there with her through every question asked and test performed. Or vice versa, an elderly gentleman's wife is with him every step of the way. And they're not impatient or grouchy that they have to be there; rather, they understand how important a regular eye checkup can be, especially if it's borderline or beginning stages of glaucoma or cataracts, or even for surgery. Oh, that's better - when I'm wheeling out a patient who just got cataract surgery, and the husband or wife is there to smile and ask how their spouse is doing. It's just so nice to see.

And it gives me hope. For what though, I'm not exactly certain myself.

Mojito Mondays

So today during my morning commute, one radio talk show started talking about National Mojito Day. Even had a mixologist/bartender person come on for a few minutes talking about how a mojito should be made. Mentioned Bacardi, so I'm assuming sponsorship. It made me think. Is it a real semi-observed day for mojitos? Probably not. A clever ploy to hopefully increase Bacardi sales? Most likely.

Delicious? Yyyyyyyup.

I'd never had a mojito before, so I gathered the necessary ingredients and had a go at it. It's pretty tasty. Then again, I don't know what a "good" mojito should taste like. Oh well!

Drink up, bitches.

Netflix sounds like a pretty good idea now

Let me just take a minute or two to revisit Stereo Hearts (ft. Adam Levine), by Gym Class Heroes.  I listened to it again and really paid attention to the lyrics, and I have to say, I like this song even more now. It's using music, and music playback gear (radios, stereos, vinyl records etc) as a metaphor for this person, his heart, and his feelings.

Ok sure, it's a bit cheesy, but it just comes across as quite clever, I feel. I especially like the first verse, where it goes:

Furthermore, I apologize for any skipping tracks
It's just the last girl that played me left a couple cracks
I used to used to - used to - used to -, now I’m over thatCause holding grudges over love is ancient artifacts 


It ties in the "I'm just another record you've found" image with a brief story of the past but still retains the metaphor. And the "used to" repetition, the way it's spoken to sound like a track skipping: awesome.



Watched a couple of movies the other day. The first was Frozen (2010). For some reason I thought this movie and Open Water (2003) were connected, either by writer, or director - something. But I did a little searching and as far as I can tell, they're not related in either way, other than a similar scenario: being left behind.

Open Water was about a couple that goes on a scuba diving trip, only to realize their boat forgot them and left them stranded in shark infested waters. In Frozen, three friends are skiing/snowboarding and try to squeeze in one last run down the mountain as night falls and the resort is closing, but they end up getting forgotten and are stranded on the ski lift while everything else is closed and shut down, and the mountain doesn't open up for another several days.

Anyways. This film is preeeetty silly. Or maybe it was because of the company I had while watching the movie, and thus, we laughed and joked about everything we could. Granted, everything about the story is psychological, the whole what-if scenario.

If I had to recommend this movie, I'd say watch it when you have spare time and seriously have nothing else better to do.

But the for other movie I watched, holy. shit. You need to watch this film.

And it goes by the name of Ip Man (2008). You should know it's a kung fu movie - a kung fu movie that kicks so much ass, it's mind boggling. The story is a semi-biography about Yip Man, a Chinese Martial artist. It depicts his life during the late 1930s - early 40s when he's mastered a relatively unpopular branch of martial arts at the time - Wing Chun.  If that name sounds familiar at all, it's because it's the style some chump named Bruce Lee mastered. I hear he's pretty awesome. But guess who taught him? Yeah that's right: Yip Man. So this should already be a clue about how much kick-ass-ery is going to go down in this film.

To be more specific about the movie's story, the world's on the brink of WWII and Japan's starting to be a great big bully and occupying all the neighboring Asian countries it can. A Japanese general is stationed in Yip Man's city and starts challenging any and all local Chinese martial artists in order to prove the superiority of Japanese martial arts. Yip Man doesn't want to fight, but through a series of unfortunate events, he's obviously forced to fight and restore honor to his city and Chinese martial artists everywhere. Hooray!

To be honest, I first heard about this film after someone (blog, or stumbleupon, whatever) linked to a video clip of a particular fight scene in this movie. It's incredible. It made me want to see it. You should watch this clip too and also be inspired to watch this film.

How do you pronounce 'Palahniuk?'

My mind's turning into slush. Wake up, go to work, come home, veg-out in front of the computer and/or tv. I swear, from hearing some of these patients complain how their vision is going kaput because of all the hours they spend at work in front of a computer monitor, I'd better cut down my own computer time.

So, seeing as I need to stimulate my mind more and I haven't read a book for pleasure in a really long time, I decided I'd try to read a few this summer. As per my sister's recommendation, I recently finished Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. He's the author of Fight Club, but like most everyone else who's familiar with the title, I'm even more familiar with the movie. Haven't even touched the book. Yet.

But from reading Invisible Monsters, I can definitely get a sense of this inner monologue, stream of consciousness that Palahniuk also uses in Fight Club. Or at least the film, but the style between this novel I read and that movie is pretty darn similar.

And like Fight Club, Invisible Monsters is chock full of twists. You thought the whole I-am-Tyler-Durden schizophrenia twist was crazy, Invisible Monsters has got some pretty insane surprises. Seriously. These twists would make M. Night Shyamalan blush. I don't want to say anything because I'd just be spoiling the story. And spoiling the story is a dick move. Ya dick.

What I found really interesting about this novel were the themes of beauty, love, self-beauty, self-love, and what it takes to completely reinvent oneself. Central conflicts: self vs other, self vs self. And boy, is self vs self a BIG struggle in this novel. It appears in just about all the characters, or at least the ones who have the most impact on the narrator.

There's a lot of fuck-what-everyone-else-thinks,  fuck-beauty-standards, appearances-aren't-shit-and-are-easily-altered. It's very raw. It feels very Palahniuk, but again, I'm just comparing this to the movie Fight Club. However, I'm quite intrigued by this style; I'll have to check out his other works.

Finally, some of my favorite quotes I've picked out from this novel. I did a bit of paraphrasing.

------

The most boring thing in the world is nudity.
The second most boring thing is honesty. 
The third most boring thing is your sorry-assed past. 


Your being born makes your parents God. You owe them your life, and they can control you. Then puberty makes you Satan just because you want something better. 


I thought we were a real love relationship. I did. I was very invested in love, but it was just this long, long sex thing that could end at any moment because, after all, it's just about getting off . . . Almost all the time, you tell yourself you're loving somebody when you're just using them. This only looks like love. 

And last but not least, my favorite line/image/metaphor in this entire book:

Your heart is my piñata. 

See that? UGH, it's so brutal. It's so raw. Unforgiving. Cruel. But brilliant, I feel. It's like those five words sum up some relationships perfectly. Not that I have personal experience, but from observation, just . . . wow. That line alone is enough for me to seek out Palahniuk's other writings.  

The first song listed would definitely be one of them.

Couldn't make it to Wicked Westie tonight, which was a bummer, because they were planning something a little different, called "So You Think You Can Dj?" Basically, anyone could contribute up to 3 songs to the dance playlist! And MAN did I want to contribute, if at least to have the opportunity to finally dance WCS to some songs I really wanted to dance to.

Off the top of my head, I would've picked my 3 from the following group:

Last Chance - Maroon 5
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera 
Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder 
Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf 
Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner
Supermassive Black Hole - Muse
Sex Bomb - Tom Jones
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
Island In The Sun - Weezer
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley 

Guilty Pleasure.1

aka What happens when I all I listen to is the radio during my summer-work commutes.

Well, what can I say? This song is all about having fun. It makes me want to shuffle. Or at least practice my shufflin' skills. Yo. 

The Search for Pretty Woman

I find it most intriguing that a good chunk of visitors to this humble blog of mine open up my post about my thoughts on Pretty Woman (1990). Seriously. There have been hits coming from around the nation and even around the freakin' globe. It's crazy.

Two things come to mind when I think about this:

1. Are people really that interested in this movie?
2. Maybe they're trying to google search for a "pretty woman"...

...awkward!

So at this point I'm just gonna take down that post, or hide it, whatever.

I've got the moves like Jagger

"Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera



New single!

This is quite unlike anything they've done before, it seems. I like it. It's very club-y. Dance music! Cha-cha or West Coast for sure.

Speaking of which, WCS has to be my new favorite dance. It's just so much fun; it's easy to improvise and mess around with. It's just a shame because WCS doesn't seem to be a strong point for most fellow BPG-ers. That's ok! Just gotta spread the awesome-ness that is West Coast Swing.

Ouch.

Welp, so long first paycheck of the summer. You're welcome, Apple. Hmph.

Leeroy has more issues. Took him in. Decided if he's going to give me more problems in the future, I might as well buy Applecare while I still can. I can hear my wallet weeping softly...

My next computer in a couple years is SO not going to be a mac. Mainly just because Macs are freakin' expensive yo.

Day of the Dads.

Or (post)-Day of the Dads, I guess.

In about, oh I don't know, however long it is - maybe 20, 30 years or so - I hope I can be called a good father. I'm not angry at mine; I'm just determined to be a better one in the future compared to what he is at the present.

Let them eat cake...?

A: Sex is overrated, just so you know.
B: You keep telling me this. How do I know this isn't one of those times when, say, you have a piece of cake: You try it, then tell me, "oh wow, don't eat this, it's disgusting." But then you just keep on eating it.
A: I mean, if the cake is there, obviously I'm going to eat it.
B: Touche.
A: I must be missing something. Like, my cake must be missing frosting.
B: Oh. You'll get your "frosting," all right.



Cake has turned out to be the best, unintentional metaphor for sex, ever.

Stereo Hearts

"Stereo Hearts" -- Gym Class Heroes, ft. Adam Levine



Yeah. Ok. So I really only like this song because of the guy who sings the hook. Yeah, it's Adam Levine. He's only the lead singer in Maroon 5. nbd.

The first time I heard this song, of course I got excited to hear his vocals, but then I thought the song overall was just ok. Then I listened to it again...and again...and goddamnit, now I see why they call that person the Hook singer. He hooks ya in! Conspiracy.

Anyhoo, new semi-favorite catchy song. So judge me.

The Pool Cats are Back

There are a couple of cats that lurk around the pool. Or at least there are two, to my knowledge. One's a black cat (Hm. Ominous.) And the other has the color of a Himalayan cat, but it's not a Himalayan cat. It just has the light coat with dark face, paws, and tail. I think I'll name them Pool Cat 1 and Pool Cat 2.

I find it really humorous that whenever I start approaching one of these cats, it'll lie low to the ground and remain as still as possible while watching me, as if by not moving, it'll remain unseen by me. Silly cats. Then I just move closer and they dart away.

Fine, cats can be cute. But I'm more of a dog person. To put it, as I read somewhere, "I prefer the one who comes to you when you call its name." Thus, dogs.


So I watched the new X-men movie, X-men: First Class. I really enjoyed it. For some reason, I've enjoyed all the X-men films. But I really think it has something to do with many different people having many different abilities, and how the desires of said individuals meld and/or collide. Or maybe it's just the plain idea of "Wow cool! So many different super powers!" It's kind of the same enjoyment I got when I watched the television series Heroes. How many different abilities can there be? How would these people use them? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE THESE PEOPLE FIGHT (<-- most important question, obviously). Yeah. Maybe it's just a nerdgasm over all the different super powers. Fair enough.

But I don't consider myself an X-men fan. I've seen the live-action films, and I've read a graphic novel, so I'm at least familiar with the main players and their abilities. This recent movie tells the story of how the X-men started out. So, it's a prequel sequel. I mean there really isn't much to say about this film, other than it's pretty damn cool if you like these super hero movies.

Although I have to say, something Magneto says at the end about this villain killing his mother, so now Magneto has to kill him, made me laugh a little, mainly because it reminded me of The Princess Bride. I haven't actually seen that movie, but I'm aware of that one scene, you know, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.You killed my father. Prepare to die." No? Never mind then. So I'm joking in the X-men movie that the line should be "Hello. My name is Magneto. You killed my mother. Prepare to die."

Never mind.



I  also played Alan Wake, a video game released last year. It's pretty much an interactive story, or an interactive television series. Genre: psychological thriller. Alan Wake is a famous writer with several novels published, but he's reached a massive writer's block. To clear his mind, he and his wife go vacay in a small, New England town in the mountains. Something (yes, someTHING) takes his wife, and Alan Wake must figure out a way to get her back. Along the way, the picks up pages of a manuscript to a book he doesn't remember writing. And all the events in this story are coming true.

Game mechanics aside, the story is very much Stephen King-esque. You could call it "Stephen King: The Game." The writers of the game themselves admit King and his works were something of an inspiration, the idea of a writer's story coming true. There's a lot of light vs darkness in this game. No, seriously. There is a lot of forces of darkness vs the forces of light in the story, mainly because it's what the story is about. A dark presence, an essence, a being, is slowly overtaking this small town. It possesses people and they try to attack you, and the only way to defend yourself is to shine your flashlight beam on them until their darkness "shield" breaks, and they're vulnerable to your bullets. This darkness can also possess inanimate objects, which makes things in the game very interesting. The first time I encountered this inanimate-object-possession was when I was being attacked by a fucking bulldozer of all things. If there was ever a WTF moment, this moment in the game would definitely be it. Anyways, this darkness has got Alan's wife, so he's gotta find a way to get her back.

I finished the game, but the ending still left me with a WTF. I think I need to google an explanation, because this is just too damn frustrating.



And I know it's been a while since it's been released, but I've been meaning to jot down my thoughts on Portal 2. Wow. What an incredible game. It's better than the first game in about every single aspect, except for the difficulty. The storyline is almost 2.5 times longer. The addition of more game mechanics, like the various gels, and accelerating platforms, all add a new spin to the game. The writing, MAN the writing. Brilliant. Devious. Dark. Snarky. Downright hilarious. If you enjoyed the first Portal game, you'll love this one. The reason I think this game is a bit easier though is that the single player campaign is basically broken up into introduction- testing chamber sequence - transition sequence - testing chamber sequence - transition sequence - testing chamber sequence - epilogue. And while the testing chamber bits are all jolly good and straightforward in terms of objective, the transitioning bits: those really aren't too difficult in the scheme of things. It's basically look-for-the-one-and-only-portable-surface and bam, moving right along. But pointing this out is like pointing out that my perfectly fresh lettuce leaf is just a bit too small in my excellent, delicious sandwich: it's really not noticeable at all while I'm enjoying it! Good stuff.


Finally, I'm realizing a type of filming/story-telling method in these K-dramas. In order to show audiences what a character is thinking, they'll often just have the character say aloud what he's thinking, either when he's alone in a room, or even when he's near other people. It's seems almost analogous to an aside from a Shakespeare work, when a character would turn towards the audience and make a remark unaware to the other characters, but known to the crowd. The only problem is, there's an understanding of this mechanism in Shakespearean works, and it's more disorienting in these dramas. I didn't really notice it at first, buuuuut now that I've completed more than a couple of series, the pattern is becoming pretty clear.

And in moments of extremely dramatic tension, they'll have the actors freeze and show multiple angles of that scene. It's...really unnecessary, and it's really clear they're trying to say "OMG LOOK: THIS IS SOOOOO DRAMATIC. LET'S SHOW THIS EXACT MOMENT FROM 17 DIFFERENT ANGLES." Ok maybe not that many angles, but they do cycle through 'em.

Also, some of these moments involve intense, passionate embraces and/or kisses. And they are always ridiculously awkward. Yeah, that's right. I've added hugs along with kisses. I really don't know what it is. I would have to guess it's something of a culture thing? Something about the carnal, physical aspect of love that's usually dodged around in these series.

And while I'm on that topic, the series I've seen so far all seem to deal with love in a rather...juvenile light. It's all cute, and warm, the butterflies-in-the-stomach kinds of attraction. It's fine and all, but it just comes across as...childish. It's extremely platonic. Now this could be just because the only series I've watched are comedies where the characters are young, and by young, I'd give an age range of late teens to late 20s. But even still, the writing in these stories just feels so skittish about sex. There, I said it. It's like all these characters have that basic attraction, but that purely, physical, lust is never touched upon. Well, it is, but it's disguised and dolled up so much that it just makes it silly. Ok, yeah, I'm getting worked up over fictional plots, but it does make me  wonder about how the younger generation in Korea really feel about love and sex and all that good stuff what with these sorts of television series feeding their minds.

Also, I realized they like the idea of gender bending, cross dressing, and pseudo-homoeroticism. Yeah. Don't ask.