Words of Mouths - AZN Mafia

Migrated

2011-01-06T03:31:00.001-05:00

Please visit the affiliate.

http://cheerstoreality.blogspot.com/

Asian Outlook Fall 2010 Issue #2

2010-12-07T18:28:00.001-05:00

Advertising again. As I said before, the last issue was a warm-up. This one's drastically better in quality -- in both design and writing -- although I still caught a few errors here and there. One day it'll be perfect... one day.

Asian Outlook - "Like an Editor"

2010-11-20T17:23:00.002-05:00

Be very amazed with this music video parody of Far East Movement's "Like a G6." It's my magazine's submission to Binghamton University's annual Asian Night. Took about a week's time to complete. Enjoy.

2010-10-27T22:32:00.000-04:00

I took this from another blog I'm writing on:

---------------

Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise, a pioneer "spacecraft," will mark a new era where regular people can tour the edges of the final frontier. The world's first spaceport runway opened in a remote desert of New Mexico, prompting huge fanfare for all the enthusiasts and guests present during the celebratory flight.

"With each flight we make, we will learn more. We'll experience more. We'll open up more opportunities that we cannot even conceive of today," said Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin.

It has been nearly half a century since Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first man to journey to space. Now, in as little as nine months, everyday civilians will have the opportunity to experience the beyond for themselves.

Even though I have a feeling that tickets to space might be a little pricey in the beginning, curiosity will force me to pay closer attention to this breakthrough. As Branson mentioned, more opportunities will be opened up from here. Perhaps one day, humanity can colonize the outreaches of space.

Below, an exclusive test flight of the VSS Enterprise and its mothership, VMS Eve, can be seen:

Asian Outlook Fall 2010 Issue #1

2010-10-18T16:16:00.002-04:00

Asian Outlook Fall 2010 Issue #1

Advertising again (though a delayed update). Since most of us working on this magazine were inactive pretty much the whole summer, the quality of this issue is not up to standards. Ah well, warming up. I'll make sure the next issue is top-notch.

A Ho-Hum Scribble

2010-10-16T21:20:00.000-04:00

It's been over half a year since the last post. The blog was pretty much down-to-the-core lifeless. But no matter what, it serves a purpose: acting as an open journal. Whatever's on anyone's mind, this is a medium that is usually always available. If I want to say something and I'm completely alone, I might as well jot some things down here. The joyous, the ineffable, the aggravating, the grand, whatever.

Too much has been happening since the end of the Spring 2010 semester. All the events equate to just one point: I'm changing. Not my personality or the way I go about my tasks, but just some minor aspects of life that I treat differently nowadays. I used to be a heavier drinker -- safe drinker, mind you -- but recently I found myself taking only a couple of beers for social purposes. I wouldn't trash myself like I used to freshman and sophomore year. Hell, I barely get even buzzed or tipsy now. Instead of diving into a group of drunkards, I stay back and just monitor the environment.

And I'm definitely not the only one who changed in that manner. A lot of my close friends have become more -- how should I put this -- responsible. Maybe, classier? No longer is beer and hard liquor the thing. Now it's wine. Wine in conservative doses. Wine on occasion.

I don't think we can help it either. We simply grew out of the activities. I can definitely enjoy a beer here and there, a glass of wine to sip on, a flashy cocktail, etc. Just once in a while, though. I don't mind the music blasting in the background. I don't mind having a disgustingly sticky kitchen counter. I don't mind the periodic parties. But how I act during parties today is noticeably different from how I act in parties in the past.

Calm. Collected. Reserved. I could be described as such in the past, but I think right now I'm a few standard deviations above whatever I was. It's odd. What happened? I'm not against it at all, I like this newfound maturity. Less trouble and stress, more productivity and respect.

Then again, now I'm this boring, laid-back senior who doesn't do much but work, work, work. Either work, work, work or talk about subjects that the majority of the population -- or the younger kids -- don't give an elephant's ass about.

I take pride in honing whatever skills I may have now, in anticipation that they will serve me well in the future. I try and take care of the new freshman class -- if I can -- or at least new people in general, just so I may leave a lasting impression that not everyone in Binghamton is wack. Well, that's not entirely true... there are only a handful of wack people in Bing that I know of. But still, I do want to leave a nice impression. A legacy, maybe.

Sometimes I find myself saying things to people I would normally not say. Usually I stick with humorous, nonsensical talk. Or some things about entertainment and sports. But now, I give way more advice than I used to. All these experiences gathered up through the last four years; it's surely piling up now. I remain modest, as a rule of thumb, regardless of how people may perceive me. As for my own opinion, I'll still just go with the flow. Changing bit by bit in mindset is merely an outcome of going with the flow.

Eh, anyway. I just want to graduate. Nothing really outstanding to look forward to but that. That, and life after graduation.

Asian Outlook Spring 2010 Issue #2

2010-04-13T14:38:00.000-04:00

Again, can't help but advertise.

http://issuu.com/asianoutlook/docs/asian_outlook_spring_2010_issue__2_final

21st Birthday

2010-03-27T17:43:00.002-04:00

Awesome Birthday with Myra, Tony, and Jeff in Buffalo!!!!

Asian Outlook Spring 2010 Issue #1

2010-02-27T14:55:00.005-05:00

Can't help but advertise, right?

http://issuu.com/asianoutlook/docs/ao_spring_2010_issue__1

Forever 21?

2010-02-01T17:43:00.002-05:00

It's a good age, right? 21.

At least for another 364 days, I can start saying to everyone, "To hell with the drinking age!"

Honestly, there is no difference in feeling 21 years old and feeling 20 years old. But in a nation that is tied for the highest minimum drinking age, turning 21 is culturally a huge deal. Aside from many Middle Eastern or Muslim countries (where the consumption of alcohol is illegal), the United States is pretty strict on alcohol-related issues.

But going with the norm, I did try and hold a little something for my 21st birthday. The sad thing is -- though this seems pretty normal -- I barely remember anything that happened that night.

Thus, I went on a short adventure, gathering stories from witnesses of what "supposedly" happened.

- I drank out of a hollowed-out pineapple. This I vaguely remember.
- I spilled a lot of beer out of said pineapple. This I don't remember.
- I made some kind of speech regarding academic probation based on underage drinking. This I don't remember.
- I took 14 straight shots... plus other drinks in between. I only remember most of the shots, but other than that, I have no clue what I drank.
- I briefly played drunken piano. This I don't remember at all.
- I was screaming at someone or something momentarily after I began to black out. This I obviously don't remember.
- I was bartending drunk. How in hell did that happen?

On another note, there were many signs regarding what happened that night. When I woke up around 2-3 PM the next day, there were bottle caps in my back pocket. There was a crushed beer can tucked away in the corner of my room. The towel rack was torn off the bathroom wall. I had a tie strung around my neck. My desk reeked of spilled alcohol. One of my textbooks was stained with pineapple daiquiri. Of course, I had a raging headache, but that's natural.

Friends that came said they had a great deal of fun. I appreciate that. As long as people enjoyed themselves, I can say the night was a success. I sincerely express my gratitude. For those who came, those who helped make the night the way it was, for those who managed to take care of me after I passed out, those who took the shots with me, and for those who offered really neat gifts. We only turn 21 once in our lifetimes, so why not let yourself loose this one time?

DVD Movie: The Proposal

2010-01-18T00:37:00.003-05:00

Oh, geez, haven't written in here for a while. How about that, nearly a month of inactivity?

Most recently, I sat down with the family to have a little movie night. Past films have included Borat (2006) and The Hangover (2009) - both ideal family films, The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Marley & Me (2008), The Namesake (2006), off the top of my head, amongst many others.

And then came The Proposal (2009), a snappy American romantic-comedy film starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. It's not the greatest film, nor is it the greatest romance film, comedy film, etc. However, it does keep up the energy for a decent amount of time. I'm certain that the plot is not entirely original, but it works.

For those that have not watched the movie yet, Sandra Bullock basically plays a workaholic, control-freak style chief editor - Margaret Tate - at a publishing company, who is accompanied by Ryan Reynolds, her somewhat too generous assistant - Andrew Paxton. Tate, a native of Canada, one day is placed on the verge of deportation (visa transgression, of course), realizes that by marrying a U.S. citizen (hapless Paxton), she can navigate around the immigration laws.

And so the comedy starts there. Paxton, wanting to become an editor at the publishing company, works out a deal with his boss, agreeing to marry her as long as he becomes editor. They plan to wed, and as soon as all the necessary paperwork goes through, divorce afterward. Of course, things don't go so smoothly... in the first 95% of the 108 minutes worth of screening time. And there's some more comedy to go with a budding romance.

Prototypical. Many characteristics of a romantic-comedy film show up, making it fairly easy to predict upcoming events. But the good thing is that despite being able to foreshadow, most events in the film bring about subtle twists to bring up some more funny. The only downside is that the writers didn't bother twisting the ending too much. In layman's terms, from the climax to the ending, it was pretty generic.

It was an enjoyable film, though. I particularly liked Bullock's portrayal of a socially awkward, fierce witch of a businesslady. Conversely, I also enjoyed watching Reynolds take hold of the somewhat victimized and confused role of a good-hearted assistant editor.

Most likely not a worthy film for an Oscar, but at least it took part in an award at the Golden Globe (Bullock nominated "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy, or Musical").

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T00:24:00.004-05:00

Every other year, it seems like Christmas is celebrated either at my place or at my cousin's. I think the best part about the holiday is that you get to spend a lot of time with family members you normally don't see on a regular basis. For me, since all of my cousins on my mother's side are older than me (interestingly enough, each approximately older by 10, 8, 6, and 4 years, respectively), they have their own lives to manage... work, bills, even children.

My little niece, Waverly, who I've mentioned before in a Thanksgiving post has gotten even bigger. Still, she's only about 1.5 years old. But now, in comparison to her personality a month ago, little Waverly has an attitude now. She's far more open than I've ever remembered, with even more energy, and still with as much brains as she's always had.

My cousin David recorded this video. Waverly's bilingual, which I believe contributes a lot to her intelligence. Split between English and Mandarin, she now understands (albeit limited amounts) complete sentences and can form simple ones of her own. In this video, she pretty much repeats how much she "loves chicken." But at the same time, she constantly repeats the phrase, "love you," after declaring her unrequited love for poultry.

Later on, Waverly plays the role of a little Santa, distributing presents to everyone. As I've mentioned in the Thanksgiving post, she's really keen on Chinese family titles. She is able to differentiate between uncles and aunts from either the mother's or father's side, sisters, grandparents, great-grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and so on. Asking Waverly to deliver a present to an aunt, she'll scamper off with the box in hand and eagerly hand over the gift without wasting any time.

Once she hits 2 years old (the infamous age of the "terrible two"), I wonder how she'll be then?

And here's another family photo taken by my cousin David.

Random Thoughts from People 25-35 Years of Age

2009-12-12T22:51:00.004-05:00

(My friend sent me this so I thought I'd share. I don't know how many of you already saw this but if you did, good for you.)

- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

- More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell
my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves
me.

- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.

- I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?

- Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to
be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like
check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to
yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're
crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

- That's enough, Nickelback.

- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

- Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?

- Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

- There is a great need for sarcasm font.

- Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first
saw it.

- I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually
becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting
90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's
laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little
bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the
only one who really, really gets it.

- How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

- I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.

- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I?m trying to
finish a text.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to
say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod
and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

- What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each
other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.

- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

- Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if
I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

- If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be
a problem....

- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.

- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.

- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I
swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

- When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.

- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

- Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.

- It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

- Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with
it.

- Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car
keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I?d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze
button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time
every time...

- My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

- It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.

- I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.

- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

- I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

- The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think
about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people
eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard
before dinner.

Keep waving

-Rehan

Several Nature Photos

2009-12-10T15:26:00.010-05:00

I found some photos scattered throughout my main hard drive that I took in the past. I don't know why -- perhaps for artistic purposes -- they are in black and white.

Mostly nature-themed, I think I might actually incorporate some of these photos in Asian Outlook's Conscience section in the first Spring '10 issue. There are others lying around, but these three are probably my favorite ones:

Flower Blossom

Simple and delicate. Much like many nature-themed photos I periodically take, they are direct and definitive, self-explanatory, and genuine.

I only wish I knew what kind of flower this is. It adds a fresh taste, since photos of generic tulips and roses grow boring after a while.

Mantis

When I was a kid, I was absolutely obsessed over an insect called the praying mantis. They were huge, averaging between 4 to 6 inches. If I recall correctly, this photo was taken in Taiwan, where I found a mantis that was nearly the length of my hand (around 6-7 inches).

Now that I think about it, I'm still fascinated with these badass, predatory insects...

Longhorn Beetle

Don't let it fool you, this little insect does not quite match up in size with the mantis. Also taken in Taiwan, near a Buddhist temple, the beetle probably fared no more than 2 inches in length.

Interestingly enough, since this was taken at a temple, visitors and monks alike granted this critter a safe path to the nearby gardens, where it immediately blended into the vegetation.

Article: Hideki Matsui

2009-12-03T13:35:00.004-05:00

Asian Outlook is putting out a new issue before the end of the semester. A while ago, I finished a short article after the New York Yankees claimed their 27th World Series title on Hideki Matsui. This article will show up in the upcoming issue.

Godzilla for New York
Jeff Hwang

Asked how he felt after playing one of the greatest games in World Series history, the soft-spoken Hideki Matsui simply said it was “unbelievable.” His team, after enduring 162 games through 181 days of the regular baseball season and 15 games through 29 days of the postseason, the New York Yankees emerged once again as the champions of baseball.

Matsui, 35, became a one-man army in New York’s clinching game against the Philadelphia Phillies on November 4, 2009. Despite missing a significant amount of at-bats due to the lack of the designated hitter position when playing on National League turf, Matsui still hit 8-for-13 (a .615 batting average), including a double, 3 home runs, with 8 runs batted in. However, out of those 8 RBIs, 6 of them came in the clinching game when Matsui went 3-for-4, hitting a two-run home run, a two-run single, and then a two-run double in three consecutive at-bats to cap his explosive night. The performance was tied for a record setter, matching Bobby Richardson’s feat with the 1960 New York Yankees, and allowed Matsui to claim the prestigious MVP award of the 2009 World Series.

It marked the first time that a Japanese-born player was named the MVP of the World Series. In his final contract year with the Yankees, it may be possible that Matsui’s time in New York has finally expired. The man nicknamed “Godzilla” in both Japan and the United States came a long way, though, with the sport of baseball mixed into his blood at an early age.

In 1977, at the age of three, Hideki Matsui started his baseball career simply by playing catch with his father. When he was ten years old, the future star joined his first baseball team. Originally batting right-handed, Matsui was actually forced to bat lefty after his older brother and friends felt that they were being overpowered by the young star. Consequently, Matsui became the powerful left-handed batter that the baseball world knows of today. He quickly steamrolled through high school baseball teams and eventually claimed the nickname, “Godzilla,” as his own. The young Matsui’s ability was recognized in the Japanese professional baseball league, which led to a first round draft pick to join the Yomiuri Giants—the Japanese team equivalent to the United States’ New York Yankees.

In ten seasons as an outfielder with the Giants (1993 to 2002), Matsui’s name became a label for power hitting. Averaging more than 30 home runs per season (with a single season high of 50 in his final season in Japan) and holding a career average of .304, Matsui epitomized power as fellow countryman Ichiro Suzuki defined contact and speed. Tearing up Japanese pitchers, Matsui was awarded MVP honors three times in the Japanese league (1996, 2000, and 2002). With virtually the entire spotlight focused on him after Ichiro departed for the Seattle Mariners in the United States, it was inevitable that the MLB would eventually set its sights on the star player. At the same time, though, Matsui already had plans to move to the United States after his final contract year with the Yomiuri Giants.

In 2003, after winning the Japanese championship for the third time and claiming his third MVP award, Matsui signed a three-year deal to play left field with the New York Yankees and began his MLB career as seen today. With the loss of star players Ichiro and Matsui, Japanese baseball fans began tuning into American baseball broadcasts more than ever. It was no longer unusual for baseball fans in Japan to wake up on early mornings to catch the night games in the United States.

Matsui, like Ichiro, adjusted to the American style of baseball rather quickly. Reinforcing his role as “Godzilla,” Matsui instantly achieved fame by belting a grand slam in his debut game as a Yankee. Consistently, Matsui settled into his power hitter mode in the United States, without losing a beat since crossing overseas. From 2003 to 2005, Matsui drove in over 100 runs per season. Because of the productivity, Matsui earned himself a new contract through 2009.

Unfortunately, injuries plagued the aging slugger in 2006 and 2008, reducing his offensive output. With his knees shaken up and his speed reduced, Matsui was relegated to the designated hitter role for the majority of his playing time. Nonetheless, when he was healthy, Matsui still proved to be a recurrent power source. In 2007, he continued to maintain his consistency by driving in over 100 runs for the fourth time in five seasons. But even with his successes between 2003 and 2008, Matsui had yet to win a championship with the New York Yankees. As his knees continued to fall out of shape, Matsui was finally taken out of the outfield for fulltime services as a designated hitter in 2009. Regardless, he settled into his new role and immediately set the record for the most home runs in a single season by a Yankee designated hitter, driving out a total of 28.

Everything changed in that fateful year, when Matsui helped carry the Yankees over the Phillies in a 4-2 World Series, claiming his aforementioned series MVP award along with his first championship in a Yankee uniform. As if playing from a storybook, it may be time for Godzilla to bid farewell to New York, with limited options available for the shy and humble power hitter. He can still sign another extended contract with the Yankees—provided that the organization makes the offer, he can sign with a different team, or he can retire and return to Japan as a World Series champion.

For a player who usually stays away from media attention, Matsui made it publicly clear that he wishes to remain in New York. Playing with the idea of a contract extension, Matsui said through his interpreter, “I hope so. I love New York. I love the fans here.”

Sources:
http://www.mlb.com
http://www.yankees.com
http://www.baseball-reference.com
http://www.jockbio.com/bios/matsui

...By the way, Hideki Matsui has one of the largest pornography collections. As quoted in TIME magazine:

"As one Japanese journalist put it, describing Matsui's affinity for such unique Japanese cultural institutions like the no-panties shabu-shabu in Japan, 'Matsui is a horny guy. All of us are horny, more or less. But Matsui doesn't attempt to hide the fact.' Yet another win for the Japanese Everyman."

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-01T15:10:00.005-05:00

It's always a tradition to spend Thanksgiving break with the family. And like always, a Thanksgiving dinner awaits. In the past, my eldest aunt from my mom's side usually handles the hefty turkey. However, this time around, my cousin Olivia tackled the daunting task.

It's a time of merriment -- other than that of Christmas -- one especially to be shared by family members. Oftentimes, Thanksgiving is celebrated at my home, but for the past couple of years, the holiday celebration's been held at my cousin's. Well, it makes the turkey job much more convenient.

There is a story to be told about this stunning, golden-brown fowl. Originally, roasting the turkey should have taken around three to four hours. To be safe, a plug-in timer was inserted (if you look closely, it's the small red contraption near the top) that pops out when the cooking is completed. Well, a timer's pretty useless if it doesn't tell the chef when the roasting is done. For some unknown reason, the timer was jammed and never popped out from the turkey breast.

Instead, another half hour passed before some investigative work was done. So it turned out our suspicions were correct and that the timer was indeed stuck. Fortunately, the turkey still turned out to be a success. No harm, no fowl... foul. Sorry.

Other than dinner, this was the first time I was able to visit my little niece, Waverly, since early this year. Right now she's about a year and half in age, at the pinnacle of walking and speech-training. Truthfully, I don't know too much about babies or child-psychology in general, but for a 1.5 year-old kid, she is pretty darn intelligent.

How many infants at that age can tell the difference between a circle, square, and a triangle?

How many infants at that age can turn on/off and adjust the volume for a stereo?

How many infants at that age can identify apples, strawberries, bananas, and watermelons? Mind you, this includes the actual fruits, photos of fruits, or hand-drawings of fruits.

I'm sure there are plenty of babies out there who can differentiate many items, but there is one thing that I was seriously, seriously impressed with...

Chinese family trees are notoriously famous for intricacy. It's a huge hassle to remember what each relative stands for. For example, there aren't just aunts and uncles like in the English language. Each aunt on the mother's side and each aunt on the father's side has different titles. Likewise, uncles follow the same trend. However, spouses of every relative also have different titles. An aunt's husband on the mother's side has a different title than that of an aunt's husband on the father's side. Also, generation gaps play roles, as well. In such a case, it is possible for one to have an uncle younger than oneself. Then again, that may be an uncle in English terms, but in Chinese, it's a whole different title. Each cousin has a different title, great aunts, great uncles, great-great aunts, godmothers, nephews and nieces, etc. individually holds a different title. It's a brain-buster.

Back to Waverly, what I'm most impressed with is that she could point out titles to many relatives that were at the Thanksgiving dinner. For example, her mother and father, both uncles (i.e. my brother and me), great aunt (my mother), great uncle (my father), both grandmothers (different titles), grandfather on her father's side, and great-grandmother. Honestly, I'm not even too familiar with the titles. To be outdone by a 1.5 year-old, either I'm mentally disabled or this little girl has serious brains.

I wonder how she will turn out in ten, fifteen years? Hell, I'm not even the parent and I'm wondering.

Google Wave

2009-11-26T16:33:00.017-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their times with family and friends.

So I was looking through many new features and programs of Google and came across this little gem: Google Wave. I'm too lazy to explain the whole thing so I'm going to let Wikipedia do the job for me:

Google Wave is "a personal communication and collaboration tool" announced by Google at the Google I/O conference on May 27, 2009. It is a web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking. It has a strong collaborative and real-time focus supported by extensions that can provide, for example, spelling/grammar checking, automated translation among 40 languages, and numerous other extensions. Initially released only to developers, a "preview release" of Google Wave was extended to nearly 1 million users beginning September 30, 2009, with the initial 100,000 users each allowed to invite from twenty to thirty additional users.

Wikipedia, November 25, 2009 8:41 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Wave

If you take note of the last part, each person invited is allowed to invite a certain number of additional users. So here's my proposal, if any of you guys are interested in receiving Google Wave (the coolest thing ever that can potentially replace email) and you have a Gmail account, let me know and send me your Gmail address. Jeff, I am expecting a prompt reply particularly from you with your Gmail because if you have Google Wave, contributing to this blog will be a breeze. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw

Guys trust me, this thing is amazing (I don't mean to sound like spokesperson for Google Wave, but it's really cool). Let me know if you guys are interested.

-Rehan

Ponyo On the Cliff By the Sea

2009-11-25T02:41:00.004-05:00

Since I figured I have every right to lay back and relax for Thanksgiving break, I decided to stay up and watch a movie that had been sitting in my external terrabyte for quite a while.

I've been virtually a lifelong fan of Hayao Miyazaki's works. As children, many people may remember the director/screenwriter's titles like My Neighbor Totoro (1988) or Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). Other popular titles include Princess Mononoke (1997), the Academy Award winning Spirited Away (2001), and the fairly recent Howl's Moving Castle (2004).

All of Miyazaki's films are animated, featuring recurring character designs and portrayals. At the same time, common themes are incorporated, most prominently those relating to man versus nature, technology, and morality in general. As a result, despite appearing like children's films on the outside, Miyazaki's films are often much deeper in context.

Well, the film I started off mentioning before is Ponyo On the Cliff By the Sea (2008), the latest feature film by the director. It took me a while to find a copy with good English subtitles, but once I found it, I never found the time to settle down and go through watching the movie.

In short, the film starts off with a mute "goldfish" that runs away from her underwater home. As the film progresses, we meet Sousuke, a boy around five years of age, who manages to pick up the lost fish. For some unknown reason, Sousuke decides to name this fish, Ponyo.

Eventually, the audience realizes Ponyo is a magical entity. And soon enough, we have a mixture of transformations (namely that of Ponyo becoming a little human girl), a shady, but quite amusing father (interestingly enough, Ponyo's father is an oddball underwater ex-human sorceror), impending planetary doom, a hot mom (yes, Ponyo's mother -- a.k.a. the wife of aforementioned oddball sorceror -- is a divine sea-goddess/mermaid), crazy old ladies, and a bunch of peculiarities not often seen in reality.

Don't get me wrong, though, this is a children's film (or a family film, if you will). Despite that, though, like all of Miyazaki's works, Ponyo still holds the values and themes that have been featured before. In this film's case, it would be the man versus nature theme. Ponyo wishes to become and remain a human girl. In the process, she unknowingly upsets the balance of nature, unleashing ruthless tidal waves and disrupting sea life. A good part of the film deals with settling such a conflict while analyzing more human traits like responsibility, family, love, and so forth.

In my honest opinion, I'd say it's a very worthwhile film. Yes, it can be a little childish at times, but that's a given with the movie's genre. Other than that, I enjoyed the film's uniqueness that Miyazaki is so famous for. I only wish there are more directors or screenwriters out there in this world that have only a portion of Miyazaki's creativity.

Asian Night 2009

2009-11-16T12:13:00.003-05:00

About a week ago, a steady stream of annual Asian subgroup events came along. Thus, it's only fitting that the umbrella group, the Asian Student Union (ASU) gets its fair share of the spotlight.

Featuring all seven subgroups in Binghamton University -- Asian Outlook (AO), Binghamton University Japanese Association (BUJA), Chinese American Student Union (CASU), Korean American Student Association (KASA), Phillipine-American League (PAL), Taiwanese American Student Coalition (TASC), and Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) -- Asian Night is the annual conglomeration that celebrated Asian culture on Binghamton's campus. It's a plethora of food and performances, all handled by students.

Since each group was responsible for contributing varieties of dishes and performers, I made the effort to take care of the performance aspect for TASC. What can I possibly do?

If you know me, I'd say I'm most confident about my piano-playing abilities.

Unfortunately, performances were limited to approximately 10 minutes at a time. As seen above, the video is 15 minutes long. Knowing we were short on time, I had to rush through the majority of pieces. In actuality, I cut off great portions of the songs. The latter three songs (excluding Heart and Soul), i.e. first movement of the Pathetique sonata by Beethoven, Fantaisie-Impromptu by Chopin, and the third movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, average between 5 to 10 minutes in duration per piece. Yep, the only way to solve that is to condense the songs into wads of noise played at hyperspeed.

Here's the list, alternating between Kevin Su (KS) and me (JH):

JH: Super Mario Bros. Theme
KS: Family Guy Opening Theme
JH: Pokemon Gameboy Theme
KS: River Flows in You (Yiruma)
JH: Final Fantasy VII: Tifa's Theme (Uematsu)
KS: Final Fantasy VII: Tatakau Mono Tachi (Uematsu)
JH: Pathetique: first movement - Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 (Beethoven)
KS: Secret Theme (Jay Chou)
JH: Fantaisie-Impromptu (Chopin)
KS: Adapted Waltzes, Op. 64 from Secret (Chopin / Jay Chou)
JH: Moonlight: third movement - Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27 (Beethoven)
KS/JH: Heart and Soul (Carmichael)

...After being worn out from the piano, I decided to chase a bus following Asian Night's after party. I was justly rewarded with a sprained ankle. Yay! Nights of experience. Gotta love it.

An Amusing Interview

2009-11-11T04:15:00.003-05:00

Adam, a friend of mine was working on an article for his class and decided to interview me about a fairly recent ladybug infestation here in Binghamton.

Here's the gist of it, pretty much word for word:

"Hey, I have to write an article for a class on a trend and I know one that was happening was the ladybug stuff. I was wondering if you guys could answer these questions to your best ability. Thank you.

Please be as descriptive as possible and you can exaggerate or say ridiculous things."

A: When did they start showing?
J: October 21, 2009, at approximately 2:30 PM.

A: What was your initial reaction?
J: Somewhat surprised, since a couple of them got on my desk lamp.

A: What did it look like? Where were they?
J: Looked like one side of my room became polka-dotted. Most of them were on my window, though several advanced to the ceiling and walls.

A: What was your thought process in getting rid of them? Thought process in how they got there?
J: I looked for holes near the windows (obviously that's the only way they could get in), but found nothing extraordinary.

A: How did you get rid of them? Difficult? Crush any?
J: I caught each and every one of them by hand. Ladybugs automatically play possum when under threat, so it was easy. I simply nudged one and it fell into a container that I set underneath. Yes, there were a couple of casualties, namely the ones that refused to play dead so I accidentally made them dead for real.

A: Ever think it was a prank? If so, by whom?
J: Nope. There were signs of ladybug swarms in Albany, Syracuse, Boston, amongst other northeast regions.

A: was there any recurrences? reaction then and actions taken?
J: Yes, four days later, around the same time of day. There were not as many as before, but I facepalmed myself and proceeded to escort them out one by one.

A: Ever fear they were going to fly on you during sleep? Accidentally eat one in sleep? Was there any fear? If so, why?
J: Nope. I made sure I got every one of them out of my room. They're red, so they're easy to spot. And if I did miss any and actually ate them, it doesn't matter, since insects are good sources of protein.

I thought it was a pretty entertaining topic, since the memories made me chuckle for a bit.

PAL Masquerade Banquet and TASC Night Market 2009

2009-11-08T18:24:00.006-05:00

I can never get tired of annual events at Binghamton University, especially those hosted by Asian Student Union subgroups. But just because I spend most of my time managing my work in TASC (Taiwanese American Student Coalition) and AO (Asian Outlook) doesn't mean I can't go and take a look at what everyone else has to offer.

Already in my third year, this was the first time I attended the banquet hosted by PAL (Phillipine-American League). I pretty much only expected the same food and performances that are present in virtually all banquet-related events.

And I was right. There were food -- good food, mind you -- and performances -- also good performances. It definitely had its interesting elements, with the elegance and formality that served as huge atmosphere improvements.

And as seen above, it's a Masquerade Banquet for a reason. I couldn't help but get into the spirit of things for just a moment.

We get good food for dinner while we look on to the various dance performances in the center of the room. The highlights were definitely on the social aspects of the event than the performances, though, since there weren't too many performers to begin with. I guess dinner can be thrown in there as a highlight, as well.

Then again, when I mentioned good food, I purposely didn't say "great" food. Not to put down PAL and its wonderful event (don't get me wrong here), as I very much enjoyed the night, but TASC is notorious for providing some of the best food in its annual events.

You know you like the flier. Recently I developed a tendency to use recurring character designs in all the TASC fliers. I honestly wonder if the trend will stick?

Well, the annual TASC Night Market seemed to be horribly down at one point. We were aiming to sell at least 120 or so tickets before the opening of the event on November 7th. Into the final week of tabling, the organization sold a mere 50 or so. Then for some peculiar reason -- and I'm simply guessing that people were lazy -- an estimated 70-80 additional advance tickets were sold on the last day.

Oh yes, advance tickets were actually sold out. I never would have predicted such an outcome. And even then, it didn't stop there. An additional 40 tickets were sold at the door on the night of the event, since there were no longer any discount advance tickets. Original plans included about 140 seats for the event. At the end, approximately 160 people showed up.

After spending 15 hours in the Old Union, fatigue was simply part of the routine. This wasn't to say no one else was tired. Working hard all the way through, the food turned out to be exceptional (though one of the dishes, not entirely sure which, was a tad salty), the design crew finished everything on time, and there were little to no major setbacks. I can definitely say that "success" is the perfect description.

Maybe when the time comes, I can leech some photos and upload them here.

2009 World Champions New York Yankees!

2009-11-05T12:41:00.006-05:00

Short and sweet, it was a playoff series that I will remember for a while. Right after the 27th out, I quickly ran over to my laptop to order a brand new championship hoodie.

But damn, it is expensive. Knowing the impatient bastard that I can become at times, I couldn't help but choose the 1-day shipping option for the hoodie. In actuality, I probably won't have the hoodie until next week anyway, since all championship products are still currently on back-order.

The excitement put some new inspiration in me. I might just write about the World Series MVP Hideki Matsui for Asian Outlook magazine's next issue. Seriously, batting .615 by going 8-for-13, with a walk, a double, 3 home runs, and driving in 8 runs in 6 games (with limited plate appearances in Philadelphia) is enough to garner the honors.

Greetings From Buffalo

2009-10-31T01:37:00.001-04:00

'Sup. I'm lost here. I don't know what's going on.

But Becky's here. So all is well.

For now.

The hell is Rehan?

Dickhead.

Early Halloween: Masquerade XII

2009-10-24T16:03:00.006-04:00

Celebrating the spirit of Halloween a week early, the twelfth annual Halloween Masquerade hosted by the Asian fraternity, Pi Delta Psi (ΠΔΨ), proved to be worth the money and the time. Although the party died down a tad earlier than I expected, it was generally pretty entertaining.

Yes, I'M A BANANA. With cheap, homemade maracas (I realized authentic ones are quite the wallet-emptying), I intended to pose as the pixelated dancing banana that is notoriously affiliated with the Buckwheat Boyz song, "Peanut Butter Jelly Time." It was definitely an excuse for people to take pictures with me. I can't recall how many times I had to pose for photos upon entering the club.

But other than that, people that I went with dressed up as the lemur King Julien from the movie, Madagascar, a kung-fu penguin from said movie, Misty from the Pokémon animation series, a sleeping bag, a doctor by the name of "Dr. Shots," the Bear Jew from the Tarantino film, Inglorious Basterds, a drill sergeant, a stereotypical school girl, and others amongst others. Of course, that's limited to the people I came with and the people I knew within the vicinity.

There had to be at least 500 attendees, mostly within the Binghamton University area. However, there were also countless people (I asked, of course) from Syracuse University, Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Stonybrook, and perhaps from many other places, as well.

Well, now I can say that I look forward to Masquerade XIII in Fall 2010.

YouTube: The Cat Betrayed His Girlfriend

2009-10-22T23:44:00.002-04:00

For some reason, to me this was just absolutely hilarious.

Three Italian Cities - Rome, Florence, and Venice: Part V

2009-10-19T00:02:00.014-04:00

Okay, I really should finish this up. For a family trip that was taken over two months ago, this arc is due for a wrap-up. If memory serves me correctly, I last left off at the city of Pisa. In total, I've covered Rome, Vatican City, Florence, and Pisa. Aside from the previous two main stops (Rome and Florence), one last major city to visit is Venice.

After breezing through Pisa, a quick rendezvous back to Florence was required in order to catch another bullet train. Good-bye to the merciless sun, good-bye to the endless museums and Renaissance splendor. Well, not really. In Italy, there is virtually nowhere you can go that's without a museum or art gallery of some sort.

Venice, Italy
From the scalding sun, the family and I found ourselves next to bodies of water. Of course, this meant drastically lower temperatures, soothing winds, and... the smell of sewage.

As seen in the photo, there is not a vehicle in sight (might be a little biased from this angle). Instead, everyone, even normal citizens, travel solely by boat. There are boats serving as buses, boats serving as cabs, boats as tour guides, boats as merchants, and - never excluded - police boats. With all these boats scattered through rivers, humorously enough, there are occasional water traffic jams.

The real "must-have" experience in Venice falls on the gondola rides. Yes, it is hideously expensive, as is everything in Europe. However, €100 for a family ride on the gondola is somewhat leaning toward the absurd side. As mentioned before, a euro is approximately 1.5 times the amount of a U.S. dollar. Do the simple math: that's $150 for a twenty or so minute ride. It's a sad excuse of a tour, since the gondolier (one who steers the gondola) spends most of his time staring into space, idly paddling the gondola through the narrow waterways.

Regardless, the experience is still one-of-a-kind, no matter how ridiculous the payment for it is. The neighboring view, especially around sunset, is breathtaking. Ignoring the occasional sewage stench, the gondola rides are pleasant.

The last photo turned out particularly nice. Had it been taken about half an hour later, the colors of the sky definitely would have turned out far better.

In comparison, the night view differed greatly in comparison to the sights in Rome and Florence. In the former two cities, most regions are dimly lit... and for the lack of a better term, quite sketchy. However, this was what I've seen in the Venetian night:

Must be the water...

Of course, there are museums and galleries scattered throughout Venice, but for some reason, the experiences simply differ from those in Rome and Florence. I'm not saying any is worse than the other - in fact, I'd consider them equal - but the time spent in Venice was truly unique.

For any classical music fan, this white facade is what is left of the home of Antonio Vivaldi, the baroque composer. And in case anyone who reads this doesn't know who Vivaldi is, I've taken the liberty to add a composition here. More than likely it's recognizable. If not, well, I'm beat.

And there are countless mask and costume shops dotting the streets of Venice. At certain times of the year, supposedly there is a longstanding tradition that incorporates parades, costumes, and masquerade-like events. I didn't look too deeply into it, though.

Finally, pigeon-feeding. Well, you can feed pigeons anywhere, but it isn't often that you can actually have a pigeon on your shoulder or your hand. They're light, they're friendly, and they are really, really, really warm.

And FYI, everyone calls theses birds pigeons, but they're actually doves. More specifically, these feathered critters are the Columba livia, or the Rock Dove. Unfortunately, I think we're at a point in time where this is irreversible and Rock Doves are simply good ol' pigeons.

Aside from experiences that have become bound to Venice, every Italian city deserved a dining tour. Since Venice borders water, what better place to grab seafood in Italy than Venice?

The first dish was the true oddity of the bunch. It's spaghetti, but it's unlike any spaghetti I've ever seen. I didn't dare order it, but my little brother didn't mind his teeth turning black for half an hour. Cuttlefish spaghetti. If the black came from its ink... that's troubling. However, the report was that it was delicious. Critics said it was, and so did my brother.

Aside from the jet-black spaghetti, the standards (and above standards) included lobsters, various sea bass, king prawns, and so on. The total cost for one dinner? With appetizers, the entrees, and drinks factored in...

Around €300. Yikes...

For every entry that I've written about Italy, it's never enough. The experiences that I managed to find myself in while in Italy were boundless. Staying there ten days may not have been enough either. In due time, I may gather either friends and family for yet another visit. Yes, it was dreadfully hot. Yes, it was overwhelmingly expensive. Yes, there are other cons to the trip, especially if you grow tired of the endless paintings and sculptures. But for me, at least, the pros outweigh everything else. I wouldn't say it's a once in a lifetime experience (then again, maybe it is), but it was definitely worth every moment... and drop of sweat.

Meanwhile, I might make a pathetic attempt to grab a trip to either London or Paris. If you've visited the major Italian cities, you might as well visit the other major European cities. Wallet-emptying experiences, but I'll take them... maybe within the next few years.

.
Until next time, Europe!

Gaming: Kingdom Hearts

2009-10-13T03:25:00.010-04:00

If there is one game that I don't understand, it is Kingdom Hearts. It's not like I don't understand why it's amazing and entertaining, but what went on in the minds of its creators. Why on earth did Disney work hand-in-hand with the Japanese video game titan that founded the Final Fantasy megaseries, Square (now Square Enix), to produce such an oddity of a video game? It's a ridiculous idea that ended up utterly brilliant.

This is the original Kingdom Hearts, for those who are not familiar with the series:

This was the origin of the hybrid Disney-Final Fantasy role playing game that became a surprising phenomenon. I happened to be one of many people who were caught off guard with such a concept. Cartoon characters for little children mixed with flashy warriors, mages, beasts, and critters targeted for teens, young adults, and adults alike? Amazingly, the concept worked and the game series has achieved global success since 2002.

The first Kingdom Hearts installment started a fantasy story about a boy named Sora, who lived on his tropical island home alongside his friends Riku and Kairi. Sounds like a very simple, straightforward story ideal for followers of Walt Disney. But no. Weird entities that embody pure darkness called "Heartless" fall into the lives of our three friends, tossing them into an epic adventure. In the process, Sora, Riku, and Kairi are separated. Our hapless protagonist, Sora, finds himself a chosen wielder of the "Keyblade," a key-shaped sword that represents the powers of light. Now Sora goes on his quest to find his friends, fight off darkness and the Heartless, figure out what the hell this supernatural world called "Kingdom Hearts" is, how to grow up, how to control his feelings, and everything else that can possibly fit into a single Playstation 2 CD.

Oh, along the way, Sora teams up with Donald Duck and the silly Goofy. In this game, though, Donald is a magic wielding fighter and Goofy is still goofy, except he has a big shield and likes to ram himself into enemies that get in the way. Still like a Disney story? Well, the princesses (i.e. Jasmine of Aladdin, Ariel of The Little Mermaid, Aurora of Sleeping Beauty, etc.) are there. The villains from many major stories are there. Tarzan still swings around on vines in his jungle. Alice is still completely confused in Wonderland. But what happens when you mix in Final Fantasy aspects?

Now we have the enigmatic, antisocial, superhuman Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII who dons his blasphemous monster-sized sword, the somewhat emo, brash, though quiet Squall Leonhart (simply named Leon here) from Final Fantasy VIII, child versions of Tidus and Wakka from Final Fantasy X, and the list continues. The Final Fantasy series lies in stark contrast to typical Disney storylines. There are no damsels in distress represented by the princesses. Likewise, there are no Prince Charmings. There are no cliché climactic endings (usually) that have the protagonists suddenly getting epiphanies in order to deal the main villains any final blows. Instead, the series tend to lie in dark atmospheres, emotional surges and upswings, life and death issues, individuality issues, subtle political and/or radical messages, and a whole myriad of topics normally absent in Disney-related media.

With the aforementioned Final Fantasy elements combined with Disney elements, we now have this hybrid RPG that can pretty much please players of all ages. It is still a story about a boy who's on a mission to find his friends and go back home. But in addition, we have darker topics about figuring out personal identities, understanding emotions, questioning morals and justice, and so on and so forth. Instead of just playing a happy-go-lucky game based on Disney concepts, now we have this just partially happy-go-lucky game that is also curiously interesting in its heavily plot-driven story.

Back in 2004, when I first played this game, I found myself sucked into its universe pretty much two or three hours into play. By the time I hit around a cumulative 30 hours of gameplay, I was 100% finished. No, that does not mean I simply beat the game... I beat the game to a point where there was absolutely nothing left to do except stop playing. In RPG terminologies, my characters were maxed out, I found every single item possible, I completed every optional quest available, and I had nothing left to do. So what now?

Oh yes, coincidentally, the second installment for the series hit the stores late that year. However, I never went forward until sometime until 2005 when I picked up the second game, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for Nintendo's Gameboy Advance. Just to go ahead, I beat the game, but I wasn't quite obsessed enough to reach 100% completion. It's still a great game, but I guess I had better things to do then?

Plot-wise, at the end of the first Kingdom Hearts -- spoiler warning -- Sora reunites with his friends, Riku and Kairi, but it was only for a brief moment. Worlds split, weird things happen, and they get separated again. Unfortunate red-haired girl Kairi luckily returns to their island home, but she was miserable without her friends. Aw. By the way, we get the message that she developed some romantic feelings for our protagonist Sora. Oh, the drama intensifies.

Anyway, in Chain of Memories, we resume Sora's journey back to his friends and home. Donald and Goofy are still with him, and their quest takes us to a mysterious castle that houses very mysterious people in trenchcoats. From here, the already heavy plot from the first Kingdom Hearts now become overwhelmingly thick and juicy. For the sake of spoilers, I'll only say, it's a pretty ridiculous ride. The already dark tones from the first installment become magnified. Issues regarding emotions, general feelings, morality, friendship, etc. fall into the spotlight and become reoccurring themes.

At the end of Chain of Memories -- spoiler warning -- Sora is put to sleep in order to regain memories that he was losing since the beginning of the game. His friend Riku remained rampant, fighting friends and enemies alike. Kairi idly sat at home, unbeknownst to her that her memories of Sora were fading as well. Once the climax struck, the plot only skyrocketed. Cliffhangers weren't for me, but as soon as the game was over, I knew there was another installment in the works.

Well, what do you know? It was a given that another installment was on its way, but back then, I never knew it was going to hit U.S. soil so fast. Christmas of 2005, Kingdom Hearts II hit stores. I wondered, though, if Chain of Memories was the second game to be released, why wasn't this "Kingdom Hearts III?" I didn't mind, but I guess it made sense after I realized Chain of Memories was meant to be an in-between game for filler purposes.

Usually, the first for many series tend to be the best. As stories drag on, the creators feel less creative and the series drops dead and rots. However, in the case of the Kingdom Hearts series, the creators felt more and more creative. In turn, I found Kingdom Hearts II the best of the entire series. Not only does the plot just keeps pounding into the players, the entire storyline just overrides the gameplay and the series started to feel like a movie. That's not to say there were no great gameplay elements, believe me, playing the game was a huge plus. Even though I finished the game a few years back around 2006, the universe that Kingdom Hearts drew me into is still fresh. Ah, I guess I should mention that just like in the first installment, I managed to eat up around another 30 hours of my life in order to manage my way to 100% completion of the game.

Characters tend to be reoccurring in the series, but if there are any familiar faces, whether they belong to the Disney world or the Final Fantasy world, constant cameos can only put a smile on your face. They sure did for me. Wondering how Simba from The Lion King can play a role in the story? How can Yuna from Final Fantasy X influence the storyline (technically she didn't do much, but it was an interesting cameo)? Honestly, this game pretty much epitomizes creativity.

Like its previous installments, Kingdom Hearts II was driven heavily by plot. Now the game represented action, adventure, fantasy, drama, romance, and comedy in its storyline, in addition to all the aforementioned themes and concepts. It's still Disney-like with its good versus evil themes, as well as the basis of the game, light versus dark. The Heartless are still weird and Sora's Keyblade is still doing the talking. The introduction of the mysterious trenchcoat-donning characters back in Chain of Memories representing the Nobodies (the counterpart to the Heartless) only add to the already thick plot. Taking it as purely a children's game is a legitimate opinion. Likewise, taking it as a more complicated game with somewhat more mature aspects is just as fair.

Rest easy, everything is resolved at the end. Not only did virtually everything from the earlier installments improve with the release of Kingdom Hearts II, but a warm, happy... dare I say it... Disney-like happy ending greeted the audience.

In summary, it's a damn good series...

But no. No, no, no. Disney and Square Enix were not finished yet. In mid-2009, they released Kingdom Hearts Coded for mobile phones in Japan. Obviously, since I can't read Japanese, there was no way for me to play the game.

I can handle that, though, since from outside reviews, this mobile game was a filler. Even though it's technically a sequel that moves past the conclusion of Kingdom Hearts II, I don't think I'm missing too much. It generally recounts the past events of the series in a short, puzzle-style format.

Apparently Disney and Square Enix were still not finished yet. Here we are in late 2009 and we have yet another installment for the Kingdom Hearts series. Titled Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, what? ...What? Ask me what "358/2" means.

Is it 358 divided by 2? So it means 179 days, right? I don't think so...

Is it 358 days viewed from 2 characters' points of view? In the process of playing the game... I haven't noticed that.

Is it 358.5 days? That makes the least sense... I doubt it.

Since this game was only recently released, I'm currently about three-quarters of the way through. I probably could have completed it by now, but since I'm used to RPGs, I tend to try and do every little side quest, find every little detail I can, prior to forwarding the main plot. Perhaps I can figure out what "358/2" means by the end of the game.

This is no sequel to Kingdom Hearts II or Kingdom Hearts coded. Rather, it is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts II and, by canon, on the same time plane as Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Instead of starring Sora, it focuses on Roxas, Sora's Nobody. To clarify, the Nobodies that I mentioned before when I talked about Kingdom Hearts II are entities that are created whenever Heartless are created. Way back in the first Kingdom Hearts, spoiler warning -- certain happenings resulted in Sora becoming a Heartless and then reverting back to his original self. However, during that time, players never knew that a Nobody version of him was born at the same time, somewhere far away. That Nobody would be Roxas, who initially made his debut in the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II and later played significant roles in the story's plot.

But now in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, players get to play as Roxas. Personally, I think this is a way that the creators up at Disney and Square Enix feel is the easiest way to tie up loose ends and plot-holes that may have formed in the last few installments. Since I'm a man of detail, so far that's my judgment, as there are parts of this new game that do help me understand some details in the past installments.

Even with all this writing, most of it will make absolutely no sense unless the games are played and experienced first-hand. To get the most out of the games, attention and patience are necessities. Anyone with zero attention-spans will have subpar experiences. I know my attention-span is limited, but I guess it's sufficient since I really enjoyed the series. It comes with my most enthusiastic recommendations. True, I am still in the process of finishing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, but so far it's enjoyable. When I do finish it, I don't doubt that it will be the last installment to hit the game shelves...

Power 90 Extreme

2009-10-06T16:19:00.003-04:00

Power 90 Extreme, or P90X for short, is a rigorous - and can I say, downright merciless - workout plan that stretches over 90 days in three 30-day periods. Like many training methods, P90X focuses on cardiovascular, strength, and stretching exercises.

Twelve forms of workouts are included in the P90X plan:

1. Chest and Back
2. Plyometrics (nervous system)
3. Shoulder and Arms
4. Yoga X
5. Legs and Back
6. Kenpō X (form of martial arts)
7. X Stretch
8. Core Syngergistics
9. Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
10. Back and Biceps
11. Cardio X
12. Ab Ripper X

Just to clarify, the "X" merely stands for an over-the-top version of the workout. For the most part, each session lasts about an hour. That's only ideally, though, since time used to warm up and cool down are factored in, as well as extra time for those who cannot fully keep up with the workout (pause button is amazing).

Only three days in and this is the first time I've felt overwhelmingly sore since my high school fencing team's hell-week in freshman year. In other words, it has been a whopping six years since I pushed myself this much. 87 more days to go through cycling these workouts.

Cold Cold Cold

2009-09-25T21:02:00.002-04:00

It's getting cold. And behold, it's cold season.

For every kid at school, parents are pulling out every strand of hair for them. With the H1N1 virus on its way start a pandemic, this will be a season that's going to be cold in more than one way.

But first, there is no harm in stocking up on Vitamin C and whatever medicinal herbs people can get their hands on. Other than that, there are two very common tasks that many people, especially college attendees, overlook. Sleep and washing hands.

Of course, there's no need to be obsessive and wash hands every ten minutes, but people should at least thoroughly wash their hands whenever they go to the bathroom and before they sit down to eat. It's merely a habit and a good routine to keep.

On the other hand, sleeping may be a more difficult habit to keep up. It sounds a little silly, I mean, who doesn't like to sleep? But it's not really the amount of sleep that everyone gets, but it's between when a person sleeps that matters. Just because a person sleeps throughout the day in four phases of two hours at a time for a total of eight hours does not make it healthy. It is vastly different than sleeping for eight consecutive hours at a proper time.

Sleep prevents colds. It has been proven in the past that sleep contributes to boosting the body's immune system. So if you don't want piggy flu... get those six to ten hours of daily sleep and wash those hands.

As for me, I'll keep those habits... while I drink my orange juice and slurp my chicken noodle soup.

Three Italian Cities - Rome, Florence, and Venice: Part IV

2009-09-22T23:48:00.005-04:00

Oh, geez, I completely forgot that I was in the middle of recalling my trip through Italy. Sadly - from my point of view - I actually had to double check what I had covered in the last few posts regarding the trip...

Pisa. What's there to see in the city of Pisa? Standard Italian shops, some churches, and simple restaurants and snack bars are givens. But when "Pisa" is mentioned, it usually has some relation to The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Honestly, there isn't too much to see in Pisa except for the famous tower. However, the tower itself is quite entertaining. I don't mean within, on top of, or next to the tower either.

Pretending we're pushing over the tower was as fun as Pisa can get. Honest to God. Beneath the cloudless sky and unrelenting sun, this was entertainment. Usually, when you see people standing two-hundred feet away from a building, attempting to topple it by screwing with perspective, you'd think they may a little strange.

Looks like we weren't the only strange ones...

That just about wraps up the city of Pisa. It was a mere detour in the three-city trip around Italy. This was just because of the infamous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is pretty much a must see in any Italian trip.

The Joys of Insomnia

2009-09-08T02:36:00.002-04:00

Everyone, I guarantee, everyone experiences insomnia at some point. It does not matter how healthy you are (or how healthy you think you are), it does not matter how wonderful and consistent your sleeping schedule is, and it does not matter if your willpower is so strong that you can force yourself to sleep on cue... or a reverse narcoleptic response.

Anyway, it's not like I make a habit out of insomnia, as it only happens every few days. If I'm lucky, maybe once a week. Of course, the main culprit is obviously screwing up my sleep schedule, i.e. waking up between 2 to 5 p.m. and very few people do that. But when it does happen, as many insomniacs know, the journey to restful sleep is a daunting one, as you feel like you're wasting more energy by trying to sleep than actually forcing yourself to stay awake. That said, instead of lying idly in my bed, eyes wide open and brain cells hyperactively leaping all over my mind, I chose to do some work. Smart? Maybe, maybe not. The only risk in doing so is that I may not remember everything that I did/read... or I may get hungry from thinking too much.

But here's what I got out of tonight. I chose to do two things: read William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Virgil's The Aeneid. Both can be considered really, really, old literature (Shakespeare's dating back to the 17th century and Virgil's to pre-Christ years) that, not surprisingly, I am forced to read in my English classes. Regardless of the fact that my degree-required classes include a Shakespeare class and whatever, I actually held some interest in the subject matter before I registered for these classes. I've read several Shakespeare plays, including the all-too-well-known The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and regrettably, only a portion of Macbeth (which I swear to God, I absolutely will finish one of these days). I purchased a copy of The Aeneid quite a few years prior to attending this class... but I never fully read the piece.

So hurray to insomnia, as it led me to covering some ground on my readings. No way could I finish The Merchant of Venice, let alone the 400-page The Aeneid, in one night, but at least I got to the point where the plots have become clear and I don't need to fry my brain every three paragraphs in order to figure out what on earth the stories' respective characters are talking about. Not to be hasty, but right after The Merchant of Venice is over with, King Lear, Henry VI, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter's Tale, and a second go-around for both Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream are due up... oh, boy.

Recall that I mentioned a possible risk for working into the late hours include hunger. I'll admit... I do feel like devouring something right now. Peace.

And So We're Juniors - Initiate Fall '09

2009-09-01T00:59:00.004-04:00

Junior year means you're officially labeled as one of the "upper classmen," and oh, what an odd feeling that is. It honestly felt like yesterday (excuse the overused expression) when my fellow friends and classmates - here at Binghamton University and those I've met from many other origins - first set foot into the higher education stage of life.

It probably hasn't fully bore into me yet. When my Shakespeare professor innocently asked who were freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, I had the nerve to raise my hand on the word, "sophomore." Oops. That was so last year.

Of course, every opening school year meant I would have issues with the financial aid system. Originally, my parents and I came to an agreement that they will take care of my first two years of college education while I take responsibility for the final two years. Well... the unspoken, verbal fine print basically said: Parents will take care of the "Federal Parent Plus Loan" only. This meant all the subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans from the government pretty much falls under my responsibility. Well, not that I take my parents' assistance for granted at all, no way, but come on. I make pocket change, and that pretty much goes into books, food, and other basic living and schooling necessities not provided by any financial aid. After a short adventure with the university's financial aid office - and just a little decision (or rather, indecision) - my parents decided to take up the Federal Parent Plus Loan once again, due to the fact that I'd have insufficient funds if I reject the aid.

Alternative measures include paying out of our own pockets (nah...) or applying for private loans (i.e. CitiAssist, Chase Bank loans, etc.). But the thing about private loans is that they tend to build up higher interest rates and other high charge fees. Oh, thank you, Mom and Dad. You don't want me to fall into a never-ending pit of darkness... a.k.a. monster debt. Federal Parent Plus Loan it is.

Since it's only been a day (the real meat of the semester is yet to come), not much else has happened. I've yet to purchase all my much-needed books for class and have yet to set up a meal plan. That brings us to another issue. Food. Known by many, and yet unknown by many, I tend to eat a lot. A lot. Starting from freshman year, I started eating at least three huge meals a day, with large snacks stuffed in between the idle hours. This came out to be somewhere around $600 to $1,000 per semester. That is disgusting. So instead of doing that, I decided to spend less money to buy more food. How? Groceries and home cooking. Sure, it's a bigger hassle and takes much more time, but at least I can't complain to anyone else if it tastes horrible and I save money.

Rice with beef and green peppers. Turned out quite nicely.

As any student would say... and probably not accomplish, I vow to improve my grades this semester! Let's bring about an end to procrastination, study hard, and do our best in all fields of academia! Yeah right...

Three Italian Cities - Rome, Florence, and Venice: Part III

2009-08-31T00:43:00.014-04:00

I lost my train of thought here...

Right. So last time I covered Vatican City, the country within a city (Rome). The experiences were great in Rome and Vatican City, but spending around four days here was enough. From here, I did some last minute gelato-hoarding before I left Rome for Florence.

Man, that is the life in Italy. I was never big on ice cream related products, but gelato is just in another league in comparison to anything else I've ever eaten. Maybe it was because each day in Italy started at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, peaked at 98, and ended at 90.

Rome to Florence

The Eurostar is better known as the "bullet" train, although the Italian variety has no relations to the ones that connect the UK and France. Traveling at nearly 200 miles per hour, jumping from one city to another has never been easier. And since the distance between Rome and Florence is just under 200 miles, it only took about an hour to get to the city of Florence.

Florence, Italy
Unfortunately, my family and I left Rome a tad later than we originally planned so we did not have sufficient time to go to any major sites in Florence. Still, the first day in Florence was still amusing in its own ways.

There is a great number of cathedrals in Florence. Technically, they are referred as Duomo, and one of the most famous of these churches is located in Florence. And guess what, I got to climb them. I'll get to that later since the Duomo wasn't the only thing to see.

Literally across the street was another well-known site: aptly dubbed "The Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. The giant doors are made entirely of bronze and depict various religious images. I could not get the closest look since hordes of tourists decided to take up most of the space.

Back to the cathedrals. There were a total of 412 narrow steps that coiled up a winding staircase. Thinking about it and actually trudging up the 412 steps would normally not be a problem. However, because there were no railings and no support added on top of heavy traffic and a lack of space that made going up and going down a living nightmare, a simple hike upstairs became a daunting test of endurance. Still, the view was amazing at the top.

After the short distance excursion that took way longer than expected, the family (excluding the underage brother) and I with something that surprised me just as much as the 412 stairs did.

You know, I figured vodka is vodka and rum is rum. But the first drink, Ben Hur, just felt like fire. the second one, Daiquiri, felt like fuel that was brutally added onto the previous conflagration. Gah, I'll admit, they were strong. Hell, if my father said it was strong... it's strong.

Thus concluded the first day in Florence... with a headache.

However, the following days in Florence were just as enjoyable as the days in Rome and Vatican City. For example, who wouldn't want to see the tombs of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Dante Alighieri, Niccolò Macchiavelli, and Galileo Galilei? The stop at the Church of Santa Croce provided all of the aforementioned sites. Actually, there is a minor lie in that statement. Cruelty, thy name is renovation...

Supposedly Macchiavelli's and Dante's tombs were stuffed somewhere behind all the contraptions...

Well, at least Michelangelo's and Galileo's tombs were available to the public. Everyone still had to stand around a 30-foot radius, but at least it was better than staring at metal poles and fencing.

The tombs of such famous historical figures were awing enough. However, once my family and I got into the Galleria dell'Accademia - yet another museum of art - there was something there that provided some more inspirational and sensational emotions.

The very famous statue of David is a colossal sculpture by Michelangelo. I think it was something close to 20 feet tall. And because it is so big, all the anatomical details that the Renaissance master carved into the old marble made the work of art all the more astounding. It's actually a really simple sculpture... concept-wise. It shows the biblical figure, King David of Israel. He has no pants, much like all humanoid sculptures during Michelangelo's time. But there was just something about the sculpture that made a ton of tourists, including me, look on without end. I even recall my parents staring at the statue for five, ten minutes straight, turn around to see what was happening around them for a couple of seconds, and then spin back to resume staring at the statue. Obviously, not much can be found in just a photo, the real experience lies in physically staring up towards the masterpiece.

On a side note, much like the Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, photography was forbidden. But you know me, I had to do something about this. I went behind a pillar and had to wait until three different security guards had their backs turned to me before I could snap a quick one. Yes, I know, the quality of the photo is below decent, but it's good enough for something that took around three seconds.

Following the Galleria dell'Accademia, the Galleria degli Uffizi was next. Prior to the visit, I've only heard of the Uffizi Gallery and knew it as this really big, old museum in Europe. Well, it's located inside a palace, so no surprise to it being huge. Unfortunately for me - and all other foreign tourists - photography was not allowed anywhere inside the gallery. In fact, I had to stow my camera within a bag at a bag-checking counter. Furthermore, besides photography, portable music players, cellphones, food, drinks (including water), any kind of headsets, and video-capturing devices were forbidden inside the gallery. Talk about protecting and respecting the art...

So there are no photos of my experience in the Uffizi Gallery. Truthfully, it was not so impressive for someone with limited knowledge in Renaissance art and art history in general. All I do know is, the only painting that I recognized right away was The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. Look it up somewhere, maybe you will recognize the painting as well.

Finally, to cap off one final, long day in Florence, the family and I headed off to a highly recommended restaurant. Supposedly, one of their spaghetti dishes (actually most or all of their spaghetti dishes) is famous around all of Italy. And supposedly, their cheesecake is the all-around best-tasting, ever. Really... sounds a little extreme.

Entrance to the restaurant - "Garga"

The "Spaghetti Magnifico" and the world's best-tasting cheesecake

The spaghetti was actually quite nice and certainly deserved some props. But the cheesecake... you bet I have something negative to say about it after the compliments to the spaghetti... but no, it was honest-to-God delicious. Maybe I haven't tasted enough cheesecakes, but this one had nothing bad about it. Especially when combined with the strawberries, it could very well be the world's best-tasting cheesecake.

This marked the last full day in Florence. Before departing for Venice, the final city of the 10-day Italian trip, a detour was necessary. If you figured something like the Leaning Tower of Pisa was missing, then you're sharp. And correct, for that matter. The small city of Pisa will be the next stop, though there really isn't that much to see besides the infamous tower. I'll get to that another time.

Three Italian Cities - Rome, Florence, and Venice: Part II

2009-08-23T15:16:00.016-04:00

Coming off the previous entry, the highlights of Rome were already covered, i.e. the Coliseum, the Roman Forums, the Pantheon, and other landmarks like the Fountain of Trevi, the Spanish Steps... and of course, Roman snacks and restaurants. When I was exploring these areas, it really helped to envision the world in ancient times; it gives the experience a different feel. Instead of staring at walls and walls of text and information, I can look at the actual landmark and picture it when it was not crusty and cracked, and when it was still glossy and fresh.

On the other hand, while Rome was filled with historical sights and astounding architecture, one of my favorite stops in the entire trip will have to be Vatican City. Oh yes, the home of the Pope. If you do not know already, even though Vatican City is considered a city-state, it is the smallest country in the entire world. Population: 900. No, I don't consider Antarctica a country...!

Rome to Vatican City
Oh, the long, foot-wrenching journey! I kid. Vatican City resides within the walls of Rome. So interestingly enough, Vatican City is a country within another country. Or better yet, a country within a city.

A 20-minute bus ride was all it took. In fact, it was so smooth that I could not tell where the border was. I look up one moment and we were at a normal intersection with a normal traffic light and normal cars and normal pedestrians scattered around. I look up soon after that and we were at yet another normal intersection, etc., etc., except it was an intersection in Vatican City. I must have missed the sign somewhere... It sort of reminds me of some Harry Potter secret entrance gig.

Vatican City
First stop was St. Peter's Basilica, the main sight in Vatican City and supposedly one of the holiest Christian sites in the world. Knowing the magnitude of the colossal church before I got there, there was this feeling in my gut that told me, "you're being watched," for the entirety of the stay. I wouldn't call it butterflies, or the anxiety of entering such a sacred area, but more like a sixth sense that seriously told me that someone higher up was watching my every move. It's an indescribable feeling that can only probably be experienced in a place like St. Peter's Basilica.

It's big, all right. Really big. And the aura it disperses around it is - can I say - divine. And the photos above only show the facade of the church. The entirety of the square cannot fit in one photo.

The mother of all churches, to sum it up. If you think the outer areas are grand enough, then wait until you get a good look at the inside. Of course, photos barely do any justice in portraying the divinity of St. Peter's Basilica, if not at all. One of the main sights there is the gigantic tomb of the Popes. But out of all the papal figures buried there, none other than Jesus's own apostle, the first Roman bishop and Pope, Saint Peter pulls in the most visitors.

Unfortunately - or rather fortunately - the tomb is obviously more sacred than probably anything that I have witnessed, seen, stepped into, heard of, and so on than I have in my entire life. Because of that, no photography is allowed there. As much as I would have liked to take a few pictures as a keepsake for my time there, I could not help but respectfully adhere to the rules. As I mentioned before... there's a higher figure up there watching. Witnessing the tearful nuns and solemn priests that were gathered and praying in front of the burial site of Saint Peter sure helped the cause.

But there are other notables in St. Peter's Basilica. During the reconstruction of the basilica in the years of the Renaissance, the famous Michelangelo took part. Now, if I was going through Rome and Vatican City, anything to do with Michelangelo had to be a must-see. Though not all of the interior was touched by Michelangelo, everything from the walls to the floor to the ceilings were artistically rendered.

Oh, and it happened to be Sunday when we visited. Sunday plus church plus holy land equals...?

Mass is about to start. I've probably attended mass a whopping ten or so times before I moved out of Queens and out of middle school years. However, by just looking at mass held in the basilica was a knee-buckling, heart-in-throat, eyes-widening experience.

I was absolutely not planning on attending, however. If I chose to, I would have been obligated to remain there for about three to four hours. And being that I was completely uneducated in the process, I was not about to make a fool out of myself in front of so many priests, nuns, and dedicated Christians. Not that I have anything against the proceedings. Had I been more prepared in the prior years, and if I was not on a time constraint, I would have undoubtedly stayed and attended.

There was more to see anyway. As I mentioned before, Michelangelo played a great role in the design and furnishing of St. Peter's Basilica. Aside from the wall sculptures and paintings, a small, yet intricately designed sculpture by Michelangelo resides in the basilica.

The Pietà, just "Pity," or in this case, in the artistic form known as the "Lamentation of Christ," seen as the Virgin Mary holding the lifeless body of Jesus, is found in a lot of places throughout Renaissance Europe. And the most famous Pietà happens to be Michelangelo's Pietà that sat in St. Peter's Basilica. If you noticed, the photo is not the best of quality and there seems to be glares coming off different angles. Well, that's because some craphead decided to attempt and demolish the masterpiece.

"The most substantial damage occurred on May 21, 1972 (Pentecost Sunday) when a mentally disturbed geologist named Laszlo Toth walked into the chapel and attacked the sculpture with a geologist's hammer while shouting 'I am Jesus Christ.'" - Wikipedia article

Due to this craphead's crappy actions full of crap, the Pietà was subsequently moved behind bulletproof glass after a long, painstaking process of restoration.

After the trip to St. Peter's Basilica, the next stop in Vatican City was the Vatican Museum, supposedly one fo the greatest museums in all of Europe. I was pretty much oblivious to any background information regarding the museum, but all I did know was that the famous Sistine Chapel was part of it. Yes, the museum is huge, it attracts millions of visitors per year, but I just wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. It is a giant Renaissance art-fest, highlighted by the works of Michelangelo and Raphael (two of the four ninja turtles).

And these are just about 1% of the photos I took there. It does get redundant at some point, when it's just paintings on top of paintings, sculptures on top of sculptures, but where is my Sistine Chapel?! Oh, I was almost there...

This is a photo of the "Creation of Adam," part of Michelangelo's Last Judgment masterpiece that spreads across the entire ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Now, there is a story to this photo. No, not the painting, that you can read about pretty much anywhere. But taking this photo was a risky task. First of all, photography is not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, which is ridiculous. They allow photography pretty much anywhere else in the museum. Second of all, if caught taking photos, the accused will be promptly escorted out of the museum. This was a famous sight that had to be recorded...

There were about several hundred people in the main room at one time, so I figured my chances were decent in getting a good shot. However, there were so many rule-adherers that it was obvious who was taking photos. But then a couple of Asian chicks grew balls all of a sudden and decided to take a clean shot towards the ceiling. But with flash?! Idiots. Bye. They were escorted out. It was pretty fast. So in the process of guards howling out, "HEY! NO PHOTOS!" I ducked down within the crowd, aimed my camera from the ground up, and snapped a quick one. Sure, the quality is absolutely abominable, but at least I stole one. With that, I scampered off inconspicuously.

To cap it all off, I journeyed down the famous staircase of the Vatican Museum.

It just swirls and swirls and swirls and...

Well, that concludes the stop at Vatican City. Imagine touring an entire country in two days. It was definitely a breeze through, but it's the sort of attraction that can bring old visitors back. I'm not ruling out the possibility of coming back for another visit at some point in the future.

Back to Rome. It's not like I have any choice either. Remember Vatican City lies within the city of Rome. A country within a city. Man, that's going to be forever mind-blowing.

Three Italian Cities - Rome, Florence, and Venice: Part I

2009-08-20T11:49:00.011-04:00

From the looks of it, this was long overdue. I figured I could have started recording the highlights of my '09 summer trip to Italy the day (or day after) I returned to the States, but I turned out to be too disgustingly exhausted to function. In a span of ten days, I don't think I have ever walked a total distance greater than I have done so while I was in Italy. Sure, the experience was great, it was indeed fun and interesting, but hell... it was horribly tiring.

For this segment, a.k.a. simply "Part I," I will chronicle the first few days of the trip, primarily entering, staying in, and leaving the city of Rome. "Part II" will cut in between the stay in Rome, since it is split between Rome and Vatican City. If all goes well, "Part III" and "Part IV" will talk about Florence and Venice, respectively.

New York to Rome
The departure was set for August 6th at 4:00 PM EST. John F. Kennedy Airport. Seems reliable. Delta Airlines. Seems reliable. Oh, how mistaken. First of all, when you think about delays - even relatively short ones that range from half an hour to an hour - you usually imagine they are caused by mechanical issues with a plane that forces it to stay on the ground until everything is settled. Or you imagine a freak storm was prohibiting any takeoffs... usually. But for some reason, everything was fine when I was boarding the plane with my family. Everything was on time. We found our seats and settled in easily, we stowed away our carry-ons with speed, and we were ahead of time. So we waited for the planned takeoff time. 3:45 PM. 3:50 PM. 3:55 PM. 4:00 PM. 4:10 PM. 4:30 PM. ...What the hell? Cue the PA that delivers this paraphrased dose of info:

"Sorry for the delay, folks, but some suspicious luggage were found on board the flight. We are currently handling this issue and we should resume takeoff shortly. We apologize for the delay."

So around 4:45 PM, the plane's PA system returned with a gleeful message stating everything is settled and we can go along our way. Well, that's fine, it was only a 45-minute delay. I can handle that. But of course, being delayed only 45 minutes is absolutely no fun at all, so fate decided to halt the flight yet again - mind you, we were just about to enter the runway when this happened - with a medical emergency. Really?! A medical emergency?! Yes, someone decided to flop out right before taking off. Supposedly it was some form of restlessness or uneasiness that weakened said someone to a point where said someone was unfit for flight. ...Huh...? Okay...

5:30 PM. So, there goes another 45 minutes. You know, when we resumed the long, melancholy process of taking off, I was ready for another delay. What could it be this time? Someone smuggled a rabid chihuahua onto the plane? Or could it be an evil chain letter that spreads through Flight 187 like a wildfire, putting all the passengers into a state of ridiculous unrest, forcing the plane to yet again delay its takeoff?

The chihuahua would have been interesting, but the flight finally took to the skies after a 1.5-hour delay. Now all I had to do was stall for about seven hours before landing in Rome, Italy.

I think sunset photos turn out pretty when you're 20,000 feet up in the air. This was a 6 PM EST sunset facing the rear end of the plane. As soon as the plane struck somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean probably a good four, five hours later, I turned to look to the front side of the plane and this was what I saw:

If I think about it, night never really came for me. There goes the sun. Wonder where it went? Turn around... Oh, there it is! Surreal. Too bad the ugly plane wing was in the way of my shot, or else this sunrise photo should have turned out majestically.

Rome, Italy
Around 3 AM EST, after going through the process of disembarking the plane, claiming my baggage, finding a chauffeur to escort my family to a hotel, etc., etc. I finally got into Rome. Boy, was I tired. Come on, it's past three at midnight...

No. More like, it was about nine in the morning. I love time zones. Can you say, I was a straight up victim to jet lag? But for the sake of battling this curse, I had to force myself to stay awake long enough to sleep at an appropriate time, something like 11 PM or something. Tempting naps were naturally forbidden and even a simple bench must be resisted.

A solution to keeping myself awake could be coffee and other sources of caffeine, but since I was to be in Rome for a mere four days, I might as well make the most of it. However, recall that I mentioned that I felt that I have never walked as much in my life as I did throughout my stay in Italy. Well, it all started in Rome. Since the day was to be short, due to my fatigue that felt like near-death, my family and I decided to just visit one landmark for the time being.

This area is known as the Spanish Steps, the longest and widest staircase in all of Europe. At the bottom of the steps, around the base, is the Fountain of the Rotten Boat. Why it is named that, I do not know. Likewise, there is something interesting at the top, which is the Church of Prinita Dei Monti:

There will be a ton of churches throughout Italy, not just in Rome. Nearby is the sacred Vatican City, which I will get to later. But after I trudged up and down the Spanish Steps, I was ready for bed at 5 PM Central European Time (CET), or six hours prior - 11 AM EST.

I particularly enjoyed the second day in Rome, highlighted by the visit to the famous Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon. Another long day started at 7 AM CET and ending at 11 PM.

Left to right: Coliseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon

Among other visits for the second day included the Fountain of Trevi and plenty of snack stops. Oh, food. I have a ton to talk about when it comes to food in Italy...

Everything in Italy, as the rest of Europe, is purchased with euros (€). Though not exact and due to the constant fluctuations in the world of currency, for the sake of simplicity, a euro is approximately 1.5 times the worth of a US dollar. Given that information, you would think that $8.00 in the United States is reasonable for a plate of spaghetti in a random restaurant. Well, the Europeans think €8.00 for a plate of spaghetti is reasonable for them, as well. So for us sad Americans, we look at a menu in Italy and cry a little when converting the €8.00 to $12.00 for a plate of spaghetti. On the flip side, a native Italian may cry a little - albeit out of happiness - when converting the $8.00 to €5.33 for a plate of spaghetti in the United States.

I never liked The Price is Right since I was never that fond of Bob Barker, but let's play anyway. For a family of four, we ordered three plates of pasta, a side dish, and four gelatos (Italian version of ice cream). What was the final price?

It turned out that everything we ordered was the same price: €8.50. Do the math, and the grand total for an afternoon "snack" ended up as approximately $98.25. Almost triple digits for a snack. If you went over this amount, you ought to visit Europe since the prices may suit you. If you went under... well, no surprise there. Just to add more info, water is pretty hard to come by in Italy. And because it's so scarce, the prices skyrocket. A bottle of water in a restaurant averages around €4.00 and those in grocery stores can range from €1.50 to €3.00. Kill me. Kill me again when I mention that there is rarely any ice in drinks.

I've written a lot here. I may come back to add or edit this entry. However, for now, I will stop here. The next day in Italy takes place in Vatican City, which is a completely different experience on its own. Of course, I plan on sharing such an experience, but that will have to wait.

Hi

2009-08-18T10:00:00.002-04:00

Florida for a week, bye New York.

- Will

Italy Trip '09

2009-08-08T14:56:00.006-04:00

First of all, so far so good here in Rome. I'll keep it at that for now.

I will have to say that communications here is absolutely retarded. The hotels here charge me for a euro per 12 minutes of internet. That's roughly $1.43 every 12 minutes. Plus, my phone does not work here in Italy. Excellent.

I will have stories to tell after August 17th, when I return to the States.

EDIT: 08/08/09

Eye candy.

I am still here

2009-08-06T15:53:00.004-04:00

So the past 2 months, I have been working as a camp counselor/Teaching Assistant. So far it has not been too bad. The kids are from middle school and high school. However, this week has been hell. Imagine 170 middle schoolers with only 18 counselors for one week. I am ready to hurt many of them.

- Harit

Hmmm...

2009-08-06T15:23:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to know where has Harit been? Has he been posting here or even checking the site? Harit, if you've been catching along with us I hope you're doing well buddy!
I miss the random stops we've made to your house on occasion- the birthday surprise, and just coming to pick you up and having your dad asking you if you had any green on ya ;)

Hope you're doing well!!

- Becky

A Rant and Some How are you's

2009-08-06T15:10:00.003-04:00

So, I have come to the conclusion that I would like to be single for a long time. I'm sick of the chase, fed up with lies, and feel so tied down at wanting someone to be a vital part of my life. I must say I've been very annoyed this summer with things in Buffalo; my siblings are up here and I love that, but there has been an additional person who is driving me up the walls while keeping me sane at other times. Then there are thoughts of the ex which occasionally pushes to the point of wanting to flail random things into any which direction.
I hope neither of these people run into this blog, but any thoughts and suggestions on how to remove them both? I want to be in solitude in terms of relationships and I want to just keep in touch with my friends and not be a damn hermit. Oh and of course you know one of those women who pop up in the big screens as the ridiculously amazing and independent CEO's of something or another- yeah I'd like to be one of those... possibly Sandra Bullock from "The Proposal", Kate Hudson did a great job in "Bride Wars"... any ideas?

Jeff, I hope you have an awesome time in Italy. Honestly, go visit every place you can physically possible in the time allotted, and take pictures like there is no tomorrow.
I miss hanging out with you for random talks, overseas drunk conversations, watching sule smash a glass at your place, and the ridiculous visit to bing haha

Rehan, hope you're having a hell of a time in Oxford, son! Post more pictures and update us on what's going on with the bloody people over there ;] (oh and don't make them folks be like us when you had your lovely day upchucking your guts at jeff's) lol jk bud i really do miss you too!

Will, I don't know where you are if you are still on the face of the planet, but if you get a chance give me a call or something lol I miss talking about Boston and the stupid conversations we had about whatever it was... college is on Boyle road and powerpuff girls HAHA! Hope everything has been going well this summer in terms of job- you brazilian czec something... I forgot what we were going to try out this summer haha.

Sule, stop randomly IMing me saying "hi" and then not anything else -_-;; What's been going on since you finished working? I'm considering taking LSAT's and doing probably a joint JD/MBA or something along those lines. But give me a call or something and we should catch up. Do you like the random rant I posted up there? Give me some sort of response as to what's been going on with you.

- Becky

Movies: "Orphan"; "Up"

2009-07-29T00:20:00.009-04:00

Summer movies, eh? No, not Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (eww...), or Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (which I have yet to see). One is a little under the radar, while the other is pretty mainstream, much like its predecessors. And... they are polar opposites.

Orphan

Distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Dark Castle Entertainment, this is your standard horror/thriller film. It tells the story about a family that loses an unborn child to stillbirth and the psychological repercussions that ensue. Eventually, they adopt a young girl. The thing is, there is more than what meets the eye for this peculiar child.

I would not be writing this if I did not like the movie. However, in all honesty, the first hour of the film dragged on to a point where I wanted to get up and leave. However, the second half of the film - yes, another hour, the movie is about two hours long - turned out to be a roller coaster ride.

Originally, I have to agree with those whose initial reactions to the movie's promotions, commercials, and trailers consisted of comparisons between Orphan and the 1976 horror film, The Omen. The latter film also centralizes its plot around exceedingly creepy children. Of course, demonic kids also show up in Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973). All I can say is, the actual orphan... well, you will have to find out what makes her different from the rest of the pack. More thrilling than scary, though there are those horror moments, the majority of the scenes only try to freak you out, and do not actually carry out the actual freaking. Personally, I like that, since the cliché horror aspects do get old.

Moving on to a not-so-scary film...

Up

Yes. Just "Up." That's the title. Distributed by the famous duo, the Walt Disney Company and Pixar Studios, this is your typical animated film of the year. It's humorous, it's touching, it's adventurous and fantastic.

It tells the story of a man named Carl, who dreamed of exploration during his childhood. Years (many, many years) pass and he's now a crusty, old man. Attempting to fulfill the dreams of his late wife, he... well... inflates several thousand balloons and proceeds to fly his house to Paradise Falls, South America. Along the way, he is joined by an oriental-looking kid named Russell, who, as a Boy Scout, needs to earn one final merit badge by assisting the elderly. Then there's a giant tropical bird they find in South America. And then there is a talking dog that also joins in shortly afterwards. This is all to Carl's dismay. The audience pretty much travels along with the odd group in their adventure, which is to the most part, an enjoyable ride.

The introduction to Carl in the opening sequences of the film happen to be one of the most saddening Disney moments that I can remember. The aforementioned "late wife" of Carl, the childhood they experienced, and the long lives they led with each other have got to be the most touching elements to this film. From there, after the "aww's" and "...'s" the film moves on with the main storyline and turns to the standard children's entertainment it is meant to be. It's a pretty good movie, matching well with the previous Disney productions.

Stepping Off the Strip...

2009-07-25T02:40:00.002-04:00

Recently some of the members from Binghamton's fencing club wanted my advice regarding equipment. I tend to buy my own gear, choosing from many companies across the world, test them for myself, and so forth. Now that I think about it, it's been about six years since I started the sport freshman year in high school.

There were bright moments throughout the high school years. Making varsity in my second season, obtaining a respectable count of victories for the team, taking first chair, and claiming All-County are some of the highlights. And of course, there were dismal times, as well. I cannot recall how many times I was the anchor and failed to seal the victory to a meet. More than once did I lose the final bout of a meet 4-5 which resulted in a 13-14 team loss to an opposing school. Oh yes, the worst was probably losing bronze for the league when such a situation occurred.

And for all the good and bad times, I still continued the sport. I qualified for Nationals. I won my awards. I obtained my individual titles. But then, any remotely physically active person is bound to become injured at some point. When I was tackled in a random football skirmish earlier this year, at first, I figured my right shoulder was just slightly sprained and that it would heal in a few weeks or so. It's been about three months. It is still bothering me at times, a bit sore whenever I exert too much pressure on it. I'm confident that it will heal in time, but such an injury has greatly impeded my physical activities and wore down the strength of my right arm. I cannot throw a ball as far or as accurately as I used to. I cannot fence, for obvious reasons. And because of that, I skipped out on the Summer Nationals this year in Houston, Texas.

For the time being, I will be signing off fencing. At least until my shoulder is fully healed. My entire arm... it itches to hold the weapons that my hand has grown used to.

And the pictures continue...

2009-07-21T18:17:00.005-04:00

Yeah once again, I'm just stealing some pics. This time from Katie :-)

Random Thought

2009-07-20T04:56:00.005-04:00

"I believe everyone has prayed to God at least once.
Even though they may not believe, one day they will surely make an honest prayer.

Something that everyone is looking for.
Something that everyone is after.
Something that is created from everyone's continuous wish and the bonds between them.

The thing that's created is..."

A miracle? A dream? Hope? The thought was never completed.

I stayed up late and finished watching the anime, Ef - A Tale of Memories. Twelve episodes in five consecutive hours, not bad if I say so myself. I'll hit up season two tomorrow, hoo-hah.

Countdown to Italy

2009-07-19T00:17:00.003-04:00

Lately there has been a lot of talk about traveling, short excursions, and road trips surrounding my friends and some family members. Now I remember... in a little less than three weeks, my family and I will take a 10-day trip in Italy, with the majority of time spent there in Florence, Venice, and of course, Rome.

I've never been to Italy. I am 100% - not - fluent in the Italian language. In fact, I've never been to Europe. The closest I can possibly be to Italy would be my knowledge of classical music and my 11th grade level Spanish vocabulary (maybe I can figure some Italian terms out with fundamental Latin root words). In conclusion, this family trip will be mainly an educational one.

Personally, I'm mostly interested in the art history and culture that has evolved through so many centuries in Italy. As a bonus, the history of the Coliseum intrigues me, as well. But the city of Venice would be my top choice. I have limited knowledge about the city, but I do know that if I want to explore the arts, Venice would be a good choice as a destination. As for the Coliseum, that would be Rome. Too bad there are no olden day sword-slashing, chain-whipping gladiators out there anymore.

I will take pictures. Granted that I don't break my camera like I did so with my previous one in Taiwan last summer.

More Oxford Pictures

2009-07-17T13:16:00.009-04:00

I'm going to Scotland this weekend so I'll post some pictures of that as soon as I can.

@ Rehan: How to Upload Photos in Your Posts

2009-07-16T14:06:00.006-04:00

Since Rehan (DrVirusX) has no idea how to upload photos on Blogger, this post is dedicated specifically for enlightenment.

Look at what the red arrow is pointing to. I highlighted that just for you. It reads: "Add Image."

Click it.

If you have successfully clicked the aforementioned button, now you will see this popup. Choose one of the following.

Browse from your hard drive...

Or copy and paste an image link from some webpage.

For simplicity purposes, let's say you upload from your computer, which is the best choice, in my opinion.

Here's another popup. Find your image, photo, whatever. Click it. Open it.

Look, the arrows are there to help.

And let's say everything worked out correctly. Now you will return to the last scene.

See where the arrow is pointing to? Success! Now all you have to do is click on the circled button: "Upload Image."

Voila. You see something like this after you the photo is successfully uploaded.

And the product of our hard work...

Problem solved, hopefully.

Oxford Pictures

2009-07-16T09:05:00.010-04:00

~~Since I can't find the link to Add Image, I'll send you guys the facebook links. Some of them you might be able to see up there, others, probably not.~~ They're definitely not the greatest pictures of me, oh well. These pictures are courtesy of Kristy, Chelsey, and Anita; sorry for stealing your pictures! Anyways, enjoy guys (and girl):

1. Emma
2. Kristy

1. Train station to London
2. Phone booth

(Jeff's direct comment for #2: Let's see that Superman uniform!)

1. Phone
2. Chilling with Chelsey

(Jeff's direct comment for #1: Dude, how tiny is your phone...?)

1. Chilling at the pub
2. Serious discussion

(Jeff's direct comment for #1: Jeff is jealous.)

1. Clap, clap
2. I have no idea

(Jeff's direct comment for #2: Rehan, curb that rage.)

1. Joe
2. Rob

1. Can I getta... F...
2. Chelsey and Joe

1. Yeah...
2. Hanging

(Jeff's direct comment for #1: Oh yeah, it's that time of the night.)

1. Cafe Grand
2. Myspace pose

That's about it for now, but more to come later.

(Jeff's final comments: Glad you're having fun, I hate you.)

Oxford

2009-07-14T08:17:00.002-04:00

So it's already been a little over two weeks since I've been in England and a little over a week since I've been in Oxford. Lots of stuff going on, I'll fill you all in the details later. Let's see I visited all the major tourist attractions with my family (i.e. London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Madame Tussaud's, etc.) I'm really mad that I lost my camera case at the ride in Madame Tussaud's. It was a cool case. Anyways Oxford requires a lot of reading and writing so fuck me. I mean yeah I expected this, but I just like complaining. Went to a club for the first time this past weekend, pretty cool stuff. But now I have assignments due for all three classes that I'm taking here. Oh and I'm the only lucky one who's taking three classes, while everyone else is taking two. But no complains so far. The only class that I'm really nervous about is Art and Literature. I have to write a 10 -20 page paper on John Ruskin (look him up if you really care). I woke up today feeling like mega-shit. Like my throat feels sore and I just want to lay in bed and do absolutely nothing. But I have to work on my assignments, so I'm screwed. If you guys want, I can try to post some pictures from Oxford. Jeff, I'm not really sure how to do that, so leave a comment with directions or something. Like I have pictures of me from my camera, but I also have pictures on facebook which you guys can't see because the album that I've been tagged in is private. So I can give you the image location links. Well, I'll keep you guys updated.

Fortune Cookie

2009-07-12T04:02:00.001-04:00

For some reason, only perverted thoughts entered my mind when I first read this...

Selected Summer Anime

2009-07-09T12:12:00.016-04:00

In recent months, I picked up a habit of watching anime on my laptop late into the night... or on occasions, into the hours of dawn. Hey, if there is no need for me to wake up at 9 AM in the morning, why not enjoy some entertainment while I can?

Two series that I have been working on lately are still broadcasting in Japan. Usually I take a few days to watch an entire series in a couple of sittings, but after I started these two series, I had no choice but to settle for a weekly excursion.

Four other series (amongst many) I have already finished watching and have enjoyed them immensely. Yes, there are some that I watch and decide to go, "Eh," to and move on, and obviously I won't be writing about them. Equally, there are some that I watch and say, "Hmm, that was pretty damn good" - which I will write about.

1. Pandora Hearts

Last week, the first season ended with a minor cliffhanger, which obviously left me in a state of resentment. Fortunately, I only have to wait until this Friday for the start of the second season.

When I first saw the series' promotion earlier in the summer, my initial reaction was noting how similar the anime looked in comparison to Disney and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts video game series. With a little research, it looked like Square Enix happens to sponsor this anime. And with a little taste of Disney and Kingdom Hearts as a bonus, the entirety of this anime plays with elements from the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland (the main heroine's name turned out to be Alice, as well). Characters such as the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter also show up, albeit in peculiar forms. I can only imagine what other interesting aspects would be included in the future.

As with any standard linear story, there are elements of action, comedy, romance, and drama. Unfortunately, the comedic portions of the anime have become somewhat of a nuisance since the series' staff did not seem to incorporate the "funny" moments correctly. A scene could be turning out quite dramatic and hair-raising until an awkward comedy moment completely demolishes the mood. Still, I found a liking to this series and have decided to continue with the second season.

2. Hayate no Gotoku!!

Also known as, Hayate the Combat Butler!!, in English, despite the Japanese title being directly translated closer to "like the wind." Anyway, my younger brother recommended the first season, titled Hayate no Gotoku!, to me at the beginning of the summer, which I promptly went forward to watch. Well, note the two "!!'s" in this title. This is the second season, a work still in progress as the summer continues.

In comparison to the longer 52-episode first season, the planned 26-episode second season has toned down the action and parody elements that was prevalent in the first season. Instead, the second season boosted the comedy, romance, and drama aspects that was usually fleeting in the original run. I did not expect it, but as of the most recent episode, I was watching a standard dramatic, comedy-romance series, a.k.a. "dramedy."

Truthfully, this anime is rather addicting. Most of the characters are unmistakably unrealistic, but the humor levels of the series pretty much trample any potential plot-holes or tilted, confused heads the audience may have. In summary, we have Hayate, the main character, who has found himself being the love interest of three different girls in his life. He is oblivious to their feelings, of course, or else this would not be funny. One happens to be the girl that he works for as a butler, a kajillionaire that parodies any real-life antisocial, stay-at-home, video game and comic book fanatic with a knack for misunderstanding every situation. Another girl, an old friend of Hayate, happens to be a very, very, very normal, shy girl that you can probably find anywhere on the planet. And finally, there's the girl that's the typical school council president, the one with the A+ student brains and looks of a supermodel, the athleticism, the wits, and hidden femininity that befriended Hayate in the first season. Let's see how this turns out.

3. Utawarerumono

Translated to "the one being sung" in English. Starting from here, these series have ended a while back. I just decided to watch them out of boredom... and I'm pretty satisfied with the fact that I did.

By the looks of it, the series seems like a fantasy-war story, which is quite accurate from a stand-alone point of view. That's fine, since I originally thought it was just another fantasy series that dealt with war elements. Even as the episodes flew by, I still thought the same. Surprisingly, though, towards the latter half of the series, I realized that was not the case.

Of course, I don't care whoever reads this decides to go on and start watching these anime series, but I'm not in favor of spilling the beans to any major plot developments in a story (ha... ha...). Much like any good story, there's action, drama, romance - and just a hint of comedic elements for this series, though done far better than what another staff did for Pandora Hearts.

4. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Seasons 1 & 2)

I'm saving the best ones for last. Rarely do we see any original anime that is not based on a manga, a visual novel, or a video game. And because of this, I was able to enjoy this series that much more.

The gist of the story goes as follows: At a point in the future, Japan is invaded and conquered by a European nation of Britannia, leaving the once proud country without freedom and identity. Then we have a very intelligent student named Lelouch who steps up and leads a very straighforward, yet highly complicated rebellion against, not just Britannia, but pretty much the entire world. He becomes the forever intriguing anti-hero, someone the audience eventually grow to love and hate on balanced levels.

The first and second seasons are linked, and thank God for that. Had I started watching this series as it was being broadcasting in Japan, the ridiculous cliffhanger at the end of the final episode of the first season would have driven many people, including me, insane. Forunately, I had archived the first and second seasons on my external hard drive many months before I decided to go with this series.

This can probably qualify as a masterpiece. If you've ever watched some sort of dramatic series before, the moments right before, during, and after the series' climax (or in this case, climaxes) when your eyes open up a bit more and you say, "OHHH... whoa," then you know that satisfying feeling. I must admit, the storyline's really genius. Highly recommended.

5. RahXephon

I think someone kept telling me to watch this series a couple of years back and I told him I would eventually. I managed to put it all off until a month ago when I randomly decided I might as well start.

A tri-pronged attack of action, drama, and romance: that pretty much sums up the series. An all-or-nothing fight against the world. An unrelenting, unforgettable past love. And let's not forget everything in the middle. Character development and growth, psychological advancements and degeneration... this is deep stuff. Furthermore, mecha, mecha, mecha. Giant robots, Mayan and Egyptian culture, classical music, alternate dimensions, without missing modern popular culture, trends, and fashions; all of this tied into the aforementioned tri-pronged attack of action, drama, and romance, if I say it's not mind-blowing, then I need a mental checkup.

I should add that I managed to complete this 26-episode series within two days. It's fairly fast-paced, thus forcing poor me to keep moving episode after episode...

6. Clannad (Seasons 1 & 2)

I was dead serious when I said I'm saving the best for last. It may be a while before I can find anything else that may match the enjoyment I got out of this series.

Let's start with basics: the animation was pretty much flawless. Everything, from the movements of the characters to the background, everything was done extremely well. Renders were beautiful, the environments were astounding, and even the abstract aspects were perfected to a point where nothing seemed odd or out of place. Absolutely amazing. Kyoto Animation deserves many kudos for their efforts.

The music did not need to be intricate to stand out. In fact, the background music throughout the series was kept relatively simple. However, the selection of music was what was important. Each simple piece was concisely in line with the scenes. I cannot count how many times have I watched a heartwarming or some sort of mood-triggering scene that was blatantly ruined by poorly incorporated music. And because this series did not have such an issue, I was able to get the most out each important scene.

But by far, the greatest aspect of this anime was character development. I'm not just talking about how a character is dynamic and changes throughout the series, but quite literally, a character's mental and physical growth. I should mention that this is a series about life. The first season focused on school life, the making of friends, the bonding of family, and all the things, good and bad, that come in between. The second season, subtitled After Story, shifted its central plot structure around entering adulthood, finding work, searching for and maintaining an independent home, starting a family, and facing and conquering hardships.

This series was truly an emotional rollercoaster. At times it was ridiculously cheesy, to a point where I could seriously slap my forehead and go, "Geez..." But then there were the honest, heartfelt moments. There were times that were wildly hilarious - a side-hurting, laugh out loud comedy. Equally, especially towards the end of the second season, it was traumatizing and and downright miserable. Clannad was a monumental series, and not just as an anime, but as a piece of media in general. This was the very first time in my life that some "story" drew tears out of my eyes. And on more than one occasion, as well. Not to worry, though, the series had a supernatural, fairytale-like happy ending (minor spoiler, sorry).

A work of art with elements containing family, school, and growing up themes, in combination with comedy, drama, romance aspects within supernatural and psychological genres. With all these features lined side by side with each other, how the creators got them to work perfectly with each other is beyond me. But obviously the result was the most important part. These guys created a true masterpiece. I feel fortunate that I got a chance to experience it.

Photos From Jersey

2009-07-09T00:00:00.009-04:00

As I mentioned before, here are some random photos from visiting my godparents in New Jersey:

Outside the oversized house.

Inside the oversized house. Apparently it's so big that there was not enough furniture to go around.

Godbrother Matthew on the left and biological brother Jeremy on the right. I think they were watching Spongebob or something...

Playing a game called Bakugan, based on a Japanese anime. All the cool 5-year olds are doing it nowadays. I've seen my little cousins going at it in Taiwan.

The kid entered his own world after Jeremy and I lent him our Nintendo DS's. I used the plural form because he requested the second one after sapping the first's batteries.

He was quite upset after both DS's ran out of batteries. But because we know I'm so good with children, I managed to entertain him for the remainder of the day. And here's his A-smile.

Dinnertime. I think being able to cook and eat simultaneously was pretty neat.

I think I should pursue a career in dining photography.

Who knew plain bok choy and mushrooms could look remotely interesting?

All this food is drool-inducing, eh?

Oh, yes. (The spare ribs off the grill were particularly delectable)

And we capped off the night with some old-school Battleship. The kid's not even six yet. He's got brains, though.

Epic Journey

2009-07-05T16:41:00.005-04:00

Have you ever had those moments when you figured nothing else could possibly go wrong?

In celebration of July 4th, my family and I decided to head to Warren, New Jersey in order to visit my godparents. Since my godparents just bought a new $1.2 million dollar house of ridiculous proportions, I figured this was one trip I was truly excited to make. Even though I only slept between the hours of 4 AM to 8 AM, departing early in the morning was not too much of a hassle for me.

Time passed. The day went by at my godparents' place with ease and enjoyability. I spent time with my five year old godbrother and his little elementary school pals, played with their Wii, and had some great food from the barbeque. But once it struck 9 PM and our departure time arrived, this was when the Independence Day nightmare began.

The trip back was fairly straighforward for the first hour. As soon as we got off the George Washington Bridge, however, the family car decided to kill itself and shut the engine down completely. At first, we figured maybe the motor oil needed changing. It was just a hunch. But because we were literally halted dead in the middle of a lane, doing anything was an issue.

Like normal people with traffic problems, we decided to request some aid from AAA. As if our problems weren't enough, a short-handed AAA (because of the holiday) could not make the trip. This was after over an hour of waiting for a tow truck. Meanwhile, some shady guy from the opposite side of I95 decided to waltz over to our car and push it across the highway onto a shoulder. Holy. Crap. With speeding cars next to us, we figured either the shady guy was going to get run over or our car will be totaled in a matter of seconds. Instead, nothing happened and the shady guy left us to wait for AAA. Guardian angel in the disguise of a bum-shady-man? Maybe.

So. Departed New Jersey around 9 PM. Estimated arrival time on Long Island was about 11 PM. Because of the car death and failed AAA, the time hit 12:30 AM. Just when impatience seemed to get the best of us and our fingers were about to dial 911, the I95 highway patrol came by with a tow truck and helped us off the nearest exit. Now this exit happened to be in a rowdy Bronx neighborhood which did NOT seem like the friendliest place at 1 in the morning.

Back to our motor oil hunch, my dad and I decided to walk (more like slow jog) to the nearest gas station to get us some oil. Of course, everything seemed to be wrong that day, so obviously our efforts were failed attempts. The car's engine was dead for other unknown reasons, thus we were trapped yet again.

Now that we were pretty much out of options, we called AAA again. This time, since we were off the highway, requesting a tow truck was an easier business. But then we hit another obstacle (there's a trend here). The tow truck could only fit one person other than the driver. So the family decided to enlist the aid of my poor cousin at 2 AM in the morning. I'm sure that was fun for him. About 15 minutes after the arrival of a AAA tow truck, my cousin rolled by from Queens to the Bronx in his flashy BMW to escort us to safety.

Dude, it's past 2 in the morning, where are we going without our car? The last event got me good. Some of my friends may know about my grandmother from my mother's side who, at 85, has become somewhat senile. Well, "somewhat" may be a friendly term right now. Anyway, we were forced to spend the night at her place. Dust in my eyes, dust in my brother's nose, mosquitoes and moths were just nuisances piled on top of each other. I finally got some shut-eye around 4 AM, but I took it. Some sleep is better than no sleep.

So where am I now? Home, around 2:30 PM on July 5th! Let's think about this wonderful road trip as a 15-hour traffic delay. I'll post photos of the good times earlier on July 4th, not the epicly agonizing hours after the holiday.

Who Doesn't Like Video Games?

2009-07-03T22:14:00.007-04:00

Don't ask why, but gaming consoles tend to find their ways into my possession time and time again. It all started about sixteen years ago, when a cousin of mine decided to give me a Sega Genesis. I'll always remember that - in modern terminology, heavy box of trash - as my first gaming console. It was fun... before it burned out. It's not completely broken, but I have doubts that it will ever work properly again. Still, feelings of nostalgia wash over me whenever I catch a glimpse of it in my basement.

Several years after the Genesis, my first "new generation" video game system found its way via birthday present. Sony's Playstation, the first of the successful line of consoles, was a complete bundle of joy, of course. I think that was the turning point in my life, when I became glued to television and computer monitors more than time spent with books and outdoor activities. Will I ever become tired of the Playstation? Maybe.

But that's fine, because a couple of years later, in a one-two punch, the Nintendo company finally became a huge part of my life. It was the latter years of elementary school... perhaps a little early middle school, that I got my hands on my first Gameboy and Nintendo 64. It happened to be a Gameboy Pocket, not a Gameboy Color. Maybe the $60 Gameboy Color was a tad too much then. And you know this was the reigning time period of Pokémon, when getting that last gym badge outweighed eating a proper lunch in the school cafeteria. But a couple of years later, everyone just matured and dropped all of that Pokémon nonsense. In turn, we moved on...

...To Nintendo's Gamecube. Oh yes, now we see the video game world becoming more than just children's entertainment. Now the childish generation have grown to be erratic teenagers with eyes of absolute scrutiny. Now we know something called marketing competition. There's Nintendo's Gamecube, which I happened to own several weeks upon its anticipated release. But oh no, I wasn't satisfied then. Some of my friends own Sony's counterpart, the Playstation 2. With the fact that I still own the older model, the upgraded console was pretty much too desirable to ignore. So yes, less than a year after I placed my personal Gamecube alongside the older systems, Sony's Playstation 2 joined the party.

Yet, you may ask, what about Microsoft's XBox? To tell you the truth, I was never a big fan of XBox. Of course, there's the highly successful Halo franchise, but I back then I was not a big first-person shooter kind of gamer. Other than Halo, I couldn't really think of any game titles that I was particularly interested in that would force me to pursue an XBox.

Moving along, you would think owning a Sega Genesis, a Playstation, a Gameboy Pocket, a Nintendo 64, a Gamecube, and a Playstation 2 would be enough for anyone. I tell myself, "Yes, that is enough. Stop." But no. Randomly I decided to upgrade my old, bland Gameboy Pocket into a Gameboy Advance. And as technology continues to advance, so do video game consoles. Just a couple of years ago, the famed Nintendo Wii landed on U.S. shores. As my little brother said before, "Every household needed a Wii." So my household purchased a Nintendo Wii. Surely, the brand new motion detecting style of gaming was new and innovative, so I honestly had a lot of fun with the Wii experience. But I need more...!

So I got myself a Nintendo DS Lite, a somewhat upgraded version of a previously released Nintendo DS. DS stands for "dual screen," with a standard LCD screen that shows your gameplay, plus a second screen that utilizes the - nowadays - common touch-screen capabilities.

As of early to mid 2009, my collection stood at a Sega Genesis, a Playstation, a Gameboy Pocket, a Nintendo 64, a Gamecube, a Playstation 2, a Gameboy Advance, a Nintendo Wii, and a Nintendo DS Lite.

There's more?

Yes.

I am proud to announce, as of July 3, 2009, approximately 5:30 PM EST, a brand new Sony Playstation 3 has found its way into my household. Hallelujah. To think that I can probably enjoy the HD video gaming experience for a whopping one or so months before I head back to Binghamton in the fall. I can guarantee that my little brother would solder the console to one of the television sets before he would let me bring it so many miles north.

Hurray to more video games. And people wonder where my laziness comes from...?

Complete Irrelevancy

2009-07-01T12:55:00.002-04:00

As everyone in the tri-state region may empathize with me, the thunderstorms are absolute hindrances. On days when I feel are upbeat and energetic, a thunderstorm strikes within the hour to kill off any supposed plans.

And here I am, typing this away... and another thunderstorm is brewing, sapping away what little wireless internet access I am getting at the moment. (5.5 to 11.0 mbps, wonderful)

On a sunny, arid day, frozen grapes are the way to go. On a dreary, wet, loud, thunder-rific day, lying on a couch is the way to go.

Summer in Buffalo

2009-06-19T20:10:00.002-04:00

Hi guys! :)

Greetings from the girl of the crew haha
Unfortunately I am located in Buffalo for the rest of the season. Working and finishing off my session of classes. Next week are finals and then I will be heading down for a few days to pick up my siblings to stay with me for the summer.

(So I will probably be sending a mass text to see who can briefly meet with me.)

The weather has been on and off- between teasing peeks of sun and the summer thunderstorms.
I feel like a city person though; I go to work for several hours, hit the gym, go to class, and keep myself busy with homework, job stuff or play games into the wee hours of 4am? 5am?

I miss you all very much- will, be nice no need to throw things into jeff's crotch lol even if it is your birthday LOL
be good boys! hope to see you when I go down for a bit.

June Birthday Shoutout(...s)!

2009-06-19T02:21:00.003-04:00

So aside from my own little brother's 16th birthday less than two weeks back, here's another birthday shoutout. This time it's to my brother-from-another-mother, Mr...

Dubya-Eye-El-El... En-Gee! Will Ng!

Happy 20th birthday, dude, too bad Sule and I failed to go through with our plans to celebrate. Wait until next year, man. If we fail next year, we fail life.

Edit [June 19, 2009 approx. 4:30PM]
So Sule, Will, and I decided to chill anyway for Will's birthday. After spending fifteen, twenty minutes playing catch, I had the honor of taking a rough curveball from Will right in the crotch. Damn your late break. Happy birthday, buddy.

High School Concerts and Birthdays

2009-06-08T23:44:00.004-04:00

Talents never disappear forever.

Regardless of how educated kids are today, there is one thing that will remain constant: each person is good at something.

I've already been to Newfield High School's first Spring Concert late least week. To be honest, I knew the students could have done far better then. However, the students for the concert that I just attended were exceptional.

Jazz Choir

As always, the concerts feature choral groups as well as instrumentals. The jazz choir happened to be one of the varieties. My brother Jeremy played the piano as an accompanist earlier in the year, but decided to quit after claiming the members were unideal for him. Whoa, now...

Philharmonic Orchestra - Cello Section

Philharmonic Orchestra - Bassist Section

Philharmonic Orchestra - Violin Section (Go Jenny on the left!)

Of course, when I saw Philharmonic Orchestra on the program, the first thing that came to mind was, "Really, classical stuff?" It's most likely because of personal experiences when listening to such orchestras I'm usually presented with classical music. But even without playing a drop of classical music, the orchestra sounded just fine. Here's an example, collaborating with the school's wind ensemble:

"Scene From the Wild West" ft. Newfield Wind Ensemble

Jeremy should be somewhere in the right hand side smacking his vibraphone and other percussion instruments... Anyway, unfortunately, my poor Sony Cybershot ran out of batteries when the wind ensemble and combined chorus group were due to perform. Well, I did get one blurry photo of him on standby next to the vibraphone and one blurry photo of the emsemble on standby.

Wind Ensemble

Really, really unfortunate that my camera ran out of batteries. One of the pieces performed was unusually long (estimated around seven minutes), but was unique in sound.

After the concert was over, which lasted for nearly three hours, the family and I were homeward bound. June 8th happens to be Jeremy's birthday, so cake was necessary.

Happy 16th birthday, kid.

That's right, stab it harder!

An enjoyable school concert - albeit somewhat lengthy, ice cream cake, jotting thoughts down up to these upcoming sentences... it was a worthwhile day. Now I just need to sleep. Maybe I'll hit the sack after another midnight snack.

Exhausted

2009-06-04T00:59:00.002-04:00

It's physically emotionally and mentally draining being here...

things aren't going well at home and I don't know... I don't think I can take it anymore. so stressed... very much frustrated with the dad if you can even call him that.

sorry for writing this here I needed a little release outlet..

Chocolate Coated Black Sesame Mochi

2009-06-02T15:58:00.004-04:00

Yes, that is exactly what it is. Chocolate coated mochi with black sesame at the core. Sounds like an odd combination, I know. When I first saw it, I thought, "What kind of psychopath does this kind of thing?" Plus, it doesn't look too appetizing, but it's actually quite delectable.

And then I realized, the chocolate is quite nice mixed with the chewy rice treat. Also, these guys are smart. The chocolate coating keeps the mochi from drying out, allowing it to stay in its chewiest form.

Yum. Sadly, if I eat any more I'll probably get indigestion.

More Movies

2009-06-01T16:54:00.007-04:00

I tend to be one of the easy movie watchers who seems to be satisfied with anything other than plotless and shapeless narrative structures. Examples of completely plotless and shapeless narratives would be parody films like Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Date Movie, and the related. Yes, I have watched the first two Scary Movie installments, but after that, each subsequent scene that ticked past made me want to bash my head straight into a brick wall. Epic Movie and Date Movie are, by far, much worse.

Instead of criticizing films I do not like, here are two that I watched recently that are not the best, but provided me with some decent entertainment for the one, two or so hours.

Marley & Me

Both my parents read the semi-autobiographical book before watching the movie, which sort of surprised me since I'm usually the one doing the reading. So they go, "Jeff, did you get a copy of Marley & Me yet?" and off I go hunting for the movie.

I think this film hits current or previous dog owners much harder than standard dog lovers. Well, that was a rhetorical statement, of course, since SPOILER WARNING: the eventual death of Marley towards the end of the book and movie brings up memories of my own dog ...Highlight that if you dare.

Cute, funny, touching. I would say those three words sum up the film. In my opinion, they focus a bit too much on Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston (playing the couple who owns Marley) in the first half of the film. At first I thought the film should have been titled "My Wife and Me... and My Dog on the Side," but fortunately it improved towards the latter half.

Vexille: 2077 The Isolation of Japan

This one's a CGI animated film directed by Fumihiko Sori (who directed the Japanese Ping Pong film, which I don't know how many people are familiar with). Although the plot is easy to follow - Japan withdraws from the U.N., goes into a decade long isolation, technological advances skyrocket, androids are everywhere, threat to global peace, etc. - I expected a CGI film to have better visuals. Instead of liking the character designs and special effects, I was more interested in the backgrounds.

With a budget of $10,000,000 (no wonder), compared to many other CGI animated films (usually in the nine-digit zone), I guess whatever they happened to produce was whatever they were capable of managing. Watch it if you like sci-fi, fantasy stuff in general.

Summer "Break"

2009-05-29T03:47:00.002-04:00

It's been quite some time since I last posted on this blog. Since my last post, a bunch of things have happened: end of by-far the worst college year ever regarding classes, summer break, and physics at St. Bonaventure University. I thought that this campus was boring as hell during the school year, however, boring does not come anywhere close to completely describe this place during the summer. Campus is absolutely dead, with pretty much no one here. It's the most eeriest thing ever. Physics so far is going well, but obviously it's going to get tougher. Other than that, there's really not a whole lot going on with me. Just counting down days til Oxford, but even that doesn't seem as exciting and eventful anymore.

Myra visited me last weekend and we watched Angels & Demons and Night at the Museum 2. Both movies were pretty good. Angels & Demons did a good job with sticking with the book overall, not a whole lof of changes made. Night of the Museum was pretty good, considering I didn't even watch the first one and still found it enjoyable. Myra and I always went on a little retreat in the moutain which was pretty fun. I just hope that I can see her again.

Other than that, not a whole lot to report. Might check out the movie Up some time, I don't know. Hopefully when I'm back in Long Island maybe I will be able to hang out with everyone.

Movies, Movies

2009-05-26T16:04:00.008-04:00

Best Foreign Language Film winner at the 81st Academy Awards (2009).

I wonder how many people outside of Japan have seen this movie? I was surprised how I was able to get my hands on this film... after searching endlessly for parts of the movie online. Anyway, how I obtained a copy of the film is another story.

The plot is very simple. The main character, Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a cellist who lost his job after his orchestra disbanded. From here, he moves back to his old countryside home with his wife. In search of a new job, he follows an ad that requested "assistance to departures." Assuming it had to do with travel agencies, Daigo accepts. However, he later realizes these departures actually meant encoffining the dead and sending those who passed away to their afterlives.

So here are the conflicts. Jobs like encoffining and the related are not exactly smiled upon, thus we have an issue between Daigo and his wife. And on a side note, Daigo has to deal with his somewhat "unremarkable" life, which consisted of being abandoned by his father while he was a child, unable to attend his own mother's funeral, struggling for income, and dealing with his present situations.

What I can say is, the storyline is not diffucult to follow at all. The reason why this film won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars was probably because of the superb acting that was carried out through the entire movie. Nothing was exaggerated, everything seemed smooth and natural.

Recommended: if you like dramatic films with family themes, in addition to great music (he's a cellist, remember).

Summer Updates: Part I

2009-05-22T16:19:00.003-04:00

Since it has only been about two weeks since returning home from Binghamton, I can't say anything out of the ordinary occurred. Each day starts with a wake-up call between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. from my trusty alarm clock and ends with late nights staring into my laptop's monitor, either downloading media, watching media, playing games, or whimsically browsing the web.

To top it off, each day usually contains me eating a simple egg-lettuce-ham-tomato sandwich, a bowl of cereal, or scrambled eggs with unidentifiable seasonings with orange juice as brunch, followed by leaving iTunes open and blasting (since my Bose SoundDock seems to be malfunctioning), and then going off to do mundane tasks.

A lot of people I usually hang out with during the summer seem to be especially busy this time around. Odd jobs, internships, summer classes, studying abroad, and so forth tend to be the common stories.

And it's probably because I'm not yet working odd jobs, going through internships, attending summer classes, or studying abroad that I feel somewhat unproductive. The grades I obtained this past semester surely reflected some productivity; getting an A, A-, and A- in three classes aren't bad at all. Then again, getting a C and D in two other classes completely dragged the GPA down. As of now, my cumulative still borderlines a measly 3.00.

Thus, instead of going out of my way to do too much, I decided to stay home... or somewhere quiet in general, to read and keep my mind fresh. Eating well, exercising on a daily basis, reading, playing the piano, occasionally fencing, and writing now and then should keep me in shape for next semester. But as always, the catch is to see how long I can keep this up. Video game consoles lying everywhere, PC games dotted everywhere on my desktop, plus an external hard drive with 430 GB's worth of anime and 320 GB's worth of movies can become distracting.

When the August heat strikes down, I'll be looking forward to a couple of weeks in Rome, Venice, and Florence. Vita italiana.

Sophomore Year, Done and Over

2009-05-15T04:00:00.002-04:00

SUMMER!

So I'm finally out of school and ready to hit the beaches, play some ball, enjoy the summer breezes, and kick back without a care in the world.

False.

Of course, there will be time to relax, but I have some personal goals to attend to first. I'll keep this brief for now since I want to sleep...

Clean up the house. My home is literally a garbage dump without me cleaning here and there. That's not to say no one does anything, my mom usually tends to the washing and the vacuuming. But I have to say, both my dad and little brother pretty much left everything else covered with dust, tossed aside, etc.
Read, read, read. I have not sat down and properly read anything meaningful in quite a long time. Time to hit the libraries, Barnes & Nobles, and Borders'...s?
Since I had no money to fly to Houston, Texas to fence at Summer National's, not to mention 9 days hotel expenses, food, transportation, plus at least another $120 to compete at the events, and miscellaneous charges... I think I'll just stick with old-fashioned training, maybe coach my brother a bit, and wait until next summer if I choose to attend qualifiers again.
More solo piano practice.
More writing practice.
Get a job, man.
See people, man.

The last four are completely optional and are up to my moods, I guess. All would be great if I can accomplish them, but I retain every right to change the above list.

Good night.

Alternative Fictions Final Project: Part II - Robby's Kill Box

2009-05-08T05:24:00.007-04:00

I said I was going to do it and I am true to my word. Here's the outcome of my group's final film project for ENG300W - Alternative Fictions.

Robby's Kill Box: An Adaption
Starring: Stephen Armon, George Gilbert, Sharon Pak, and Kimberly Williams
Directed & Edited by: Yours truly... Jeff Hwang

A student final project at Binghamton University for ENG300W - Alternative Fictions, Spring 2009. Based on a short story titled "Robby's Kill Box." The short film represents the story as it is told.

Viewers beware: The film makes minimal sense and is open to any interpretations.

If anyone can spot this one disgusting mistake I made while editing the short film, I'll give you a dollar. Maybe.

Some things were altered in comparison to the script I generated some time before. Still, one week's effort, nine minutes of eerie entertainment. Enjoy.

Spring Fling 2009

2009-05-02T22:11:00.013-04:00

And Binghamton University's annual event strikes once again. Spring into Spring Fling 2009 at Bing!

Crowds... And more crowds.

Main path... Crowds and snakes?

Sul-poong performance... Iced tea and milk tea sold by TASC.

Pirate ship ride of doom... Spinning-wheel-tornado-thing ride of doom...?

I think I spent the majority of the day helping out with TASC's iced tea and milk tea sales. Originally the plan was to make ice tea slushies, but that was a lost cause. Instead, the student body and faculty of Binghamton University was blessed with normal, old-fashioned, cold beverages instead. The machine itself was a pain to use. $85 rental. Mmm.

Other tid-bits: obtained a great sunburn on my neck and arms, caught four goldfish through various activities and gave them away, and skipped out on the Eve 6 concert at the end of the day due to fatigue and the lack of motivation to see a band I never cared much about.

Alternative Fictions Final Project: Part I

2009-04-29T14:48:00.007-04:00

For my Alternative Fictions (ENG300W) class, the final project to to create a short film based on a short story called "Robby's Kill Box." First of all, the story is quite senseless and abstract, spontaneous and peculiar. All in all, very interesting, but inconsistently written, in my opinion.

With a group of five members, I've taken the liberty to generate a script, work the camera, direct, and edit the entire short film... which I estimated to last approximately ten minutes. Everyone else can do the acting.

I'll upload the finished product next week. Here's the script.

Robby’s Kill Box
An Adaption

Jeff Hwang – Direction, cinematography + random character

Sharon Pak – Narrator
George Gilbert – Robby
Kimberly Williams – Kierce
Stephen Armon – Da Vinci + random character

Scene I:
(Outdoors)
Narrator is idly sitting, writing in her notebook.

Narrator: (alone, sitting and writing, voiceover) “Early August, over the past year, there was Old Man Miller who had a heart attack and died while falling down the stairs. There was little Jodi who, along with his bike, was crushed under a car. And there was the overly drunk McCracken who toppled over his John boat and drowned in Cora Creek. And who else but Robby would falsely confess that the deaths were all his doings? But that’s the thing. I just take confessions as they come. Even if I know it wasn’t him.

(stands up, still writing)

“A Da Vinci-like psycho’s been chopping off fellows here and there… and then painting them up. Oddly enough, his works of ‘art’ are actually quite impressive. This guy’s a true genius.

(closes notebook)

“So where does Robby come in? Personally, I don’t even know. But every time Da Vinci claims another victim, I dream about Robby. Don’t ask me why, I take the confessions, not the dreams.”

Scene II:
(Chamber Hall, music area)
Narrator with friend, Kierce, idly standing in the hallway. Unnamed character arrive shortly from a rehearsal room.

Unnamed Character: (holding a guitar) “I can’t help it, I can’t stand it anymore.”
Narrator: “What?”
Unnamed Character: “I cheated on her…” (pause) “Jesus, I cheated on her with people she hated…”

(long pause, Kierce glances at narrator)

Narrator: (aggravated) “So tell her, and deal honestly with the results.”

(unnamed character shows some form of relief, exits scene)

Narrator: (voiceover) “Still August, but they keep on coming.”

Scene III:
(Living room, dining room area)
Narrator and Kierce eating.

Kierce: “There’s something I simply have to tell you.”
Narrator: (surprised, voiceover) “Here we go. I’ve never heard any confessions from her before, this should be interesting.”
Kierce: (pause) “I love what you did with the ginger.”
Narrator: (smiles, voiceover) “I can go crazy like this.”

Scene IV:
(Later, narrator taking nap, still in living room)

Robby: (swinging box, smiling, near trees)
Narrator: (wakes up, holds up newspaper, headlines read ‘Killer Strikes Again’)
Kierce: “You’re not gonna catch this one.

(Kierce reaches into a drawer and pulls out a small bag, reaches into the bag and pulls out a stone)

“Here, keep this. And don’t lose it."
Narrator: “What is it?”
Kierce: “A spirit stone. Keep it on you at all times.”
Narrator: (puzzled look, puts stone in pocket)

Scene V:
(Sleeping, narrator dreams)
At nature preserve, Robby with narrator, walking casually. Robby swings around his box for fun. Robby grabs narrator’s shoulder.

Narrator: (wakes up and shocked to find Robby at her bedside)
Robby: “I did it.”
Narrator: “W-what?”
Robby: “I killed Fisher’s dog. And the cat. And the rest of the missing pets. I cut them up. And I buried them everywhere.”
Narrator: (stares, no words, voiceover) “I know he didn’t do it. But still, the scary thing is that he wishes he did it. And not only that, I know he can do it.”
Robby: “Can you help me?”
Narrator: (rubs eye, tired) “What… how?”
Robby: “I have to show you.”
Narrator: (voiceover) “How stupid can I get?”

Scene VI:
(Continuation, nighttime, back at preserves)
Narrator follows Robby to woods. They stop, Robby takes a brick out of his box and hits the side of narrator’s head. Narrator collapses.

(Later)
Narrator: (wakes up to crying noise, blood everywhere. Narrator’s eyes wander, confused, sees Robby)
Robby: (poking own head) “Why didn’t it stop? It was supposed to stop…” (pause) “What’s wrong with me that it won’t work?” (opens and closes box, touching it all over)
Narrator: (reads label ‘Robby’s Tool Box’, whispering) “Robby’s… Kill Box… that’s what everyone calls it.”
Robby: (takes a screwdriver and hammer out of box, holds tools to his chest) “Nothing is true. None of it and all of it.”

(Robby proceeds to attack narrator, but two unidentified people come out and stop, drag Robby away, narrator blacks out)

Scene VII:
(Narrator with Kierce in previous room)
Narrator reading newspaper with updated headlines, reading ‘Da Vinci Killer Claims Number Eight.’

Narrator: (stands up and gives notebook to Kierce) “Hold on to these.”
Kierce: (drinking coffee, takes notebook) “Hey, you’ll be fine.”
Narrator: (pauses at exit, leaves room)

Scene VIII:
(Outdoors, nighttime, empty area)

Narrator: (sitting alone on bench, voiceover) “Late September, summer’s fading fast. The chill is getting to me. Moments like these I wish I brought along a jacket.”
Da Vinci: (suddenly show up behind narrator, surprises her) “Is this seat taken?”
Narrator: (regains mentality and shrugs. Da Vinci sits before she can answer) “Seat’s free. But I’m taken.”
Da Vinci: (calm, gentle voice, smiles) “That remains to be seen.”

(long pause, both characters sitting without much motion)

Narrator: (voiceover) “Keep cool.”
Da Vinci: (after another pause) “So you want me to confess.”
Narrator: “Excuse me?”
Da Vinci: “Don’t bother, I know a beacon when I see one.”
Narrator: (hesitantly) “A… beacon…?”
Da Vinci: “I know what you are.”
Narrator: (anxiously looking around for other people)
Da Vinci: (tilts head in confusion at narrator’s motions, waves hand) “Helloooo.” (smiles again) “They’re not coming.”
Narrator: “What’d you do? Kill them all?”
Da Vinci: (laughing) “Didn’t have to.”
Narrator: (showing nervousness) “What… they just up and kill themselves?”
Da Vinci: “Sort of.” (not smiling, serious now) “Dead of boredom, I’m afraid.” (inches forward closer to narrator) “See, this lot tonight, they don’t believe in me. Or in you. (takes out a paintbrush and taps nose repeatedly)

(Narrator makes a motion to grab the paintbrush, but holds back)

“Robby says hello.”
Narrator: (eyes bulge at the name)
Da Vinci: “If I confess to you, I won’t have to stop. Not ‘til I want to.”
Narrator: “…why not?”
Da Vinci: “I’m not from your neck of reality. I don’t need to play by your universal rules.”
Narrator: “So, you’re just made of dark thoughts and set loose?”
Da Vinci: (pouting, sitting back) “Putting it that way sounds limiting…”
Narrator: (takes spirit stone out, but keeps it under table) “So what now?”
Da Vinci: (smiles) “That won’t work. I already paid a visit to her.”
Narrator: (shows worry again) “Who?”
Da Vinci: “The person that gave it to you.” (leans in again) “Sweeeet.”
Narrator: “Fuck.”
Da Vinci: “Don’t worry, I didn’t touch her. Can’t. Against the rules.”
Narrator: “What…?”
Da Vinci: “Hey, where do the confessions go? I thought maybe I was like you. You can do things. You get to do the things you’ve listened to all your life.”
Narrator: “And do what?”
Da Vinci: (smirks mysteriously) “I told you I wasn’t here to confess.”
Narrator: “Well, what then?”
Da Vinci: (suddenly pulls out ‘Robby’s Kill Box’ and plants it on the table) “I’m here to finish what was started a long time ago.”
Narrator: (looks back and shows sign of panic, but just stares at the box)
Da Vinci: “Maybe you’re doing a disservice. Maybe you’re letting them forget too easily.” (taking tools out of box)
Narrator: (looks up, suddenly realizing something) “This… is all about unfinished business.” (choked voice) “All the people you killed, you were taking care of old business…

(Da Vinci smiles and nods)

“But how do you know? Who to hit and what to paint on them?”
Da Vinci: “They told me. It starts with need. A need that grows up and out until it has to be accounted for. Like you, I carry out what the cosmos asks of me.”
Narrator: “You killed Robby.”
Da Vinci: “Slightly. Told you it’s unfinished business, I didn’t tell you whose.” (puts tools back in box)
Narrator: “What, so now you’re finished with me? Or finished killing people?”
Da Vinci: (calm and collected) “Both.”
Narrator: “That easy?”
Da Vinci: “Why not? Listen, you’re a hunter, like me. People fall to you. Don’t let them off too easy, or it’ll eat you up.” (gets up after talking)
Narrator: “That’s it? You’re done knocking people off?”
Da Vinci: (turning to leave, waves hat) “Yep.”
Narrator: (stands up as well) “Wait, do you always tell people that their unfinished business have been taken care of?”
Da Vinci: (pauses, glances back to narrator) “No, just you.” (leaves scene)
Narrator: (waits and whispers) “Then you’ve confessed after all…”

Some Like It Hot

2009-04-26T01:31:00.002-04:00

We have made history and broke a record!

Nearly two decades ago, the highest temperature for April 25th was 81 degrees Fahrenheit. But, the times have changed and the record has been reset to 84 degrees Fahrenheit. And this is Binghamton, NY, we're talking about; a land of snow, ice, and ceaseless cloudy skies.

However, on April 25, 2009...

It...

Was...

HOT.

Super Happy Fun Clay Time

2009-04-24T01:06:00.010-04:00

BEFORE

Uninteresting wad of clay...

THEN

Oh, boy!

AFTER

Too bad I don't have paint. Here's Mewtwo... in all his glory?

Counting Down

2009-04-23T18:57:00.004-04:00

It's actually pretty surprising as to how quickly sophomore year has come and gone. Last time I checked, I was still in Taiwan acting like a total foreigner, hitting Luxy and Room 18 with no regrets, staying out until the sun rose, and woke up with mild to severe hangovers on consecutive days. But now that I checked again, summer of 2009 is just around the corner, which means the inevitable arrival of junior year... then senior year... then real life.

I'll be heading home back to Long Island in approximately two and a half weeks, on May 11, just a couple of hours after my last final. There isn't really anything left for me to do on campus between now and departure, aside from a student event here and there.

With a recent moderate injury to my right shoulder from fooling around with football, this took fencing out of my weekly plans for the rest of the semester. However, I'm still debating whether or not I should attend national's at Houston, Texas this summer. If I choose to go, this shoulder better be at 100% before I leave Binghamton. Who knows how much training I'm missing out on...

So many plans for next semester and this semester isn't even over yet.

Fall 2009 Schedule!

2009-04-15T14:25:00.003-04:00

Got all the classes I wanted so far. If I overload, I may add one or two more.

- RHET 240: Introduction to Journalism
- ENG 227: British Literature I (lecture/discussion)
- ENG 245: Shakespeare (lecture/discussion)
- ANTH 114: Language, Culture, and Communications in the U.S. (lecture/discussion)

May add:

- ENG 310: Introduction to Theory and Criticism (lecture/discussion)
- RHET 380: Reading the News

Classical Music: Going Back in Time

2009-04-13T15:58:00.020-04:00

To continue my last post regarding the anime, Nodame Cantabile, I surprised myself by finishing the second season, which consisted of eleven episodes in two days. Considering my attitude towards the first season, the second season was not bad either. Even though the plot was pretty straightforward from episodes one to eleven (as compared to the 23-episode first season), everything else was similar to the way season one was organized.

The animation for season two did improve, however, as entire orchestras were animated. Season one primarily had still-images with music playing in the background, along with occasional voice-overs. Season two did get a tad sappier in terms of the romance elements of the series, plus its comedic level dropped below the drama level in comparison to the first season. I'll give season one a 9.0 out of 10 and season two an 8.5 out of 10... or somewhere along those lines, you get the idea.

Season three is green-lighted for the fall of 2009, probably sometime in between September and October. Even though I have no idea how the creators are going to add onto the series, due to the fact that I feel everything pretty much ended already after episode eleven of the second season. However, since the original manga series is still ongoing as of today, the creators of the anime will probably just draw storylines from the original manga.

But now I'll get to the one aspect of the Nodame Cantabile series that really got me good: the reinstilled urge to play good ol' classical music.

That's right. I played classical music between the approximate ages of five to fifteen, followed by five years of messing around with contempory music. After listening to the samples that were included in the anime, this overwhelming feeling of nostalgia washed over me, especially when I heard various songs that I have played before in the past.

Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Debussy, Schubert, Chopin... I've heard their compositions, I've played many, but I have definitely forgotten most of them. I can read the sheet music and identify the melodies, but my techniques could definitely use some brushing up.

Out of the dozens and dozens of pieces that were used in the anime, two of them that I could identify with right away were Beethoven's Sonate Op. 13 and Schubert's Sonata in A Minor, D. 845 Op. 42.

Beethoven's piece, more famously known as Sonate Pathétique, was one of my favorites back when I was still a piano student. It consists of three movements, spanning a grand total of eighteen pages. The funny thing is, I've played the first movement before while my brother played the third movement. What happened to the second movement?

Sonate No. 8 in C Minor (Pathétique), Op. 13, by Ludwig van Beethoven
Second movement - Adagio Cantabile

The second movement of the piece was played several times throughout the anime series. I have not played this movement in the past, but I have heard it before. Nodame Cantabile, with the title character playing the second movement in the adagio cantabile style... I wonder if there's a connection there?

Moving on to the second song I was talking about, Schubert's Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, this song was played many times through the anime. I have not played this song before, as I have, oddly, rarely played Schubert's pieces. However, this one caught my ear and I had to find the sheet music for it once I finished watching the series.

Sonata in A Minor, D. 845 Op. 42, by Franz Schubert
First movement - Moderato

Great song. Very catchy for a classical piece, but not exactly the easiest of songs to play. Technique-wise, it is straightforward, but as any pianist would say, you have to play with emotion. Combining the two elements, I've got myself a handful. Thank God I'm only working on the first movement, however, even though it consists of seven pages with repeats. The entire composition spans a whopping 24 pages... Mr. Schubert, you are a monster.

Beethoven - Sonate Pathétique - Second Movement

Schubert - Sonata in A Minor - First Movement

Uneventful Spring Break

2009-04-10T17:31:00.007-04:00

Since there is only a handful of people I know who's with me on spring break back home, everything has been quiet and... mellow. I should add that I don't even talk to the people that are back here. Put two and two together:

I'm bored.

So, recently I started making a media collection, predominantly movies, music - and requested by my brother - anime. Honestly speaking, I watched less than 10% of what I've gathered up so far, a combined 400 or so GB's worth of entertainment.

A couple of days ago, I decided that I can easily pass time by watching random anime series that I've downloaded. Out of the recent ones I've completed, I would say the one that appealed the most to me was Nodame Cantabile. For those who have background knowledge for classical music, the term "cantabile" means played in a singsong-like fashion. Nodame's the name for the female protagonist of the series, if anyone's curious.

Nodame Cantabile

The entire series is themed around classical music. Knowing me and my classical piano history, stuff like this intrigues me right off the bat. When I went through episode one not knowing any background information about the series, my attention was grabbed, though my interest was not in full bloom. As I went through the first three or so episodes, I was gradually drawn into the basic, but nonetheless interesting storyline.

The Facts
- Based on a manga (comic)
- 23 main episodes (plus a couple of "bonus" episodes)
- Originally ran from Jan. 2007 to June 2007
- Directed by Kenichi Kasai
- Animation studio: J.C. Staff
- Also an award winning live-action Japanese TV drama of the same name
- Features compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Debussy, Schumann, Brahms, Strauss, Listz, Gershwin, and more
- Features performances by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

The Story
The protagonist, Chiaki Shinichi, is a senior majoring in piano in a music college in Japan. He's a prodigy, perfectionist, and far more musically talented than the rest of the students (and even staff) in the school. As a result, he's arrogant, highly criticizing, and sometimes downright overly aggressive. Although he excels in playing the piano (also the violin), his true dream lies in conducting.

Along the way, he bumps into the title character, Megumi Noda, who goes by a portmanteau of her surname plus given name, "Nodame." She's wacky, odd, unladylike, sloppy, clumsy, but free-spirited. On top of that, her piano playing is unique and her technique is unparalleled.

The series goes on with Nodame falling in love with the talented, good-looking Chiaki, while Chiaki finds himself trying to rid himself of his peculiar admirer. Episode by episode, character developments become huge, and plots move on with the introductions of various eccentric characters (who all play significant roles, as well as forming friendships between the two protagonists) and events.

Eventually, due to Nodame, Chiaki was able to gain opportunities to conduct small school orchestras, a stepping stone to his future. Likewise, because of Chiaki, Nodame enters a piano competition, once a fear of hers. Many opportunities come around, forcing the characters to grow and take risks in order to pursue their dreams.

And at the end...

Well, it's a nice ending. Plus, I'm downloading the sequel, so technically I'm not quite done either.

The Review
There are several reasons why I became quite fond of this anime. The obvious one is that my musical background made me pay closer attention to details throughout the series. It could have been a positive or negative effect, but luckily, it worked out well.

Then there's the fact that the creators of the series decided to put actual classical compositions throughout each episode (plus, they are pretty informing regarding the composer, piece title, and miscellaneous details). Songs that I've played before in the past struck me particularly hard. As for songs I could or could not identify, listening to them instilled this urge within me to find the sheet music and give the pieces a shot.

Additionally, the animation was consistent throughout the series. At certain points, the animators would even use CGI elements to create this realistic effect on the music performers' hands. It's apparent that the bases for the scenes were taken from live performers, which was why each note from the soundtrack matched the movements of the fingers. It's a very effective attention-grabbing technique.

Finally, the anime's genre lines up as: Drama, romantic comedy, and slice-of-life (random, daily happenings of characters). The serious, dramatic parts and silly, comedic parts are very well balanced. The romance elements were not at all chick-flicky, sappy, or even tear-inducing, but they were fit into the episodes neatly. All in all, a great effort by the creators.

...phew.

Season two is only eleven episodes long, basically half of season one. I did a little research and apparently the creators plan on finalizing the series as a trilogy, with the third season due for late 2009. Hmm. It's worth looking forward to if I like season two as much as season one.

I rarely watch anime, dramas, or anything television related to begin with. Usually it takes me quite a while before I heave a sigh and say, "All right, all right, I'll watch it." Sometimes I regret downloading and watching certain series. But this time, I'm pretty satisfied with my decision.

Birthday Shoutout!

2009-04-07T22:37:00.002-04:00

Happy 20th birthday, Rebecca Becca Becky Lee! And congrats again on your recent crossing! :D

Binghamton Massacre

2009-04-04T01:34:00.005-04:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123877508503886971.html#mod=djemalertNEWS

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Fourteen people were killed Friday after a gunman opened fire in a center for immigrants and refugees, authorities said.

As many as 37 others were injured, including four who were hospitalized in critical condition. The victims were employees of the center, the American Civic Association, and students studying to become citizens, officials said. One survivor, a receptionist who had been shot in the stomach, crawled under a desk and called police to the scene.

Officials wouldn't confirm the identity of the gunman, but a SWAT team found the body of one man inside the building with a satchel of ammunition tied around him, along with two pistols, said Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski at a news conference. He said it would take the police some time to identify the bodies.

Associated Press - Authorities escort people from the American Civic Association building in Binghamton, N.Y., after a gunman opened fire Friday morning.

"They're relatively sure that one of the deceased was the gunman in today's shooting. However they can't confirm that 100%," said Andrew Block, director of community relations for the office of Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan.

Mr. Zikuski said the gunman had thought through the attack. He had parked a borrowed car at the association's rear entrance, barring people from exiting and the police from entering the building.

"It was premeditated," Mr. Zikuski said. "He put his car against the back door so nobody could escape."

The violence in this upstate New York city followed a spate of mass shootings around the country, one of which occurred Sunday when Robert Stewart, 45, shot and killed eight people at Pinelake Health and Rehab in Carthage, N.C., before a police officer shot him.

President Barack Obama, traveling in Europe, called the events in Binghamton an "act of senseless violence," and said he and his wife, Michelle, are praying for the victims, their families and the people of Binghamton.

As police worked to identify victims, family members waited anxiously for word of their loved ones.

Not long before 8 p.m., Omri Yigal, 53 years old, emerged from the Catholic Charities of Broome County where he had been waiting for word about his wife, who had been taking English classes at the civic association. "I just want to locate Doris," he said. "And we'll just go from there."

The attack began before 10:30 a.m. Friday when the gunman drove to the back of the Civic Association, a nonprofit organization that helps immigrants and refugees learn English and prepare for the exam to become U.S. citizens. Several of the association's clients, which include Vietnamese, Chinese and Eastern Europeans, were likely in class as they had been preparing to take a citizenship test later this month, said Angela Leach, the association's president, who was reached at home in the early afternoon before the extent of the tragedy was known. "I have no idea what could have gone on," she said.

The gunman immediately turned his weapons on two receptionists. One, who was shot in the head, died, said U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat whose 22nd district includes Binghamton. The gunman then strode into a nearby classroom and shot about 13 people, Mr. Zikuski said.

About 26 students, hearing gunshots, ran for cover in the basement, hiding in the boiler room, the chief said; 911 dispatchers advised them how to barricade doors. "We had to repeatedly assure them, do not come out," he said. Some of the students did not know English, but the chief said that did not hinder the rescue.

Once SWAT team members entered the building, they walked from room to room, finding survivors and leading them out the door. The police said they wanted to be cautious before they identified the gunman. They do, however, know who borrowed the vehicle that was blocking the building's rear.

Associated Press - Authorities enter a Johnson City, N.Y. home belonging to Jiverly Voong, the suspected gunman in the shooting at a Binghamton, N.Y. community center.

A spokeswoman at the nearby Wilson Medical Center said the hospital had three patients taken there from the shooting site, one male and two females, ranging in age from 20 to 60. All had gunshot wounds and two were in surgery. Their conditions ranged from stable to critical, she said.

The downtown area of this city of about 47,000 was transformed into an emergency staging area. Police vehicles blocked roadways, ambulances lined up in the parking lot of the nearby First Congregational Church and SWAT-team members stood atop adjacent buildings and crouched behind trees.

Officers climbed onto the roof of an old firehouse that is the home of Pennie Kerber, 72. Ms. Kerber said she was holed up in the building for the better part of the day, afraid that gunfire could erupt. Her husband was stuck at the bowling alley, unable to return home because police cars were blockading the street. Ms. Kerber said she saw one man on a stretcher being carried out of the Civic Association. "It's nerve-wracking," she said.

Catholic Charities in Binghamton opened its doors to about 50 people whose family members had been inside the association headquarters. "Our staff is trained with counseling and can respond right away in a crisis," a spokeswoman for Catholic Charities from the Diocese of Syracuse said.

In the early evening, spectators gathered about half a block from the association building. Sammie Silas, 48, said: "If this happens over here, it could happen anywhere else."

—Matt Phillips contributed to this article.

For Fun

2009-04-01T23:39:00.006-04:00

Instead of studying for my midterm...

That's right. Pika-bored.

Photoshop, tablet, and a dose of boredom. 20 minutes killed off in an instant.

Study attempt #2 commencing...

The Donkey Story

2009-03-30T22:01:00.003-04:00

The Donkey Story

One day, a farmer's donkey fell down into a dry well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.

Then to everyone's surprise, he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

-Free your heart from hatred - forgive.
-Free your mind from worries - most never happen.
-Live simply and appreciate what you have.
-Give more, expect less

Now...

Enough of that crap. The donkey later came back and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

The real moral from today's lesson:

-When you do something wrong and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

An e-mail from my mother

Birthday Weekend

2009-03-30T15:55:00.007-04:00

Time for a little update. Just took my plant bio test which wasn't bad at all, really. There was just this one essay that I had a really hard time on, but for the most part it was good. Last week was my birthday, as I'm sure Jeff has already made it known, so thanks again for that Hwangsta (or as I used to say back in Newfield, HWANG-GANG!). And thanks to everyone else for all the birthday wishes, appreciate it. So I've got a few complaints from people telling me that I should start posting my birthday on facebook but I'm not sure if I want to do that or not. I'll think about it.

Anyways, back to my birthday shenanigans (Ashley don't give me that face). So Myra threw me this huge surprise party. I mean I knew she was doing something but she wasn't too good at being inconspicuous about certain matters. So I was able to figure some things out. For example, she tells me to go play basketball the night before my birthday so that she can have the room to herself and study :-P But I mean I went along with it even though I was kind of expecting. What I wasn't expecting: Myra invites around 25 people to hide in my hall (not my room, as I had expected) to jump out at me while I'm walking down the hall to my room from basketball. Her and her friends made two cakes, decorated my room, my door, my dresser drawers, my desk, etc. So it was a very good surprise, I enjoyed it a lot. Myra got me this toy that you can play games on and the losers get zapped with a small electric shock. And she got me a bunch of nice polos and a button-down. Ashley got me polos too and a 4X4X4 Rubik's cube. And Arjun got some goooooooooood stuff. If anyone is curious, IM me or something. So I got caked with one of the cakes while the other one was eaten (thank god).

Friday night a bunch of us all just chilled in my room, met Ashley's family, and chilled some more. All day Saturday I hung out with Myra :-) and then we went out together with everyone else, so that was fun. Sunday I wasted time not studying for plant biology until late last night. I slept a little woke up late after skipping three classes and then I took my exam. I just got back from my meeting for Oxford over the summer.

They gave us some more information about Oxford. I cannot begin to explain how excited I am about going abroad over the summer. There seriously seems like a million and one things to do there. The best part is that we get so many days off to do our own things. Hopefully I don't get too distracted and still manage to do my work. We have all these brochures telling about the different things to do there. Some of them include punting down the river, watching live Shakespeare plays, museums, beer tours (?), wine tasting, and a bunch of other stuff. So yeah that's how I've been lately. Until next time I decided to write on this blog who nobody probably reads (lol), later.

Epic Journey

2009-03-30T02:40:00.006-04:00

March 27 - 30, 2009:

My friend Nick and I took a drive down back home for the weekend for an upcoming fencing tournament. All in all, it was supposed to be a completely normal weekend, i.e. hanging out with the family for a day or so and then fencing Sunday, March 29th.

And yes, it was normal, at least for Friday night when we got back and pretty much all of Saturday. But allow me to enlighten you on a story, which I will share in third-person. Yes, based on a true story. Warning: Nick uses profanity a lot.

*****

Jeff and Nick had planned on attending the Long Island Division II/III National Qualifiers some time beforehand, thus making their long drive back home from Binghamton University. On a cloudy and drizzling afternoon, the tournament began with 45 entrees for the epee tournament, the fencing weapon category that both fellows focus on. After a somewhat disappointing pool series, where Jeff finished 3-2, resulting in seeding 17th/45 and with Nick finishing 6-0, consequently seeding 1st/45, the direct elimination bouts began momentarily.

The seeding chart matched up with great misfortune. 17th seeded Jeff had a bye and then a bout in the second round. 1st seeded Nick had a bye and also a bout in the second round. However, if both fellows claim victory in their second round bouts, they would have to face off in the third round. In order to qualify, obtaining a position in the top 8 would guarantee qualification for Division II Nationals, however, the best that either fellow could finish - given that one of them will be eliminated by the third round - is ninth.

Jeff proceeded to a quick win over his opponent (score 15-8) in his bout and awaited the outcome of Nick's bout. In a ridiculous upset, 32nd seeded Pablo Lopez beat out Nick with a score of 15-11, thus eliminating Nick before the anticipated third round bout. Upset and utterly ticked off, Nick departed the tournament without another word.

So instead of facing Nick, Jeff had to go against this random fencer who he's never heard of that had just beat the top seeded fencer. Jeff had given word to Nick's parents that he will move on in the tournament on Nick's behalf, thus defeated Lopez 15-12.

With the victory, Jeff moved onto the quarter-finals, which he won with ease again (score 15-7), quickly claiming a seat in the semi-finals. It was then he faced off with 6'6" Vernon O'Garra, who, for some unknown reason, Jeff was unable to beat. So there ended the tournament, as Jeff fell 11-15 to the super-tall black man.

The fencing tournament with the final results: Nick placed 17th/45 and Jeff finished 3rd/45, claiming the bronze. Sadly, Nick's results could not qualify him for Nationals, but Jeff has yet to decide whether or not he wants to spend money on a plane ticket to Houston, Texas during the upcoming summer. With the tournament over, Jeff and Nick were bound for a return trip to Binghamton.

Approximately 7:30 P.M., the real journey began. Also picking up another friend, Jeanette, further off the L.I.E., the straight drive to Binghamton began around 8:30 P.M. However, it became one of the most peculiar nights for any of the three people in their lives.

Literally, it was a dark and stormy night. Winds gusted around 20-30 mph, torrents of rain splashed onto the windshields of vehicles all over the highway, lightning struck vertically and horizontally through and across the sky at rapid pace. To add onto that, there seemed to be a permanent fixature of dense fog at all times.

It was a long car ride, and Jeff decided to take a nap. Nick was fairly quiet since the beginning of the trip, no doubt still mulling over the results of the tournament. Upon waking, the storm had finally ceased, but the aftermath was clear:

Nick: "HOLY SHIT, what the fuck?!"
Jeff: "Oh, God."

Scene: an 18-wheeler truck was lying on its side and across the opposite lanes from us, obviously collapsed from the terrible storm just before. At the center of the truck, however, was a car lodged into the machinery, virtually impaled through the center of the truck. An epic scene.

Muttering a stream of exclamations that were not limited to, "holy shit," "what the fuck," "Jesus Christ," and "are you serious?" Nick proceeded to drive at 80 mph without looking back. Give them another half an hour and another scene represented the aftermath of the storm.

Nick: "WHAT?!"
Jeff: "What the...?"

Scene: half of a pick-up truck was off the road and in a tree, literally sitting vertically on a tree. The driver didn't seem to be in the truck, but blaring lights from policemen and ambulances were bright and clear.

The storm may be over, but that did not mean any problems were gone. Shortly after the wild scenes, other random atrocities appeared, such as leftover tires, a pile of fur and meat that resembled opposum roadkill, etc. On top of all the visual hindrances, in a split second from okay, Nick's front left tire exploded without warning.

Nick (nearly word for word): "FUCK! Holy shit?! What the fuck? Oh, my God, oh, my God! FUCK!"
Jeff: "Wait! It's okay! Your tire just blew out!"

Oh, the tragedy. After a quick examination, it was clear that the front tire blew out from scraping or hitting something on the road, although the culprit remained unknown. Luckily there was no panic... relatively, but the problem was that neither guy knew how to properly reinstall a tire. The good news was, they learned how to do so on the spot. And in a time of peril, cops always seemed to be the first to show up. With a little help from a policeman, a somewhat fairlure of a lift jack, and two textbooks, the broken tire was removed and a new one was in place.

They bid farewell to the kind policeman, the stars were out, the clouds were gone, and things were finally going in the right direction... or so they thought. As soon as the policecar departed and Nick and Jeff got back into the car, another problem seemed to be at hand. Driving a few yards forward, an unnatural, disturbing screeching sound seemed to be coming from the newly installed tire. Great. Suggestions from Nick's father led the travelers to a nearby town called Tobyhannah, Pennsylvania. In search of bright light to stop the car at in order for closer examinations, the trip temporarily stopped at a small military base.

You heard correctly. A military base.

As if stopping at a military base to check out a problematic tire would be a threat to homeland security, not too long after Jeff and Nick got out of the car to resume inspections, another policeman/security guard pulled up and got out... with a gun in hand and aimed.

Nick: "W-w-w-we... t-t-tire, n-need to check t-tire..."
Jeff: "I-I... W-we... uh, b-broken... t-t-tire..."

Fortunately, two idiotic college students staring at a car's tire was not all too threatening and the somewhat anal police officer decided to do his own inspection. It turned out that the screeching noise came from broken chunks of plastic that blew out along with the old tire. The pieces of plastic continued to graze against the new tire, thus creating the horrible screeching noise. The policeman's suggestion was to continue driving, since the tire's rubber can eventually wear out the thin plastic.

So back onto the road they go, after witnessing the sights of flipped trucks, tree-bound trucks, roadkill, exploding tires, going through the troubles of replacing a tire, fretting over uncomfortable grating noises, and then having a gun pointed at them, Jeff and Nick continued their journey back to good ol' Binghamton University.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except with occasional proclamations that the day was titled "My worst day ever," by Nick. Subsequent happenings included some scraped off plastic striking a car behind the travelers, actually stopping the victimized car dead in its tracks.

Nick: "Oops."

Also, they almost ran over a rabbit. Had they ran over a rabbit, the trip could have possibly ended there and crying would ensue. However, the rabbit survived, there was no crying, and by 12:30 A.M. on March 30th, the journey ended with the safety of our travelers back at Binghamton University. They celebrated by ordering a midnight snack at Denny's and proceeded to crash and hopefully not have nightmares of their somewhat out-of-the-ordinary adventure.

*****

This probably doesn't happen everyday. I don't want it to happen everyday. But here's the summary:

Came home from Binghamton University with Nick
Had a normal Saturday with family
Fencing tournament on Sunday
Qualified for Summer Nationals at Houston, Texas
Obtained bronze medal for tourney
Left home for Binghamton University with Nick
Endured ridiculous thunderstorm
Witnessed toppled trucks impaled by hapless sedans
Witnessed pick-up trucks smashed against a tree off road
Witnessed giant pile of messy roadkill
Suffered exploded tire
Endured pains of replacing said tire
Worried about unidentifiable noises coming from new tire
Checked out tire at military base
Got mistaken for terrorists and were nearly at gunpoint
Checked out safely from military base
Had chunk of plastic strike car behind
Almost ran over a bunny rabbit
Arrived at Binghamton University
Had snack at Denny's
Good night

Top 8 LI Div II/III Nat. Qualifiers @ Mission FC

Birthday Shoutout

2009-03-26T17:52:00.006-04:00

Happy 1/5 of a century(th?)'s birthday Rehan Thug Virus S.O.S. Bro Alam!

Affirmative Action

2009-03-26T01:57:00.010-04:00

Why am I talking about affirmative action? Actually, let me clarify, I'm talking about affirmative action in the United States. Perhaps it's a familiar term, or maybe the concept is a big question mark to you. I decided to be an idiot and choose the processes and ideas of affirmative action as a persuasive essay topic for my rhetoric class. Let me add to that... I have to read this, meaning, it's going to be a speech.

So what is affirmative action? All in all it's a type of policy that serves to benefit minority groups - and women at one point - improve their chances with higher education opportunities, employment, etc. Now has this concept been a positive impact on American culture or not? That is what I decided to explore.

My stance was fairly neutral until I realized that affirmative action, which its purpose to begin with was to eliminate discrimination and racial profiling, has become discrimination in its own way. Here's what I found while I was digging through the web via multiple Google searches:

By far, African Americans benefit the most from the affirmative action system, especially in higher education opportunities. Not far behind is the Hispanic population. And here's another major population in modern day U.S.A.: Asian Americans. Laugh at this if you want, but the Asian minority group in the United States is in the same boat as middle-class Whites. So what am I saying? Straight to the point, affirmative action has been screwing the middle-class Whites and Asians in the United States, giving way to other minority groups first.

And why is this so? We come back to discrimination in affirmative action itself. Think of stereotypes. I will not mention any, but many are obvious if you compare the races. With equal economic backgrounds, an African American scoring a 1500 out of 1600 on the SAT will have a far better chance in attending the most prestigious schools than an Asian American who scored the same. With affirmative action, if the college-bound student was female, chances of obtaining scholarships for such prestigious schools will also be higher.

Let's use the example to emphasize my point. It's an event called the Affirmative Action Bake Sale. Sounds hilarious? Well, the event is hosted by student groups on college campuses throughout the United States, including many UC campuses like Berkeley and UCLA, Columbia University, Cornell, NYU, Northwestern, UNCC, Rutgers, and others. It's pretty much a student protest, criticizing the faults of affirmative action.

An example of such an event will be the student group selling cupcakes. The pricing per cupcake will be as followed:

$1.00 for White and Asian males
$0.75 for White and Asian females
$0.50 for Black, Hispanic, and Native American males
$0.25 for Black, Hispanic, and Native American females

The point these students try to get across is not the actual racial profiling, but the way that affirmative action systems ultimately categorize the races. Although these demonstrations tend to end up being reported for blatant racism, I would assume such a reaction would be expected by the student protestors. Sadly, I agree that this may be the case for many educational and employment opportunities across the nation. Of course, it may not apply to everyone, but it's certainly not completely inconspicuous.

When Presidents J.F.K. and then Lyndon B. Johnson first fully carried out the policies, the purpose was to back up the African American population... due to their treacherous civil rights journey through history. Was it supposed to be some form of atonement? Sorry the nation mistreated you for nearly two centuries? Sorry freedom and rights never applied to you until the Emancipation Proclamation? Fourteenth and fifteenth amendments? I don't even think Martin Luther King had that sort of change in mind with his "I Have a Dream" speech. It's ridiculous. What about the Chinese Exclusion Act? The Japanese internment camps during World War II?

We got screwed.