Magic in Charity: Every $10 made at Siamese Pixie Store, #2, #3, #4, and
geek stuff PLUS whatever I made with Adsense is sent to Thai Red Cross, my mom's favorite charity. As of June 1, we are at $2.56 toward the next $10 and so far have donated $30.
It’s this whole women hating women thing that women would never get to go anywhere, I think.
Yes, Olivia is beautiful, smart, and hilarious. Yes, she plays to her male audience…you’d be a fool not to when your show’s demographic is the dudes.
Play a ditz? Play a hot chick? Jump into a pie? What she says is right, in so many words, you’re nobody but who your fans make you. Much like this blog, if y’all don’t read it, it doesn’t exist. (So…thanks!) You can’t make a living as an entertainer if there’s no audience.
Could she have gone and done something more “dignify”? Sure. Will her fans follow there? Probably not.
But having seen her in action on the set, I’ve got to say that she has the brain and sense of humor to back her up.
So, good on you, Olivia. I wish you well.
Haters will hate. And everyone has a point of view. Respect that, and moving on.
As Olivia signed on my copy of Maxim–yes, *MY* copy of Maxim, and I bought the Playboy too–”Let’s braid hair!”
Yes, Olivia. Let’s join our Asian powers and braid hair.
TED conference is where the brightest minds came together to share their ideas. I’ve heard of the event last year for the first time, and have been wanting to attend ever since.
And I finally got to do it this past week at TEDxUSC, an independently organized event hosted by USC.
In a small world, Amy G told me about her friend who were going to TED who turned out to know @FStop23. As a matter of fact, dude was the one who told @Fstop23 about the conference, who then reminded me to apply for the invitation. I, then, in turn, told my friend Janetta about it. The next thing we knew, our little posse worked out a great deal. @Fstop23’s gang, having a more flexible schedule than the rest of us, secured our seats in Bovard Auditorium. (5th row from the stage, better than my CEO’s seat, no less. Not too shabby there, gang!) I showed up with lunch for one of the gang and snacks in hand.
We’re talking innovation here, so I baked Pim’s The Morning After Banana Bread in muffin form. Ah, the glorious blend of bananas, espresso, and Jameson! Not only I got to feed my little crew, I offered some to the people sitting nearby and some random students as well.
See? Ideas AND muffins worth sharing!
Anyways. TEDxUSC’s format was mostly live speakers with a few videos of TED presentations, USC student films, and musical performances.
My mind was blown.
So much energy in the place. And so positive! Bovard auditorium has never felt so large AND small all at the same time. I mean, there’s so much more out there to know and to discover that you feel so tiny, but yet all the spirit of discoveries and innovation makes you feel larger in life, like you too can do ANYTHING.
Like Woodstock for the brainiacs.
Peace. And free ideas. Rock on, man.
I’m not going to recap everything from the event because they’ll post all of that up on TED website soon. However, these are the ones that made an impact on me.
Then we were in space with Dr. Nicholas Patrick, NASA astronaut. How your perception of everything changed when you’re in space. Like the value of letting go and holding on. One of the most intriguing things he said: You can see the [environmental] policies from space. How the policies are affecting the earth. We can’t see it down here but they can see it from up there.
And while in space, we explored a little further with Paul Frommer, the creator of the Na’vi language for Avatar. Instead of discussing the language, he instead introduced us to how to use Na’vi in romantic situations. Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?
The video of Temple Grandin’s presentation at earlier TED conference was very fascinating. “She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids,” says the description. Ms. Grandin herself said that the world needs all kinds of minds. And the mentors are essentials in bringing in more great minds. Funny how in WIRED magazine a few months ago, Thokil Sonne advocates for the same thing for the 12 shocking ideas that could change the world.
Michael Yap, CEO at the Media Development Authority of Singapore, talked about new media in sharing experience. The whole putting another billion people online is one thing. But then he showed a video of a “Food Lab” which has sensors in your ladle and in your pot, which transmits to the other pot and ladle so you can learn to cook, knowing exactly how much force you need to stir a pot at what temperature. I’m not alone in thinking that it was a little creepy of a way to learn to cook.
Food should be something personal. Look at all the processed foods out of the factories, they’re nothing like a home cooked or even restaurant meal. Human element is needed to make food good. Oh yeah, I’m off on a foodie tangent there for a bit. But see? Wouldn’t have stopped to think about how I or we learn to cook and what food really means until Michael showed us that.
Then there’s a sit-down chat wiht Jeb Corliss, the Human Bird. Dude puts on a flying squirrel suit and jumps off planes. He said it’s not because he has no fear but that he harnesses the power of his fear into training and meticulous planning of every tiny little steps to ensure that everything goes right. If you do that enough, you have nothing to fear. While I can understand what he’s saying, I still think dude’s fucking nuts. And awesome.
And of course, Al Seckel. At this point, we’ve been in the auditorium for 4 hours now. And then Al came in and fucked with all of our brains with his sensory and visual illusions. It started with all these crazy visual stuff then it was also audio. You know, Stairways to Heaven going backward on its own was mumbo jumbo but when you look at the “hidden lyrics” while you listen, suddenly you hear every word that wasn’t there. But all of that comes down to how your perception was formed (by the age of 8 thereabouts) and what we think we believe in. Total trip.
We closed with the behind-the-scene of OK Go’s Rube Goldberg music video with Adam Sadowsky of Syyn Labs himself with a video intro from the band. (Tricked me. For a second I thought OK Go was REALLY behind the curtains! Boo on you, Adam!)
Like that wasn’t enough. There was an interactive reception afterward with “toys” you can play with like interactive physical therapy game that needs you to move to accomplish the task–a gentler Wii, if you will–and then there’s this laser thing that traces your image and projects it onto a wall (look at Janetta below playing with her laser shadow), and some models showing off wearable arts by Psycho Girlfriend like a dress made out of plastic tubings or pool foam “noodles”.
Now, at the reception.
<rant>
Us paid customers to TEDxUSC got red badges and no wrist band. I’m assuming that they too assumed we were all of age. Students in attendance were carded and given wristbands if they are over 21.
It is a blessing and a curse of looking like a college student even though I graduated from that very same college 10 years ago. The bartender wouldn’t serve me. because I had no wristband. I told him we red badgers didn’t get one so here’s my ID. He refused to check my ID and brushed me completely aside.
Look, motherfucker, if I was an underage trying to get a drink, would I BEG you to check my ID!? I PAID to be here at this event and have been in the fucking auditorium for 6 fucking hours. AND YOU WON’T SERVE ME MY MOTHER FUCKING WINE?!?!
Yep. I almost went Woodstock 1999 on his ass.
I found another bartender who listened to my situation, kindly looked at my red badge, and checked my ID. Wine was served with a smile AND an apology for inconvenience.
The kicker? I went back to the motherfucker who refused service earlier with my empty plastic cup of red wine and asked for a refill. “Of course, miss. Here you go.” Not event asking for that godforsaken wristband he couldn’t live without a half hour ago. Whatever.
</rant>
Despite the ID incident, the event was great. Our little gang had a great time.
I ran into someone I know during the break. I asked how he was liking the event. He said that he didn’t understand why the program should be interrupted by music and student films. And he thought not all speakers were worthy because they weren’t all innovation that are practical. What’s with that human bird guy or that autistic lady? A kid with looping electric violin? Really? For business executives like him, he said, he felt like he was cheated out of his precious time to spent 2 out of the 6 hours with what he considered nonsense instead of finding out more about cutting edge innovation.
My friend Janetta just looked at him and said, “You’re not at the right conference then. That’s not what TED is about.”
Yes. I was at TEDxUSC. My mind was thoroughly blown. That’s another post unto itself so I’m not going into it here much.
Breakfast:
My Starbucks treat: decaf tall Americano with caramel sauce.
Leftover plantano frito con frijoles y crema–fried plantains with beans and sour cream–from my Friday’s foray into Salvadorian cuisine. Ahhh…Sarita’s Pupusaria at the Grand Central Market!
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Lunch:
Mendocino Farms’ Vegetarian BLT. Yes, you read that right. It has vegetarian “bacon” and pepper jack cheese. And it was wonderful. You read that right. This bacon fiend actually enjoyed the vegetarian “bacon”! Then again, I was eating int the sun in line outside of USC’s Bovard Auditorium. It’s like being home again. Everything tasted better!
A handful of blueberries
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Dinner:
A few glasses of wine at TEDxUSC reception and a few noshes, a little cheese quiche and a blue cheese & grapes egg roll.
Came home and made The Minor Elvis: a grilled peanut butter, banana, and honey on 9-grain toasts. The real Elvis has bacon in it…
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Satisfactory level: Very satisfied. Again, the surprise that was the vegetarian “bacon”. It looks horrifying but it tastes like a less salty, not so greasy, crispy fatty part of the real thing. I would eat that again. And I’d even put it in the Veggie Elvis!
Thoughts: Holy crap. I ate a lot of carbs this week…
Starbucks decaf soy caramel macchiatto. I ordered a tall but they gave me a grande.
Starbucks chocolate croissant I never got to finish. We had birthday party today in the office so I was saving room for cake.
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Lunch
Brown jasmine rice with 2 sticks of barbecue “beef” skewers and 4 cherry tomatoes. The skewers look like poop, seriously like a log of poop. It did have very meaty texture, though, and less soy tasting. Unlike the marinaded “chicken” I had a while back.
A mini red velvet cupcake…more like a shot of cake and frosting…from Big Man Bakes at the office birthday party I threw and a very thin slice of pineapple rum cake the Big Boss brought back from the Caribbean.
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Dinner
Red Robin queso and chips…and a couple of fries. I swear that bowl is bottomless. I had my fill and it didn’t look like I made a dent! That was washed down with a strawberry lemonade.
A side of guilt.
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LOST snacks
A glass of Jacob’s Creek shiraz. Very appropriate, I know.
Coconut truffle from the box of XT Patisserie treats Nhien sent me for Christmas. Again, very appropriate.
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Satisfaction Level: Very satisfied albeit the GUILT!! Seriously. I had a choice to get a Gardenburger or a soup and salad but noooooo. I got queso. AND fries!! Not to mention all of the products with eggs in them that I completely ignore and dove in headfirst like the cakes. Meatless in the worst way today, folks.
Thoughts: Um. Yeah. I totally suck at being a vegetarian. The guilt alone will kill be before anything else.
Special Thanks: For those who’ve witnessed/read about my ordeal last night, please give thanks to the handy guide I used to battle the problem.
Drinking Buddy of the Year: Brandon, actually. Surprise! The mister doesn’t usually party down, but he has taken up a beer here and there this past year, a stressful one for his work. So we had gone out for a beer together more than the year before. Cheers to you, honey bunny!
Bar of the Year: Hennessey’s Tavern and Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach. These two places never fail to deliver cold pints and some great eats. They’re our go-to places when we want to run away from the daily life for a little while.
Sorry to disappoint y’all with the lack of Downtown LA’s bar feature this time around. I haven’t partied in town much at all. Climate change around the office will affect your happy hour weather, I tell ya.
Newcomer Award: Twitter Gang. I have grown to love folks I met at Tweet Ups especially @dananner, @anaperiodista, @fstop23, @davidmoyle, @sendchocolate, @joncruz, @vbesack, and the disappearing @phraktyl. We went shooting pictures. We played Rock Band. We got drunk. We had overall great times on and off line. Great year to make new friends!
High Point of the Year: Watch Thrill the World Los Angeles became the awesome success. From mere 100 last year grown into the thousands. It still blows my mind.
Low Point of the Year: The Christmas Flu and USC Football Rebuilding Year. Yep. Suckage.
Best Holiday: Halloween…again. I mean, prancing through Pine Street as Zombie Princess Leia, rocked that stage with my awesome crew of zombies? Best. Halloween. EVER!
Song of 2009: Glee soundtracks. I mean, I can barely pin it down to just ONE song! Almost everything from Glee I totally dig. I’m especially partial to Somebody to Love, Don’t Rain on My Parade, Defying Gravity (the duet), No Air, Sweet Caroline (Can I get a hell-yeah from Team Puck?), and this one I can’t stop singing. Lea Michele. What a revelation!
Movie of 2009: Avatar. I’m sorry, Star Trek and District 9! You came sooo close!
Surprise Movie of 2009: Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story – Rod Faifa Ma Ha Na Tuh – รถไฟฟ้า..มาหานะเธอ. I’m soooo in love.
Restaurant of the Year: Bottega Louie. Great food and ambiance. Totally a favorite place to run away from work to for a long lunch. Okay it’s a little loud, but what an awesome place to be! Affordable awesomeness.
Book of the Year: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Seriously. Go read that.
TV Show of the Year: Glee. Duh.
*
2009 Goals Tally: 6 out of 10…kind of.
1. FAIL – Explore Kung-fu. HAH! I did not.
2. FAIL – Drink more water. Did okay for a couple of months before waking up to pee in the middle of the night got old.
3. FAIL -More guitar/piano/singing – at least twice a week. I did try for once a month, but that didn’t happen since my office got so messy I can’t even get to the piano.
4. PARTIAL SUCCESS -Read more books – One book a month at least. Actually did 10 out of 12. Not too bad!
Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen – Love it.
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss – Learned all sorts of new things.
Watchmen, Alan Moore – The movie ending makes a hell of a lot more sense than the book I tell ya.
Turn Coat: The Dresden Files Book 11, Jim Butcher – Always love Jim. This is no exception.
Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert – Definitely love the Eat/Pray part. I could do without the Bali experience.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith – Best. Book. EVER!
Bad Things, Michael Marshall – I’m still scratching my head at that one. Whuh…?
The Foodie Handbook, Pim Techamuanvivit – Totally enjoyable and awesome. She takes gorgeous pictures.
Heat Wave, “Richard Castle” – Totally a fun read for us Castle fans.
5. FAIL – Add yoga to the routine – at least once a week. Not so much. However, I ended up losing 6 lbs. from September through November with the Thriller work out and stress diet. Haven’t gotten any of it back…yet.
6. SUCCESS – Take a language class. Buongiorno!
7. PARTIAL SUCCESS – Cook one new recipe a month. I went with a few new ones in a month and then go without cooking for weeks. But we did try new recipes.
8. SUCCESS – Fix them teeth. 5 more months!!!
9. SUCCESS – Fix them eyes. Well, I *did* decide on not getting LASIK done after extensive reserach and serious discussion with my optometrist. There’s a 50/50 chance I would come out normal or my dry eyes are going to get more severe to a level that’ll become problematic. I’ll stick with the glasses with that kind of odds, thanks.
10. SUCCESS – Keep up with whatever is working well. Still a latte a week here.
Dances with Wolves in space, James Cameron even admitted that in his interviews. And Avatar was exactly that.
And I love every moment of it.
Sure. The story is predictable. And a little sappy. And had been told many times before.
But it was told with a completely different visual representation. A seamless integration of digital animation and live action. For the first time, the CG characters don’t look like they were fresh out of a botox clinic. Their big yellow eyes say something. Their blue faces had nuances that the entire train full of Polar Express or (from what I saw in the trailer) A Christmas Carol didn’t have.
I mean, I *love* Sam Worthington going in. But who knew I would also fall for his big blue avatar too! I mean, the Na’Vi were ALIVE. It’s so totally awesome!
Some critics have issues with the movie’s mix of live action and computer animation. They said it felt like they were watching someone else playing video game for 2 hours.
Maybe because I am also used to the game graphics, and many of us are, we didn’t have the problem with the blending of digital and live action.
Also, surely, those critics do not play video games. I mean, seriously, gamers (and game spectators like myself) wish our video games look as good the as Avatar all the way through, not only just during the cut scenes.
Can you imagine how great Mass Effect, Halo, or even Final Fantasy would have been with Avatar level of facial movements and overall animation? But I digress.
Most importantly, Avatar is one of the movies in a very long time that I got lost in. I was willing to overlook all sorts of discrepancies and cheesiness so I can stay on that planet with them. Get lost in the adventure. Fall in love along side Jake and Neytiri. And root for the home team.
Okay, fine. I did crack up when Neytiri told Jake that “You have a strong heart”. But I guess nobody else got the Terminator accidental reference.
But the rest was pure escape. I would see this over and over again, the way I do with Dances with Wolves.
For almost 3 hours, I was running around Pandora. And I don’t care about anything else.
I did get my $10 worth. That is a LOT to say about movies these days.
Is it Oscar Best Picture worthy? Nah, I don’t think so. But did it steal my heart? Yes, it did.
Will Avatar make a pop culture impact like Titanic or Star Wars? I don’t know. The “I see you” thing is going to make it, I’m sure of that. But the rest, I don’t know. Will people take up learning Na’Vi (which, by the way, according to Professor Paul Frommer, a USC professor (Go! Trojans!) is being developed further)? I definitely see blue, scantily clad bodies showing up at Comic Con though.
Finally, don’t get me started on a waste of Leona Lewis’ voice on that theme song. My heart cannot go on with that gimmick. Sorry.
Oh, and final note here for Sam Worthington.
Dear Sam,
Please show some teeth when you smile at movie premieres. You smile a plenty in the movie and light up the screen with your cute dimples and lovely teeth.
But all the pictures I managed to find from your premieres, you only grinned…and smirked. I don’t know if you were going for the Russell Crowe tough guy look, or you were trying to keep that piece of gum you were chewing in check. But I must say that just doesn’t work for you quite as well. Trust me, we are not going to complain if you break our hearts a little more by flashing us your full smile. We’d actually enjoy that. Very much.
Yes. YES. YES!!!
No. Not so much.
Please don’t pull a Posh. Your mouth is too pretty not smile.
Oh hell yes.2,300 or so on paper but it felt/looked like 6,000 out there in the plaza! Brandon shot over 700 pictures and I had another 200. (What a trooper he is, braving the Blue Line and all!)
Worldwide, last counted, 23,000 people.
What a moment. What an adventure!
You can’t see me in this clip though they did close up on me for the “Coming up next” before this section.
Life is slowly getting back to normal. I have to lead my little Long Beach team to perform on Halloween at Halloween on Pine and that’s it for Thriller for a while.
When our beloved excuse themselves to disappear into their video games, we call that being a [insert game name here] Widow. For example, I was an World of Warcraft Widow, an EverQuest widow, and most recently a Fallen Earth and Fall Out Widow.
Now, the table is being turned around. I’m making a widower out of Brandon for the next few months.
As in, a Italian Class Widower…
Nora and I are taking Italian lessons together in Irvine on Saturday mornings, starting this weekend on through January.
A USC Football Widower…
If you’ve read my blog long enough, you’d know that Brandon is not allowed to watch any USC game. Not that he would to begin with, the boy’s no sports fan. But anytime he actually sat down to watch, even a few minutes, it all went to hell. It was entirely my fault to have him and his friend sat down to eat dinner and watch the USC-Texas game a few years ago.
A Thrill the World Widower…
It wasn’t supposed to be as big of an event this year with Thrill the World. But then Michael Jackson died. So now we’re in 120% go for this year’s event. I’m still leading the PR/Publicity campaign. And now also a dance instructor. Oh crap, I have to freshen up!
A Big Gala Widower…
Oh yes. The giant work event. A lot of pressure to raise money in this economy. A lot is at stake for the people we serve and for, well, the wellbeing of our non-profit.
And finally, A Thanksgiving Widower…
I’m heading home to Thailand for Thanksgiving for a quick week.
On top of all of this, I have 3 blogs of mine, a Tweet Up social life, and, oh yeah, the monthly cooking challenge.
Thank GOD we are putting long camping trips on hold until spring. With my Italian classes, we couldn’t go far. And with my crazy schedule, I won’t have time to train. I guess the timing works out.
However, the Mister has scheduled us some together time of date nights, our monthly massages at Massage Evny, and game nights. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 just came in the mail. /rubs hands together…heeheeheehee…
Am I nuts do be doing all this stuff? Perhaps.
But am I having fun with all the madness? Oh fuck yeah.
This will be one of those years I’ll never forget.
Drupal Camp LA weekend was AWESOME. I hung out with Annette and Nick from Twitter and Matt from my dot com days. Meanwhile I met new people and made some new friends and found some new people to follow on Twitter. And yes, I learned a TON about Drupal and got myself signed up with both LA and OC Drupal Groups.
I can hardly wait to get going with my first site. Well, I kinda did…but not really. LOL. Need a full geeky weekend, I tell ya.
UCI Engineering quad is an awesome venue for what we had (despite the distance from refreshments and the mystery of hidden bathrooms). Free wifi everywhere was perfect. We didn’t even mind that the best lecture hall they had–every seat equipped with power source, great stadium seating, big ol’ screen–was actually inside a freezer. Well, mild onset of hypothermia might messed with our memories a little.
Oh, a case of nostalgia came free.
We had lunch in the Pippin cafeteria along with their students. We hauled our stuff from classroom to classroom, our brains exploding along the way. Annette and I sat together in a few session and we broke out into giggles here and there, writing “notes” to each other via twitter AND actual note paper.
It was like going to college all over again.
There was even an on campus party afterward. LOL. (We didn’t make it there, but a lot of people did.)
That got me thinking about how far I have come since college.
Obviously, I’ve gotten a lot geekier than when Frenchy taught me HTML back in 1996. I am married, living a good life. Sure, I’m not the high level executive rolling in money, but I love what I do.
Frenchy himself has become an Ubergeek, a swing dancer, and a husband and dad. Other college friends have become a lawyer, a nurse, and a mom. One did achieve his goal of getting out of California and doing fine up in Portland. Another is about to get married for the second time to a fantastic girl.
