Beauty and the Geek

So began watching Season 2... and it's pretty fun/ny.

I watch it, and I think gosh, i'm really smart.  In both pop culture AND tech stuff.  Whoo!  haha.

Except, as soon as I think I'm smart, I just realize, gosh, these people are really dumb.. and i'm dumb for competing with them.  (you know, like how you shouldn't race a 5 year old?)

I'm sad b/c my favorite geeks are being eliminated.. in such close rounds too :(
I liked Brandon a lot.  He was like this awkward but smart and nice and not too awkward guy.  the kind that wears an okay shirt but then tucks it into his ill-fitting jeans.. with a belt.  He slicked his hair to the side too.  PLUS I liked Amanda too.  She had a really ferocious look about her in a cool way.

I liked Tyson :(  He was so asian. haha.  Except Thais, his partner, was cute, but REALLY dumb.

AT the end, when both eliminees reflect, the girl says how much the guy became comfortable.. (which i think just happens b/c geeks are pretty normal when they get comfortable), but when the guy says the girl is really intelligent and beautiful inside out, i snorted when Tyson said that about Thais.  because .. she was just ... lol.

The geeks are so funny.
And the girls' commentaries on them are so funny/stupid too.

Actually, Chris is kind of bitter and scary.  He needs to change.

The other guys are ok.  The guy that looks like Napoleon Dynamite is kinda creepy too.

My favorite is Josh.  His POV is awesome.  And he's such a nerd. hahaha.  Poor him.  He has Cher as his partner and she's cutthroat and scary.

and there's this one brunette who just sounds like a blonde.  I love interviews with her.  B/c she's so blonde.. and so clueless about it.. and pretty sweet actually.

"You know what, I look so good, I'd hook up with myself" - Josh. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Recipes I tried this season

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/10/persimmon-pudding/
pretty good. lots of oven time = lots of energy. maybe just make persimmon bread next time.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/02/best-chocolate-pudding/
Really good. instead of cream and eggs, used whole milk and cornstarch. Not too sweet.
Put it into puff pastry cups and sprinkled pomegranate seeds on top (rather than whipped cream). Would like to do with with phyllo dough cups next time.

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/galbijjim
Loosely followed a tripling of this recipe but began with wayyyy too much water. We had to cook it a long time to reduce it, but long stove time = lots of energy. Also, instead of sugar, I use honey.

In the future, I'd sautee the garlic, onion, soy sauce, and gogi before I pour water and everything.

Also, added potatoes and button mushrooms to the mix (rather than just radish and carrots) and heckkk no am I going to cut the veggies into little balls. that's lame.. and way too much work.

Taste? = great!

And then of course, tried and trues: bacon-wrapped dates. (mi favorite!)

secretariat pt 2

okay, so the ending was crazy.
i love races
that horse was so beautiful
everything was so beautiful.

smiling family, good sportsmanship, striking actors/actresses, and a great soundtrack. just great sound/music choices.


i dono.. WHAt exactly the message is.
i'm going to write about this later.

basically the reason i want to though is b/c my mom likes this so much.
and maybe i just have a lot of personal issues that i want to work out.

but basically......... i just don't like it when a lot of issues gets merged into one.  in this movie, a lot of issues got merged into one main issue, when it wasn't that.  anyway yeah.

rip off

today i went to Sprinkles, got enamoured by the environment.
ate a so-so cupcake, got mad at the fact that i am now less 10 bucks
and decided i’m gonna start baking my own cupcakes
>:O

disturbed by a commercial

story idea:
look up seasonique commercial

dystopia where women don't have to have periods.


HOW IS THIS EVEN NATURAL?
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWw


"Who says?"

NATURE

GOD!
HELLO!

america's got talent

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/07/americas_got_talent_recap_one.html

i'm glad nick pike is back
and yeah, why are some people put through and not others?
oh wellz
that's all
i hate hulu. in taiwan it didn't work. i was so much more productive.
paper cranking time!

(but i liiike it~! Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear! is FUN)

Amazon Customer Service HAS IMPROVED A LOT!!!

Do you remember those days when there was no phone call or email button on Amazon.com?  If you had a problem, you had a problem and you had to deal with it?  I remember even reading an article about it, and curious, I went to look for a way to contact their customer service... sure enough, it was a crazy maze-y ordeal.

Today, I ordered three books through Amazon Prime... and lo and behold, realized i had sent it to my HOME address instead of my current one... I panicked.  I needed those books ASAP in Irvine... and yet I couldn't change it.. it was "Shipping Soon" (which on a-whole-nother note, impressed me that they're really that quick).

I quickly scoured the confirmation email to see if I could contact anyone and there was a link on the bottom.  Rather than going to the FAQs, I clicked a convenient, yellow "contact us" button, and after delineating my specific problem, opted to call them rather than e-mail them.  I typed in my phone number and in two seconds, I got a phone call from amazon where I waited roughly a minute, and the customer service was so nice, personable, and genuinely seemed to be figuring out what to do (she was sort of "hmm"ing since it *is* amazon prime and that goes faster).  She put me on hold after asking a few questions and even asked me, "well, if I *can* change it, which address should I send it to?"  .. and then she got back to me with it fixed!  Woo!

It was great and yes, I'm a satisfied customer.

Here's the customer service link!  https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html

Delusions of Grandeur

saw Wicked for the third time.
because i got great seats for a reasonable price.
because it was a birthday present for my (ungrateful, cold-fished, irritable, hard to gauge) sister.

SAT NEXT TO VALERIE CHAN! (crazy!)
Met her family and RECOGNIZED HER BROTHER-IN-LAW (he was my old youth pastor's old student who came with his church group to do a missions presentation.. i remember he shared something or preached something... he was planning on becoming a pastor then.. and.... they are moving to Kentucky THIs SUMMEr.. dO i haVe CrAzy MeMorY oR WhAT?!)

Gotta say, this third time was MUCH better than the 2nd time I saw it.

Elphaba: I think she was the weakest one i saw, which was a little disappointing, but she was still good.

Galinda: She delivered her lines uniquely.. it was funny; she was a great singer too! She was fun!

Fiyero: Seriously, my first Fiyero was played by a black dude who had a great voice, great moves, a great look.. the second Fiyero was slightly balding and a little nasal; the third Fiyero had a modern, pop, good voice.. sounded and looked like the typical pretty boy.. attractive, but, seriously, no one can compare to the first Fiyero.

Dr. Dillamond: He sort of.. didn't NaiL the 'Glinda/Galinda' thing at the start, so it didn't make sense. (people who watched Wicked might understand).

Madame Morrible: She was not as horrible and scary as the first 2.


As usual, Orpheum theater's acoustics are a little iffy in the sense that some harmonies got drowned out. Everyone was GREAT at singing.. and it was fun to watch. I loved it.. and it's been a while, so I forgot a few things. I love how things fit.. I love yeah.. in the past, I'd feel emotionally stirred at different things; this time, definitely "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" killed me. Unfortunately, the second act felt hurried, and a little lacking in passion and emotion. I was sort of "eh!" about it.. but the FIRST act was amazing.

Honestly, the FIRST time I saw it, "Defying Gravity" was AMAZING. I feel like, after that, nothing could compare. That Elphaba was AMAZING.. but granted that a lot of the surprise factor was mixed for me, this viewing was really fun.. perhaps maybe my standards/expectations dropped a little since the Second viewing, where it was really sort of meh for me.


Wicked is fun!


finding parking in SF is not.



I realized to be a thespian star, you need to act, sing AND dance. I guess i'll never be able to hit the stage. no delusions of grandeur for me. heh

frivol

First off, gotta say, CUTE concept.



But here are my issues
* first of all, ain't he a little too forward?
* second of all, you can't SMELL gerbera daisies.  Anyone smell one before?  Smell one and you'll know; gerbera daisies aren't fragrant
* also, by now, wouldn't you go back and get your laundry?
* aren't you a little creeped out by a guy playing guitar in the laundromat?
* then in the final scene, I thought he had decorated the laundromat and I honestly thought, "Aww how cute!"  which was followed by, "How much SWEETER would it be if he had finished her laundry!"  .. but he didn't.  Instead, they slowdanced in a random patio... which brings me to my final point
*the dancing scene captures his prepubescent awkwardness only highlighted by his slightly feminine voice.  First of all, she's taller.  Second of all, he looks like a girl.

The end

avatar review

been following the making of this movie for a little bit; I really enjoy the idea of blue screen. (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow anyone?) and for the first time, 3D did not distract me from the actual!

I think though, I still prefer 2D so far.. 3D almost makes me feel set apart from the movie not a part of the movie, because certain camera tricks that go smoothly in 2D (and thus unnoticed) makes itself obvious in 3D. Mainly when they change focus..


You know, I had some issues with the editing; sometimes they cut a little too late.
For example; right after the blue girl and Sully come back together and press their noses together, she opens her mouth and then it's cut to the next scene of the warplanes. SO weird.

**SPOILERS**

Also plot was almost TOO tight and concise. Like each thing you were introduced to in the beginning HAD a reason in the plot. I mean, I appreciate that random deus et machina solutions didn't pop out of the air, but really? EVERY little thing?

I'm a little confused too; plotwise, I thought you choose ONE flying thing.. or is it just that the bond is forever and you choose not to choose another one? I don't get it. and doesn't that one have to choose you? OR I guess since that thing likes to kill everyone it can technically bond with anyone.


ALSO, what is UP with the love scene? It doesn't even make sense.
After he gets initiated into the group she says "now you can marry one of our women."
Uhh okay,

If I just was "initiated" into a group.. (let's say for you Christian folks, became baptized .. or a member of a church) the FIRST thing you say to someone usually isn't "Now you can marry one of our women."

And then honestly, I really, didn't see their chemistry or HOW they came to love each other.

Furthermore when they kiss and stuff; it seems so human... basically, despite James Cameron's imagination, he's still a guy and he can't figure out how to make things romantic without the typical body gyrations that would i guess work with HUMAN bodies. AND did it not occur to her that she was .. with.. like the equivalent of a ROBOT?

Bicentennial Man fell in love with Jenny (was that her name?) but they didnt get MARRIED. weird.


AND Jake Sully's voice was way too low and seemed separate from his body.

Oh and the "I see you" was way overused.

and it was not romantic at the end when his human form stroked her Na'vi face. sort of monstrous actually.



I DID like how the Na'vi spoke their language well and how Jake Sully's version of the language seemed like a foreign language out of his mouth.

I DID like the new world and the glow in the darks.

I DID like facial expressions.




I also wished that the new world wasn't SO like our own world. Like you know, a horse-like thing that acts like a horse but actually had 8 legs.. but then is called a horse. but THEN other things (like that triceratop looking thing) is called some weirdo Na'Vi name. It wasn't consistent.
and the Na'Vi despite being aliens were very human... like they did things characteristic to human beings such as kiss and cry. Tears are very human.


And do Na'Vi hair grow in braids? LOL. and does that little connector thing grow at the end of the hair or in the tuft? No comprendo.

I shouldn't be this critical.


Ultimately, I enjoyed it... but then of course, I get critical.

I think it's okay to be critical since I'm paying for the movie and because it's a movie; they're supposed to astound me. haha.



Same with 2012. (watched that yesterday with the girls). .. it was just.. blah.

tidal waves don't beg forgiveness.

watched Big Fish today... and I understand it more.

I remember watching this my junior or senior year on a Saturday night at the movies with my mom. I don't know why we went; but I remember running into friends and being okay with the fact that I was there with my mom.

I remember loving Ewan Macgregor, I remember thinking it was pretty, I remember my mom bawling, I remember the asian women and the field of daffodils... truth is, I don't remember much. I'd say "Oh, i love that movie, but I forget what it's about." I guess I loved the picture memories and the memory of my mom and I there.

I watched it again and I think I understand why my mom cried so much. In truth, the father reminds me of my grandmother and the son, my mother. I see my grandmother's larger than life stories, her grandiose statements, the fact that she is so loved by everyone, and yet somehow my mom disappoints her or she annoys my mother. i think I see that more. There's still that love; that fierce reality; but it doesn't take away the hurt i don't think.

Another thing is how i was thinking, I'd rather marry the father-type than the son-type. But then I realized the father marries a sweet sweet girl. i don't think two people who are too big for their britches who dream too big could be together. and i thought, there are only two types of people. dreamers and those who don't (but still fare just as well). and i think my grandma and i may be dreamers, while my mom isn't. BUT that can't be true.
since my mom and i can easily take the dynamics of my grandmother and her.
so nevermind.

I don't know what i'm trying to say.

All I'm saying is i love the story, the relationships, and the sweetness.


Favorite scenes:
Daffodils
bathtub
underwater
spectre




One peeve:
How the underwater woman couldn't swim gracefully, nor flex her feet when she did that awkward scissor kick. -_- ruined the ethereal moment.


Oh btw: LOVED the Cast

LOVED THEM!


well, the old mom was... her smile was too... i mean, is it a real smile? it was sort of.. i don't know. meh. dentures? but even dentures can't look THAT fake can it?

NY Times Doris Day Tribute

"Doris Day symbolizes what so many of us first loved about movies — a stylish escapism, grounded with feeling and heart. She has done her part for the movies. Now it’s the academy’s turn to do its part for her."

enjoyable read :-)

forces of nature

i've wanted to see this for a while since
a) Sandra Bullock was in it and
b) it was my really good friend in high school's favorite movie.

Despite the "dapdaphan" plot and freak catastrophes, there are a few things i like about this movie.

first of all, the cinematography of nature and weather were at times amazing and beautiful. I love how weather was an active agent; how it was personified. i like how the camera captured that and brought it to life.

second of all, i loved the ending. it was beautifully shot, and i liked what he said; and i liked the closure... and how ultimately he didn't give into "the force of nature" but rather made his decisions.

thirdly, i liked the overall weirdo message.



Complaints:
the movie dragged; it was suffocating at times, frustrating, BEN was frustrating.. Bullock did ALL she could to keep it up. Never have i found issues with that woman; she is a great actress. ( i may be biased tho!)


LOVED
Miss congeniality
While you were sleeping

Okay fine, i went thru the rest of the list of Bullock films I've seen and wasn't a huge fan of most of them... BUT i hAVE to say, in ALL of them, BULLOCK wasn't the one at fault. She herself is funny, endearing, etc etc etc!