Filed under: posts | Tags: cars, economics, Fang Datong, Fast and Furious, happiness, Nintends DS, Rhythm Heaven, Shanghai, sights & sounds
A few things going on right now, the most important of which is an agonizing wait for the results of of my final round interview with a leading economics consulting firm. I feel I did fine during the interview and case, but who knows? These things tend to have a way of surprising you.
(This next paragraph is for those who are interested in the otherwise boring on-goings of economics)
My thesis which is about the One Child Policy and its Effects of Women’s Education, is coming along daintily. I have found a newer, more trustworthy dataset, but it will limit my usage of certain statistical methods. I will have to check in with my advisor to make sure it’ll work. I am getting a nice self-led crash course introduction to SAS though. 
On the entertainment front, a few items of note.
Fast and Furious was good. It wasn’t deep, or intellectually stimulating, but from a auto-head POV, it was pretty sweet (minus that atrocious MY2009 STi). I really liked the beginning which paid homage to one of the forgotten greats in American muscle history – the Buick Grand National. These turbo’d Regals are in my mind, still the epitome of no frills American power.
Of course, this movie featured a lot of great cars, including a whole myriad of American classics as well as an awesome scene with an R32, R34 and GTR Nissan Skylines. Honestly, I even thought the fighting scenes weren’t half bad. If you can get over the cringe of a few typical F&F lines, then go watch it!
Rhythm Heaven (リズム天国ゴールド) for the Nintendo DS. With the release of the “new” Nintends DSi, recently released games have not been given the spotlight they deserve. I recently started playing this gem of a game and it is wonderful. It’s like a good mix of Warioware with Elite Beat Agents. It is a collection of rhythm-based mini-games that are all very original and clever. This is the kind of game the DS was made for. Hours of boredom assassination! Check the quick vid of the mini-games in action:
Khalil Fong, a.k.a. 方大同 (Fang Datong). Mr. Fong here (courtesy of my wonderful Serena) has answered my prayers for some different Chinese music. Born in Hawaii then moving to Shanghai (yes!) when he was 6, Khalil possess a less prototypical sound. He a stronger idea of bass and rhythm than his peers and I personally think he sounds Mraz-ish. An added bonus is that his English pronunciation is native, so when he adds that English phrase between the mandarin, it doesn’t add all that cheesiness.
Here are few songs of note:
(1) Love Song from the album Wonderland
(2) Singalongsong (English) from the album Orange Moon
(3) 三人游 (pinyin: san ren you) from the album Orange Moon
Whew. That was a good, long post.
‘Tis all.
1. Phoenix beats L.A. sans Nash and Amare.
Muahahaha. Yes, I know we were blown out last game and L.A. has no Andrew Bynum, but I don’t care! Grant Hill has an amazing defense:age ratio.
2. Everyone I know needs have watched Dr. Horrible by the next time I see them, okay?
http://www.hulu.com/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog
In particular, know this number right here:
3. Second-round interview with aforementioned economic consulting firm. Yum.
4. I have 5 more pages to write … good night!
Filed under: posts | Tags: china, mario kart, relationships, school, sights & sounds, youtube
First and foremost. This thing just plays in my head over and over when I’m biking in the morning.
The blue shell is coming
so I’ll go ahead
If you hang behind
it’ll hit me instead
but never look back
cause I’m down but not dead
I’ll catch up to you
Nerdy, yes. Awesome? YES. (and also yesterday’s news, but who the hell cares?)
I’ve come to realize starting a new relationship is very different each time. This one is so natural and strangely free of those awkward moments, at least for me. My life is so uncertain right now in so many different aspects, but spending time with her grounds and calms me. A good start.
In other news, the next week is my last week of classes with a day of finals coming in two weeks. School is almost over! I think some people are already heading home so I’ll try plan some kind of get together when I have some time. I will have a good window of time between the 18th and the 24th. Who needs to pack for China?
If anyone wants anything from the cheap labor pool that is China, give me a ring or a comment or some signal.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: America, Barack Obama, eloquence, ethics, everyday, race, sights & sounds, society, speech
Take 38 minutes out of your day, sit down in front of your computer, and listen.
Are you kidding me? His oratory is ridiculous – if he backs 20 percent of his dream with result, we’re gonna be fine. If he starts playing with the upper quartile, oh my, what a future this will be.
Enjoy, and ’tis all.
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Filed under: posts | Tags: Batman, Christian Bale, movies, sights & sounds, The Dark Knight
Batman has changed from the cartoon days, hasn’t it? He is no longer the cheeky, extremely square-jawed Bruce Wayne of the WB cartoons. Those were some great cartoons, but what a transformation we have seen.
Christian Bale’s rendition of the Dark Knight brings with it a raw, gritty and uber cool side to Batman. Though I was hesitant at first that the role of Joker was given to Heath Ledger, I cannot complain after seeing this trailer. If anything, he has the maniacal laugh down. Will he top the insanity of Jack Nicholson? We shall see…
Batman Begins to me, is the best comic book to big screen movie released so far. When that Joker card dropped at the end of Batman Begins, my heart swelled with great joy. Now, we are treated to one of the most entertaining hero/villain fights ever – let’s hope Bale and Ledger give us one to remember.
Enjoy and anticipate:
Filed under: posts | Tags: christmas, friends, invader zim, santa claus, sights & sounds
Hey guys,
I’ll be in the East during Christmas so here’s my Merry Christmas to y’all!
Have a good one folks!
When I first read the title of this jdrama, 1 Litre of Tears, I was turned off by it. It just sounded so stereotypical. “Another one of those get sick and die but fall in love in the process” kind of films, I thought. Honestly, I think this drama would receive more attention with another name.
First of all, the show is based off the real life account of Ikeuchi Aya, who contracts a rare disease called spinocerebellar ataxia. She wrote in a diary about her life until she simply could not write anymore. It was a bestselling novel and they adapted it into the film.
What is really moving to me about this drama is that it does not come off as forced. The love aspect may be a bit artificial, but the treatment of disability as a social concern and its affects on family and friends is very real and poignant. The dilemmas and sadnesses her family incur as a result of her illness are real issues which many families with disabled members face. The show really forces the viewer to think hard about how the disabled are essentially ostracized by society.
The drama is shot nicely with quality acting. (The father seems kind of exaggeratedly sad at times, though). Of all the dramas I have seen, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, this one is definitely the most moving simply because it is the most real. It is not just about people falling in love in the face of adverse circumstances. I think it really does challenge our notions of courage, family, and what it means to live.
So, this is highly recommended!
Here are a few linkages if you’re interested:
Site with links to streaming episodes, though the quality is bad
Oh, and the main actress Erika Sawajiri, is brilliantly cute. Enjoy, in the saddest sense of that word.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: Evo, happiness, Pushing Daisies, self, Shoe Drop 2007, sights & sounds, society, TOMS shoes
“We wake up every morning with a list a mile long and maybe we spend our lives making those wishes come true. Just because we want them doesn’t mean we need them to be happy.” (S01E06 Pushing Daisies)
This has come to be a very mundane quote. It has been put more eloquently, with more high-brow vocabulary and from more notable mouths than Lee Pace. But its importance and potency stands, perhaps even more so in this colloquial, banal adaptation.
Sometimes, we all need to refocus and collect ourselves. This is a viable and important question to ask, honestly and often. Are we just checking off the wishes on our list, or truly looking for sustainable happiness? In an effort to be more optimistic, I will just skip the bashing of the endless commodity driven lives I see everyday at Cal and focus on where I’m at.
Things I want to be happy:
- Tanabe Touring Medallion Exhaust for the Evo
- Do-Luck style front carbon fiber lip for Evo
- APS BOV, Works Drop-In Filter and reflash
- Timbuk2 Medium Laptop Messenger Bag
- Nintendo DS!
- Subscription to Top Gear Magazine (!!)
Things I need to be happy:
- Giving and sharing happiness
The first list isn’t sin. It just needs perspective. It is so easily to fall on this path of jumping from one purchase to another as a means of happiness. I know I do it. However, like meeting friends at drunken college bashes, it is very brittle. Such happiness is insubstantial and wears away quickly. I find that they are much better as seasonings to a much stronger, core sense of happiness derived from the second list.
Like the happiness derives from family rather than from the presents during the giving Holidays, this weighty happiness is so valuable in life. For me, the thing that has made me so very happy during the last few days is this blog: http://tomsshoedrop.blogspot.com/
I worked with TOMS in the summer and to know that my work is paying off in the form of bringing happiness to children in Africa is extremely uplifting. It reminds me that I have the luxury of having my basic needs taken care of so I can write this otherwise unimportant blog about the need for more substantial happiness.
As for fulfilling that latter list (of one item), it does come in many forms I believe. One of those ways is through cause-driven work with clubs and companies. However, since only one of my clubs has an immediate human element, it is hard for me to find that happiness solely through my work. I find myself struggling some days to find this foundation in my life.
Even so, I am not afraid. I know it’ll come eventually. In the end, it will have to be a person, someone I can share happiness with and simply give a part of myself to. I am not in too much of a rush though, there is much to be done in all the other fronts of life as well.
Maybe I’m being too naive with my perception of human relationships. However, I really do believe in happiness being found in relationships rather than in a certain income level. They are sustainable, substantial and evolving whereas a number is simply a launch pad to another bigger number.
So I celebrate the little triumphs in life and in happiness. I smile knowing that a child in Africa has shoes on his little feet because I helped sell those shoes. I smile knowing it is the first act of kindness he has experienced in his life – the first expression of shared happiness. I hope this changes things, even if for a while.
The end of that episode of Pushing Daisies asks: “What do you need to be happy?”
In the dreamland that is television the answer from the guy protagonist to the girl protagonist is “you.” I bet in the mire of happiness that is life, the answer is not far off.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: AP English, Berkeley, economics, everyday, Midterms, risk, school, sights & sounds, Tim Minear, tirade, Waiting for Godot, Wonderfalls
So today I took my econ midterm. It was a stressful as hell experience. In an hour and twenty minute class, the professor gave us four problems, each with at least three subsets. But there’s more! Those subsets had subsets. It ended up the equivalent of thirty some odd questions. Needless to day, I think I made some careless mistakes about signs and explanations, but hopefully, nothing too serious. Thank God it is the first of two midterms – with the second being worth more.
This post needs a cut-off.
Yes, this show deserves a full page ad on the front of inkless – not that it really does anything for them. Pushing Daisies is brilliant. I know I say that about a lot of things, but this show really is something inarguably original. It’s a romantic drama-comedy which breaks free from all the usual drudgery that kills romantic comedies.
It has an Amelie-eque quirkiness about it. This is a great thing. It means that the background are vibrant, the music is uppity and sweeping, and the characters are genuinely different and interest. For instance, the main male protagonist is a pie maker. That in itself is a nice change from the lawyers, doctors and crime scene investigators flooding the airwaves. But really, a show about a pie maker would be very short lived after the tartness wears off.
The real genius of this show is the structure of how the plot works. First off, let me explain that the main character, Ned, has a superpower. This is not surprising considering Bryan Fuller, the producer, worked on Heroes. Ned can bring the dead back to life. However, his power comes with two stipulations. First of all, if his reanimated subject stays alive for one minute, another living person will die in his/her place. Secondly, if Ned comes into contact with the reanimated subject for the second time, then he/she will die again – permanently.
Without giving too much away, let me just say that these stipulations serve up an original romantic drama. It becomes love unfocused the visceral, physical side. TV romances not relying on sex, who knew! Ironically, this absence of physicality makes it an even more valued issue. It really is quite the interesting situation.
We’ve seen this in other great works of the same kind. Of note is really Lost in Translation which harnessed that tension between people almost to an art. The Before Sunrise/Sunset films, mostly dialogue, did the same. Films that are able to tell life and love as it is on a more mature level seem to resonate with viewers looking for alternatives to the clothes-tearing, bra-unclipping, tongue-slobbering stuff we usually see. Not that sex should not be a part of life or a part of America mainstream television, but it is glorified and cheapened on the screen.
If you don’t want it for the interplay between the two characters, watch it for the quirky setting and excellent story-telling. It is a crime-romance-comedy in essence. There’s a little something for everyone, I promise. Now, when have I ever steered you wrong?
Let me leave you with a trailer and a teaser:
‘Tis all.
