A Thanksgiving List

Ah, the beauty of Turkey Day. Not only do I get to go home and take a break from school/work/research, but I also get to:

1.) play with my doggy, Gizmo (aka my Raison d'etre).
2.) hang out with my faggoty friends (Matt and Judd, and my BFF Bailey from college).
3.) play video games non-stop (a stellar mix of Star Wars Battlefront II, Halo 2, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Dynasty Warriors 5, and a little sprinkling of Perfect Dark and Final Fantasy II)
4.) eat not just one, but two amazing dinners (thanks Mommy!)

After two and a half days of blissful living, I finally returned to college yesterday evening. Although the break was amazing in words beyond description, I do have a couple regrets:

1.) that I didn't eat/hoard more leftover Halloween candy.
2.) that I forgot to bring the extra large bag of spearmint flavored mints.
3.) that I didn't pack the pumpkin pie and take it with me back to school.

Otherwise, it was perfect.

To be honest, I haven't had a lot of breaks like that. Lots of times they're either taken up by lots of work (homework, reports, grading, or essays) or worse things (job interviews). And it's times like that that make me think about (here comes the cliche) things that I am thankful for. Truthfully, I've rarely had time to just sit down and think about the things I'm grateful for but have no time nor salience to acknowledge. But then again, I guess that's what this space is for. Without further delay, here are the top ten things I am grateful for:

10.) Asian Noodle House - Thank you, not only the best place to eat in Collegetown (in terms of cheapness/quality/quantity/cleanliness/location) but also amazing people that work there. I may not know them by name, but I have their faces memorized, and I'd like to thank them for not only serving me the same meal every 5-6 days (Roast Duck and BBQ Pork over Rice), but also putting up with the fact that Bailey and I have a tendency to stay there for hours upon hours. Not just that, but also for putting up with the atrociously offensive/racist jokes that I so love to tell.

9.) Spiderman Vitamin Gummies - Thank you, Sundown Inc., for helping me to get 200x my daily dosage of my vitamins, while tasting so delicious that I could eat an entire bottle in one sitting. I'm surprised I haven't OD'd on them yet.

8.) The Los Angeles Lakers - Thank you, LA, for dominating your competition (except for one night against Detroit) and allowing me to watch not only the most dominating team in black-men-bouncing-a-rubber-ball-around-a-hardwood-floor, but also the most entertaining one.

7.) Detractors - Thank you, to all those who told me I wasn't good enough, told me I wasn't wanted, or that "things just haven't worked out." Not only have I learned to thrive in adversity, but I have learned to allow my hatred to drive me to new heights of individual fulfillment and success. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing, because I love who I am now, and a lot of that is because of all the people who have told me I wasn't good enough for them.

6.) My Teachers - Thank you, to all my professors, for not only being intelligent human beings, but also empathetic and engaging. Thanks especially to Prof. Protsak and Prof. Henderson, for making math not only interesting and engaging, but also fun and entertaining.

5.) My Anime/Novels/TV Shows/Games - Thank you, for allowing me not only to pass the time between doing work, but also teaching me about myself, both in dealing with the situations of characters, the themes present in each medium, and the changes they undergo. Not only do you give people a poignant way to describe life (what would life be like without DBZ metaphors?), but also a way to relax and lose oneself in a story.

4.) My Classmates - Thank you, to those whom I share class with. Of course there are a couple people whom I consider more friends than classmates, but we met in class, and bonded as classmates we shall remain. Too often we take for granted those whom we go to class with. Know that while each class may not necessarily be different without you, it most certainly would not be the same.

3.) My Co-Workers - Thank you, to the people whom I CA with, and the guys (and gals) who work at MSC. God knows, I am so involved in both, that if you people weren't as nice as you are, I would be miserable. Even though we are all very different in our backgrounds, interests, and social idiosynchrasies, you made it so that working at MSC and as a CA was one of the best decisions I made at Cornell.

2.) My Butt Buddies - Thank you to my two butt buddies from home, Matt and Judd, who can always be counted on for a good time (both platonically and sexually), as well as my pseudo-life partner, Bailey. Without you guys, I'd have to do so many things by myself (play Battlefront II, talk about philosophy, masturbate). Individually, I'm thankful that Matt is a godless liberal, allowing me to test the bounds of my understanding of my own beliefs. I'm thankful Judd is fat and loves to laugh, because how else would I be able to pick on kids with Down's syndrome? And last, I'm thankful to Bailey, for being the Batman to my Joker, always clinging to the hope that I'm not completely evil on the inside, and enduring my endlessly attempting to corrupt his incorruptible morals.

1.) My Immediate Family - Thank you to my Mom has always been there to support me through the worst times and cheer me through the best times. She has been the constant compassion in my life, and without her, I would be half as happy as I am. My Dad taught me to not only be a hard worker, a quick thinker, and a straight talker, but he also taught me how to take yourself seriously (earlier in his life) and how not to take yourself too seriously (later in his life). My brother will always be my big brother, and to this day, I still turn into a little kid when he is around. There are so many things that I share with my brother that I have with no one else (like the names of our old stuffed animals, decade-old video games that we love, and jokes that no one else in the world will ever get). Nothing comes close to them, and it cannot be said how my family has helped me become who I am. And last, and certainly the most, my baby Gizmo, for being the cutest doggy ever, and loving me unconditionally despite all the annoying things I do to him (pull his tail, play with his face, pick him up when he doesn't want to be picked up).

Simply Casually Listening: Joe Inoue

Simply Casually Observing

Is it a coincidence that the only time I'm writing is when I'm waiting for Lakers' games to start? I think not.

Anyway, school is grinding to a halt (mostly because of Turkey-giving break), and I've had quite a bit of down time over the past couple days (a beautiful contrast to the rest of the semester). So, what do I do when I have free time? I, of course, turn up the Marvin Gaye... warm up my hands on the heater... pull down my pants and...

...

Find some good new music to listen to (who doesn't surf the web without pants on?).

I started off in familiar places (what's the latest offerings from my favorite bands), ventured off into a little genre surfing (typing "power metal" into Google and seeing what comes up), and then, took the nerd route. The nerd route is, of course, finding out which of my favorite animes have new OP's (for new people, OP is short for opening theme, because saying "opening theme" in Japanese is not only very difficult, but it also sounds retarded). Well, it just so happens that my #1 currently-being-released anime had just started airing a new OP. Naturally, I had no idea what the title was, nor who it was by, because I'm oblivious to such things during opening montages (montages are my only true weakness), so I had to look it up online. As it turns out, the song is called "Closer" (makes sense, considering one of the lyrics is "you know the closer you get to something, the tougher it is to see") by some dude called "Inoue Joe."

First thought through my head was "whoa, is his name really Joe?" followed closely by "who the hell is that?" (Being slightly knowledgeable of Japanese, I started thinking, "is his name pronounced Joe, like normal people, or is it Jo-eh, like it would be pronounced if the Japanese had such a word as "Joe."). Anywho, I did a little research, and it turns out he's only a year older than me, and he was born in LA. ("Oh! That's why he can actually sing in English without sounding like he has Down's syndrome!"). On further investigation, however, I discovered something that had me immediately hooked...

As it turns out, he plays every single instrument in his songs. Yeap, so he records the lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals, all separately, then mixes them together after the fact ("How does he perform live?"). Needless to say, I was blown away. "Dude, how can this not be the coolest guy ever? He plays 3 fucking instruments and he can sing," I thought to myself.

So began my quest to acquire his music via nefarious means. Yet, much to my chagrin, I was unable to ascertain the means to acquire said music (Google and Isohunt weren't turning anything up!). At this time, I was quite voracious in my desire to listen to his music, so I went to Youtube, searched for one of his videos, and constantly played it (see bottom for more details). And thus, I was forced to search for Joe Inoue in the most horrendous fashion imaginable.....Direct, Download.

*shudder*

Just typing it sends shivers down my spine. As I scoured the net (mostly asian forums) for direct download links to his songs, I was finally able to procure two items of his: His first EP, "IN A WAY" and his first single "Hello!" And thus, there was much joy in the land of JK. Ever since that fateful night three days ago, I've been enjoying his music on my Ipod on my way to class, on my way home from class, during class, while conversing with friends, while ignoring friends, all that good stuff.

Honestly, his music is not that special. The drum beats are insipid, the bass is droll, the lead guitar is uninspired, and the vocals are passable at best. But, I think it is this simplistic combination that makes me so drawn to it. You can tell it's not music that has been ground to a pulp, smushed together, and re-packaged by the corporate music industry. It may not be the most inventive music ever, but I find it refreshing compared to most of today's music that is constantly trying to be "new" and "fashionable."

With that, here is the video I had on repeat while trying to find his music. The song is called "Nowhere."


And here is the music video for "Closer," the latest Naruto: Shippuuden OP

MNFS: Legend Of The Seeker

"People are stupid. Because they are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true."

This is the very first "rule" introduced in my most favoritest fantasy series of ever-time, The Sword of Truth. This line comes from the aptly named, Wizard's First Rule, the first of eleven in the series that made Terry Goodkind famous. I first started reading the books in 2000 as a naive high school freshman, impressionable and romantic. I instantly fell in love with the extremely developed characterizations, the sweeping world-building scale, and the epic themes which seemed both massive and yet individualist at the same time. Naturally, I just about crapped my pants when I saw the first commercial for Legend of the Seeker, a live-action adaptation of Wizard's First Rule (just ask my mom; I gasped so loudly she thought I had lost somewhere between 100 and 5000 dollars). My thought process was (unedited), "oh-em-jee, seeing this will make my life complete." That being merely slight hyperbole, I was very excited.

(Note: I'm not putting in links to the characters names, because they contain HUGE spoilers. If you actually want to get into the series, I would advise not Wikipedi-ing the fuck out of it and instead actually reading the books. Judd, that means you.)

For a little background on the series, the hero, Richard Cypher, basically gets chucked into a quest by a hot chick, the Mother Confessor, Kahlan Amnell, to kill the embodiment of evil, Darken Rahl (which has to be one of the best evil guy names ever. Just say it a couple times, "Darken Rahl..." "Darken Rahl..." It gets more evil the more times you say it). On his quest, he is aided by his old wizard friend, Zedd, who imparts to him little tidbits of knowledge (like the line at the top) along the way. Oh, and Richard uses a sword called The Sword of Truth... Talk about the lamest sword name ever.

Anywho, needless to say, I was as excited as a puppy that sees its reflection in the mirror for the first time. So, I went and did a little research on the series. It was then that my heart sank, as I realized who was the producer of my immaculate series: The bane of all fantasy series'...

Sam Raimi.

As flashbacks of Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless ran through my mind like a tank running through a car, I began to attempt to convince myself that this series wasn't going to be terrible. "It's ok, the source material is good, the author is involved, and this is 2008, not 1998. There's no way Goodkind would allow such desecration of his magnum opus." As my brother has so adamantly professed, there would be no reason to adapt a book into a new medium if there were no changes made to accomodate it. I accept minor changes, such as certain descriptions being less vivid and more implied, and certain thought processes being exposed in dialogue, but I truly denounce any wholesale changes to plotline (unless they A.) simplify the plotline, or B.) enhance the characters).

So, I nervously watched the first episode and was well... happily surprised by the quality. The production level was obviously excellent (other than the fact that it was glaringly obvious that soldiers were getting sliced by swords and there was no blood anywhere), with fast-paced action scenes coupled with slow-motion features that really enhanced the battles. The characters were also well-chosen, with Bridget Regan becoming the perfect Kahlan, and Chase, Richard's BFF, looking exactly like I thought he did. However, I always dreamed of Ian McKellen portraying Zedd, so Bruce Spence's casting seemed a little off (although I have warmed to him as of late.) The only glaring weakness is perhaps Craig Horner, the actor playing Richard, whose acting ability leaves...something to be desired. He looks exactly as I imagined Richard, but he has none of Richard's striking characteristics (like his painstaking approach to truth and attention to detail). Otherwise, the music, pacing, cinematography, and landscaping of the first episode (a two-hour double feature) was excellent. And on that day, I was happy.

Well, at least until the second episode. That was where the story branched off from the book, leading Richard and Kahlan to have several "adventures" to right some random, arbitrary wrongs going on in the world. When the first thought of "wait, this wasn't in the book at all,"struck me, a little portion of my soul died. But, the visualizations were still excellent, despite the plot being utterly inexcusably insipid. And I'll probably continue to watch the series (uTorrent, you are my savior).

If you've already read the books, it depends on how conservative you are (or how much of an asshole you are) in terms of how much you'll like this television adaptation. Some diehards writhe and seethe about the fact that this series is different from the books, while others take Legend of the Seeker with a grain of salt, offering up as a new story, mostly unassociated with Wizard's First Rule. For anyone who likes fantasy, this is an excellent series to watch. The characters are excellently imagined (at least until you get to the acting), and the world-building done in New Zealand is second to none. And last but not least, for all you godless liberals, Terry Goodkind is a staunch objectivist philosopher, so you can enjoy lots of ranting and raving about truth and rationality and the stupidity of those who allow things other than rationality to lead them in life. When I was younger, I found objectivism and rationalism to be fascinating, but now I pretty much read the novels and watch this series in spite of the themes. Yet, the themes are not so overbearing that you can't enjoy a great fantasy story while you're reading.

It's a little too early to rate this series, because it hasn't gotten to the juicy parts (to give you a hint, there's a dominatrix as well as a near butt-rape scene in the book), but overall I don't have too high hopes. As long as they get back to the book's plotline at some point and don't go off into Sam Raimi-land, I'll be happy.

Rating: N/A

Oh by the way, if you still need reasons to watch the series, keep this in mind:

Bridget Regan is OMG-hot

The Last Two Months In Review...

Oh-Em-Jee, what to write about first... I've been gone for so long it seems as if the world has completely changed since the last time I wrote, so there's just so many things I could tackle:

1. America chose as President a black man with the middle name Hussein over a white war veteran (honestly ridiculous, at least at face value).

2. The stock market has tanked to levels not seen since 2003 (and shortly approaching levels not seen since the start of Bill Clinton's second term in office)

3. A TV show (based on my favorite fantasy series of ever-time) began airing in syndication.

4. My #1 and #2 animes currently being released decided to stop sucking!

5. An awesome new season of black guys bouncing a rubber ball around a hardwood floor started.

6. I started research with one of my professors in a project to help poor kids understand math.

7. I got fired from my job at a high-profile asset management firm.

8. And last, but certainly not least, one woman managed to set Women's Rights back 50 years.


Needless to say, I'm prickling with excitement for the future...

Anywho, I could write about any one of these, and God knows its so cold that I could spend hours doing it tonight. But, I'm feeling a little deep tonight, so at least until the Laker game starts, I'll delve into a little my dealings with the passage of time.

It's weird how one moment you can think something will never end, only to realize all too quickly that it will soon end. I remember when I first met my BFF Bailey (Bailey is a dude's name, btb) here at Cornell, and I said something to him along the lines of:

"Man, I don't think I can handle 7 more of these things."

I, of course, was referring to the seven semesters we would have left at Cornell (wtf were you thinking). Now that I look back, that comment was foolish for so many reasons. I hate to admit it, but my time here at Cornell has flown by. I look back with a bit of regret, as I realized all too late that I haven't made the most of my time here. A victim of my own inaction, I failed to heed Ferris Bueller's advice and college has just slipped by somewhat. There are so many things I wish I could change, so many things I wish I could have done (or done earlier). All these regrets really make me wish school wasn't almost over (and make me really want to go to graduate school).

I originally had about 3 paragraphs of philosophical bullshit below this, but I decided that should be spared for another time. In the end, college has made me realize one thing:

Too often, people only care about what you've done. They want to know what you've accomplished, and how you can show that accomplishment to other people. I, on the other hand, believe it is much more important to enjoy yourself while acting, as opposed to just acting for the sake of accomplishing. In this way, one takes great joy in the most pointless of actions. I believe this is the best way to lead one's life.