Finally!
I'm finally going to see Walk the Line. Mmmm, Johnny Cash.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
I rock at grocery shopping
2x Albertson's Pepperoni frozen pizzas
2x Progresso Clam Chowder
2x Bottles Wild Cherry Pepsi
1x Foster Farms chicken breast strips
1x 36 Count Mission Corn Tortillas
1x Bag Sargento Mexican Shredded Cheese
Total: $18.51
2x Progresso Clam Chowder
2x Bottles Wild Cherry Pepsi
1x Foster Farms chicken breast strips
1x 36 Count Mission Corn Tortillas
1x Bag Sargento Mexican Shredded Cheese
Total: $18.51
Friday, January 06, 2006
Arrested Development
Some people have Lost. Others have World of Warcraft. My obsession is watching Arrested Development (AD). It is the best sitcom on TV today, but it's not going to stick around.
Fans are angry that FOX is going to cancel the show because of low ratings. The ad wizards at FOX can't seem to market a show that has won SIX Emmys and a buttload of other awards. Some say America is too dumb to watch. Many others, including me, just blame FOX and their horrible (or lack of) marketing. FOX execs say they support the show, but I rarely see ads for it. Instead, I see constant marketing for The OC and "reality" shows like Trading Spouses. Let's see. How many Emmys have The OC and Trading Spouses have gotten? NONE. And they're beating out Arrested Development?
You might have heard of this situation before. Yup, Family Guy. FOX has this weird trait to put on good quality programming without proper marketing. If it doesn't get good ratings right away, it's off like a dress on prom night. There are even rumors that Futurama might restart production because of high DVD sales and syndication ratings. But fans, including myself, don't want to see the show cancelled and then wait for FOX to pick up it again because they were idiots.
Fans, the show's creators, and cast are hoping the show gets picked up by another network. Credible sources, like Variety, say ABC and Showtime have had informal talks with FOX to pick up the show. Unfortunately, nothing can be finalized until FOX officially cancels the show. Sort of a Catch-22. I don't want the show to be cancelled, but I don't want it on FOX either because they'll probably treat the show like shit again. ABC needs a good sitcom (According to Jim...really???). But AD is an expensive show to produce: large cast, expensive sets and production. And ABC might yank the show quickly if they're not smart about time slotting and marketing. Showtime would be a fine distributor. Even if it only got half of the ratings it gets now, it would be considered a success. They can also afford the high costs of the show. Too bad I don't have a subscription to Showtime, but at least I can still buy the DVDs if Showtime chooses to continue production.
Click here for a funny clip from Arrested Development.
Fans are angry that FOX is going to cancel the show because of low ratings. The ad wizards at FOX can't seem to market a show that has won SIX Emmys and a buttload of other awards. Some say America is too dumb to watch. Many others, including me, just blame FOX and their horrible (or lack of) marketing. FOX execs say they support the show, but I rarely see ads for it. Instead, I see constant marketing for The OC and "reality" shows like Trading Spouses. Let's see. How many Emmys have The OC and Trading Spouses have gotten? NONE. And they're beating out Arrested Development?
You might have heard of this situation before. Yup, Family Guy. FOX has this weird trait to put on good quality programming without proper marketing. If it doesn't get good ratings right away, it's off like a dress on prom night. There are even rumors that Futurama might restart production because of high DVD sales and syndication ratings. But fans, including myself, don't want to see the show cancelled and then wait for FOX to pick up it again because they were idiots.
Fans, the show's creators, and cast are hoping the show gets picked up by another network. Credible sources, like Variety, say ABC and Showtime have had informal talks with FOX to pick up the show. Unfortunately, nothing can be finalized until FOX officially cancels the show. Sort of a Catch-22. I don't want the show to be cancelled, but I don't want it on FOX either because they'll probably treat the show like shit again. ABC needs a good sitcom (According to Jim...really???). But AD is an expensive show to produce: large cast, expensive sets and production. And ABC might yank the show quickly if they're not smart about time slotting and marketing. Showtime would be a fine distributor. Even if it only got half of the ratings it gets now, it would be considered a success. They can also afford the high costs of the show. Too bad I don't have a subscription to Showtime, but at least I can still buy the DVDs if Showtime chooses to continue production.
Click here for a funny clip from Arrested Development.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Lost a Lead, Gained a Lead, Killing Spree!
Does that sound familiar? Thats right, I am officially obsessed with Halo.
Last night, David, Bryan, KC, Robert, Tony, Niko and I went to silkys to watch the USC vs Texas game. Silkys was more lively and more crowded then normal. Everyone in the bar had a beer, and everyone was extra rowdy. I am not a huge football fan, but it was fun watching the game, and towards the end of the game, I found myself cheering for USC. There were many USC fans at the pub- i couldnt help but jump on the USC bandwagon. I also found myself being extremely disappointed when the lost as well. The atmosphere was contagious! Football- bleh, nonetheless.
Afterwards, we met up with Mike Goldsheft at Pho 54, who wanted to get bowl of pho before he departed to New York. Why Pho 54? There are 1000000 pho places in Bolsa alone, why Pho 54? Pho 54 isnt the most aesthetically pleasing place. The restuarant is outlined with neon lights- green and blue. It is not the most attractive shade of blue or green either. The interior decor is a nightmare.
But who cares! The pho is damn good, and the workers are super friendly. I dont mind the neon lights so much. They are very striking and bold, and very hard to ignore. Mike said it best when he said that the neon lights just draws you to the place- like a moth to the flame.
Afterwards we went to Roberts place and played halo for over an hour. We set it to the "king of the hill" mode, and had that setting on different maps. I have always been a weak Halo player, and never very confident of my skills. Tonight was an exception. The more I played, the better i got. And towards the end of the night, I received the "king of the hill" title twice!!! Thank you thank you-(taking a bow) I was also playing against Halo gurus such as Tony and Robert.
Halo is fun, but I am going to stay away from WOW.
Last night, David, Bryan, KC, Robert, Tony, Niko and I went to silkys to watch the USC vs Texas game. Silkys was more lively and more crowded then normal. Everyone in the bar had a beer, and everyone was extra rowdy. I am not a huge football fan, but it was fun watching the game, and towards the end of the game, I found myself cheering for USC. There were many USC fans at the pub- i couldnt help but jump on the USC bandwagon. I also found myself being extremely disappointed when the lost as well. The atmosphere was contagious! Football- bleh, nonetheless.
Afterwards, we met up with Mike Goldsheft at Pho 54, who wanted to get bowl of pho before he departed to New York. Why Pho 54? There are 1000000 pho places in Bolsa alone, why Pho 54? Pho 54 isnt the most aesthetically pleasing place. The restuarant is outlined with neon lights- green and blue. It is not the most attractive shade of blue or green either. The interior decor is a nightmare.
But who cares! The pho is damn good, and the workers are super friendly. I dont mind the neon lights so much. They are very striking and bold, and very hard to ignore. Mike said it best when he said that the neon lights just draws you to the place- like a moth to the flame.
Afterwards we went to Roberts place and played halo for over an hour. We set it to the "king of the hill" mode, and had that setting on different maps. I have always been a weak Halo player, and never very confident of my skills. Tonight was an exception. The more I played, the better i got. And towards the end of the night, I received the "king of the hill" title twice!!! Thank you thank you-(taking a bow) I was also playing against Halo gurus such as Tony and Robert.
Halo is fun, but I am going to stay away from WOW.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
No Comment
I'm responding here because Red China blocks .blogspot. URLs but not .blogger. URLs. So I can post and view posts in the Edit section, but not the actual site. Just another example of how absurd Red China is. Another example? I think they are blocking AIM during working hours, which is most of the fucking day for most teachers, from early morning to late evening, though not the foreign English teachers. I think this because it started recently and recently I installed AIM on a Chinese English teacher's computer so she could chat. Probably a no go here in oppressive Red China. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.
But to clarify. I'm not treated poorly. I actually have it pretty nice, working only a few hours a day and getting paid much more than most everyone else in China, making living easy. Hell, I wasted three weeks of class by showing Finding Nemo. But it is the system that treats everyone poorly, relatively. It's just take advantage of and cut corners in order to make more money. I fought back. And I like bitching.
But regarding Khuu's post: Are you calling me fat?
No, really, I don't remember how the cake got on the door. I think it was Ai-Tam's apartment, though, not Tony's. And I smeared the cake when the ringing and knocking went unanswered. Maybe because Ai-Tam was the only one there and she had gone back to her place? Wait a minute...then maybe it was Tony's apartment, but Tony wasn't there, Ai-Tam was supposed to answer, but she had stepped out, and yadda yadda yadda there's cake smeared all over the door.
But in my defence, I cleaned it up very well. That's what I remember thinking that night. I think we were stoned as well as drunk and you do funny things while both. Like clean up cake from doors really well. That's the only thing I remember from that night. Thinking, Damn, I cleaned this cake up really well. This door looks pretty fucking clean, I am amazing at cleaning cake off doors. If cleaning cake off doors was an Olympic sport, I would dominate all categories. French doors, bank vault doors, ripped screen doors that are attached by one hinge to a redneck's trailer. And when the doping tests came back negative, the world would be amazed. They'd ponder my giant head and resting heart rate of 21 BPM and think I must have used Bach's urine to beat the rap. Which has absolutely no performance enhancing substances. Including the nutrients needed to live.
But back to the most important point: Are you calling me fat, bitch!?!
362 days left for Bach to get laid by a laaadyyy
(I think we should tag every post with that from here on out)
But to clarify. I'm not treated poorly. I actually have it pretty nice, working only a few hours a day and getting paid much more than most everyone else in China, making living easy. Hell, I wasted three weeks of class by showing Finding Nemo. But it is the system that treats everyone poorly, relatively. It's just take advantage of and cut corners in order to make more money. I fought back. And I like bitching.
But regarding Khuu's post: Are you calling me fat?
No, really, I don't remember how the cake got on the door. I think it was Ai-Tam's apartment, though, not Tony's. And I smeared the cake when the ringing and knocking went unanswered. Maybe because Ai-Tam was the only one there and she had gone back to her place? Wait a minute...then maybe it was Tony's apartment, but Tony wasn't there, Ai-Tam was supposed to answer, but she had stepped out, and yadda yadda yadda there's cake smeared all over the door.
But in my defence, I cleaned it up very well. That's what I remember thinking that night. I think we were stoned as well as drunk and you do funny things while both. Like clean up cake from doors really well. That's the only thing I remember from that night. Thinking, Damn, I cleaned this cake up really well. This door looks pretty fucking clean, I am amazing at cleaning cake off doors. If cleaning cake off doors was an Olympic sport, I would dominate all categories. French doors, bank vault doors, ripped screen doors that are attached by one hinge to a redneck's trailer. And when the doping tests came back negative, the world would be amazed. They'd ponder my giant head and resting heart rate of 21 BPM and think I must have used Bach's urine to beat the rap. Which has absolutely no performance enhancing substances. Including the nutrients needed to live.
But back to the most important point: Are you calling me fat, bitch!?!
362 days left for Bach to get laid by a laaadyyy
(I think we should tag every post with that from here on out)
Why do Sri Lankans love cake?
Every now and then, I get a little depressed and feel driven to write something that's both depressing and insightful. I just squash that feeling. I find that whenever I write about something that depresses me, it usually sucks. I mean, it really sucks. The writing is horrible and the topic is trivial. That is not what this little piece is about. Instead, I'm going to write about New Year's.
In a sentence? This past New Year's was great. It wasn't "OMGWTFBBQ, I'M SO DRUNK!!111 LOLZZZZZZZ"-great. It was "we're all grown-ups now and we know when to stop drinking so that we're all drunk, but not puking"-great. There was drinking. Oh yes, there was most definitely drinking. There was a good mixture of people. In fact, I'd have to say that the male to female ratio was not all that bad. Then again, I was also too busy trying to take care of the inexperienced drunkards (y'know, making sure everybody's got water) to really notice. There was also food. Many props to Nick for making and/or ordering the delicious food. Even though I was the DD, that night was probably the most successful New Year's Party that I have ever had the pleasure to attend (not to say that previous ones sucked. Just that this one rocked on many levels).
The party was everything that I like in a party: a good mix of new and old friends that I can mingle and talk with, no loud techno music playing in the back ground and, most importantly, plentiful booze. Of course, some friends were not there to have a good time with us and, as the title of the article suggests, the most missed right now is a certain Sri Lankan that's stuck in Red China. I don't mean that the others that were not there are not missed. I only mean that the reason why we miss Kumar so much is that he's been working a job that treats him poorly in an unfamiliar repressive foreign country. We also haven't seen the guy in months. We won't see him until sometime in July. That's why some of us wish he went to the party. Everytime we were about to do something, it would usually start with "remember that year when Kumar smeared the cake all over Tony's apartment door?"
Ah yes, that year was also very good. I was also a DD that night. The night started with the usual "party at Nick's." It eventually lead to "let's crash Vick's." When we actually got to Vick's Party, the majority of us were already drunk. Our group showed up and vanished within the space of about 15 minutes. Of course, we did not leave until some of the more drunk had more to drink. In any case, that night ended with some of us going to Tony's apartment. I forgot to mention that we also had a huge ass cake from Costco (this is actually very important). When we had arrived at the apartment, Tammy told me that she needed to get something from her apartment and asked if I could walk with her. Of course, I obliged thinking that David and the rest would be able to manage themselves. I was very wrong. When we came back to Tony's apartment, we found that Kumar had decided to attack the door with the cake. There was a huge smear of whip cream and cake bits swathed across the door. To this day, I am still not sure what possessed Kumar to suddenly attack the door with the cake. He tells me that he tried (successfully) to get Chris with it. Personally, I think Chris just had the misfortune to be between the cake and the door.
And that, as they say, is why Sri Lankans love cake.
Come home safely, Kumar.
SK.
In a sentence? This past New Year's was great. It wasn't "OMGWTFBBQ, I'M SO DRUNK!!111 LOLZZZZZZZ"-great. It was "we're all grown-ups now and we know when to stop drinking so that we're all drunk, but not puking"-great. There was drinking. Oh yes, there was most definitely drinking. There was a good mixture of people. In fact, I'd have to say that the male to female ratio was not all that bad. Then again, I was also too busy trying to take care of the inexperienced drunkards (y'know, making sure everybody's got water) to really notice. There was also food. Many props to Nick for making and/or ordering the delicious food. Even though I was the DD, that night was probably the most successful New Year's Party that I have ever had the pleasure to attend (not to say that previous ones sucked. Just that this one rocked on many levels).
The party was everything that I like in a party: a good mix of new and old friends that I can mingle and talk with, no loud techno music playing in the back ground and, most importantly, plentiful booze. Of course, some friends were not there to have a good time with us and, as the title of the article suggests, the most missed right now is a certain Sri Lankan that's stuck in Red China. I don't mean that the others that were not there are not missed. I only mean that the reason why we miss Kumar so much is that he's been working a job that treats him poorly in an unfamiliar repressive foreign country. We also haven't seen the guy in months. We won't see him until sometime in July. That's why some of us wish he went to the party. Everytime we were about to do something, it would usually start with "remember that year when Kumar smeared the cake all over Tony's apartment door?"
Ah yes, that year was also very good. I was also a DD that night. The night started with the usual "party at Nick's." It eventually lead to "let's crash Vick's." When we actually got to Vick's Party, the majority of us were already drunk. Our group showed up and vanished within the space of about 15 minutes. Of course, we did not leave until some of the more drunk had more to drink. In any case, that night ended with some of us going to Tony's apartment. I forgot to mention that we also had a huge ass cake from Costco (this is actually very important). When we had arrived at the apartment, Tammy told me that she needed to get something from her apartment and asked if I could walk with her. Of course, I obliged thinking that David and the rest would be able to manage themselves. I was very wrong. When we came back to Tony's apartment, we found that Kumar had decided to attack the door with the cake. There was a huge smear of whip cream and cake bits swathed across the door. To this day, I am still not sure what possessed Kumar to suddenly attack the door with the cake. He tells me that he tried (successfully) to get Chris with it. Personally, I think Chris just had the misfortune to be between the cake and the door.
And that, as they say, is why Sri Lankans love cake.
Come home safely, Kumar.
SK.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year
Let me be the first to wish everyone on the late side of the world a Happy New Year. For me, it was sixteen hours ago. And...nothing's different. I spent the midnight hour laying on my bed watching Manchester United beat Bolton Wanderers, pondering whether I should go have a cigarette or a rum and Coke. I had neither. And then today I watched Lost in Translation. Does it get any more depressing?
Here are my wishes for 2006:
In the world of sports...
Duke becomes the first #1 seed in NCAA Tourney history to get knocked out in the first round.
Chelsea win the Premier League, Lyon win Ligue 1, and both meet in the Champions League final.
Leeds go back up to the Prem.
Lakers make the playoffs and make a '99 Knicks-like run to the finals.
Freeway Series in October (Blue in 7).
In the world of politics...
Idiots stop seeing France as a beautiful culture and see the French for the bigots they are.
Idiots stop seeing China as a rising power and see the Chinese government for the oppressors they are.
Idiots realize that Bush is one of them.
Better human rights and decency around the world. Period.
Democrats make a strong stand on their issues and make gains in 2006 as the Republicans' issues persist.
In the world of me...
I go to graduate school. Not get in. That's been done. I actually go.
I write stuff I'm proud of and enjoy.
I get a better handle on one of my foreign languages.
I expand my nascent culinary skills.
The many pounds I've lost here in Red China stay off when I return to the States.
In the world of my friends...
Everyone remains healthy and happy.
And Bach gets laid....By a laaadyyy...
Here are my wishes for 2006:
In the world of sports...
Duke becomes the first #1 seed in NCAA Tourney history to get knocked out in the first round.
Chelsea win the Premier League, Lyon win Ligue 1, and both meet in the Champions League final.
Leeds go back up to the Prem.
Lakers make the playoffs and make a '99 Knicks-like run to the finals.
Freeway Series in October (Blue in 7).
In the world of politics...
Idiots stop seeing France as a beautiful culture and see the French for the bigots they are.
Idiots stop seeing China as a rising power and see the Chinese government for the oppressors they are.
Idiots realize that Bush is one of them.
Better human rights and decency around the world. Period.
Democrats make a strong stand on their issues and make gains in 2006 as the Republicans' issues persist.
In the world of me...
I go to graduate school. Not get in. That's been done. I actually go.
I write stuff I'm proud of and enjoy.
I get a better handle on one of my foreign languages.
I expand my nascent culinary skills.
The many pounds I've lost here in Red China stay off when I return to the States.
In the world of my friends...
Everyone remains healthy and happy.
And Bach gets laid....By a laaadyyy...
