Why do people from a certain region talk the same? I met a guy from Northern California who talks EXACTLY like our cousin's husband DO. It's freaky. Same tone, same rhythm of speech.
On a totally unrelated note:
"Come look at this stall. Something weird happened." --EH to me while we were in the bathroom (Uh, no thanks.)
I have to be careful what I say when people ask me what I do. Some people get really mad when they find out my occupation.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Thursday, August 25, 2005
movies really do suck
In previous years, he said, "you could still count on enough people to come whether you failed at entertaining them or not, out of habit, or boredom, or a desire to get out of the house. You had a little bit of backstop."
"It wasn't like the last crop of summer movies were that much better than this summer," said Mr. Shmuger... (meaning they were just as crappy - my note)
Mr. Lynton said he would focus on making "only movies we hope will be really good." (meaning they make some now that they don't hope will be really good?)
At Universal, Mr. Shmuger said he intends to reassert "time and care and passion" in movie production. Some of his own summer movies, he conceded, should never have been made.
What would be ideal is if everyone didn't go to the theaters, and just waited for the DVD to come out. Then, you could watch it in the comfort of your own home (and you can pause when you need to go to the bathroom) for a fraction of the price (assuming you don't watch movies alone). AND, because nobody watched it in the theaters, everyone will talk about it when the DVDs get released, not before. So, it's not like you're missing out.
Sadly, this will likely end up an unobtainable dream, just like people boycotting gas stations for a day so the price will drop.
"It wasn't like the last crop of summer movies were that much better than this summer," said Mr. Shmuger... (meaning they were just as crappy - my note)
Mr. Lynton said he would focus on making "only movies we hope will be really good." (meaning they make some now that they don't hope will be really good?)
At Universal, Mr. Shmuger said he intends to reassert "time and care and passion" in movie production. Some of his own summer movies, he conceded, should never have been made.
He declined to name them.
What would be ideal is if everyone didn't go to the theaters, and just waited for the DVD to come out. Then, you could watch it in the comfort of your own home (and you can pause when you need to go to the bathroom) for a fraction of the price (assuming you don't watch movies alone). AND, because nobody watched it in the theaters, everyone will talk about it when the DVDs get released, not before. So, it's not like you're missing out.
Sadly, this will likely end up an unobtainable dream, just like people boycotting gas stations for a day so the price will drop.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Captive movie titles
I watched The 40 Year Old Virgin with some friends last night (pretty funny). In the theater, I saw a poster for an upcoming movie, The Constant Gardener. Granted, I know nothing else about the movie, but that title really doesn't give me the urge to want to see it.
Monday, August 22, 2005
landsailing
Landsailing was awesome. Even though the wind wasn't constant (it kept blowing and dying), we had some good runs. I probably got up to 25 mph in 15mph winds. I want to build one now.
The highlight of our night was the discovery that hand sanitizer lotion is flammable. People were pouring it in their hands and lighting it on fire, and then trying to take pictures of them holding fire. Purell is apparently the best brand for this (after extensive testing). You can also light the fumes that are left over in empty bottles.
Ultra-lights!!!
The highlight of our night was the discovery that hand sanitizer lotion is flammable. People were pouring it in their hands and lighting it on fire, and then trying to take pictures of them holding fire. Purell is apparently the best brand for this (after extensive testing). You can also light the fumes that are left over in empty bottles.
Ultra-lights!!!
Family vacations
Taking a vacation with your family is always a mixed-bag of emotions. Initially, you are excited about seeing your family which you haven't seen in so long. At the beginning of the trip, everything's fine, you're all laughing and enjoying each other's company. As the trip goes on, though, you start to notice all the little things that bug you about your family, and people start to slip into their roles which they have played ever since you were young. Your parents start embarassing you in public, they start nagging you about random stuff (read: everything), your siblings start teasing or fighting with you, etc. Suddenly you can't wait for the trip to be over. And then, when all is said and done, you say goodbye while wishing you had more time together and looking forward to the next time you can all get together. And praying that wasn't the last reunion you'll have (hey, my parents are getting old).
Nah, maybe that's just me.
Nah, maybe that's just me.
quick note part 2
According to my (limited) experience, only US restaurants give you free refills on your drinks. Also, food is VERY VERY expensive in Israel. Not so in Taiwan.
I heard (and others have confirmed) that Europeans get 7 weeks off every year from work. This is mandatory vacation, and not something which you can "choose" to take or not.
Israelis have very good English. Especially when compared to Taiwanese. They both learn English in school, so I wonder what the difference is.
The elevators stop on every floor on the Sabbath (Saturday), because you cannot push the buttons. There are separate elevators for non-Sabbath-observing people.
Friday is the beginning of the weekend. The workweek in Israel is Sunday through Thursday. Friday is used to take care of stuff before the Sabbath (Saturday).
"Why did you let me look like that as a senior in high school?" --SW
Only Americans randomly talk to strangers on the street. I'm not sure if this was because we were Asian, so we obviously couldn't speak Hebrew, but I have never been approached by a stranger in a foreign country. On the other hand, I can just be outside getting stuff from my car when dog-walkers will say hi or have a conversation with me.
I heard (and others have confirmed) that Europeans get 7 weeks off every year from work. This is mandatory vacation, and not something which you can "choose" to take or not.
Israelis have very good English. Especially when compared to Taiwanese. They both learn English in school, so I wonder what the difference is.
The elevators stop on every floor on the Sabbath (Saturday), because you cannot push the buttons. There are separate elevators for non-Sabbath-observing people.
Friday is the beginning of the weekend. The workweek in Israel is Sunday through Thursday. Friday is used to take care of stuff before the Sabbath (Saturday).
"Why did you let me look like that as a senior in high school?" --SW
Only Americans randomly talk to strangers on the street. I'm not sure if this was because we were Asian, so we obviously couldn't speak Hebrew, but I have never been approached by a stranger in a foreign country. On the other hand, I can just be outside getting stuff from my car when dog-walkers will say hi or have a conversation with me.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
quick note part 1
About to go landsailing.
Here's some stuff from the Israel trip.
"I keep turning around to talk to you and you keep bugging out! It's like you're anti-queuing or something!"
--Heard in line at the Frankfurt, Germany airport McDonalds. Possibly the most British thing I have ever heard.
"If you treat Melissa like this, I'm going to tell her to boycott you."
--my Mom to my brother
Israel has some of the nicest beaches in the world. And there's very few beach front properties because the government doesn't allow it. So there are huge expanses of beach with no development around them. It's awesome.
In Israel, (as with most of the rest of the world) the cars are smaller on average due to fuel costs (if you saw the picture of gas prices, you know what I'm talking about). Also, because of this, one of the common perks they receive with their jobs is a company car and the company will pay for gas.
Word of advice I received from SWA and AA: When swimming in the Dead Sea, don't rub your eyes, or fart. The reason behind this is left as an exercise for the reader.
Haifa is probably the only place in the world where the rich live on the mountain and the poor live near the beach.
In Israel, the waiters (or everyone?) are very impatient. We were taking too long to order our drinks so he just left before half the table had ordered.
We had a free movie in the hotel, so we decided to watch Le Divorce. After we ordered it, the movie started and the credits started coming up. Someone said, "Hey, Cedric the Entertainer is in it!" Shortly after this, we realized we were watching Johnson Family Vacation.
Israel has the largest diamond exchange in the world. If the prices are kept artificially high, and this is common knowledge, then why do people continue to buy them?
People stared at us the whole time we were in Israel. We saw maybe 1 or 2 other Asians there (not including the tour groups). This is the reason behind cliques in US high schools that no other country can understand. Everywhere else, everyone looks and acts the same (for the most part). They are all Taiwanese or Israeli (those are the only two countries I've been to). But in the US, everyone is different. So you naturally cling to those who are similar to you. In Taiwan, they were baffled at why movies about high school always had cliques. They didn't think it was real.
Here's some stuff from the Israel trip.
"I keep turning around to talk to you and you keep bugging out! It's like you're anti-queuing or something!"
--Heard in line at the Frankfurt, Germany airport McDonalds. Possibly the most British thing I have ever heard.
"If you treat Melissa like this, I'm going to tell her to boycott you."
--my Mom to my brother
Israel has some of the nicest beaches in the world. And there's very few beach front properties because the government doesn't allow it. So there are huge expanses of beach with no development around them. It's awesome.
In Israel, (as with most of the rest of the world) the cars are smaller on average due to fuel costs (if you saw the picture of gas prices, you know what I'm talking about). Also, because of this, one of the common perks they receive with their jobs is a company car and the company will pay for gas.
Word of advice I received from SWA and AA: When swimming in the Dead Sea, don't rub your eyes, or fart. The reason behind this is left as an exercise for the reader.
Haifa is probably the only place in the world where the rich live on the mountain and the poor live near the beach.
In Israel, the waiters (or everyone?) are very impatient. We were taking too long to order our drinks so he just left before half the table had ordered.
We had a free movie in the hotel, so we decided to watch Le Divorce. After we ordered it, the movie started and the credits started coming up. Someone said, "Hey, Cedric the Entertainer is in it!" Shortly after this, we realized we were watching Johnson Family Vacation.
Israel has the largest diamond exchange in the world. If the prices are kept artificially high, and this is common knowledge, then why do people continue to buy them?
People stared at us the whole time we were in Israel. We saw maybe 1 or 2 other Asians there (not including the tour groups). This is the reason behind cliques in US high schools that no other country can understand. Everywhere else, everyone looks and acts the same (for the most part). They are all Taiwanese or Israeli (those are the only two countries I've been to). But in the US, everyone is different. So you naturally cling to those who are similar to you. In Taiwan, they were baffled at why movies about high school always had cliques. They didn't think it was real.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Korean ageism
In Korea, due to the reverance of elders, there is a law that prevents companies from hiring new employees (people with no experience, fresh college grads, etc.) over the age of 27, 28, or 29 (it varies by company). "Why?" the dear reader asks. Well, you've asked the right blog. Let's look at an example, shall we? We shall.
What happens if a new employee is say, 40? And his manager is, say, 28? The manager will have a hard time telling the new employee what to do (due to the cultural habit of respecting your elders). This only applies to entry level positions, so it's not like you can't switch jobs after you hit 30.
I heard this from my Korean coworker, DS.
What happens if a new employee is say, 40? And his manager is, say, 28? The manager will have a hard time telling the new employee what to do (due to the cultural habit of respecting your elders). This only applies to entry level positions, so it's not like you can't switch jobs after you hit 30.
I heard this from my Korean coworker, DS.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
These aren't the droids you're looking for
The Israel pictures are up if anyone cares.
My server sucks. It keeps deleting the stuff I post. Oh well, I gotta migrate it to my new computer.
My server sucks. It keeps deleting the stuff I post. Oh well, I gotta migrate it to my new computer.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
This is the post-90s
I keep reading/hearing/seeing how girls want to marry a mi/bi/tri-llionaire. Well, I for one am sick of it. C'mon people! This is the (whatever-this-current-decade-is-called)'s! What about gender equality? Why is it always up to the guy to make the money? Where are the girls who want to make their own fortunes? Without them, I'll never have my dream of marrying into wealth. *sigh*
Please, dear reader (that's you), tell all the females you know to become ambitious, driven people, make a lot of money, and then find a nice, Christian, Asian, mandarin-speaking female to give the money to. And then tell THAT girl to come find me.
Yeah, yeah, all the posts about Israel are coming.
Please, dear reader (that's you), tell all the females you know to become ambitious, driven people, make a lot of money, and then find a nice, Christian, Asian, mandarin-speaking female to give the money to. And then tell THAT girl to come find me.
Yeah, yeah, all the posts about Israel are coming.
Monday, August 08, 2005
just me and my God
All alone again. I'm at the Frankfurt airport in Germany where our family just parted ways after visiting Israel for 10 days. I have the longest layover (again) so I was just going to wait with my family til they took off. But they are in a different terminal and the security people check boarding passes to make sure you're supposed to be there, which I'm not. After an impromptu farewell, I am left all alone again. Kinda sucks to travel alone. But it frees you up for a lot of pondering time.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
For you, the reader
If you are getting on an international flight, you are required to check-in 1 hr. before the flight takes off. Otherwise, they don't let you on. I don't know this for any particular reason, I just thought I'd share out of the goodness of my heart.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Just remember, there's someone dying of starvation somewhere right now
According to Forbes, this is how much yearly post-tax income it takes to live well in the U.S.
Of course, their definition of "well" may be more lavish than many people are used to.
Boston, MA $407,200
Los Angeles, CA $366,655
Columbus, OH $222,192
Of course, their definition of "well" may be more lavish than many people are used to.
traveling peeves
I heard there are people who ship their luggage to their destination instead of bringing it on the plane with them. You don't have to deal with your luggage at the aiport, nor wait at the baggage claim. But apparently the biggest draw is avoiding the annoyance of the airlines losing your luggage.
They must have to shell out quite a bit of money to ship luggage. I guess people are really distrustful of the airlines.
They must have to shell out quite a bit of money to ship luggage. I guess people are really distrustful of the airlines.
Racial issues
Why is it that if you have one parent who is Asian, and the other is white, you are considered hapa/mixed/half, but if you have any ancestors who are black, you are considered black?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)