You have been good to me the past year. We've had our ups and downs. I'm sorry but it is time to move on. I have found a new liking. We can still be friends right?
Someone check the birth certificate on this girl. She cannot be just 14 years old. Did she take growth hormones or something? She's HUGE! Even Tiger Woods said when he first met her, he was surprised to have to look up to her. She really is talented though. I don't know if she would have fared as well as she did yesterday on another course though. The course that they played on is her home turf. She must know every nuance of that golf course, in and out. Still, everyone has to admit though that they were secretly rooting for her. Underdog almost came through... Next time Michelle, you still have many, many, many years left. It'll be scary when she reaches her peak in Golf.
It's amazing how big the Michael Jackson fiasco is getting to be. It's like a hollywood red carpet event. He has busloads of supporters and fans commuting from LA to the courthouse. What's crazy is how some fans flew from Germany, France, and other countries just to come and show support. Don't they have anything better to do?
Although I think Michael Jackson is strange, I don't think he is guilty of molesting and drugging a child with wine. I think the parents of this child are in this for the money, esp after the civil suit where another family received a hefty sum of money. Yes, he is a forty something year old man that should not be in the same bed with a child that isn't his own, but he just is a different type of person. He's not your average neighbor down the street. Michael Jackson did not have a typical childhood upbringing. He grew up in the spotlight, did not attend public schools where he could interact with people, and most importantly did not have typical friends. This guy just didn't have his childhood days to himself. He really is in his own little world. He can't go out in public, he's stuck in the confines of his mansions, and bombarded everytime he makes even a slightest movement. He apparently doesn't have real friends that are his age. No wonder why he chooses to hang out with young children who are still innocent and won't judge him. What kind of men in their 40s would hang out with Jackson, drink a beer, and watch a game with him? Jackson just never had friends his age. The real freaks are the parents who let their children sleep over Jackson's house. A slumber party should be held with other children their own ages, not with a pop star. You don't send your child to anyone's house, esp men over 40.
It's almost unreal to me that it is already 2004. Sometimes during the year I will have these sudden memory losses where I even forget what year it is. I have to pause and think about it for a second to make sure. Sometimes I do that with my age too. When people ask me how old I am, I sometimes forget that I'm 22. People might think I'm lying or something because I have to delay with my answer. It's not that I'm ashamed of my age or anything, I just have this mindset that I'm still 17 sometimes. My my, how fast the days go by...
I don't believe in resolutions. Resolutions are meant to be broken. They only produce temporary change. Change doesn't happen just because it's a new calendar year. There has to be something more behind change to bring results. Change begins with the right mindset. I believe the determined mind has to be the catalyst for real change. Otherwise, the change just loses focus and falls apart. However, I do believe in goals. Goals are meant to be achieved. Goals produce a direct focus for a person to aim for. The more narrow it is, the better.
Here's the difference: Most people have a resolution to lose weight. They say "I will lose weight in 200x". This alone is a setup for failure already. There is no end, no goal to aim for, and no plan. It's not a practical solution. On the other hand, a goal would be "I will drop 5lbs before January 15th by running 3 miles times a week and weight lifting 3 times a week." It's specific and it can be achieved. I believe change can occur but it happens only when a person decides to make it happen.
My blogspot has been slow with the updates. I have been cheating on this blog. I admit it, I have a new love now. I have set up a new blog at a discreet location on the web. It's still under construction but will be open soon. I'm making it so my content is much more manageable than here at blogspot. I have a photo gallery set up and a few other cool things. So please be patient! The new location will be announced soon... =)
Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing was released in 1989 under a string of controversy. Too bad I was only eight or nine years old at the time or otherwise I would have seen it. I saw someone's all time favorite movie list which had familiar titles such as Gone With the Wind, Braveheart, etc., but one film I didn't recognize was Do the Right Thing. I was curious so I found the movie at a local video store and decided to rent it for a bargain price of $2. I don't think everyone will like this movie but it is worthwhile to at least watch.
:::Summary:::
The movie depicts a Black neighborhood in an urban New York City on a hot summer day. The movie moves slow, really slow. For people like me that grew up in the '90s with fast action chase scenes, agents dodging bullets, and CGI special effects, the movie takes a bit of time getting used to. For most of the movie, the relationships between the characters are described and built up. There's a reason for this of course which is shown in the very final scene. Everything in the movie is built up for the end where the viewer must decide an answer for a question that the movie attempts to throw at you. The movie ends with two seemingly conflicting quotes by Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. The question basically boils down to whether violence is justified. The movie also seems to illustrate the race relations at the time between the Blacks, Italians, Whites, Koreans, and Puerto Ricans in a New York community. There are a few racial slurs and montages in the movie. Here's a dialogue in a scene of the movie:
The corner men discuss why Black people don't own their own business.
ML: Look at those Korean motherfuckers across the street. I betcha they haven't been a year off da motherfucking boat before they opened up their own place. Coconut Sid: It's been about year. ML: A motherfucking year off the motherfucking boat and got a good business in our neighborhood occupying a building that has been boarded up for longer then I care to remember and I've been here a long time. Sweet Dick Willie: It has been a long time. Coconut Sid: How Long? ML: Too long! Too long. Now for the life of me, I haven't been able to figger this out. Either dem Koreans are geniuses or we Blacks are dumb. Coconut Sid: It's gotta be cuz we're Black. No other explanation, nobody don't want the Black man to be about shit. Sweet Dick Willie: Old excuse. ML: I'll be one happy fool to see us have our own business right here. Yes sir. I'd be the first in line to spend the little money I got. Sweet Dick Willie: It's Miller time. Let me go give those Koreans s'more business.
Most of the movie centers around the Italian owned pizzeria named "Sal's Pizza" which has become part of the Black neighborhood for 25 years. The basic conflict in the movie arises between the owner Sal and a customer named "Buggin' Out" who complains to Sal for the lack of pictures of Black people inside the resteraunt and attempts to organize a boycott of Sal's. This conflict escalades later into a fight between them. One of the protestors gets killed by the police in front of the crowd. The crowd breaks into a riot filled with chaos looting and burning down Sal's pizzeria while blaming Sal for the death of the black man.
What I thought was interesting about this film was the following scene after the crowd burns down Sal's Pizzeria. The crowd looks next across the street to the Korean Owned fruit/flower/convenience store. The Korean man armed with a broom frantically begs the angry crowd not to burn down his store. The Korean man in his broken english yells out "Me Black! You Black! We same!". After a few exchanges of words, the crowd decides not to burn down the Korean owned store.
There are two quotes at the end of the movie, one by Dr. King and the other by Malcom X. Dr. King advocates no violence whereas Malcom X basically says violence is justified under certain circumstances. The movie seems to ask the audience whether the action undertaken by the crowd was justified or not. Was the violence necessary?
This movie was released in 1989, a few years before the LA Riots of 1992, but I noticed a few similarities between the riots in the movie and the LA riots. Both began because of racial tension in the city. The LA riots erupted after the acquittal of four White police officers who beat a Black man. The Riot in the movie began after a Black man was beaten and killed by a White police officer. The Korean store owner in the movie depicts how most of the Korean Owners of businesses during the LA riots felt. Korean Store Owners felt like they too were also oppressed minorities in the community. Koreans felt that they were minorities just like Black Americans. In the movie, the crowd understands the frantic Korean man and decides not to burn down the Korean store. However, the mob of people in '92 didn't understand the Korean store owners in Los Angeles and instead burned down an estimated $800 million worth of damage.
I know that Spike Lee wasn't predicting a massive riot in LA when he made the movie in '89 but he was illustrating in the movie how racial tensions in the city could lead to something like a riot. Sadly, it became true a few years later. I don't know what kind of social impact the movie had in 1989 but it would be interesting to find out whether the movie had any sort of influence in the minds of people in 1992 during the Riots. I wonder what Spike Lee thought & how he reacted when the '92 Riots actually broke out. He must've said "I told you so."
I think every girl has their wedding day planned out by the age of 15. Everything from the setting to the color of the flowers are conceived before they even have their first boyfriend. On the other hand, guys like me haven't put one thought into their future wedding day. I don't know why but it's just something guys don't think about. When guys sit together, we watch a game or talk about sports, not about how pretty our wedding is going to be. However, after going to my friend's wedding today, I do have one detail that I have thought out now. I have determined that I don't want a traditional indoor church wedding. My friend's wedding today was held in the rich hills of Palos Verdes overlooking the ocean. It was a small, serene setting that was just beautiful. The place was held on a steep hill that brought a view of the whole city. It was a bright sunny day in December, mixed in with a brush of chilly air. I don't think it could have been better.
For the past 6 months, I have been living life without a cell phone. Yes, it is possible. At first it was a major hassle but I quickly enjoyed the freedom of not having an electronic leash attached to me. I felt liberated. I felt free. I could breathe. I actually LIKED not having a cell phone. I broke my cell phone in June after dropping it in the bathroom and my contract had ended then. I was about to get a cell phone right away to replace it but for some reason I held back. In fact, I pushed off getting a cell phone as long as I could and now it's been 6 months. I don't like cell phones especially after having worked at a cell phone kiosk at the mall. Sure they are useful but they've become too attached to some people. So ever since I've become disconnected with my phone, some people have thought I disappeared off the face of this planet. I got a few emails from concerned friends "Where are you Joe?". Geez, I didn't have a cell phone and people were beginning to think I wasn't in the country anymore or something was wrong with me.
Well, it was finally time to get a new cell phone. I was living life like in 1997: No cell phone, no pager, and no dsl. After looking at phones for about a week, I decided to go with the brand new Motorola V300 (pic above). It was just released in the US a few weeks ago. I was deciding between the Sony Ericsson T610 and the Motorola V300. The Sony Ericsson T610 was very attractive at first but after looking into it, I decided against it. The design of the Sony looks good but the size of it is small, TOO small. The buttons are so tiny that even a person with normal size fingers has difficulty in pushing the buttons w/ out accidentally hitting other buttons. After holding it in my hands, I knew I would have difficulty using it. The camera on the phone takes horrible pictures and is pretty much useless. The cool thing about the Sony Ericsson is that it has bluetooth technology and is far more advanced than other phones. However, I personally don't have need for the bluetooth technology right now and wasn't in need of the high tech features. The main reason I decided against the Sony was the fragile screen. I drop and abuse my phone a LOT and I knew this pretty little Sony wouldn't last me 2 months. On the other hand, the Motorola V300 is sturdy and has a nice set of little features. The buttons are user friendly for me and the phone is not too small. Small enough to still fit in my pocket but large enough for me to actually use. The camera on the phone takes far better pictures than the Sony and the quality is a lot better. The color on the screen is rich and remarkable. I have Catherine Zeta Jones as my wallpaper on my screen! However, no phone will ever beat out the original Nokia 5190 from back in the day. The original green screen and its easy to use menu system still beats out all these other high tech gadgets. It was like a brick but it lasted forever. I abused that phone so much until I finally broke it by accidentally dropping it from the 3rd floor of my apartment building. Geez, I miss that phone dearly. Anyways, anyone that needs to get a hold of me can now reach me much more easily now. Ring me up.
JosephKim1031
