The Hermit points to all things hidden, such as knowledge and inspiration,hidden enemies. The illumination is from within, and retirement from participation in current events.
The Hermit is a card of introspection, analysis and, well, virginity. You do not desire to socialize; the card indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. You prefer to take the time to think, organize, ruminate, take stock. There may be feelings of frustration and discontent but these feelings eventually lead to enlightenment, illumination, clarity.
The Hermit represents a wise, inspirational person, friend, teacher, therapist. This a person who can shine a light on things that were previously mysterious and confusing.
A few bloggers are doing this 30 days challenge, so I thought I'd join the fun. I don't think I'll do it day by day though, I'll do it once a week 6 at a time. Here's part one:
Day 01 — Your favorite song
Two weeks ago, I've written an answer to this question. My top favorite songs are this:
This:
And this:
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Beautiful Thing (1996) - It was about two boys living in a project in Thamesmead finding out who they are and falling in love despite all their family problems and discrimination. I saw it when I first came out and that kind of love was what I longed for so the movie resonated with me. There was a certain innocence about it and it was very romantic.
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
I was thinking what TV series do I enjoy the most but I realize that more often than not some series will go downhill or eventually jump the shark. In yesteryears, I did enjoy Sex and The City, it is in fact a gay men's soap opera with a lot of nudity. I enjoy Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Weeds, True Blood, Project Runway, United States of Tara and recently my friend turned me to watching Big Bang Theory. It's pretty hilarious.
Day 04 — Your favorite book
My favorite book actually was a collection of short stories by a gay Taiwanese writer Kenneth Pai called Taipei People. His stories along with his book was required reading in my high school studies of Chinese literature. Taipei People are stories about how various people from Mainland China of different background ends up in Taipei. The stories are often about how these individuals, often women, escaped the oppression of China and landed in Taipei to rebuild their lives, reminiscing about the past and sadly getting older and losing their former luster. The writing is glorious and the stories are very touching.
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity." - Albert Einstein
It serves as a reminder.
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
At the moment it's this:
36 layers of crepes with a Grand Marnier sweetened whipped cream in between every layer. I made it for the boyfriend and I during the week and will make it again for my straizian friends today. It was good but probably better if the cream is sandwich between actually thin sliced genoise to get a softer texture.
These days I'm hanging out with my straizian friends quite a bit. The circle seems to be constantly expanding and we are meeting up for party every single week, there are always some loud, annoying single girl around purring for straight boys. Being the only gaysian in this straizian circle is not easy at times, I feel like the only strange gay elephant in the room but we get too wrapped up with mahjong, cooking and videogaming to mind. In the beginning of the month, we ventured out to a State Park in Bucks County for a barbecue and there's where I met Yumi, this giant darling of a dog.
Cute. As. Shit. I don't know if the picture shows how giant this dog actually is, she's larger than some of the small skinny Asian girls there, including her owner. I imagine walking her might not be the easiest task.
With the same crowd, I also joined in for a night of Karaoke and I have to say I haven't really done so with a bunch of Asians for a long while. These folks enjoy playing various dice drinking games which is also something I haven't done for a long while. I also find their drink of choice very peculiar. I've never stepped into a bar and order a whole bottle of whiskey, a jar of ginger ale and a jar of cranberry juice to mix my own drink before. My grandma would call them bad influence.
In the past month, I've also visited New York twice. Once for some light shopping and hanging out and once for some personal agenda and Urban Bear Weekend. Since I couldn't stay overnight I do miss out on quite a bit of Urban Bear festivities, assuming there were much. I attended the street fair but was fairly disappointed by the turn out. The fair was held in a barred area off West 12th Street at the Meatpacker district right below the end of High Line Park. You have to pay $5 to go in to the small area in the middle of the street which doesn't have much of anything but the few vendors. If you don't want to pay $5, you can stand along the pavement or sit at the coffee shop nearby and still can see everything that is going on. There was about 100 people attending and it can be easily scratched off as a non-event. Though I still managed to snap a few pictures of some shirtless bears.
I do enjoy going to New York where there are a lot more fun things to browse and a lot more good things to eat. A friend managed to snap a shot of me infront of a restaurant. I look pretty good from behind. lol. I like the picture so much I even change my profile pics to this.
Throughout the past year some of my friends more in touch with the gay activists circuit had became fans of Dan Choi. I get it, it's refreshing to find an activist to be so passionate about gay rights and to be rightfully a public figure with a voice is very inspiring and he's Asian to boost. I understand how repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell is important. If you're willing to sacrifice for your country, your sexuality shouldn't be the subject of scrutiny. Especially when you don't plan to TELL anyone but your boss or colleague actively seek out information on your sexuality by looking through your personal e-mails.
Other than a few African nations, there are no other countries with a more homophobic culture than United States. Maybe it was the religious right or maybe it's the depiction of gay promiscuity in the 70s became the stereotype for gays or maybe it's the traumatizing HIV started out as the gay disease, we are demonized because we are not the norm. A lot of homophobes thinks that being gay makes you less of a person, or it signifies lesser in moral and discipline, as if a gay person will go into the army and have sex with everyone.
Christian Newswire even go as far as saying if DADT is repealed, the soldiers will get AIDS which is stupid on so many levels. Gays are already serving in the military, if the soldiers are going to get AIDS, they should be already getting it. Plus just because you're gay, it doesn't mean you have AIDS and if they have gotten some serious sex counseling, they would know it's not that easy to transmit HIV. Of course, you cannot reason with people who won't reason, that pretty much rings true with homophobes, religious right, teabaggers, Republicans, the Fox News crowd and racists alike.
I do believe that DADT is getting repealed very soon. A recent compromise has been proposed in which firing of gay and lesbians soldiers will halt but the full repeal still has to wait until a study is done to ensure that there will not have a negative impact on readiness, recruitment, retention and other key factors that affect the military. I'm pretty sure some soldiers will say that if DADT is repealed they will leave the army thus creating negative impact on retention. As it stands, there's no non-discrimination policy in the repeal which means we are repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell part but still you can't ask or tell because even they won't discharge you for it, it will still make your world very difficult. And what is the punishments for the one who asked, or even worst, spied?
It's horrible for me to not care but I don't understand why gay folks would want to serve where they are not welcomed. If we're being mistreated and have to constant be in fear of being outed and dishonorably discharged, not because we committed a sex crime but merely because of our sexual orientation. For that very reason, everything we worked hard for, the hours, the wounds, the achievement we have attained will all be meaningless in a flash. So why? If the military would rather lose valuable translators than have us gays be in the army, why bother? If that's how the policy makers want to run the army, why do we insist on sacrificing our time and lives in it?
For a country that is developing and creating a large discrepancy between the rich and the poor, crime rate is bound to increase. In a highly populated nation like China, it's hard for criminals to get away with crimes they have committed. Literally, everywhere you turn there are people. All the victim has to do is scream and instantly the thief is surrounded. I guess the good thing is that the Chinese has a strong sense of right and wrong and they are not afraid of confrontations.
The above one happened last Monday in Wenzhou, China. In the beginning of this clip, you can see two people sitting on a scooter snatched the purse of a female pedestrian. When they tried to ride off, the pedestrian screamed and alerted, apparently, everyone in the vicinity. Soon, the scooter is forced to retreat back by 20-30 locals. At this point one of the thief pulled out a 20-inch blade and start fighting the onlookers who were carrying various weapons themselves and throwing cardboard boxes. I'm quite sure the thieves got what's due to them.
This one happened in Guangdong. I guess one of the favorite ways to rob someone is to have a two men scooter/motorcycle team? I love how inventive the passerby biker was. To use his bike and throw it on the thieves' motorcycle. The thieves wouldn't have gotten caught if it wasn't for him. I guess the key to catching the thieves is for the victim to yell out for help.
This one is from Shanghai. It shows you that some people will bother to help. Even it can be violent, I never had a problem with street justice. I guess I have watched too much superhero comics. Though what bothers me is how some cities in China has camera equipped in every crossroads and its citizens are constantly being taped and monitored. I guess the lesson here is don't commit any crimes in China, you won't get away with it and you maybe even get beat down or run over before getting to court.
More than one month after the oil rig at the coast of Louisiana caught on fire and blew up spilling immeasurable quantities of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Yet despite the efforts trying to contain the oil and block up the spillage, 5,000 barrels of oil is still coming out of the broken pipes everyday. Seventy miles of the Louisiana coast has been hit by the oil and the area is still expanding. The fact of the matter is that nobody knows how to effectively block the leak. Even though British Petroleum seems to be taking responsibility to pay for the clean up as well as the lives that are affected by the leak, at this rate I'm not too sure if they can afford continue paying for cleaning the expanded areas and its people affected by it.
Even with the full cooperation of the government, no one has a solution and all BP is concerned about seems to be press control. The following is the footage in which the coast guards seems to be working for BP, threatening arrest of journalists because BP wouldn't let them film the polluted beach.
While the right still yells "Drill, Baby, Drill" they are still putting the blame of the inability to stop the oil spill on the shoulder of the Obama administration.
The company's plan to stop the leak involves pumping heavy "kill mud" at 40 barrels a minute into openings in the blowout preventer, a mechanism that surrounds the drill pipe. If the influx of mud does not clog the drill pipe, a BP spokesman said, the company could still use a "junk shot" later -- pumping larger debris such as golf balls and pieces of tire into the mechanism. “We rate the probability of success between 60 percent and 70 percent,” he said. “Beyond that, there is a third and fourth and fifth option around both containment and elimination.”
Bullfighting, a meaningless speculative sport to show that men are better than beasts, to show your machismo in false elegance. Stabbing bulls to get them angry and wave a red cape to distract it so you can elude him in close range. It's cruel because your aim is to demonstrate how brave you are, how stupid the beast is and eventually kill it. Until something like this happens to you:
41 year-old Spanish matador Julio Aparicio tripped and got gored through his chin and out his mouth. He was rescued and carried out of the ring, took to the emergency room and underwent a six hour surgery to reconstruct his throat, jaw, tongue and roof of the mouth and he's recovering. The bull, on the other hand, would be put down one way or the other, I'm sure.
I would think someone would dull the horns ahead of time to decrease the chance of injuries but maybe it would deem emasculating to the matadors. If they want to seem so macho, why not fight a lion like the old days in Rome? Apparently a few matadors die every year from being gored, given the sold out stadium of 25,000 people, maybe some of them are just waiting to see something like this.
I have been listening to this song quite a bit these few days. Janelle Monáe's music is a refreshing mix of big band, funk and soul and it's just in time to be one of the best of this summer's jams. It even has a little tightrope dance to go with it. Her hairstyle reminds me of what RuPaul calls a "Nappy Pompadour", though she's a lot tinier and cuter than Tyra Sanchez. I like her black and white themed outfit but I don't know whether I can endorse the dress shoes with no socks. Enjoy!
Tightrope
Monáe and Leftfoot
Whoaaa. another day I take your pain away
Some people talk about ya Like they know all about ya When you get down they doubt ya And when you dip it on the scene Yeah they talkin' bout it Cause they can't dip on the scene Whatcha talk about it T-t-t-talkin' bout it When you get elevated, They love it or they hate it You dance up on them haters Keep getting funky on the scene Why they jumpin' round ya They trying to take all your dreams But you can't allow it
Cause baby whether you're high or low Whether you're high or low You gotta tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) T-t-t-tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it)
Baby, baby, baby
Whether you're high or low (High or low) Baby whether you're high or low (High or low) You got to tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Now let me see you do the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) And I'm still tippin' on it
See I'm not walkin' on it Or tryin to run around it This ain't no acrobatics You either follow or you lead, yeah
I'm talkin' bout you, I'll keep on blaming the machine, yeah I'm talkin' bout it, T-t-t-talkin' bout it I can't complain about it I gotta keep my balance
And just keep dancin on it We gettin funky on the scene
Yeah you know about it, Like a star on the screen Watch me tip all on it
Then baby whether I'm high or low (High or low) Baby whether you're high or low (High or low) You gotta tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Yeah, tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it)
Baby, baby, baby
Whether you're high or low (High or low) Baby whether you're high or low (High or low) Tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Baby let me see you tight rope (Tip, tip on it) And I'm still tippin' on it
[Big Boi] You gotta keep your balance Or you fall into the gap It's a challenge but I manage Cause I'm cautious with the strap No damage to your cameras damn I thought that Can I passy Why you don't want no friction Like the back of a matchbook That I pass as I will forward you And your MacBook Clothes shows will shut you down Before we go-go backwards Act up, and whether we high or low We gonna get back-up Like the dow jones and nasdaq Sorta like a thong in an ass crack, Come on
I tip on alligators and little rattle snakers But I'm another flavor Something like a terminator Ain't no equivocating I fight for what I believe Why you talkin' bout it S-s-she's talkin' bout it Some callin me a sinner Some callin me a winner I'm callin you to dinner And you know exactly what I mean,
Yeah I'm talkin bout you You can rock or you can leave Watch me tip without you
N-N-Now whether I'm high or low (High or low) Whether I'm high or low (High or low) I'm gonna tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) MMMMMM (Tip, tip on it)
Baby, baby, baby Whether I'm high or low Goblogtainment (High or low) High or low (High or low) I got to tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Now baby tip on the tightrope
You can't get too high (You can't get too high) I said you can't get too low (We can't get too low) Cause you get too high (You can't get too high) No you'll surely be low (No, you'll surely be low) 1, 2, 3, Ho!
Yeah, yeah Now shut up, yeah Yeah, Now put some voodoo on it Ladies and Gentlemen the funky is on section in the tribalist Yeah, OH We call that classy brass
Ohhhhhhh OH!
Do you mind? If I play the ukulele Just like a little lady Do you mind? If I play the ukulele Just like a little lady As I play the ukulele If I play my ukulele Just like a little lady Monae and Leftfoot
Whoaaa Another day I take your pain away
Some people talk about ya Like they know all about ya When you get down they doubt ya And when you dip it on the scene Yeah they talkin' bout it Cause they can't dip on the scene Whatcha talk about it T-t-t-talkin' bout it When you get elevated, They love it or they hate it You dance up on them haters Keep getting funky on the scene Why they jumpin' round ya They trying to take all your dreams But you can't allow it
Cause baby whether you're high or low Whether you're high or low You gotta tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) T-t-t-tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it)
Baby, baby, baby
Whether you're high or low (High or low) Baby whether you're high or low (High or low) You got to tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Now let me see you do the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) And I'm still tippin' on it
See I'm not walkin' on it Or tryin to run around it This ain't no acrobatics You either follow or you lead, yeah
I'm talkin' bout you, I'll keep on blaming the machine, yeah I'm talkin' bout it, T-t-t-talkin' bout it I can't complain about it I gotta keep my balance
And just keep dancin on it We gettin funky on the scene
Yeah you know about it, Like a star on the screen Watch me tip all on it
Then baby whether I'm high or low (High or low) Baby whether you're high or low (High or low) You gotta tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Yeah, tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it)
Baby, baby, baby
Whether you're high or low (High or low) Baby whether you're high or low (High or low) Tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Baby let me see you tight rope (Tip, tip on it) And I'm still tippin' on it
[Big Boi] You gotta keep your balance Or you fall into the gap It's a challenge but I manage Cause I'm cautious with the strap No damage to your cameras damn I thought that Can I passy Why you don't want no friction Like the back of a matchbook That I pass as I will forward you And your MacBook Clothes shows will shut you down Before we go-go backwards Act up, and whether we high or low We gonna get back-up Like the dow jones and nasdaq Sorta like a thong in an ass crack, Come on
I tip on alligators and little rattle snakers But I'm another flavor Something like a terminator Ain't no equivocating I fight for what I believe Why you talkin' bout it S-s-she's talkin' bout it Some callin me a sinner Some callin me a winner I'm callin you to dinner And you know exactly what I mean,
Yeah I'm talkin bout you You can rock or you can leave Watch me tip without you
N-N-Now whether I'm high or low (High or low) Whether I'm high or low (High or low) I'm gonna tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) MMMMMM (Tip, tip on it)
Baby, baby, baby Whether I'm high or low Goblogtainment (High or low) High or low (High or low) I got to tip on the tightrope (Tip, tip on it) Now baby tip on the tightrope
You can't get too high (You can't get too high) I said you can't get too low (We can't get too low) Cause you get too high (You can't get too high) No you'll surely be low (No, you'll surely be low) 1, 2, 3, Ho!
Yeah, yeah Now shut up, yeah Yeah, Now put some voodoo on it Ladies and Gentlemen the funky is on section in the tribalist Yeah, OH We call that classy brass
Ohhhhhhh OH!
Do you mind? If I play the ukulele Just like a little lady Do you mind? If I play the ukulele Just like a little lady As I play the ukulele If I play my ukulele Just like a little lady
I saw this picture over at Fail Blog and I just can't stop laughing.
Speaking of dating, I didn't know the meme I filled out last week from Sunday Stealing had a second part, so I fell obligated to finish it now.
26. Have you ever been stung by a bee? Not that I can remember. I once use my baseball cap to smack a bee to the floor though. So it's me-1, bee-0. Ha!
27. What's the sickest you've ever been? Once I had a lung infection and I got a fever around 104 and I can feel it affecting me mentally.
28. What's your favorite form of exercise? Walking and swimming.
29. What's your favorite Cyndi Lauper song? Time After Time. Classic!
30. What did you do for your 13th birthday? 13th birthday? I don't remember. Probably celebrated with a small party with relatives.
31. Are you afraid of heights? Yes, I do have a mild fear of heights but if I'm standing on something stable and not looking down, I'm ok.
32. Have you ever taken dance lessons? A colleague asked me to learn Latin dance with her and it was for 4 lessons. Didn't learn much, I'm still too self-conscious for it.
33. What's your favorite newspaper? New York Times. Love the lifestyles, travel and art sessions. The magazine that comes with the Sunday edition is also great.
34. What's your favorite Broadway / West End musical? So far I've only seen Les Miz, Phantom, Rent, Fiddler on the Roof, Chicago and Avenue Q. I think I like Chicago the best and Avenue Q a very close second. I'm eager to see Wicked but it's always sold out.
35. What's the most memorable class you've ever taken? A psychology class that I took during my undergraduate, the teacher past out a list of nouns and for each noun, she asked us to assign a gender. Having studied French, I tried to assign genders as I've remembered it. At the end, she asked how many of the words we were able to assign genders. I think I've tried to assign genders to every word. Then in front of the whole class, she says I'm sexist because of my cultural upbringing.
36. What's your favorite knock-knock joke? Can't say I have one.
37. What's your least favorite commercial? I guess it was the Head On commercial because it repeats itself 3 times and it's very annoying.
38. If you could go to Disney World with any celebrity alive today, who would it be? John Cena, not related to Disney at all but he'll be great to look at.
39. Do you prefer baths or showers? Shower is great for fast cleaning but I prefer baths, it's just very relaxing.
40. What's your favorite newspaper comic strip? The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green, it was posted on gay newspapers.
41. What's your favorite breakfast food? Sunny side up eggs with turkey sausage, home fries and toast/croissant. Though nowadays going for brunch, I'm pressured to get something fancier and more unconventional.
42. Who's your favorite game show host? Richard Karn on Family Feud. I liked him from Home Improvement, he seems like such a decent nice guy and it's rare that there's a bearish guy on TV.
43. If you could have a super power, what would it be? This is one of the popular questions on these meme and I'm gonna repeat my answer. The power of flight, either with wings or through telekinesis will be very welcomed. I always wanted to fly.
44. Do you like guacamole? Of course, but only if it tastes good. I've had some experimental home made versions that are quite nasty.
45. Have you ever been in a food fight? Nope, I was taught not to waste.
46. Name five songs to which you know all the lyrics. That's a hard task. Let's see: "Careless Whisper" by Wham! "Stay" by Shakespeare's Sisters "Love Me or Leave Me" by Nina Simone "Good Luck" by Basement Jaxx; and "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse
47. What's your favorite infomercial? Big fan of the Snuggies because it's just plain bizarre and insulting, I especially all like the Youtube parodies, but this one also rules:
48. What's the longest you've ever waited in line? I've been to Disney and you have to line up for an hour for most of the rides.
49. What's on the cover of your address book or day planner? A silver NBC peacock.
50. Have you ever taken a picture in one of those little booths? Yes, the last time I did that was at a British embassy where I need to take my passport picture. It was the best picture I've ever taken in a booth.
There's a whole list of shows that will be canceled coming this fall:
The Wanda Sykes Show, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Cold Case, Numbers, Miami Medical, Accidentally On Purpose, FlashForward, Better Off Ted, Scrubs, Happy Town, Romantically Challenged, Gary Unmarried, Heroes, Mercy, Trauma, Sons Of Tuscon, Past Life, Til Death
I have heard of probably less than half of them. I will probably miss Numbers even though it was on a slot that I have other things to watch. Scrubs should have been dead a few seasons ago. Sons of Tuscon was an awful idea for a show, so is Mercy, the copycat for Nurse Jackie. I liked Heroes, but I guess the story was too skewed for the sake of surprising the audience that it's a bit nonsensical now, though I do appreciate the special effects and it being different.
The last episode of Lost will be aired this Sunday, I think, but I have never seen a single episode of the series. I also haven't followed this season's American Idol, usually I'll tune in for the last few episode every season when the singing is bearable, just enough time to pick a favorite. Maybe it's the fact that they change judges or maybe it just got tired after a while, but I'm not watching it either. All I'm really tuning in for is United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie and perhaps Top Chef Masters. Though even in Top Chef Masters, I can't stand how stereotypical Chef Susur Lee is acting with his "Red is such a good Chinese color", "I've never seen a single episode of Simpsons" or "In our culture, we don't eat carrot cake." Occasionally, I'll watch Glee and it's not until today that I've learned Kevin McHale who's playing Artie in the wheelchair was actually one of the singer of a boy band called NLT (which stands for Not Like Them), my mind got blown after watching one of their video. I would have never guessed.
Obviously I'm mega-excited about True Blood coming back for a third season. I've read all of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series and I'm reading the newest ones so I know most of the stories but I like how Alan Ball make those little changes that keep things fresh and interesting. I'm also very excited about Alcide the Werewolf getting introduced this coming season and played by very hunky Joe Manganiello. I guess the audience will be treated by another half naked hunk.
Movie-wise, I have some inkling to see Prince of Persia because I was a fan of the video game franchise and Jake "Yil-En-HOO-Le-Hay" Gyllenhaal, even though not quite my type, is not that hard on the eyes either. I'm also intrigued by Sex and the City 2. Yes, I've watched the entire series and developed feelings for the show. And even though the ladies, especially Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall are getting rapidly older, I still want to follow through. After all, it's a gay man's story in heterosexual form. Of course, flashing scenes of sexy men in their full monty doesn't hurt either. The boyfriend wants to see a French film called Micmacs, which is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who also directed Delicatessen and Amelie, I'm sure it will be very interesting.
Music-wise, I'm looking forward to hear Janelle Monae's sophomore album Archandroid and Christina Aguilera's coming up album Bionic. Even Asian YouTube celeb David Choice has came up with his second album and a neat video to go with it. Enjoy.
Last night watching Chelsea Lately (since Jon Stewart is in a two-week book writing vacation), I got introduced to a Japanese designer who designed this:
The crime rate in Japan is pretty low but the recent safety panic compelled designer Aya Tsukioka to design some camouflage street attires to conceal individuals from pursuing robbers and rapists.
Sure it's a fun idea and there are plenty of vending machines in the streets of Japan but the execution is laughable. Instead of running away like any sane people would, you'd have to be constantly wearing this oddly shaped dress as if you're waiting to be assaulted and hoping you'd be able to get away long enough to flip this dress over your head and then hoping you won't tremble with fear. I mean how obvious is a shaking vending machine? You might as well carry a pepper spray.
At the same time, is this meant to be wore at night or during the day? The light of vending machines shine at night and the dress obviously does not. During the day, your shoes sticks out from below plus it's a one-dimensional dress, the 3 dimension look from the last picture above requires two people to pull it off, you can see their shoe). Two people actively wearing the same concept dress while running away from the same criminal instead of calling the cop or running to escape. What are the odds? ...And let's hope there's no wind blowing, shall we?
The child version imitates a holder of fire distinguisher that also populate the street of Japan. I guess it would help to run away from bullies or pursuers (at night?) His legs are out there, so it's still pretty easy to see through it, but I do like the reddish brown leather backpack before the transformation. The kid needs to hold the bag in front of his face, don't they know how heavy the backpack of an Asian student is? It's usually around 20 lbs. He might as well hide behind the real thing of the same height or better yet, there's a big pole right next to him on the right that could hide his whole body.
This little diddy here is called a "Manhole Bag". You're supposed to throw your valuable in the "ho-bag" and throw it on the ground to throw off your pursuer. Hopefully you weren't carrying anything big and it's dark enough to conceal the crease on the bag.
I'm thinking what could be the equivalent for the U.S., there doesn't seemed to be much on the street other than the trash cans, mailboxes or those electrical circuit box that control traffic lights. What kind of contraption would it require for someone to transform into a mailbox? Maybe a shorter/skinnier person can do the transformation but if you're obese, you're on your own.
Maybe I'll get one of these dresses for this Halloween.
Two weeks ago, during a Phillies baseball game with St. Louis Cardinals here in Phillies' home turf, a 17 years-old fan ran out onto the field and disrupted the game. A cop who ran after him used a stun gun on him and people were wondering if it's an excessive use of force. Haven't ever been tasered, I have no idea whether it is. Of course I'm sure it's not a great feeling. Even though at 17 and not streaking with commercials written on his naked body, the kid should know better than running out onto the field, so maybe the tasering was warranted.
At the same time, you can see the cop was out of shape and probably doesn't enjoy chasing after an in-shape 17 years old. The taser is probably the latest invention where the police force enjoy the most. It quickly renders the target incapable of any actions from a distance, it's almost telekinesis and what cop doesn't like a superpower to stroke their ego? Other than the porn star who try to swallow his bump while being tased die of asphyxiation, it's relatively harmless. But every week, you do hear cops tasering the student questioning John Kerry, the cop tasering an older woman who stepped out of her car, the male cop who chased around playfully with a female colleague and pulled out his taser gun. There seemed to be little guidelines or restraints regarding the use of it. I believe every taser gun user should have the first hand experience on being tasered just to know how it feels.
Above is a footage from an alleged robbery that happened in Seattle exactly a month ago. You can see a police officer stomping a Latino man’s head against the concrete, another officer stomping the man’s kneecap against the pavement, and the first cop threatening to “beat the fucking Mexican piss out of you.” Though later, the Latino man was released because they found out he wasn't even involved in the crime. The most appalling thing of all is that the TV station who got this footage dismissed it and refuse to report because it might damage their relationship with the local police. What about justice for the guy who suffered from the brutality for a crime he didn't commit?
In February, a police SWAT team busted into a Missouri residence and searched it for on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and second-degree child endangerment. I suspect the child endangerment part is just put in there to beef up the case but during the raid about a dozen of heavily armed police office busted in and shot a pit bull and a corgi. All of this was done in front of the suspect's wife and their 7 years old son, and all they found is a small bag of marijuana only enough for a misdemeanor. Meanwhile, the kid (probably the whole family) is probably looking for long term therapy with a side of uniform fetish. The pit bull dies instantly while the corgi is shot. Seriously... a corgi. They look like this:
Exactly how necessarily is it to disarm the corgi? The whole thing happened within minutes, so I'm not buying that the claim about the pit bull was unusually aggressive either.
Another Missouri incident involved a home harboring a homicide suspect. So the cops fired two flash grenade after busting in and when a cop bumped into a 46 years old woman in the front room, the cop fired a shot killing a 7 years old kid who was sleeping in the sofa. The cop who fired the gun claimed that there was "physical struggles" with the 46 years old grandma, but turned out he could have just bumped into her. More horrifying, the father of the 7 years old was held on the floor during the raid with his face pressed in the blood of her dead daughter. Hmm... if only it could be more horrifying like having him performing necrophilia on his dead daughter. I mean come on, what the hell is wrong with these cops? Are they afraid of their own lives, that's why they have to kill everyone in sight just for their own safety? Why flash grenades to confuse the issue then? And where are the high-tech heat goggles? And why not a weight limit, at least then it won't be as hard for them to chase people around and maybe they won't need to produce so much adrenaline and make them all violent.
I do like myself some Bossa Nova every now and then, though I'm extremely not well-versed in it. So even though I know about the father of Bossa Nova, João Gilberto and own 3 CDs of his daughter Bebel Gilberto, I haven't discovered João's contribution to the world. No wonder I didn't know the source of some of my favorite songs are from him. The guy has written hundred of songs and I only know a few, but I love all of them.
Both Kyle and Erik are doing a 30 days meme challenge and their first question is What Is Your Favorite Song? It got me thinking about mine, of course I do like a lot of genre and I'll probably be listing close to 30 if I were to expand but just from the top of my head, I do like Sinead O'Connor's version of "Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildred", and competing for the second would be Nina Simone's fast pace "Love Me Or Leave Me" and Shirley Horn's version of "Summer (Estaté)".
It's a slow song but the words send me to a shaded tree on a bright summer's day. You can also hear the music slowly develop and grow, it's something you can't find in modern pop. There's also something about Ms. Horn's laissez faire approach to her vocal performance that's so captivating. It's pure genius. Enjoy.
Summer (Estaté)
Estaté You bath me in the glow of your caresses You turn my timid "no" to eager "yes"'s You sweep away my sorrow with your sigh
Estaté Oh how your golden sunlight bends the willow Your blossoms send in perfume to my pillow Oh who could know you half as well as I?
Always feel you near me In every song the morning breeze composes In all the tender wonder of the roses Each time a setting sun smiles on the sea
Estaté And when you sleeps beneath a snowy cover I keep you in my heart just like a lover And wait until you come again to me
Estaté
I always feel you near me In every song the morning breeze composes In all the tender wonder hugs of roses Each time a setting sun smiles on the sea
Estaté And when you sleeps beneath a snowy cover I keep you in my heart just like a lover And wait until you come again to me
Lately I'm nurturing my new addiction in Yelping. I always enjoy eating out whenever I got a chance and being able to give my opinions about food afterwards is just extra fun. Before going to a place, it's also good to read reviews from others beforehand so you know if the place is any good and more importantly what to order. They do this thing where they condense the reviews and tell you what phrases are mentioned most often, "Chicken Liver Rigatoni..." (7 times), "Polpo Pizza" (11 times), now you know what got recommended the most. So for now, I'll try to write a review once a day of restaurants and service I've patronized.
The problem is though I'm not the kind of person to offer extreme boasts or extreme rants. When I fill out questionnaires, I lean towards the "somewhat agree/disagrees" than the "strongly agree/disagree". It seems that I can be quite reserved, or maybe overtly critical since I can always point out something wrong with everything. Just look at my movie rating system, rarely can I commit to a full "A". When does a discerning taste turn into over-critical? Maybe I'll have to look into this.
This week's meme comes from Sunday Stealing and its called the Speed Dating Meme, it's full of strange little questions that I may or may not be able to answer since I didn't grow up with some of those stuff but let's try it.
1. What's your favorite Dr. Seuss book? Since I only know 5 of his books and not even read any of them, that's a hard choice. I guess I like How The Grinch Stole Christmas the most since I've seen two different movies of the story.
2. If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be? The house that the Baldwin family lived in during the first seasons look pretty sweet, access to the roof, a big swimming pool and an outdoor area and look at the kitchen!
3. What's the longest you've gone without sleep? The longest without sleeping would probably be a 40 hours period when I go out all night and keep on playing until late.
4. What's your favorite Barry Manilow song? I have heard of the Fanilows but I guess I'm not such a good gay after all. Copacabana?
5. Who's your favorite Muppet? In France, I've seen the Fraggle Rock and loved the crystal sugar buildings. To circle one character to call my favorite, it's probably Kermit. He's a bit sad but apparently a good singer.
6. What's the habit you're proudest of breaking? I generally like all my habits and I don't have much bad ones. Recently I've stop playing a lot of FaceBook games and it has saved me quite a bit of time and that's pretty good.
7. What's your favorite website? Between Towleroad and Jo.My.God, they keep me informed on a lot of important news.
8. What's your favorite school supply? Calculator. I can kill time by just calculating nonsense.
9. Who's your favorite TV attorney? Shamefully, I've been watching me some Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime. I like the fantasy that some lawyers aim to do good.
10. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles? New York City last Wednesday for a bit of shopping.
11. What's the best bargain you've ever found at a garage sale or junk shop? I think it would be a lego set that we found in the AIDS Thrift Store. It originally cost $15 but we got it for 99 cents with extra stuff in it.
12. Where were you on September 11, 2001? I got int he office late because I woke up and saw the clip of planes flying into the building thinking it was a movie trailer of some kind.
13. What's your favorite tree? If it's not for the stinky gingko nuts, I would have loved the gingkos. Because of the accessibility, I would say it's dogwood right now because there are a lot of them on our street that look marvelous when they all flowers.
14. What's the most interesting biography you've read? I don't read biographies. Though recently I've read the one of Stan Lee's and I'm tickled by his Where's Waldo cameos in superhero movies.
15. What do you order when you eat Chinese food? Okay, for American Chinese food I go for 1) Chicken Corn Soup, 2) Fried Chicken Wings, 3) Barbecue Ribs, 4) Singapore Rice Noodles or Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice. Lots of Chicken, I know.
16. What's the best costume you've ever worn? I think my handmade Ching Dynasty Chinese Vampire is my favorite, though the Colossus one this year involved a lot of tears and sweat.
17. What's your least favorite word? I've never considered this question. You know how when your parents start liking something and it loses its appeal somewhat? Recently a commercial introduce something called "Financial Swagger". I also dislike the word "cheesesteak" because thinly sliced meat is not freakin' steak!
18. If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be? Something with a "K" sound like Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Nebraska or even Dakota. It sounds masculine to me.
19. Who's your favorite bear? How do you answer this one? My boyfriend? Zak Spears? Or panda bears?
20. Describe something that's happened to you for which you have no explanation. There are so many things that happened to me without explanations, where do I start? My Asian neighbor that I've mentioned earlier who was unexpolicably mean to me apologized one day, who knows why?
21. If you could travel anywhere in Africa, where would it be? I heard good things about South Africa but what I want to see is probably the Pyramids and Botswana.
22. What did you have for lunch yesterday? Leftover chicken noodle soup, the boyfriend and I are trying to just have soup all week to see if we can go on a liquid diet.
23. Where do you go for advice? Online. There are no lack of people telling you their opinions.
24. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus? I think I use the thesaurus a little more. Sometimes, I will forget how to say a word and I have to use a similar meaning words to look for it.
25. Have you ever been snorkeling? Scuba diving? Neither and I don't think I would want to.
With the pope calling gays who wants to get married "one of the most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good" and refusing to address the child molestation charges, George "Lift My Luggage" Rekers positioning himself to sue the newspaper which broke the story of him being an anti-gay advocate and researcher while secretly enjoys massages from gay prostitutes, another kid getting denied enrollment to a Catholic school because he got two mommies, and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan being scrutinized that she might be a lesbian (Hey, look! She played softball!), her defenders had to resort to say that she had dated guys in the past to somehow make her sound more credible. It should be plenty clear that no one in their right mind would choose to be a homosexual. I mean what would be the benefits?
To say that homosexuality is a choice had been somewhat puzzling to me. I know I liked boys since I was around 12. It wasn't a conscious decision. To say I chose to be that way makes me wonder if the person who say that chose to be straight? That would require a person with the same sexual attraction to both men and women, then decide it's much easier and more morally justifiable to date the opposite sex. At least for me it wasn't that way. I'm attracted to guys, I was never attracted to girls. Unlike sexual attractions, religion is a choice, being in the closet and hire prostitute is a choice, denying a kid to a school because of his family situation is a choice, bigotry, being an asshole, being a bully is a choice.
Below is a letter from a mother of a gay son living in Vermont:
Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people.
I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny.
My firstborn son started suffering at the hands of the moral little thugs from your moral, upright families from the time he was in the first grade. He was physically and verbally abused from first grade straight through high school because he was perceived to be gay.
He never professed to be gay or had any association with anything gay, but he had the misfortune not to walk or have gestures like the other boys. He was called "fag" incessantly, starting when he was 6.
In high school, while your children were doing what kids that age should be doing, mine labored over a suicide note, drafting and redrafting it to be sure his family knew how much he loved them. My sobbing 17-year-old tore the heart out of me as he choked out that he just couldn't bear to continue living any longer, that he didn't want to be gay and that he couldn't face a life without dignity.
You have the audacity to talk about protecting families and children from the homosexual menace, while you yourselves tear apart families and drive children to despair. I don't know why my son is gay, but I do know that God didn't put him, and millions like him, on this Earth to give you someone to abuse. God gave you brains so that you could think, and it's about time you started doing that.
At the core of all your misguided beliefs is the belief that this could never happen to you, that there is some kind of subculture out there that people have chosen to join. The fact is that if it can happen to my family, it can happen to yours, and you won't get to choose. Whether it is genetic or whether something occurs during a critical time of fetal development, I don't know. I can only tell you with an absolute certainty that it is inborn.
If you want to tout your own morality, you'd best come up with something more substantive than your heterosexuality. You did nothing to earn it; it was given to you. If you disagree, I would be interested in hearing your story, because my own heterosexuality was a blessing I received with no effort whatsoever on my part. It is so woven into the very soul of me that nothing could ever change it. For those of you who reduce sexual orientation to a simple choice, a character issue, a bad habit or something that can be changed by a 10-step program, I'm puzzled. Are you saying that your own sexual orientation is nothing more than something you have chosen, that you could change it at will? If that's not the case, then why would you suggest that someone else can?
A popular theme in your letters is that Vermont has been infiltrated by outsiders. Both sides of my family have lived in Vermont for generations. I am heart and soul a Vermonter, so I'll thank you to stop saying that you are speaking for "true Vermonters."
You invoke the memory of the brave people who have fought on the battlefield for this great country, saying that they didn't give their lives so that the "homosexual agenda" could tear down the principles they died defending. My 83-year-old father fought in some of the most horrific battles of World War II, was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.
He shakes his head in sadness at the life his grandson has had to live. He says he fought alongside homosexuals in those battles, that they did their part and bothered no one. One of his best friends in the service was gay, and he never knew it until the end, and when he did find out, it mattered not at all. That wasn't the measure of the man.
You religious folk just can't bear the thought that as my son emerges from the hell that was his childhood he might like to find a lifelong companion and have a measure of happiness. It offends your sensibilities that he should request the right to visit that companion in the hospital, to make medical decisions for him or to benefit from tax laws governing inheritance.
How dare he? you say. These outrageous requests would threaten the very existence of your family, would undermine the sanctity of marriage.
You use religion to abdicate your responsibility to be thinking human beings. There are vast numbers of religious people who find your attitudes repugnant. God is not for the privileged majority, and God knows my son has committed no sin.
The deep-thinking author of a letter to the April 12 Valley News who lectures about homosexual sin and tells us about "those of us who have been blessed with the benefits of a religious upbringing" asks: "What ever happened to the idea of striving . . . to be better human beings than we are?"
Indeed, sir, what ever happened to that?
For our sexuality, all our lives we will be discriminated upon. It doesn't matter how much good we contribute to the society in general; donate money, volunteer, run for causes, nothing will matter. People will still pick on us because we love who we love even though what we want is not much different than anyone else; to have a meaningful relation with someone, someone to share the rest of our lives with. What exactly is this insidious, destructive thing that we are committing? What could be the carnage left behind? Dozens of country already have legal gay marriage, did they end up to be hell on earth?
Read more...
Not to offend anyone living in Arizona, but what the hell is going on over at the Grand Canyon State? Specifically, what's with that hag of a governor Republican Jan Brewer?
After the recent Immigration Law that is a straight out civil rights violation, not to mention the racial bias and profiling it requires to implement the law, it also made it a crime to transport illegal immigrants in the state. So if one such person has a medical emergency then he/she will have to get him/herself to a hospital somehow.
Now, Jan Brewer has signed a new law banning ethnic studies for fear that it might promote a certain group of ethnic background of people would "overthrow the US Government" or "resentment toward a race or class of people."
Also, if you are a teacher and your English is deemed to be heavily accented or ungrammatical then you won't be able to teach in Arizona anymore. "Because kids pick up what they hear." We all know the impressionable kids argument, they pick up bad habit like a sponge and kids are our future and we certainly don't want to fuck that up now, do we?
Governor Brewer is creating an environment to oppress minorities and at the same time, not letting them discuss whether it is oppression. Maybe the next step is not letting them congregate by banning any racial/lingual specific agencies, programs or street fests. I'm convinced that she's not only a racist but possibly a white supremacist.
So a Bombshell McGee wannabe got to be the governor, what is there to do? Last time I checked, even she got to be Governor through succession and not by vote, there's no easy way to impeach her. Being a racist is not a crime and at the same time I'm sure there are drones of folks supporting her agenda. Even John McCain is jumping on the band wagon and call on people to support his Super-Wall proposal to defend themselves against the Mexicans in order to gain votes for his upcoming Senatorial election. Bans of Arizona is already starting around the country and owners of hotels are already feeling the heat but will it do any good? It takes layers and layers of transactions until the state government feels the loss, with its residents still living there, they are still gaining revenues from personal, business and commercial tax. It would be highly unreasonable to ask its residents to move out of state but when would this craziness end?
Some have argued that the entire nation has pretty much accepted people of colors and it's only the few states in the middle of the country putting up their final struggles but I'm not as optimistic. There is already a man killing his Latino neighbor after calling him a Wetback but strangely it was determined that race was not a factor. For now, I still advocate for banning the hell out of Arizona until the Nazi bitch resigns, though the silver lining might come as a form of the upcoming gubernatorial election in November.
After much negotiation, the new prime minister of Britain is finally announced to be Conservative candidate David Cameron.
Apparently even after winning the popular vote, the Conservatives did not secure enough seats in the parliament to form a majority government and have to form a liaison with the Liberal Democrat party in order to gain stability. My understanding of foreign politics is already poor, but how would a Conservative/Liberal Democratic relation works? In the US, they are polar opposites. Is the UK going to have a bipolar governmental unit? That ought to be fun.
In PA, the Democratic primary for the Senate election will be held next Wednesday and the airtime is cramped full of negative acts with Joe Sestak trying to distance himself with "career politicians" and Arlen Specter saying Joe is paying his campaign staff $4/hour while paying his relatives thousands of dollars. (Which I don't find it to be mutually exclusive, I mean if his relatives work under him for more than 250 hours for 4/hr it's still thousands of dollars, no?) The most recent attack ad from Joe Sestak is especially ugly and annoying.
It's an ugly quote from Arlen Specter where he has nobody else to blame but himself. He did say what he said and my view on it is that once you joined a party, they shouldn't make it so easy for you to change parties, even though recently the Republicans are in their way of self-destruction fighting amongst themselves and chase out moderate Republicans because they are not extreme enough. Maybe they finally heard that Charlie Crist is rumored to be a closet gay and got angry with him hugging Obama that one time. So the Republicans are getting to be the party of the irrationals and merging with the newer more profitable tea partiers, not necessarily a bad thing, but I digress. Once you belonged to a party, you are saying that you are subscribing to that philosophy. It should mean something, and switching parties and wipe your history away is all too convenient.
Though these destructive negative campaigns are only there to create a culture of non-voters. It's not like I have the right to vote but I fail to see the purpose, when both candidates are portrayed by each other to be degenerates, what's the point exactly to vote for these people? I thought I was the only one but apparently Stan from South Park felt the same way. It's not like everyday I agree with the view of South Park, but this is pretty much my point of view too:
On the surface, Tony Stark is enjoying his new rock star or even god status after revealing to the world that he is indeed Iron Man, but secretly Tony is slowly dying of palladium poisoning from that electromagnetic mechanism that's keeping his heart beating. The stress of his deteriorating health and his country questioning his possession of the ultimate weapon, Tony is living everyday like his last and not particularly in a good way.
Meanwhile, the son of the forgotten physicist/engineer, recently deceased Anton Vanko co-creator of the massive electricity generator of Stark Industries has taken upon himself to exact revenge on Tony Stark. After being recruited by Stark Industries' major competitor, Ivan Vanko developed an army of mechanic drones to battle Iron Man.
Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, was introduced as this episode's villain. Not only was he able to build robots, he's also able to write programs for them as well as develop mechanisms to manipulate electricity. A hybrid of Crimson Dynamo, Whiplash in a robotic shell like Iron Man. While Mickey Rourke is engaging, I'm not too sure how the son of a world class inventor would be with a full cast of tattoos. I'm also unclear why he waited until his father's passing to scheme on Tony Stark.
I also have mixed feelings about Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard to play Lt. James Rhodes, they are two very different actors and they seem to be portraying two different characters. In the first installment, Terrence Howard showed that Lt. James Rhodes has a deep friendship, almost a soft spot for Tony Stark. Don Cheadle however demonstrated a resentment from the very start, plus Cheadle's portrayal was a bit one dimensional.
With the S.H.I.E.L.D side story, we see Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury the leader of the organization. What's exciting to see was Scarlett Johansson playing Natasha Romanoff aka The Black Widow. While Iron Man, War Machine and Whiplash's fighting style is more of a demonstration of strength and fire power, the Black Widow's athletic combat showcase was refreshing and exciting. The decision of not giving Black Widow a Russian accent provided a more updated version of the character and a contrast to Whiplash.
I'm none too pleased by the downward turn of Tony Stark's character at the beginning. It was tough to watch the supposed protagonist of the story acting like an asshole. I realize that it's the story but what can I say? I like my superheroes to uphold morality. I can't look to Pepper Potts for moral guidance now, can I?
Of course, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, the visual effects were great, just look at how many companies and staff were involved with it during the credits. I simply can't wait for the upcoming Thor movie, Captain America movie as well as the Avengers movie. (Of course, there's also a new X-Men and Green Lantern, woohoo!) Score: B
