Monday, May 30, 2005

I present to you, for your enjoyment...

Pictures have been posted. Features include but are not limited to:

  • E3 photos

  • a Benny MaoTM production

  • miscellaneous other weird stuff


Weddings are creeping up like a fart someone let in the corner of the room and then slowly spreads to cover the entire area. I have to come up with a speech. And finish the video.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Summer is nice

I like summer.

Went to E3. It was crowded and they gave away lots of useless free stuff. Took pictures of the new Xbox 360. The whole show is like an amusement park. You wait in line for everything.

Saw Episode 3. It was good. I fell asleep during the first half though, cuz we saw it at 3am. I love being unemployed.

We started a new blog for random weirdness that goes on at the Exodus. Check it out.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Be careful what you wish for

me: "How come all you guys moved to LA?"
DVJ: "I dunno, it has to be God. I remember in college when I said 'I will never, never move to LA.'"
me: "Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?"
DVJ: "I know, God has a great sense of humor."
--pause--
DVJ: "I will never, never marry somebody hot."

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Proof the commentators really have nothing to talk about during high speed chases

I was watching yet another high speed chase on the news today when the commentator said, "The suspect is coming up on an intersection where he will once again have to make a decision on whether to go east, west, or continue south." Thank you for that bit of information. I was getting confused there for a minute.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Huh?

BH: "You only look like you do."

Translation (courtesy of BM): "Only you look like you do." (Referring to Pax Americana and the unique position Asian Americans have in that they speak English, yet have an Asian face, which gives them an advantage in Asian missions.)

Monday, May 09, 2005

Allergies are bad for you

I'm too tired to write about anything funny. There were too many interesting things that happened during finals up til now.
  • Someone was moaning and passed out in one of my finals, we had to call campus security
  • Made it to Ohio safely, it was cold, I missed my friend's wedding ceremony because we were late (it was only 10 min long)
  • Made it back to California safely, where the sun shines year round
  • finished finals; am pondering on what to do with the rest of my life
  • helped out Exodus at the OMF conference, where many funny conversations took place
    • JT: "Let's all share our insecurities about ourselves."
    • BM: "You can't swim with stingrays."
      NS: "You can in Stingray City."
    • BM reverse dunking into thin air when he thought the hoop was behind him.
    • Eating at a restaurant when NS decides to order and looks at a menu from a different restaurant than the one we were at
  • Suffering through allergies all of today (not fun)
Did I mention that in Taiwan movie theaters, when you buy a ticket, you get assigned seating? We went to go see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy today and my visiting Taiwan guest asked me if there was assigned seating. In Taiwan, every ticket is printed with a seat number.

free country n. a country in which you can choose your seat in a movie theater rather than being assigned one.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Finals are over

Finals are over. I locked my keys in my car when I parked in the garage. Now I gotta call Acura Roadside Assistance.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Finals

Finals are here again. They still suck. Possibly the last finals I take in a while? Who knows.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Exodus Worship Night

Pictures from the Exodus Worship Night and other moments are posted.

Too bad I don't have any other funny ones of DVJ.

This is for you Dr. DW.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Academic fondness

Don't you love it when you've just stayed up all night finishing a project that is due the next day so you can go to a casino with your friends, only to find out that you have a paper due that same day that you haven't started on? Me too.

Don't ask

Congratulations, you are the millionth reader of this website! For your efforts, you get a special 3-in-1 post.

A few weeks ago, TC was wearing glasses because he had an allergic reaction and his contacts were bothering him.

TC: "I hate wearing glasses because they make me look old."
(jump to FC, who is the oldest one in the room, and also wears glasses)
FC: "Thanks."
< insert laughter here >

Flash forward to tonight, at men's group.
It was JN's birthday last Saturday, but he went back to North Carolina to visit friends. He came back today, and JT made a cake. After we sing a horrible rendition of Happy Birthday, someone asks JN how old he is.
JN: "I'm old. (in chinese) 29 years old."
(jump to FC, whose age is greater than 29)
FC: "(imitating JN in a whiny voice) I'm old, I'm turning 29."
< insert laughter here >

About 20 minutes later, it is announced we have _another_ cake. Mud Pie ice cream cake. FC has recently hired a physical trainer and is on a strict diet.
FC: "C'mon, don't you know some of us are on a DIET?"
< insert laughter here >

Man, we're too nice to our friends.
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While playing basketball on Monday, Transhi was shooting with one hand. He broke his arm about 2 months ago (also playing basketball, people never learn from their mistakes) and so he couldn't use his other hand. He usually wears a sling, but that night, he just wore a brace-like-doohicky under his shirt, so it wasn't very noticable. He just kept his arm by his side and used his other hand to dribble and shoot. We kept calling him the one armed bandit. There was a little kid that was shooting with us and when he heard us, he noticed Transhi was only shooting with one hand.

Little Kid (incredulously): "You don't know how to shoot with two hands?"

What is a middle-schooler doing out at 9pm playing basketball with a bunch of strangers, anyway? Asian strangers, at that. Doesn't he know we're dangerous?
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A Native American is walking down the sidewalk in an upscale suburban neighborhood behind two strangers. He is good-looking, about 23, and plays the bass like none other. The two strangers are Caucasian, one male, one female. They look like they are a couple. They are about the same age, and attractive (as attractive as Caucasians can be, anyway. We all know Asians are the best looking people in the world). The female suddenly turns around with a disgusted look on her face. The Native American looks down and to his own horror, finds he has peed his pants. Embarrassed, he picks up his pace and walks past the two disgust-stricken Caucasians, who can't help but stare at him. The girl makes a comment about how 'they' can't help it, as if Native Americans are infamous for uncontrollably urinating in their pants. Out of nowhere, the Native American notices a truck coming down the street. He seizes the opportunity, and pushes the girl into the street, just as the truck is passing. The girl screams, and is instantly killed as the truck hits her. Her male companion is shocked at what he has just witnessed, but soon he turns furious. The Native American turns and runs down the sidewalk, hoping to escape the inevitable fury of this unknown aquaintance(there's an oxymoron for ya). As he runs, he turns into a house with an open door. As he is about to enter, two girls appear in the doorway. (For clarity, they are called Girl A and Girl B) Girl A says "I'm responsible for 3 girls who don't like you anymore. Me, my sister, and my friend (referring to Girl B)." Apparently, this is in reference to what has just transpired. Girls don't like random murderers, apparently. Girl B says, "I saw that digusting thing you just did, but are you currently dating anyone?" At which point Girl A pulls Girl B back, dumbfounded that she would still be interested in this heinous person standing in the doorway. Just then, the male counterpart to the now deceased rag doll on the street arrives at the house and the Native American starts to punch him into a bloody pulp. Blood squirts everywhere a la "Kill Bill" and the screen fades to black.

I had this dream while I was taking a nap on Monday. I was the Native American. Go figure.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Stan, got your message

Correction, YOU'RE the loser.

Note to self

It is possible to fit 2 Oncology fellows plus 1 PhD fellow plus their luggage into my car.

Driving fast on CA freeways freaks out people from Baltimore.

It is possible to go from Anaheim to Long Beach, grab dinner, go to UCLA, drive thru Beverly Hills, find Mann's Chinese Theater and back to Anaheim in 6 hours.

Mann's Chinese Theater is on Hollywood Blvd. not Sunset Blvd.

It's pretty easy to beat a dragon boat team with half as many people as your team. Even if it's your team's first practice.

California beaches are the reason it would be hard to move back to Ohio. That, and the weather.

If you show up late to a dinner with your Uncles, Aunts, and cousins, they will want you to finish off the rest of the food. They will also try to make you eat as fast as possible by pouring your tea for you, clearing your plate, putting food on your plate and giving you clean wet-cloths. And they will talk about you the whole time.

Breaking up with your girlfriend is big news to the extended family.

Having a big family is great. There's always someone to talk about or someone to help you out when you travel.

Going to bed after a long day dragon-boating, playing beach volleyball, eating dinner with relatives, and putting over 100 miles on your car is priceless. Especially if your body is sore.

DW, hope you had fun reading at the beach. What a fun day, it was great to hang out. Share that boba with your roomies.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

In an ideal world...

"In an ideal world, women would be seen and not heard." --DVJ

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Pictures from Kayla's birthday party and the Exodus excursion to Mana are online. See the link on the right.

I now pronounce you...

So many weddings. I called my RSVP in to my high school friend's wedding tonight. Time: midnight EST. Oops. Woke her up. It said on the invite to RSVP on or before April 11. Granted, they didn't send it to me til a week before it was due, but that's forgivable.

So forget the tax poll. Who cares about taxes. (I still haven't done mine). I have a much more useful (to me) poll. You know how you have to give a wedding gift when you go to weddings? Well, you do. How much is the "appropriate" amount to spend? $50-100? In that ballpark, right? (I'm a grad student, I'm not rich.....yet) But what if you're giving money? Do you give more? Or less? Or the same? And why? Discuss. Give a 500 word essay. You have 20 minutes. Starting.....now. #2 pencil only please.

I've already had this discussion with BM the other day.

Now I found out I'm supposed to give money to another "oh-so-close" couple too.

And why are weddings nowadays supposed to entertain the guests? It's like you have to have a slideshow, games, entertaining MC, door prizes, parting gifts, raffle, movie, and a free car giveaway. What is this, Vegas? Oh wait...

What other uses of pronounce are there? Dead. He was pronounced dead after he died. Weird.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Grueling

Sunday night 9:45pm to 6am - help Jean shoot his student film
Monday 6am to 4pm - drive home in a daze and crash on my bed
Monday 5pm to 6:20pm - class (more sleep time)
Monday 8pm to 1am - help Jean shoot his student film
Tuesday 11am to 12am(midnight) - help Jean shoot his student film

Making films is tiring work. But I did drive on the wrong side of the road last night (this morning?). Can't say I've done that before. It was in an empty park though, no oncoming traffic. Maybe next time.

East Coast vs. West Coast

  • Pop - Soda/Coke

  • Highway - Freeway

  • Middle School - Jr. High


  • There's also a lot of "s" adding around here. Laters, whenevers, Septembers, etc.

    Friday, April 08, 2005

    Safari users

    I'm hoping everything shows up right for all you Safari users out there. Please let me know if the poll shows up on the right hand side now.

    Wednesday, April 06, 2005

    Chinese restaurants have great service

    Chinese are known for their great service. Consider the following:

    Four Chinese American guys decide to go out to eat one fine Southern Californian evening. This is not a suprise because, let's face it, Southern California has some of the nicest evenings anywhere.

    They decide to go a Chinese restaurant, not that the restaurant building itself is of any ethnicity, but rather the food that is served there. This restaurant will go unnamed because I don't want everyone crowding it because of the awesome service. Also, because this is supposed to be a hypothetical story.

    They walk in, are seated in about 5 minutes, and proceed to pour over the menu. When the time comes (read: they are starving and tired of all the waiters/waitresses ignoring them), they need to flag down a waitress because all Chinese restaurants have waiters/waitresses that come when you want them to. The waitress proceeds to take their orders and leaves to fill them. Time: approx. 10:15pm. The orders: One "Chicken a la king", two "Pork Chops", one "satueed shrimp with rice".

    It take an usually long amount of time to receive their drinks. They spot the 4 Thai teas at the counter and know it is for their table. No one brings them their drinks. Grass grows and gets cut. Nations rise and fall. Bad movies are sat through. Finally, BM goes to the counter to see if he can get the drinks. The counter guy says, no, but he will bring them over.

    The waiter at the counter brings the four drinks, all of which are Thai ice teas. At least 3 of them taste like they've been made with sour milk, so the waitress is again flagged down and 2 are exchanged. A few minutes pass, the waitress returns with 2 soups, saying the other 2 will come shortly.

    A few more minutes pass, with no sign of the soups or the remaining food. The four guys flag down a waiter and tell him that two soups have yet to come out. He goes into the kitchen.

    The waitress comes back a little bit later with the two soups. They are quickly consumed. The waiter comes back after the soups are consumed and gives 2 more soups. The guys have now received 6 soups when they ordered 4. All Chinese restaurants have excellent communication among their workers.

    3 of the guys' food comes out. The two pork chops, and the shrimp with rice. The conversation gets into gear; 3 guys chow down on their food. Approx 20 min have passed since ordering.

    Everyone wonders where the "Chicken a la king" is. The four guys flag down a "manager" (he's wearing a shirt and tie, not a uniform). They proceed to tell him the "chicken a la king" has yet to come. The following conversation takes place.

    DVJ: "We ordered a Chicken A La King and it hasn't come out."
    Manager: (shakes his head and puts his hand on the guy's shoulder as if somebody just died) "Awwww, sorry, we ran out of chicken breast and we forgot to tell you. Do you want to order something else or just take it off the order?"

    Dumbfounded that a restaurant can "forget" to tell someone their order isn't coming, DVJ says to take it off the order, and he'll go without food. He changes his mind and walks off to flag down a waiter and order pork chops.

    Restaurant: 1 DVJ: 0

    He comes back, conversation again picks up. Meanwhile, the Thai ice teas and other drinks have been consumed and refilled. DVJ asks, "Do you get free refills here?" "Yeah." DVJ finishes his tea and flags down the waitress for a refill.

    Waitress: "Oh, that drink you only get one of."

    Restaurant: 2 DVJ: 0

    Another 10 min pass. They flag down the "manager" again, to ask about the pork chops.

    DVJ: "I ordered pork chops, and it hasn't come out."
    Manager: "Is this before or after you took Chicken a la king off the order?"
    DVJ: "After."
    Manager: "Who did you tell? Which waitress or waiter?"
    DVJ: "I told that waiter over there."
    Manager: "Oh. They're not making it for you. Sorry, I'll go check on it right now."
    All Chinese restaurants have excellent communication among their workers.

    This is immediately followed by the waitress bringing a glass of ice water for DVJ as a consolation prize because his drink doesn't get refills. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

    Restaurant: 3 DVJ: 0

    Time: about an hour since walking in. DVJ has had a bowl of soup and one drink. Everyone else has finished their meals. The pork chops have yet to come out. The manager stops by and says, "I'm sorry about this." TC did get DVJ a free refill though. Another 10 min pass. The pork chops still don't come out. Everyone wonders if that last statement means the manager is sorry because DVJ will not get his pork chops. (maybe they ran out?)

    DVJ accepts the fact that he will eat nothing tonight and flags down the manager to get the check. DVJ goes home hungry, but with first hand knowledge that Chinese restaurants have the best service.

    Time: a little over an hour
    Meal: none for DVJ (plus a drink with no refills)
    # of times 'flag' appeared in this story: 8