nucular and stuff

Is it me or did Bush recite the same non-sensical answers to about 4 different questions? And what was up with the eye ball rolling, smirking and shuffling around while Kerry was speaking. This isn't a high school debate, get serious for Christ's sake. Lucky for Bush he correctly pronounced the names of the world leaders. Must've done a lot of flash card practice with his advisors (although the one with phonetic pronunciation of the word "nuclear" must've fallen out of the stack).

A few of my favourites from Kerry:

"I made a mistake in how I talk about the war, but the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?"

"I think we need a president who has the credibility to bring the allies back to the table and to do what's necessary to make it so America isn't doing this alone, the president's not getting the job done."

He said Bush's policies could be summed up in four words: "More of the same."

From Yahoo News:
Bush was forced to spend much of the debate defending his Iraq policies against Kerry's charges that Bush blundered in diverting attention from Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden and shifting it to Iraq.

***
Some Bushisms for ya:

http://www.seeyageorge.com/bsh.html
http://slate.msn.com/id/76886/
http://www.bushisms.com/index1a.html

Bushism of the Year
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

complaining and stuff

First off, thanks to the lurkers for saying hello on my last blog entry's comments. It's always nice to be able to say hello to you guys directly. Trust me, it's not like I don't know people are reading my shit. If I wanted to blog to nobody, I wouldn't list myself on Rice Bowl Journals. Actually, if I wanted to keep my thoughts to myself I wouldn't blog at all. But I have too much stuff in my head not to dump it all on this here web site. It's cathartic for me, kinda like cleaning the apartment and yelling profanities when no one is home.

Anyways, that's not the topic of this entry. Today I was going to bitch about Comcast. My cable was out yesterday from about 7am to 1:30pm. I called to complain and they told me it was a known issue they were working on. Usually it takes 2-4 hours to take care of such known issues the kind lady said. Well it was out for longer than that and it really messed with my plans to get some reading done. Reading that I needed to retrieve from my library's web site now that pretty much everything in universities these days is online. Then I thought, what if I were an entrepreneur who worked from home and had a serious deadline to meet and Comcast was the only thing preventing me from getting my shit done? I asked to be reimbursed for a day's worth of cable, both TV and Internet (whopping $1.77, and they will do this as long as you ask) but the value of a potential project that might be due for a client could be worth thousands, and your reputation and credibility? Priceless. What then you bastards at Comcast?? When companies fuck you over, ALWAYS complain.

just say hi

OK Mr. Sheldon, Simon's friend, I wrote a blog almost exclusively for you (below). I know you (or perhaps someone else at your company) is reading this. Don't be shy say hi!

Gotta love sitemeter. I also wonder who, on Shaw Cable (isn't that just in BC?), made 26 page views at 5:08am PST yesterday. My blog couldn't possibly be that interesting. And who are these faithful and devoted readers of mine from Abgenix, Nesbitt Burns, Aqueduct, and E2Open? I love lurkers. I'm a lurker myself on many blogs. C'mon, you can do it, leave a comment! I'm always curious if some of my readers are people who actually know me from a long time ago or something. If not that's ok too. If people didn't read, what would be the point of blogging anyways?

parking

For those who live in SF and have collected a pile of parking tickets you'd rather not pay for, you can actually choose to "work off" your tickets through volunteer work that amounts to $6 per hour toward your fine. Check out this article. Unfortunately it's a bit of a hassle to do this according to the SFgov site which states:

To sign up for Project 20 you must first go to 1380 Howard Street, 1st Floor,
Monday - Friday, between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. After signing a contract outlining
terms and amounts, you will be sent to the Project 20 offices on 7th Street,
near the Hall of Justice. Project 20 will charge an administrative fee.
Community service and payment plans are not an option if your vehicle has been
booted or towed and you are trying to reclaim it.

If you don't live in the city, it'll prolly cost you a bit of money to pay for gas to get to Howard St. then a few more bucks in parking to go into the office to sign the contract. Then for a $50 ticket you'd have to work over 8 hours. I think it'd only be worthwhile if it's not a huge inconvenience to get to this office and you were planning to do volunteer work anyways. Damn.

my global village

McLuhan coined the term "global village" long before the Internet became available for consumer use but boy is it ever applicable now. So Simon went to a wedding on Saturday in TO that I did not attend. He had rsvp'd himself plus "guest", not knowing who he might bring. I didn't know he was planning on finding himself a date, but that's another story. So anyways he showed up at this beautiful wedding at Casa Loma for a friend from York and finds my placecard on the table with my name spelled perfectly. He asked around and finally figured it out. Natasha now dating his friend Sheldon had stumbled across my blog somehow because I am linked to Ben K who is linked to Mike P whom she once dated. She must've seen pics of Simon and I and Sheldon must've recognized Simon in them. *waving hi to Sheldon and Natasha* Now I understand that blog she wrote (which I can't find) tracing the degrees of separation. I didn't understand at the time the significance of the linkage. Anyways, hope you guys are still reading and hope to meet you in person in the near future.

drinkin'

I'm one of those lucky Asians who *usually* doesn't turn too red from drinking, or at least not with just a couple drinks. I do however get blood shot eyes that makes it look like I smoked a fat J all by myself. I sometimes also get a little asthmatic from red wine and hard alcohol on an empty stomach (a bad idea altogether anyways). Does anyone else get that?. From what I hear, some people go "blind" or get whited out vision from drinking even though they don't feel intoxicated. Those are the folks who typically claim to be allergic to alcohol. I've heard that Reactine (available OTC in Canada) or other allergy meds before drinking does well for that and Pepcid works for reducing the flushing (but H2 blockers in Pepcid cause you to get drunk faster). Want more info? Check out echeng's blog and comments. Never seen so many comments on a personal blog, much less seemingly educated responses to the question about how to reduce the Asian drinking curse, i.e. turning bright red on a few sips. Hooray for medical science and blogs!

return of dragon lady

This time she's not hot. Nip Tuck this week dealt with some reject of a plastic surgeon who lost his license because of his addiction to laughing gas or whatever it is that comes out of that thing he's inhaling. He meets some crazy middle aged Asian woman with a heavy accent who whips him into shape by helping him set up a plastic surgery "chop shop" and booking appointments for him so he can continue to perform surgery while high. After he accidentally kills some lady that he's performing lyposuction on, the evil Asian woman orders him to cut her body up into pieces so they could more easily dispose of it. Add this character to the dumb China doll on LAX and it looks like we're off to a great start this season. After watching the Emmys and seeing no minority women among the winning directors, producers and writers, I can understand why old stereotypes just keep resurfacing. Good thing screenwriting as a career was just a passing thought and not something I really tried to get into because I bet would've just ended up depressed and flipping burgers at McD's.

Gotta love Amazon reviews

If you haven't already seen this, go to http://www.newamericandimensions.com/weblogs/meltingblog/ and read the commentary and Amazon reviews for the book "How to Date a White Woman." Hilarious.

not quite zen

Woke up this morning to the sound of a massive downpour. It hasn't rained here in months, literally, and it had to rain the day of the Morrissey/Tears for Fears concert at Golden Gate park. Luckily it cleared up and it was shockingly sunny and warm in the city. But on the way up I get a call and find out that the main reason for my attending the concert, Morrissey, had cancelled. Laryngitis, which in rock star speak is synonomous with bad hangover in my opinion, was his excuse. They were offering refunds online but we were already on our way up and it was turning out to be a beautiful day. Found parking and got a nice spot on the grass to sit down. First set was some guy named Howie Day who was mediocre, then Dashboard Confessional who are apparently a big hit with the middle school crowd (bunch of them sitting next to us who left after the Dashboard performance before Tears for Fears even came on). Public displays of affection must be some status thing among 14-year-olds because there were a couple of them who couldn't stop making out. Tears for Fears finally came on but only performed about 5 or 6 songs, one after another hardly taking a moment to address the crowd. It seemed like they were not too into their performance but, hey, we saw Tears for Fears probably for the last time. Got back to the car and found a hefty parking ticket. We thought we were parked in front of the no stopping sign in the 3 hour parking zone but apparently there was another no stopping sign in front of my car, bent 90 degrees and facing the street so we didn't see it. I wish I had a camera to take a pic and contest the ticket but I didn't and it would probably cost me $10 and a headache to go back to that very spot to get a picture. Just my bad luck I guess. Oh well at least the weather turned out nice and I got a couple tops from some vendor for $5 a piece. Oh and BBQ chicken was a buck a skewer on the way out too (sorry Shannph, they lowered the price again after you bought yours :)

Ivana and LAX

I don't normally comment on the results of (un)reality TV shows, but I gotta give it to Ivana on the Apprentice for taking one for the team and attempting to "redeem her people" after the not so strong showing (read: depiction) of the token Asian woman last season. Tonight didn't go so well but at least she didn't get fired, at Bradford's expense unfortunately. I think I'm hooked on this one til 24 starts. At least I can say it is somewhat educational.

Did anyone catch that garbage of a show, LAX? Seriously what the hell is with the accented, dimwitted, subservient China doll character eager to please any American man (no matter how fat and ugly) who will sponsor her? Most Asian women don't look/act like that, and no we don't all need to be rescued thank you very much! This show is as stupid and nauseating as the OC.

reality

Lecture in my media criticism class had all, or mostly, to do with the topic of 9/11 and the media. One topic that came up was whether or not it's ethical for cameras to keep rolling in the wake of tragedy. One of the students whom I have noticed is particularly articulate chimed in with her experience with being on TV and how there most definitely is a time for the camera people to stop rolling and lend a hand. So I had to ask... on TV in what capacity? Turns out the articulate curly haired woman in two of my seminars is none other than Irene from Real World Seattle, the woman who was slapped as she took off in a car with another cast member (yes the event that made the reality TV top 40 memorable moments). She was so disgusted with the manipulation of "reality" on that show that she left the show early. The Seattle season took place back in 1998 when I think reality TV was still relatively new and people were not aware that it's not as real as people think e.g. the re-enacting of scenes from Survivor and the Restaurant so that the cameras can get a better angle, resequencing of events to tell a more dramatic story etc. In any case, being nosey as I am I found her site and read her bio and I gotta say she's done a lot for herself since then - delivering lectures and speeches on media manipulation across the country, winning Clio awards for other work and now doing her master's. I think I need a good kick in the ass to strive to achieve some of the things she already has.

in suburbia

In Vancouver I always wanted to move downtown, perhaps Yaletown or by English Bay. But never have I had the desire to move into San Francisco. Traffic is horrendous, parking (at home) costs an additional $250-$350 per month or you can endure looking for street parking every evening just so you can go home, and there's various big city issues like homelessness and crime. I like living 25-30 minutes out in a city that looks like Pleasantville, where I have easy access to parking (at home and elsewhere), big stores like Target, Ranch99 and Costco, and I can leave my car door unlocked (usually by accident) without anything getting stolen. What sucks though is that there are about a million young families in my area. I never really understood the appeal of adult-only condos/apartment blocks but I certainly do now. There is always some kid screaming in my neighourhood and some parent screaming back. Our pool on weekends is literally exploding with children. I want to have kids of my own someday, and I actually spent about 6 years working with kids, but having them in my home environment is really fucking annoying. Even better, Foster City High School is being built directly across the street. The only thing worse than screaming children is loud punk ass teenagers.

hockey, prime rib & crazies

The cruelest thing that can happen to a Canadian is have the cable go out when you're watching world cup hockey. Damn you Comcast. Luckily I was able to haul ass to my cousin's place in SJ in a mere 25 minutes just in time to see our second goal at the beginning of second period. Great game although going into overtime really shouldn't have been necessary because Luongo and the defencemen shouldn't have let in that tying goal from the Czechs 6 seconds after face-off with 6 minutes left of the damn game. Anyways, I will have to sadly miss the final because I have to tutor during the game. Go Canada.

****
After 4 years of living here, Simon and I finally made it to the famed House of Prime Rib. We got a reservation for 9pm last night. The place was absolutely packed late on a Sunday. I couldn't believe it. They seated us 40 minutes after our reservation (but we did come 15 min late so no big deal). Even then, I found out it's customary that you get a free bottle of wine when you're seated late. Black Angus and Bucca di Beppo should learn a little something from them. Those bastards keep you waiting at least an hour with reservations with hardly an apology (unless in the case of Black Angus, you're in the company of someone who "works for corporate" which freaks the shit out of them). Anyways, the prime rib was ridiculously delicious as were the yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, and salad (even though we saw them dump a bunch of msg into it). The creamed spinach was OK too but not great. Something slightly salty and funny tasting about it. No way I was able to get dessert after that. My whole meal was something like $26, includes all the sides. Great deal for excellent prime rib and really professional service.

***

A little news from the UK that didn't make it here. US Secretary of State Colin Powell described neo-conservatives in the Bush administration as 'fucking crazies' during the build-up to war in Iraq...The 'crazies' are said to be Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz. Still I am deeply frightened by the fact that Kerry is trailing behind Bush. As we discussed in my media criticism seminar, it doesn't help that Clinton had his bypass surgery lately stealing the attention from Kerry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1302834,00.html

sex and the city

Until last night I had never seen Sex and the City. We were just too poor/busy to justify anything beyond basic cable. But now it's on some other channel and they're starting the series from the very beginning so I had to watch it. Everyone (OK more like every woman I know) talks about the show like it's the greatest thing ever. People have explained what it's about and it seemed like it could be interesting. So yeah. There were 3 30-something year old women on the show and it basically followed them as they went on various dates and slept with some of the people they went out with. They looked like they were rich and had too much time on their hands. They had weird conversations with their dates e.g. about having one ovary and feeling the need to freeze her eggs. People were constantly talking excitedly (or having sex) throughout the show and after about 20 minutes, I just couldn't watch anymore. The situations were silly, there was no diversity of any kind, the dialog wasn't all that interesting, it wasn't funny or entertaining and it, for a reason I can't put my finger on, annoyed the hell out of me. I don't get it. Good, more time to watch Law and Order and 24 instead.

warnings

Warning emails are better than virus emails, even when they end up perpetuating an urban myth. But my prof doesn't like them so much :) Here's what she forwarded us today

I hate hoax warnings, but this one is important. Please send this to everyone on your e-mail list.

If a man comes to your front door and says he is conducting a survey and asks you to show him your ass, DO NOT show him your ass.This is a scam; he only wants to see your ass.I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid and cheap.

dishonest Dubya

There are a lot of Bush jokes and animations out there. But I have to share my favorite one - Dishonest Dubya Lying Action Figure. Wait for the thing to load and keep clicking "say something stupid". The "hold us hostile" quote is particularly good. There's a fine collection of stupid things he says complete with audio and animation.

Also see http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/

not long enough weekend

First off I have to comment that blogger is really freakin slow lately. I wonder what they're up to behind the scenes. It took forever for me to comment on Ben's blog just now and forever again to reach the "create new post" page.

Anyways, I'm all confused because today is actually Tuesday and I keep forgetting what the hell is going on. I don't have the mental capacity to deal with the week after long weekend. A weekend which was a lot of fun by the way. Hmm let's see, RX Gallery, 111 Minna (11 year bday party, free cover yay), BBQ at Christines, long walk to Stinger where the jackass at the door wouldn't let us in cuz the guys were wearing shorts and wouldnt let me call the owner, beer at Entertainer pool hall on El Camino, Millbrae art and wine fest, lots of swimming, and Christopher Lawrence at Mezzanine (Spundae). I am now pooped.

smokey smoke

If you were driving home to San Mateo/Foster City at around 5pm and saw a LOT of smoke and wondered if your house was on fire. Here's why:

"A grass fire near a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. substation in San Mateo has not damaged any PG&E equipment, but more than 6,000 residents are without power, a PG&E spokesman said today... (skipping to the good part)...golf course lost power...and she could see plumes of black smoke coming from the area of the fire. The pro shop and restaurant are closed due to the power outage, but golfers are still out on the course. " (more)

I was kinda shitting my pants as I drove closer and closer to the smoke, seriously wondering if my place was on fire. If I were out playing golf when the explosion went off and grey smoke filled the air, gee I dunno, I wouldn't shrug my shoulders and tee up my next shot. It's been 2.5 hours and the air seems to finally be clearing up. Yuck did it ever stink.

snapshot from Cache Creek Casino

As promised, pic of Denny with his very grown up looking suitcase which must've contained not much more than one pair of underwear and a toothbrush since he pulled those four big cups and bag o' dice out of it.

Boo the Rose & Crown Pub and John Squires

After John Squires told a number of Asian fetish and other racially controversial jokes at the Rose and Crown Pub in Palo Alto Monday, an Asian American woman in the audience got a little uncomfortable and at the end of the show she asked the manager for the contact info for the comedian. The manager got defensive and snatched the flyer out of her hand and refused to "agree to disagree" on what's appropriate comedic material. Then according to Sandra Chen, it "escalated into verbal sniping until other patrons started bullying me to shut up or get out. "

I wasn't there to hear the content of the material for myself but Asian fetishism alone annoys the hell out of me. What bothered me more was the reaction of the manager to a simple request for information and constructive feedback. The woman was a customer after all. You should at least respect carefully articulated non-aggressive feedback, not turn around and rally the white customers to help in bullying her.

This I would not expect in the Stanford University area but it happened. Read more...

So what to do about it? Well bad press is sometimes good publicity for them nonetheless. I'm just going to boycott the bar and comedian and hope you pass this on.