And I look like Benicio Del Toro

Who would have guessed it? I look like the dirty Mexican and Pham looks like the dirty Arab. Or is Benicio Del Toro Spanish? Or maybe You Are Gayan? Anyway, everyone knows Del Toro is Spanish for "of the Toro." I'm not sure what Benicio means, but I'm pretty sure it means "gorgeous motherfucker who can make love to many women at one time while solving the world's energy crisis and the quagmire in Iraq." So you wanna make out? And make babies?

I look like Saddam Hussein

According to this face recognition site, I look like Saddam Hussein.

Epilogue to 2005

Robert wrote a good post about his accomplishments for the year and he encouraged others to do the same as well. So here's my list for year:

• Received a bachelor's degree: only about 25-30% of Americans have bachelor's degrees. I figured a long time ago that it doesn't really matter where you get your degree because getting one is the important part.
  
• Aged out from Pacific Crest: the maximum age to be in youth drum and bugle corps is 22. I turned 22 during the season, it was my fourth season with the corps, and it was the best season of my life. It wasn't the best in competitive terms, but it was the best because of the people I was with.
  
• Graduated with honors: The honors part was a big accomplishments. I wanted to show my parents they spent their money well.
• Gambled in Vegas for the first time: Bryan showed me the ropes and I did pretty well at the poker tables. It was dollar tables, but I didn't want to lose a lot, nor did I win a lot. Nonetheless, it was fun and it seemed like a passage into adulthood.

That's all I got. No international sales of cheap wine or inside maneuvering with political hotshots. I'm the political outsider that laughs at all the crap politicians say and go through. I've always said that being a commentator, like Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes, was the sweetest job. You just sit there, complain about anything, and earn a big fat check. On the other hand, I would also like to own a restaurant/pub in the future. I could do both. People drink their beers while I sit up there and rant.

Oh yes, I would like to list the best movies I've seen this year. It wasn't that great of a year for movies. Well, I didn't see that many movies either. Here's my list and comments:

1. Batman Begins: I have been waiting for a Batman like this since the horrible raping of the Batman franchise by Joel "I'm a hack" Schumacher.
   
2. King Kong: The over-the-top action sequences on the island work well only because it's Peter Jackson. He times the action like a ballet. There's a suspense, comedy, and tragedy. Good times.
3. Wallace and Gromit, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: Loved Wallace and Gromit when I was younger and I still love them. I don't say these words often, but it was adorable and cute. Oh yeah, and it was funny. There are some double entredres that make the movie much funny because you know the kids won't get them. Finally, Hutch the Rabbit...creeeepy.
4. Syriana: A complicated movie only because the subject matter itself is complicated. The oil industry is made up like a big machine and the movie shows the small cogs. Some of the characters know they're part of the machine and others don't. It's up to you to find out how they work with each other.
5. Wedding Crashers: I didn't care much for the romance between Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, but the rest of the movie was classic frat-type comedy (much like in the flavors of Old School, Anchorman, and Animal House).
6. The Producers: Every time I see a film adaptation of a musical, I think it goes on way too long. Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Chicago...all too long. Same goes for the Producers. However, it was good and over the top funny. The acting was superb and Will Ferrell proves he can never ruin a movie.
   
7. Munich: A brilliant message, but flawed direction. Acts one and two were good, but the last act was way too long and drawn out. Steven Spielberg's decision to focus mainly on Eric Bana's character was a mistake. When you make a movie about the large and complicated situation in the Middle East and when the movie has so many characters, focusing on just one person is insignificant and pointless.
   
8. Star Wars, Episode III: It took all the table scraps of George Lucas and put them together in a somewhat satisfying ending to the horrible prequels. I think the prequels cemented the fact that Lucas is a hack as a director and a screenwriter. Remember the rumors that Steven Spielberg offered to direct Episode III? Oh, the nerd inside me yelled out, "Yeeeessss!" (in high pitched nerd voice).

Finally, here is the most disappointing movie of the year: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yuck. What an unsatisfying piece of a movie. Everything in the movie seemed bland, dreary, and creepy. Way to go Burton. Please moving beyond that creepy personality and do what good directors do: adapt.

Prologue to 2006

So, the New Year is around the corner. That was fast. In fact, that was way too fast. I've only graduated from college and its already the New Year. In fact, this is going to be my very first New Year where I'm not enrolled in some kind of academic institution. It better be good. Actually, I don't need it to be "woo, I got drunk"-good. I just need it to be "spend time with people that I care about"-good. Word to the wise: if I'm spending time with you on New Year's Eve, then I probably care about you. For those of you that I'm not with, that doesn't meant that I don't care. It only means that I miss you.

In any case, I've been trying to think of what I've actually done in this past year. I mean, really, what did I accomplish that was really important? Well, I don't really get to brag much, but for starters:

1. Graduated from college. I don't care what my parents tell me. I think my acquisition of a 4-year bacheoler's degree is a very significant achievement. Why? Simply because I'm one of the few 2nd generation kids in my entire extended family to actually get a degree in anything let alone go to college.
2. Getting published. That's right. I've been published in an academic journal. Granted, this journal is relatively new and I'll be one co-author of five (which really is actually very wrong. Most of that piece is my writing anyway). Then again, maybe this one isn't so important. I mean, anybody can get published these days.
   
3. Acquired the exclusive rights to sell certain "beverages" in a certain region of the world. OK, so maybe I'm cheating with this one a little. My father did most of the negotiations, but I was the one behind every little document and/or report he ever referenced or used. I think I deserve some credit.
4. Apparently falling into good favor with a certain Consulate General of a certain country. If you know me in real life, ask me in person about this later. I don't think I'm allowed to talk too much about this to begin with.

That's about all of my notable accomplishments in this past year in a nutshell (as you have seen, there is no "got a girlfriend" on that list. I don't even have time to eat lunch or go to the bathroom. You think I have time to get a girlfriend?) Of course, I have other accomplishments as well (like, FINALLY beating Kirby Canvas Curse), but these are my favorite.

What was the point of this exercise again?

Oh, that's right. What are some important accomplishments have you guys done in the past year? I don't talk with some of you authors (in fact, I've never met some of you) nor do I get to engage with all of my friends on a personal level as much as I'd like. So, please, post what you've done in the past year that you're proud of. It doesn't have to be anything big or major. Just something you're personally proud of.

SK.

Mass of Christ

So it's Christmas. I went to midnight mass because rumor has it I'm supposed to be Catholic. Yeah...mass was depressing. A bunch of sad people droning on with prayers and dogmatic shit. They think they might go into heaven if they chant some poems and shit.

But there was a hot chick in the choir.

I'm drunk right now. I just typed some messages into some friends' MySpace profiles. Mostly Happy Holidays.

Scotch and Coke Zero - that's the plan.

For some reason, I was reading about writing styles on Wikipedia around midnight. Then I took out a book from my shelf, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, and started reading it. I'm such a nerd.

I wrote to Bryan jokingly that I hate all male celebrities that girls swoon over. For example, I hate Richard Gere, Brad Pitt, and Orlando Bloom (he's gay!). I use to hate Christian Bale, but he's such a good Batman now.

So, do you want to make out or what?

What movie is this?

actor #1: I'm gonna tell you this one time, Jack fuckin' Twist, an' I ain't foolin'. What I don't know - all them things I don't know - could get you killed if I come to know them. I ain't jokin'.
actor #2: Yeah well try this one, and I'll say it just once!
actor #1: Go ahead!
actor #2:Tell you what, we coulda had a good life together, fuckin' real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn't want it, Ennis! So what we got now is (an Area/region/state/country/fastfood place/something)! Everything's built on that, that's all we got boy, fuckin' all. So I hope you know that if you don't never know the rest! You count the damn few times we have been together in nearly twenty years and you measure the short fucking leash you keep me on, and then you ask me about Mexico and tell me you'll kill me for needing somethin' I don't hardly never get. You have no idea how bad it gets! I'm not you... I can't make it on a coupla high-altitude fucks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, son of a whoreson bitch... I wish I knew how to quit you.
actor #1: Well why don't you? Why don't you just let me be, huh? Because of you, Jack, that I'm like this. I'm nothing... and nowhere.


Can anyone tell me what movie this is from? and not use IMDB?

Dinner

Cooking prime rib today. I am hoping it turns out good, i will post a review of my own dinner later, And i promise no bias

I am still looking for someone to come to Mexico with me for new years. $ days in a beach house, cheap drinks and even cheaper women. Let me know if interested.