Chinatown

We called it a day after he did his obligatory 7 T-shirts for $10 shopping in a Chinatown shop.

wp2006 is staying in his well heeled relative's place at Jamaica Estate, or something like that. His relative told him Flushing is not a very nice neighborhood, which I can't agree more. So I am glad wp2006 is not staying with me, because he is too good to live in Flushing.

He said his well heeled relative told him it would only take 20 minutes to drive from Flushing to his residenece. I say take the bus or walk home, I don't drive nobody home to Jamaica Estate, no matter how much wp2006 bitched and moaned about it. Anyway he decided to take #7 with me and transfer for Q17 instead of the way he came to the city. Probably hoping that I would have a change of heart and would drive him home, after a long day. I would never reinforce his wishful thinking.

So we were there deep in the cesspool of New York City that's called Grand Central Station waiting for our train. The #7 train fucked up, no train was in sight after some 15 minutes or so. I continued to wait for my lucky #7 train even apparently there was some major delay. wp2006 went on to take the uptown #6 then E or F at 51st St then got off at Union Turnpike then the bus home (I got email from him, so he made it home last night).

wp2006 keeps complaining about the 34C heat. I say I don't believe NYC is any hotter than Hong Kong. Bitch just likes to complain.

filed under idiot, asshole, on9 Chinese man in Chinatown.

Dinner

Chinese Restaurant, Mr. Tang, Lobster in Black Bean Sauce, Steamed Flounder, Sauteed Spinach in chopped garlic.
Filed under asshole, idiot, and whining son of a bitch.

34 degree celcius

filed under, hot as a bitch, whining son of a bitch.

Ground Zero

filed under, idiot at Ground Zero.

Times Square

filed under: Times Square, idiot, China man.

Byrant Park

filed under Byrant Park, on9 Chinese.

Untitled

filed under New York Public Library, Chinese tourist taking picture

Central Park

 

Central Park

July 16, 2006. 

Discovery Back On Earth

Discovery is back on Earth. That's excellent news. More from the horse's mouth.

Devi

logo belongs to its rightful owner.


Indian cuisine. Restaurant Week Special dinner prix fixe $35. Courteous service. Recommend.

Jeans

Photo credit David Yoder/Polaris, for The New York Times. All rights belong to its rightful owner.

According to Mr. Giovanni Petrin, as reported by the New York Times article, nobody tortures jeans better than the Chinese, not the Romanians nor the Africans. Mr. Petrin is the CEO of Martelli Lavorazioni Tessili, the Italian leading jeans manufacturer for brands ranging from Gucci to Gap.

I normally prefer to have a natural history with my jeans. I bought them hard and wear them to death; I did that at least twice or three times. I still avoid jeans with man made holes and whiskers. I am still old school I prefer to fuck up my jeans myself instead of paying a premium to let somebody do it.

According to the article, premium jeans are $60 and up and elite jeans are over $130. I don't think I ever paid that much for a pair of jeans. I guess my ass will not look any better anyway.

Untitled

The borefest that's known as World Cup 2006 has come to an end. And I miss it somewhat. The game is physical and yet nothing really happens most of the time. You have to find some way to enjoy it I guess. Yes, every four years is good enough.

The French Open is over, the NBA is over, the Wimbledon is over and The World Cup is over. The only sports event left is the US Open that's to be held in my backyard ... er in Flushing. Nadal and Federer are developing a rivalry now.

Three Times

This is a very seriously boring movie. If you only like Hollywood big budget production, this is definitely not for you.

The Chinese name is more like The Best of Time. I don't know if I have my best of time yet, I'd like to think it's still ahead of me. If not, I am just living garbage time, which I refuse to believe.

The story, Love Dream, set in 1966 seems to be the best, Youth Dream in 2005 is arguably the worse. The one in the middle, Freedom Dream is basically a silence movie that happens in 1911. These three stories set in three different times make up the entire movie. Hou Hsiao-hsien's movies are essentially silence movies anyway. It's about words not spoken, images, music, Taiwanese people and Taiwanese dialects.

Chang Chen is such a looker. He is definitely one of the most promising young Chinese actors. I have never seen Shu Qi's works before, but I think she does pretty good in the Love Dream story.

Do I understand or enjoy it? No and No. But I just have to see it because it's there, out there.

Children: only for budding art house kids who dig sub titles. It has some adult situation, but nothing they haven't seen before on TV.

NYC One Day Tour

Staten Island Ferry, me, Chopper Man and Chopper Man's brother.

Chopper Man

Staten Island Ferry

Statute of Liberty, seen from Staten Island Ferry

Subway #7

Robot at Scholastic

Wall Street

Wall Street

Staten Island Ferry

Staten Island Ferry

Untitled

  

Untitled

  

Untitled

  

Untitled

  

Untitled

  

Summer Camp 2006

  

Summer Camp 2006

  

Kissena Park

  

Discovery Took Off

NASA, knowing that Superman has returned, categorically refused to use Krazy Glue to bond insulating foam tiles. NASA greenlighted the liftoff on July 4.

Discovery is hauling tons of supplies to the space station as well as collecting tons of accumulated garbage back to Earth.

Misconception

Wearing vertical stripes doesn't really make you look thinner this summer, workout and diet do.

A crude reminder for myself.

Movie Review: Cars

Yes, it's a movie review.

Cars.

For children: 4 or above, who can sit through an hour and a half, with the help of popcorn and soda, lots of them.
Story: A budding race car by the name of Lightning McQueen learnt from some small town folks or some call losers that winning is not everything. Now don't get smart on me, winning is certainly not the only thing. In the cartoon world at least.
Bottomline: It's a cartoon, so you and your kids ought to check it out if you are going to see some flicks this summer.
What did Harry say: The brown car is crazy.

Fireworks

So it's July 4, the Macy's fireworks. I am not a fan of fireworks at all. Is there a storyline to fireworks, even if they say so, I won't buy it. I don't know what's the deal about watching fireworks. If I must watch this boring shit, I rather watch it on TV, sitting comfortably on my couch. Not get stuck on the highway, in the summer heat, all the unpleasantries that come with watching fireworks before, during and after, essentially there is nothing worth watching.

available on video and DVD

Do people still say something like some movie "available on video and DVD?" I remember I felt quite strongly about it, I mean, shouldn't it say "available on VHS and DVD?" But those copywriters get away saying video and DVD, which I think it's moronic.

DVR is great 99% of the time

I have a DVR, which I think stands for digital video recorder, that allows me to record shows from my cable provider. DVR is great, it's time shifting, like relativity, blackhole or something. Unlike the old VHS recorder, you don't need a Phd to operate a DVR, you record the show, and you watch whenever you like. It works 99% of time.

The 1% is like when Germany playing against Italy and went overtime. After recording the regulation 90 min play, the DVR went by the book and stopped. So it's like you watched some 2 hours of garbage time for nothing. Not that it really matters, but it would be nice to watch the entire game, overtime included.

The Fourth of July

The Fourth of July.

Summer

You know it's summer when Flushing is smelling like shit. And you think it's about time to put the lid on your garbage bin outside your house.

Wimbledon is playing, but nobody really gives a fuck.

I am not a big fan of summer, people fucking smell on the train.

UPDATE:
And save your perfume, eau de toilette, or whatever the fuck you so intend to put on, please refrain yourself especially if you have to, like the rest of the urban dwellers, take public transportation. Unlike your bad look, I can't simply close my eyes. Olfactory assault is bad urban etiquette. Problem with scent is that everybody and his dog thinks he himself has good taste, unfortunately that's nothing farther from the truth, and sometimes scent is very subjective, your good scent may smell like, what else, shit to others. Mixing scent with 90 degree summer heat is a no no.

Cherry Picking

DSC_5310
Originally uploaded by rnj97.

Cherry Picking

DSC_5371
Originally uploaded by rnj97.

Cherry Picking

DSC_5413
Originally uploaded by rnj97.

Exit 17, on I 87

Anonymous

"Anonimity... is like a warm blanket."
--Max, Mission: Impossible, 1996

If you are truly anonymous Anonymous in Blogger, you really can't delete your comment.

Quotes

I don't put quotes on my email signature, not work email because nobody needs my secondhand wisdom at work. I don't put quotes for my private email because my friends don't need my preachings.

But sometimes I do movie quotes on blog comments, just can't help it. I sin.

Recently found from The Devil Wears Prada.

Miranda Priesly: The details of your incompetence do not interest me.

Miranda Priestly: You have no style nor any sense of fashion...
Andy Sachs: I think that depends on...
Miranda Priestly: No no. That wasn't a question.

More here from IMDB.COM.

Etiquette

I was waiting in my doctor's office, got nothing better to do so I did some quick reading. You know something, doctors or dentists, they don't understand the concept of appointment and your time is never as important as theirs. Anyway, I kind of got used to it. And in all fairness I arrived 10 minutes early and I waited about 40 minutes in total, so that wasn't too bad. It was my long overdue annual medical checkup, just in case you wonder. When you reach certain age and pay a few hundred dollars on insurance premium every month, you may as well use it.

There was this New York Magazine on urban etiquette. I found it pretty interesting.

I think the funnist may be this piece: Amy Poehler’s 8 Simple Rules For being a civilized New Yorker By Adam Sternbergh. Here is the list just in case the link no longer works by the time you or you click it.

1. Be nice to everyone, especially people wearing hospital bracelets.
2. Don’t ask white girls if they “left their ass at home.”
3. If you have to bring your baby to a movie, make sure he laughs at appropriate times.
4. Don’t eat Cheetos and then sit down at a fancy hotel piano.
5. If you are in Central Park and think you are getting mugged, first check to see if maybe you’re just part of a student film.
6. If you see Oprah at a fancy function, don’t grab her wrist and ask for money. Quietly sneak up behind her and whisper, “You give me that money, Oprah. You hear me?”
7. When walking on a New York street, try not to spit, litter, bleed, or take a crap.
8. If you need to do any of these things, try to do it between two parked cars.


My favorite is 7 and 8, I am still like kids who love all the jokes that have to do with bodily functions.

Technorati

Technorati tells the truth about my blog, that it really sucks big time and has virtually no traffic.

I learnt about technorati's existence probably a few months back, I guess that says how tech not savvy I am. Anyway, I was wandering on the Web and I did a vanity search on Technorati and it dutifully informed me, without sugarcoating anything, that my blog ranks 1,050,117. And to my biggest surprise, I got one inbound link, which is totally unexpected.

My blog ranking pretty much reflects my own existence. It doesn't matter to the whole world but I have my own fun.

Superman Returns

So I am going to check out Superman Returns tonight, one day ahead of the June 28 release date. Thanks Mei.

This summer we have 2 leading men in tights, Superman in Superman Returns and Nacho in Nacho Libre, which stars Jack Black as Nacho. I have a weakness for funny guys, except Adam Sandler whose brand of humor I don't get and hence fail to appreciate. Apparently, Adam Sandler's brand of humor really does wonder in the box office.

The Devil Wears Prada seems promising. Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep on a story based on the same name novel allegedly or not so allegedly based on the author Lauren Weisberger working experience as an intern/assistant(?) for US Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

UPDATE:

Superman Returns

I enjoyed Superman Returns. What made the experience enjoyable was I got free ticket, finger foods, candy, beverages, and pop-corn.

The movie itself is not bad either.

To quote the director, it's really a "chick flick." If you look for some hand to hand combat or a fair amount of violence, you have to look elsewhere. What it is is about unrequited love, gasp, I can't believe I even say that. Some critics go on to say that Superman is gay, not that there is anything wrong with it, but I think that's really a stretch, and it says something more about the critics than the movie itself. Personally, I don't see any religious reference either. But then again, I didn't see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ." or myself a religious expert.

I think director Bryant Singer did a very good job to tell a story. The special effect is good and not overbearing. Brandon Routh is plain good looking albeit mildly boring and hence I consider him good Superman material. The ending is a bit unsatisfactory but overall I think it's a good movie.

Also, both Jimmy from Daily Planet and Lex Luthor shoot Nikon. When Lex was in the musuem, he was carrying a Nikon D2 something, though I really didn't see him shooting with it. And Jimmy, Kent Clark's co worker was seen actually shooting with a Nikon D2 something. Probably D2Xs, D2X, D2Hs, or D2H. Sorry, in the world of Metropolis, people don't shoot Canon, though in the real world, the opposite seems to be true. And Lois Lane's choice of vehicle was an Audi SUV.

Discovery is going to launch in Florida this Saturday, Superman, are you ready? Hope NASA got it covered this time.

For who: People who love Superman or people who enjoy a good story.
Not for: People who only love senseless violence and hand to hand combat.
For children: Over eight years old or any children who have attention span of more than 2.5 hours, factor in the previews, make it 3 hours. Younger children may get upset when Superman got beat up or appeared to be fatally injured.
Adult situation: Is there any? None. Okay, maybe when Superman and Lois Lane tried to kiss.
Violence: Mild violence with no blood. A villian killed by a grand piano, off camera. Younger children may get upset with certain scenes when Superman got beat up and appeared to be fatally injured.

Disclosure: I am not a Superman fan. I am middle-aged. I grew up knowing Ultraman as superman, not knowing there is really a Superman until perhaps a bit later in my life.

Read what the real critic says here and here.

Beckham can still Bend it like Beckham

Beckham gave England a one to nothing lead against Ecuado. And went on to win the game with this only one goal. The game was a total bore.

Stepping Up Ceremony

To begin our ceremony, we will sing "God Bless America."

Stepping Up Ceremony