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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
day 2 of teacher-ification
Well, the second day of class has come and gone, and already I'm despising the commute 1.5 hour commute. This morning wasn't so bad, I carpooled with my mother and left at exactly 7:30AM, getting to Seattle U in about 50 minutes, but then again, both public school and the UW are still on vacation. Traffic will get worst come end of September. After school, I drove myself home while my mother went to dinner with her friends. Besides the obvious emasculating effects of been driven to school by one's mother, a gimped right ankle, and zero income, there's just something physically draining about staring at rows of brake lights and bumper-to-bumper gridlock on the road. When I used to commute via train while working in Japan, at least I always had the sense that things were moving and I could relax with a book / newspaper / my iPod, but I just don't feel the same sense of calm going to school. I suppose there's other issues there. ... Graduate school continues to be interesting, with a constant flow of information being channeled to me and the 49 other students during class. We meet in a large room where tables are arranged for small groups of 5 people each and there's never really any dead time at all in the 6 hour schedule - we're constantly listening to lectures, watching videos, having small group discussions, or doing some sort of interactive activity. It's funny, but it almost reminds me of a full day of church - Sunday sermon, Sunday school, fellowship, communal meal time - of course, the obvious difference being there's no worship and that the "gospel" isn't Christ, it's the exploration of ideas about learning, education, school, and being a teacher. I guess I'm experiencing firsthand the rigors of a "Jesuit education". On another note, maybe I'm just old, or maybe I just getting fatter, but my butt falls asleep a lot during class. The cheeks become numb. .:. i <3 hip-hop This week on program "Fresh Air" on NPR, I've been excited to listen to interviews as this week, they're celebrating the history of hip-hop with interviews of various pioneers of music... today, they interviewed personalities like Russell Simmons, Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C., and Chuck-D of Public Enemy. Awesome. I'm also quite excited that at this year's Bumbershoot music festival, two of my favorite hip-hop artists, Common and Talib Kweli, will be playing the main stage on Sunday. Most artists still consider Seattle a "rock" town, so it's always a treat when big name hip-hop artists come through. Stone, Shiv, and I think a few other people are going... anybody who loves hip-hop should DEFINITELY come check 'em out. | (0) comments 
Monday, August 29, 2005
school daze
It's hard to believe, but been over 3 years since I graduated from the UW... and now I'm back in school again. Hello, Seattle U. So far I've been (mildly) impressed in my interactions with the faculty and my fellow students, so I suppose the cynical side of myself is guardedly waiting for the honeymoon period to end. I came into the program not knowing anybody except Shiv, but funny enough, I met at the orientation session a guy named Jon who happened to be the friend of a friend and fellow counselor at this year's Warm Beach. On another side note, Jon and I are both Chinese and the only Asian American guys in the program. In the cohort of 50 students, I'm estimate about 70% of the students are women and 90% of the students are white. .:. ciao Steph I forgot to mention that this weekend was also a bit sad in that Steph has left wonderful Seattle to return to Oregon (*snicker*) for a brief break before her big move to UCLA. We held an impromptu surprise party during the week on Wednesday, but I went over on Sunday say goodbye and help pack her car with the last of her stuff.  Amazingly, it all fit. Bye-bye, Brasil, Maplewood, and AACF buddy! I'll miss all our inside jokes, movie banter, and making funny comments about Oregon/Portland... I hope you come back to Seattle from LA with a ring and good Chinese man in tow. heh heh. =D | (5) comments
first day of school
It's the first day of school today... taking a lunch break right now from my 9-4 schedule. =P | (0) comments
Sunday, August 28, 2005
yes, that's just great
This entry sucks. Car trouble... oh boy. Of all the things to have problems with... it looks like I'll be replacing the transmission. Why can't I just have a flat tire like normal people? And after all the time/effort/money I've spent to keep my poor car in good condition... =/ Still not knowing how I'll pay for school... more bills, bills, bills. Taking my mom to the ER. Finding out I can't live at the place I was negotiating at. Knowing that I'll be riding a nice 1.5 hours to school... which begins on Monday. Twisting my ankle at WB. What a nice month August has been. Yeah, I like it when things change for the worst. Really. I resign myself to my foolish life and endeavor to medicate until blessed sleep. Trying is so trying.  I hope my father is blind to this existence of mine. Yeah, this entry sucks. | (1) comments
Thursday, August 25, 2005
wake up
Pat Robertson's crazy statements are just the tip of the iceberg. Assassination is a part of US foreign and domestic policy? The US crippling and attacking foreign governments through covert means? You betcha... assassination is a US fixation. Educate yo'self. | (2) comments
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
bah
I can't believe the chance to live at the place I've been talking to the past month fell through... because I'M NOT POOR ENOUGH. Federal subsidized housing rules give an OK to part-time students, but not full-time students? WTH... makes me dislike my own government even more. I feel a bit foolish hoping (again) that Heaven would come to bat for me and I'm getting tired of browsing Craig's List and other places looking for a place to live. I think I'm about to give up and resign myself to the horrors of several hours of rush hour traffic everyday from 8-9:30am and 5-6:30pm, my ass seething in the prison of my 15 year old Japanese-made sedan. Bah. | (0) comments
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
magic camera, please
I had a strange dream last night that I found a magic camera that would let me take beautiful photos, like the stuff on SASO.NET or aaronhuey.com or pseudofish. Just one click of the magic camera's button and the photo would come out exactly like I pictured in my brain... no worries about focus, flash, light, etc. The ultimate camera for a simple guy like me. I wonder if my sore ankle is giving me weird dreams. | (4) comments
Monday, August 22, 2005
Warm Beach 2005: the massive update
Lots 'o pictures first, reflections last. Sorry dial-up.  This year's high school speaker was Pastor Gar Nishioka from Japanese Presbyterian Church. And yeah, it's fun to have another person around called "Gar". He was a great speaker who gave honest, direct, and conversational messages to the kids.  JC was this year's worship leader. Notice his t-shirt... heh.  Returning counseling veterans Samantha and Alli... Sam wasn't feeling the Scrabble.  Ryan and Chris matching up over chess. Chris graciously directed this year's camp and did an awesome job.  Late night hold 'em action in the highschool boys' cabin.    As this year's organized rec leader, I made sure that the game time was best spent making everyone (camper & counselor alike) look ridiculous. Allison, Jayna, Evan, Victor, and Pat all demonstrate how to pass candy via a toothpick. =D  Nina, Christine, and Shelly. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's a counselor and who's a camper... everyone looks young to me.  A mini UW AACF reunion of sorts, with us re-enacting an old picture. Ray and I were helping with the junior high / high school camp, while everyone in the back was helping with the children's camp (pre-k to 5th grade).  The youth leading worship during 'family night' on Saturday evening.  Trying to pinch the sun...  The 7:00AM morning leaders' meeting... zzz.  Pat and Evan dual against each other in a round of oshiri-do, pitting first and second year counselors against each other.  Have no fear, the mature kids are here! Hahaha. Zach, Kristen, me.  Me and the CBC high school guys (Ed, Jeremy, Kelvin, and Kevin up front) who were also in my small group at the CBC youth retreat. Wu-Tang!  Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto... beep beep, Pert & Allison.  Sean and I are hungry ninjas. Need food, please.  This year's awesome crew of counselors... and I'm one of the OLDEST. Oh man... Back row, L-R: John, JC, Victor, Pat, Pert, Tiffany, Ray, Evan. Middle row, L-R: Sam, Shelly, Alli, Allison, Jayna, Courtney, Chris. Front: me, Ryan.  My very own Warm Beach souvenir... a slightly sprained ankle from a competitive game of ultimate frisbee with the kids & counselors where I "found" a pothole in the field. =P The "super-sized" gallery of these pics and more can seen right here: http://www.enscriptchun.net/digi/warmbeach05/index.html .:. If there was one thing I missed while I was in Japan, it was the opportunity to serve and minister at the annual JEMS Warm Beach camp. This year was memorable for me in that a lot of the kids I counseled back in 2002 and 2003, and the BASIC kids from CBC, especially the young guys who were in my small groups, have really matured and become leaders - they take the initiative to make friends with the new campers, to pray, etc. While maybe part of my ego would love to take credit for that, I know that their growth as people comes from God's provision and faithfulness. To be able to participate in that process and witness it happen are privileges that I have only by grace, not by merit. I still remember how awkward I first felt working with the kids back when Amy (who was the Pacific Northwest JEMS youth minister at the time) asked me to help at Warm Beach. It almost feels like another lifetime. But yeah... I'm glad that I really went and participated this year. Between all the craziness of taking my mom to the ER, work for Wing Luke, and preparing for grad school (still gotta find a place to live...), I actually seriously considered not going at all. Still, I felt compelled to go anyways... maybe it was from a sense of obligation, but I'd like to believe that it was God Himself calling me because He wanted to refresh the lesson that no matter what personal trials I may be facing, I can still find joy in serving others - whether it's praying for them, listening to their problems, playing frisbee with them, eating with them, writing a note to encourage them, etc. I was also reminded of the importance of being in a community of believers. I think of these verses: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." (1 John 4:10-12) Working with the kids was such an encouragement because in the way they cared for each other and even me (their hair-less emcee/rec leader) were reflections of God's love. Many Christians are fond of dropping the phrase "God is love" without considering that such an abstract and revolutionary concept is more that just an idea, it's a spiritual law that compels action. As human beings, it was God's intention that we both be the benefactors and promoters of His love... but too many people seem content to receive and never give. The irony of doing so is that when we forget to care about others, when we forget to be the bearers of the compassionate and conditionless love that only comes from God, we cripple ourselves from being able to understand what love really is. Love can never be understood without the context other human beings. (/remove soapbox) In any case, I praise God that Warm Beach was great for the kids... it being great for myself is just added bonus. On a somewhat related note, it sort of has renewed my heart for the next CoHi... | (5) comments
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Thursday, August 18, 2005
looking for the child within
  I was copying the leftover VBS pictures from my computer to CD and it got me thinking a lot about all the different reasons that I enjoy working so much with kids. I could list all the usual, cliche things like "you can make a different in their lives" and "the things you teach them they'll remember long after they've forgotten you", but I won't. It's not that those things aren't a part of my motivation, but as I was copying the pictures I had an odd thought about a lot of the kids in the pictures: How much I envy them and wish I could switch places with them. Let them worry about going to graduate school, loans, paperwork, driving a car, getting married, getting old, filing taxes, sick friends, dead family... I'd gladly take a day where my biggest concerns were green or blue popsicles, what crayon to color my monster's face, finding enough LEGO blocks to build a spaceship, playing YUGIO, watching an episode of Vegitales, or running topless through the sprinkler. sigh... "back in the days when i was young i'm not a kid anymore but some days i still wish i was a kid again..." -Ahmad "Back in the Day" (right click + save as) Gonna be gone for the weekend. Be back Sunday. | (2) comments
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
from dot.com to NPO
An interesting article: Startup disaster uplifts careers of partners doing good. Good for them. | (2) comments
Monday, August 15, 2005
kick me when i'm down, i like it
It was a pretty craptastic day today. I don't really feel the need to list the details except it involves my Mom, a trip to the ER, and a whole morning and afternoon of nervous waiting for results from a CAT scan and other tests. Though my Mom was conscious for the whole time and the tests for anything seriously bad came back negative, I talked to the doctors on duty and they all recommended strongly that we see a specialist in cardiology because of EKG results. First thing in the morning, I have to remind her to make an appointment. .:. Waiting with my mom in the ER room, I was reminded how much I dislike hospitals. My dislike of the particular hospital we were at also probably has to do with the fact that I went there everyday for about a month back when I was 5th grade. It's the same hospital my father spent his last days in before his death. I was happy with the fact that staff was very friendly, especially the residents in charge of my mother's room - a white guy with a linebacker-esque build who kept bringing my mom freshly warmed blankets, and a tall, skinny white girl who gave us updates on the next test or wait time. There was also a Chinese girl doctor who let me in and out of the ER to make calls on my cell, since cell phone use is banned in the ER. All the staff looked surprising young... 30 or younger. But yeah, I hate hospitals. It's not that I feel a particular hatred for the idea of centralized institutions of professional medical care, but the buildings in which they're in are often horrible. I understand the need for an ultra-sterile environment, but does it have to be so aesthetically so depressing? I hate the blank, windowless and pictureless walls, the hideous prints on the curtains, and worst - the poor sound installation and nasty smells. A larger lady in a bed next to my mother's in the triage room happened to be getting a colonoscopy, and it wasn't the "virtual" one... it was the old-fashioned invasive kind with a big 'ol tube and machine that they wheeled out. There was a large curtain separating my mom's bed and the lady's, but we could hear every single shout and yelp of pain from throughout the whole procedure, and no, the fat lady didn't sing. She screamed. My mother and I exchanged silent, grimaced looks as we were forced to listen. .:. When we were discharged from the hospital, my mom wanted to eat jook, but I ruled out driving to Chinatown since I wanted to pick up the doctor's prescriptions and take her home to rest. We got some burgers instead... somewhat ironic my mom, after this whole medical episode, was craving fast food. I spent the rest of the day making sure she was rested and I took a nap too, since I didn't get a lot of relaxation at the ER. I guess as crappy as things have been lately, I still wasn't expecting this. Later, I made a late dinner for us and it was more healthy...  ...some ghetto fabulous pan-fried fish and mashed potatoes. | (6) comments
end of an era
Why am I awake so early? I don't need to be up... O_o So yesterday was the grand Greenwood house farewell party, though the word "party" seems to meager to capture all the fun and relaxing that I did for almost an 8+ hour event. Maybe "festival" is better fit... tons of friends, BBQ, sangria, dessert, and games. Heck, I even got (some) exercise chuck'n around a frisbee at the park! Some pictures:  Stone working the grill  Little Ms. Sassy, Mia Nakano  People playing cards in this game like Trumps  Wong Super Trio + Beej... Vatos in Los Gatos!  Steph, Heidi, Marcia... the 2nd picture after the 1st was ruled scandalous  Simon smelling his fingers?, Dennis looking tired  rockstar Abe  party aftermath... the stacks of red cups are a testament to success Stone also put up a southside thug mug of the two of us featuring our cool t-shirts. He also put up this picture of me, slouching and my alcoholic's belly full of the baby cow I swallowed whole before grilling parts of his flash. I have a feeling that I'll regret linking that picture, as I'm sure both my GF and sister will command to go on a diet after finding it. .:. VJ Day Anniversary, Technological Blood-Guilt Today is the anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan) Day and the end of WWII, but unfortunately, relations between Japan and most of Asia remain rather cold, as evidenced by some newspaper editorials. The horrific occupation of Korea and other Asian countries, the Rape of Nanking, "comfort women", The Bataan Death March, and of course, the infamous Unit 731 remain sore issues. Interestingly enough, more evidence has recently come to light that post-WWII, the US paid members of Unit 731 money & bribes for their data, which was largely obtained via human experimentation on innocent Chinese people and POWs, some also being Russian, Mongolian, and Korean. The scientists were also granted amnesty and free from prosecution for war crimes in exchange for their research (WARNING: some graphic vivisection-type photos. Don't visit if you have a weak stomach). Of course, this wasn't an isolated incident. It's also a well-documented fact that the US acquired a significant amount of data from Nazi scientists taken from Germany at the end of WWII in Operation Paperclip. These scientists were also bribed and given amnesty, and the much of their work formed the foundation of US technology in both the space program (NASA) and constructing ICBMs as vehicles for nuclear warheads, just as Germany had built V-2 rockets to attack Britain's cities and civilian populations. After correctly pointing out the evils of facist militarism in Japan and Nazi Germany, it's funny how quickly we abandoned our supposed "moral high ground" in pursuit of our brand of militarism by deciding to reap the benefits of their blood-soaked research - all while PARDONING those responsible for conducting it. Go Team America! (/sarcasm) *shakes head* | (4) comments
Saturday, August 13, 2005
kids
*snap snap*  jumping into the picture  shortly before being trampled by a stampeding mob of 4 and 5 year olds .:. Nursing my vain ambitions to be a person with "photography skills", I've been helping take pictures of my church's VBS program these past couple days with the digicam. I'm also doing a slideshow for the church too, but luckily, other people are providing additional pictures. Projects, projects... .:. In engagement news, late congrats to Angela & Andy, and Chongsun & Laura... more friends joining the "married club". Don't ask me if I feel left out. Or I'll punch you in your ovaries. YEAH. *silent glare of guilty-inducing gloom* | (1) comments
Thursday, August 11, 2005
un-found
The place had already begun to empty out after the music had finished playing, but the young teacher remained seated on a stool, hunched over the bar. The joint wasn't the smallest he had ever been to, but the layout was a stretched-out narrow corridor, whose length forced people against each other. To move by, bodies squeezed and grinded together like the grains of sand bottoming out in an old-fashioned hourglass. While he hated the feeling of strangers bumping into him, he disliked even more adjusting his seating position just to accommodate another group of cocky foreigners chasing drunken women. Lifting his glass, the young teacher slowly slipped himself another mouthful of whiskey and let it sit in his mouth as he thought of the word... foreigners. Though he was a 'foreigner' too, he avoided the company of most of his fellow ex-pats. They were all too loud and lacking in respect for the culture of their hosts, in his opinion. They can all kiss my yellow Chinese ass, he thought as he swallowed the whiskey. The delay in swallowing it had made it warm and the young teacher felt oddly relaxed as it burned its way down into his gut. .:. "Thanks for coming out." A hand clasped his left shoulder, as he turned expectantly to see his friend, the guitar player. The guitar player grinned and the teacher nodded, turning to the bar and calling out to the bartender. "Name biiru." The bartender filled a mug, and passed it to the teacher, who in turn, gave the beer to the player. "Cheers, mate." The two lifted their glasses in a silent toast before taking a drink. "So has your rock star status spread from England to Japan, yet?" the teacher asked with a smirk. The guitar player laughed and retorted. "Ah, that's still in the works. As you know, I'm still a part of the ultra lucrative world of education. I just can't say no to the money." "Oh yes, I know all about that..." the young teacher answered. He couldn't contain his sarcasm. The two men continued drinking and the teacher drained his glass. He waved to the bartender again, and in single smooth motion, the bartender refilled his glass again. The guitar player chuckled and shook his head. "What's that? Your second double already? It hasn't been even an hour yet." The teacher raised his right hand and stuck out his bottom 3 fingers. .:. "They all want me to come home, you know. My mom. My girlfriend. Family. Friends. And it's only what... July? August? It's all they talk about these days." The guitar player nodded his head and paused before speaking. "That's understandable. So what exactly are you going to do? You made plans?" The young teacher laughed and shook his head. "I ain't exactly the most organized person when it comes to planning, ya know? I thought I'd chill here for awhile and save some money." "Not a bad start, I guess." "You guess?' "Well, you could have just as easily stayed home and made money bagging groceries." The teacher scowled as he stared at his drink before he turned back to the player. "I worked a bullsh*t job like that in high school and all through college. I promised myself I'd never do that again. There's no way I could have stayed at home." The guitar player nodded slowly. "Everyone has their different reasons for traveling. But knowing what I do about you, I think that very few people think about traveling in the way we do." "And what's that?" The player crossed his arms and continued speaking. "You're searching for something, but it's not the same kind of thing that other people search for and find. They're the lucky ones because it's so easy. They buy a new car and they convince themselves they've found it. They fall in love with some bird, get married, and they convince themselves they've found it. They get promoted at their job and they convince themselves they've found it." "So what are we like, then?" "Our satisfaction isn't anywhere as easy. You're traveling and looking for it, but deep down, you often have the suspicion you'll never find it. You want an answer to a question that has no answers, and yet, you and I are the kind of people that aren't smart enough to stop trying. We're still straining our eyes, hoping we'll find it. Even now we're still looking." The player sighed and continued. "Whenever you decide to go home isn't as important as this: if you do decide to go home, make sure you've finished trying to search for what you're looking for here first. And when you return home, don't fall into the expectation that what you're searching for will be there either." The teacher lifted his glass to take another drink, but it was empty. .:. Riding home on the last train, the young teacher leaned lazily against the side of the train car thinking about what his friend had said, while his hand clutched a half-empty can of Kirin. He hadn't been so self-conscious in awhile, but the words the guitar player said kept coming back to him. "...deep down, you often have the suspicion you'll never find it." He closed eyes and briefly, the memories flashed. His grandfather. His father. The warehouse. Going to college. Volunteering. Graduation. Dreams. Months of unemployment. Moving back home. His mother scolding and berating. A disappointed girlfriend and friends. Unanswered prayers. The teacher blinked his eyes and quickly guzzled down the rest of the beer, after which, he crushed the empty can with his foot. Reaching the station, the train stopped and the teacher lurched out on to the platform, turning his head from right to left looking for the trash. Spotting a bin on his left, he threw the can in with a light, underhanded toss. If only all things were as easily found, he thought. If only every struggling dream could be made real. If only hope was easily taken back as it was lost amongst the waves of an uncaring reality, where some people are broken and smashed like shells on the shore. If only disappointment and heartache were cured by an earnest plea to heaven or the prayers of the lonely. But it seems that divine fate ordains that only some people are given their happiness. That they are the ones who will search and find their answers, while others languish in the darkness, to cope with the hard facts of their particular lives: That you were chosen to be forsaken, ass naked in the wind. That you were abandoned to face the wilderness with only bad luck, your tattered wits, and a mouthful of awful cliches like �follow your dreams� or �working hard makes you successful� or "always play a suited hand". The teacher stopped to gaze up into the night sky, looking across the expanse, however, thick clouds had veiled the stars and the moon. Turning inward, he searched inside for a reaction to these thoughts, for a feeling to impassion him... but the hand of his minds' eye grasped and clutched the emptiness, scraping against the hollowed bones. And his heart could feel nothing at all. | (4) comments
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
ground down
"The thing is Butch, right now, you got ability. But painful as it may be, ability don't last... and your days are just about over. Now that's a hard muthaf*ckin fact of life, but that's a fact your ass is gonna have to get realistic about. You see, this profession is filled to the brim with unrealistic muthaf*ckers. Muthaf*ckers who thought their ass would age like wine. If you mean it turns to vinegar... it does. If you mean it gets better with age... it don't." -Marsellus Wallace, Pulp Fiction .:. So the burden of my pre-class grad work has finally lifted, but (un)luckily for me, there's still plenty of other things to burden my brain matter like finding a place to live and working out my financial details, not to mention the other projects still cooking in the background. For some reason being finished doesn't give me much relief as I thought it would. I just feel tired and mindless. Time to finally make up some sleep... | (0) comments
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
the short list
Good: Takeout from the local Korean-owned teriyaki joint. Bad: Traffic, library research reading smelly old journals, bibliographies. Ugly: Tomorrow is the due date for my grad work. I wanna be sedated. O_o | (1) comments
Monday, August 08, 2005
damn fog
The plane was delayed over 3.5 hours. What the hell? Strangely enough, I'm not bothered too much about it... maybe 'cause a late plane ranks pretty low on "the worst things that have happened to me" list. LA was hot and stinky. I'm still 99% sure that I'd never want to live there, but seeing friends was nice. Now that I'm back in Seattle, it's back to work. Two days left... | (2) comments
Saturday, August 06, 2005
"Let all the souls here rest in peace; For we shall not repeat the evil."
Today is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. If anybody ever has the chance to visit Japan, please visit the Peace Park and Genbaku Dome, which is a World Heritage site. I had the privilege of visiting Hiroshima last year. Pray for peace. | (0) comments
Thursday, August 04, 2005
hit play and zone out
 The new desktop. I don't have a shuffle (I'd rather carry 40x the music, heh), but I do like the combination of Samurai Champloo and the spoof of the distinct Apple advertising style. And the character of Mugen doing a capoeira / B-boy windmill is cool. Still grinding away at the remainder of my grad school work. I guess it wouldn't be so time-consuming if I wasn't such a perfectionist about stupid details like cropping weird colored borders on pictures of the maps or trying to write prose on a completely direct question like "Why is it important to know where places are in the world?"... but still I do. Ever since I heard that sermon on "the flaw in perfectionism" on the trip with my family to my cousin Hillary's wedding back in June, it's be in the back of mind - how I can completely laidback about most things, but on other things, I hide a perfectionistic streak. Aiyah. O_o .:. At least there's music to keep me working... my latest random music find came off AudioScrobbler: Daphne Loves Derby. Funny name, huh? I'm not huge indie rock expert or anything, but I do know what I like and I dig their music - especially the low-key, acoustic sound of "Simple Starving to Be Home", "Part of My Past", and "Midnight Highway". Download 'em off their site and give 'em a listen. Other reasons to like them include... 1) They're from Seattle, specifically Kent. Nothing good ever comes from here, so the fact that they're good is all the more nutty. I should know, I grew up around here. 2) The lead singer is Asian American (Korean). And he can sing. Nice. | (1) comments
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Fido 1 of 2, Fido 2 of 2
Reseachers in South Korea are the first in the world to successfully clone a dog... though like other experiments into cloning mammals, the success rate was pretty poor - only 1 embryo out of 1000 survived to grow. The NY Times also has a pretty indepth article. I can imagine jokes about Asian people and eating dogs will now ensue. .:. happy anniversary Happy Anniversary to my GarPOD which is now one year old. A quick, random selection 25 songs from my library by the mysterious party shuffle... [00] Marvin Gaye - "Got to Give It Up" [01] Coko & Jon B. f. Jay Z - "Keep It Real" [02] Joe - "She Used 2 Luv Me" [03] Little Brother - "For You" [04] m-flo loves Crystal Kay - "Reeewind!" [05] Rage Against the Machine - "Pistol Grip Pump" [06] Mountain Brothers - "Microphone Phenomenal" [07] NY Confidential - "It Really Doesn't Matter" [08] DJ Krush & DJ Shadow - "Duality" [09] Mos Def - "Brown Sugar" [10] Hezekiah Walker f. Dave Hollister - "Let's Dance" [11] Tamyra Gray - "Good 'Ol Days" [12] Raekwon - "Pitbull Fights" [13] Shonen Knife - "I Want to be Sedated" [14] Lisa Loeb - "I Do" [15] Black Star - "Another World" [16] m-flo loves BoA - "The Love Bug" [17] Interpol - "PDA" [18] Nas - "What Goes Around" [19] Utada Hikaru - "Colors" [20] GZA - "Animal Planet" [21] Rachael Yamagata - "Moments with Oliver" [22] Atom - "White Car" [23] One Be Lo - "Decepticons" (remix) [24] Bic Runga - "Sway" [25] Linkin Park - "NtrMission" Yeah, I got eclectic taste. .:. Back to work. | (3) comments
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
hip-hop, conflict diamonds, rings, pt.2
A sort of continuation of this post. Well, Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" remix with Jay-Z seems to have touched off a lot of different conversations. My friend Justin (live from the Korean motherland) posted some rather straightforward comments about the subject, along with some hilarious spoofs of diamond marketing advertisements. A much more involved discussion can be read on this site, though they take a decidedly stronger, anti-industry critique of hip-hop and Kanye West. I can sympathize with their criticisms, but just the fact that West has used his popularity to draw attention to a significant issue earns him points in my book. According to rumor, the "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" remix was inspired by a freestyle called "Conflict Diamonds" by another Chicago rapper named Lupe Fiasco. According to the rumor, Fiasco freestyled over the beat of "Diamonds" and after hearing his work, Kanye looked into the issue of conflict diamonds and was inspired to make the remix. Supposedly the two will collaborate more in the future. You can check out Lupe Fiasco's freestyle right here. Get it while it lasts. (right click + "save as") Best quote: "so many people do things to glorify 'em/ i felt like it was time for somebody do something to horrify 'em" .:. Still slaving away on grad school work. This weekend is coming up too fast. If only whiskey increased my ability to complete the work faster... like +10 nerd productivity bonus. | (2) comments
Monday, August 01, 2005
missing the mark
Well, the deadline I set for myself has passed, but unfortunately for me, the grad work still remains. Out of all the projects I'm involved in at the moment, from my work with the Wing Luke Museum to working with Chong on the CoHi Film Project, I just can't seem to generate the enthusiastic energy need to reach a state of ultra-productivity that would let complete all this grad school work. Appropiately, I was wearing this shirt today. My embodiment of the slacker aspect is complete... again. While I am bothered by the fact that the deadline has gone by, I suppose I can readily toss it into the pile of all the other personal disappointments I've had the past few years with all the ceremony of my typical shrug of the shoulders and "oh well". Maybe if I had the other things for grad school squared away (tuition, housing, transportation, etc) I'd feel better. Maybe. I've been having a lot weird dreams lately. Apocalyptic, end of the world stuff. Doom, doom, doom! Makes me wanna have a beer. Or two. .:. On a nicer note, my friend Mel executed the ancient Chinese check-snatching technique and generously paid for the whole Bible study's hotpot dinner tonight. Hotpot and dumplings seems a bid odd a warm summer day, but it still hit the spot. In other news, Chinese people fan-translate Harry Potter! Heh. | (0) comments
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in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
the facts.
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