Just Got Dated

The Jay Chou concert was awesome! Painstaking effort was put into every set, timely animations complemented the stage composition and elaborate yet interesting costumes for Jay as well as the dancers really brought home his talent and artistry. The show reverberated seriousness, craft and mastery of performance music.

Jay was confident and comfortable on stage, which really shone through when he conversed with the crowd. He sounded natural, sincere and unscripted, which is rare for almost any non-English concert. Despite his diminutive stature, Jay commanded the stage with charisma and control.

The producers did a great job in putting lyrics up on screen for the audience to follow since Jay is notorious for not-great enunciation on his tracks. This was the first time I paid real attention to his lyrics and was pleasantly impressed by how clever and poetic some of his lyrics were. Jay isn't the best singer, maybe not even a good one, but I have to give him credit for the amount of original work he put into each song's composition and lyrics.

This was definitely the best concert I have ever been to in a long while.

The only gripe I had with the whole performance was how dated I felt afterward. The only songs I knew were his "classics" from 5 or 8 years ago, and I didn't dig his newer songs much. He did sing a lot of his older songs, which was good for us "long-time fans", but it kind of reminded me of concerts that my parents would attend, where only the old songs got the most cheers and response from the audience.

Can't blame Jay for any of these nostalgic sentiments though. He has been in the music business for 10 years now.

Yep, I didn't realize how long he's been around until tonight.

Great show and Happy Mid-Autumn!

Special thanks to Pimp-Mama Chan for the sweet invite.

Where Amazing Happens

The NBA season is fast approaching, and my thirst for basketball will soon be quenched without breaking a sweat.

First up would be NBA 2K11 which comes out on October 3rd. This year's iteration will feature none other than the G.O.A.T.: Greatest Of All Time Michael Jordan on the cover as well as in-game. It's going to be a very exciting installation of this highly realistic and entertaining basketball video game. Fingers crossed they fixed their servers so that we can spend more time actually playing games rather than being booted to the title screen. At least this year we get to see MJ instead of Kobe...

A week and two later, October 10th and 17th, Fantasy basketball lottery drafts for a Head-to-Head league and Roto for beginners. I've won back-to-back championships in the H2H league, so I know I've got eleven reticules trained on my back. But hey, it ain't easy being number one =P

And then October 25th, let the games begin!

Dear David Stern...

My name is Stephen and I am a 27 year-old who lives in Hong Kong.

I intend to come to the United States and road-trip my way across the nation in a red Mustang or yellow Camaro, making stops at all 28 cities that have an NBA team (LA has two, and Torono is in Canada) to catch one home game at each of the cities.

It will be the penultimate American experience.

During my trip, I will blog about the cities that I am in, the games that I attend and the beautiful and magnificent game of basketball. I intend to end my trip in Los Angeles where I will complete a book on this journey across the U.S. of A.

It will be an amazing experience for myself, as well as all the other fans from around the globe who can live vicariously through my blog and book by reading about America, her cities and the National Basketball Association. Basketball is such a universal language of teamwork, sportsmanship and finesse that transcends all racial and ethnic boundaries like no other sport.

I would be deeply appreciative if you could spare just a few minutes of your time to meet with me and allow me the privilege to conduct a short interview with you to include in this project.

My plan is to depart for the United States in the second half of 2011 after I complete my Masters degree in Creative Writing.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Best wishes,

Stephen

Moving Out

It's not easy growing up in a well ventilated glasshouse filled with food, water and all the other basic necessities of life, and then some.

Especially when you decide to leave it.

Where should I begin? Do I buy or rent? Can I afford either? Do I forward all my mail? Do I take all my stuff with me? What if it doesn't fit? Shit, I know it's not going to fit in my would-be dingy apartment! Should I set up a home phone number? How do I get electricity into the house? What about water? How do I pay for it? How much does electricity and water cost? What sort of furniture do I need? Do I cook my own food? Can I come home for dinner? Can I even come home?

Sigh... So many questions, yet so little guidance. This is the problem with growing up in a glasshouse.

You get too comfortable. You become immobile and reluctant to move.

But I must.

And I will.

As soon as I figure out how much money I need...

Damn Hong Kong real estate pricing to hell!

Screenplay Analysis: Salt

Ok, I just finished a book called "Screenplay: The Foundation of Screenwriting" by Syd Field, 3rd edition. A fascinating and insightful read assigned to me by my Creative Writing advisor. If any one is interested in writing a screenplay or just intrigued by how films are written, I highly recommend the book.

Anyways, the book states that every movie that we see on the big screens (i.e. scripts or treatments that actually get produced) follows a 3-act paradigm. Beginning, middle and end or setup, conflict and resolution with plot points at the end of acts 1 and 2 that propel the story forward, giving it direction. I believe the edition I had was printed in 1994, so some of the references are quite old. My advisor added a modern additive to the old paradigm called "false resolution" somewhere in the middle of Act 3. Everything else holds.

Moreover, Syd Field highlights the first 10 minutes of a film (or 10 pages of screenplay) as crucial for determining whether we as the viewer (or they as the reader) likes the movie. The first 10 minutes should clearly setup the main character, the premise of the story and the situation of what we will be seeing on screen.

To test out the theory, I bought a ticket to watch "Salt" a few hours ago, and here are my findings.

***SPOILER ALERT***

First 10 minutes

The main character, Salt, a highly trained CIA agent who had seen her share of action in North Korea as an unfortunate captive, is now happily married and looking forward to a normal life if her transfer goes well. That's the premise. The drama heightens when a Russian defector turns himself in at their undercover office.

Act 1: Setup

The defector accuses Salt of being a Russian spy who will kill the President of Russia during the US Vice-presidents funeral. She denies and attempts an elaborate escape from a locked-down CIA office. The plot point is clearly the tagline on the movie poster: "Who is Salt".

Act 2: Conflict

Under the pretense of finding and protecting her husband who is undeniably whirled up in the whole situation, she flees. Then, she appears to kill the Russian president at the US VP's funeral. But then she spares the life of the CIA agent who caught her doing so. But then, when she reunites with the defector who is in fact the one who trained her in Mother Russia, he kills her husband in front of her, which sends her identity i.e. "Who is Salt" spiraling out of orbit. There are many plot points in Act 2 which makes for brilliant conflict, but I believe the key plot point that brings a close to Act 2 is when Salt kills the defector and all the other Russian spies on board for taking her husband's life. Essentially, she defects.

Act 3: Resolution

We know by now Salt is not evil, and she follows through with the dead defector's plan to see how the situation plays out, and possibly stop it from succeeding. I am not sure what the false resolution is. It could be that the Russian president didn't really die (which he didn't); Salt was going to be condemned (but she wasn't) or her former CIA partner who turned out to be another Russian spy would succeed and frame Salt (close, but didn't on both accounts). In the final scene, with the help of the CIA agent she spared in Act 2, Salt's escape is "staged" and let loose on her former brethren.

Thus, the final resolution to the question of "Who is Salt" is this:

a) Salt is indeed a Russian spy

b) But her loyalty lies solely with her husband's safety

c) And since Russia took that away from her, she becomes a weapon against them out of revenge

Alas, the message of the movie is "love conquers all".

Or from the the Russian point of view: Don't send a woman to do a man's job.

Chauvinistic communists bastards!

My Affair with Assassins

So I have to write a thesis for my Masters in Creative Writing. My advisor recommends that I do a full-length screenplay. But first, I will need an idea. I'm written quite a few stories for the class last year, and most of them featured an assassin of sorts.

In my first story, the one I wrote that got me into the program, featured an assassin of humble and low-key demeanor who took the bus and remarked on every little detail. He had a sexy and exotic Thai accomplice who would tell him his next "hit" in a dark, filthy alley. He was obviously infatuated by her.

In a second story, this time a script of sorts, I imagined an assassin of the most sensuous and seductive kind named Megan (for obvious reasons), who had an altercation with a dorky loser in an elevator, but somehow falling for his shameless charm and persistence. There's already a lot of sexual tension and awkwardness when you are in an elevator with somebody hot, but this was amplified by the fact that Megan was scorching and had a gun. Danger and sex do mix into a potent cocktail.

The latest story I wrote with an assassin in it was Smith, a flash fiction of a meager 100-words. This was your run of the mill professional assassin, perched on a roof and making a hit. It is when the reader reads 2 other flash fiction pieces (Debbie and Dr. Mark) that the story expands to more than just another hit.

So I figure my thesis will bound to have an assassin in it. For some reason, I'm thinking of a homosexual one. And the title would be called Brighellina a made-up word for the camp version of Brighella, who is a character in Commedia dell'arte. The Brighella is the "muscle" and "dangerous" character in a comedy who is often portrayed as a butcher or some other middle-class servant.

Just imagine the possibilities of an assassin who wields a pink sniper and is afraid of blood. Or if he's not afraid of blood, he'll know exactly how to clean out the stains or match it perfectly with a pair of red polka-dotted white Lucky jeans.

OR, Brighellina could be a lesbian, just the way Rihanna likes it with Megan Fox.

Hubba hubba!

Are All Beefcakes Thick?

A simple answer, is no, but the beefcake in this entry is thicker than the Yellow pages. I never thought I would be saying this, but welcome back our old friend Butch!

My loyal readers would recall that the last appearance of Butch amidst these humble pages almost resulted in your beloved authors unsightly demise if it weren't for my superfriends. This time however, yours truly was no where near the heat of the action. And neither was Butch...

But his lack of involvement deteriorated rapidly.

The point-guard on Butch's team, a tiny rat-faced fellow I wish to refer haphazardly as Boykins, was running around the court, elbowing and shoving his way to nowhere against our big center, whom I shall call Bogut, cos' nobody on my team knew him so we probably won't be high-fiving him if he ever got to the free throw line.

Finally, on one play near half-court, rodent-faced Boykins was nudged by what seemed like an inadvertent forearm by Bogut and tiny Tim flailed his arms in sync with an unnecessarily loud grunt.

This guttural sound resonated with Butch's simple synapse mapping, which most resembled cave dwellers. His prehistoric sense of protecting his tribe spurred his muscle bound body to action, huffing and puffing his way to the center of the foray.

"I didn't push him on purpose."

"Of course you didn't push him on purpose!"

"If I did he won't be standing."

"You want to step outside?"

"He's been elbowing me the whole game!"

"Me big! Boykins small! Bogut big! Me protect small Boykins from big Bogut!"

"Grunt!"

That's what I heard in snippets while I distanced myself from the whole shenanigans. Incidentally, I bumped into Boykins on the way when leaving the scene. I was also smiling and giggling gaily away as I witnessed a mind-bogglingly dumb situation unfold. Interestingly, Butch wasn't the only one riled up. Another muscled knucklehead, whom I will call Marion for his over-athletic prowess, was also getting mad! I have no clue what his deal was. Perhaps the guttural grunt of masculinity unites beefcakes., but I doubt this, for our resident muscle representative, D.Howard, remained unaffected and even appeared bored by what transpired.

So clearly, not all beefcakes are thick. However, even the thickest of beefcakes still manage to show encouraging signs of a limited capacity to learn because at least this time, Butch kept his shirt on.

Well done! You CAN still fight and throw chairs with your shirt on. Here's a banana.

Touch Milk Festival

In a self-regulated village of Yunnan province, there is a peculiar festival that takes place in July affectionately called the "Touch Milk Festival", or 「摸奶節」.

Legend has it that July in the Chinese calendar is when lost spirits return to the mortal plane in search for havoc and mischief. For this village of Yunnan, many men went to war and perished at a young age before they ever had the chance to be with a woman. Thus, locals believe that in July, these lusty spirits return to terrorize untouched, virgin women with the purpose to take them back to hell and marry them. It's like Corpse Bride reversed

The village chief came up with a brilliant solution by sanctioning the "Touch Milk Festival". During the 14th, 15th and 16th of July in the Chinese calendar, single women of the village welcome men, both local and visitors alike, to touch their breasts in order to ward off lusty spirits for they will no longer be "untouched". Mind you though, only one of the women's breasts will be "touchable", for the other is said to be saved for her future husband. The "touchable" breast is easily recognized because it will be purposely exposed for the "Touch Milk Festival".

Now, I have searched high and low on the internet for pictures of this crazy-sounding chauvinistic festival in action, but all I could turn up are two noticeboards that is said to be plastered on the gates of the village:

There will also be celebrations of song and dance during this period to ward off spirits and lost souls, so I gather not all is lost even if "Touch Milk Festival" is merely urban legend or elaborate internet hoax.

Do you believe this to be real?

I'm not so sure myself but really wish it were. Thus, I intend to find out at "Touch Milk Festival" 2011! Who's with me?

Legal Age for Dating

My cousin told me about her new roommate in Macau. She was an 18 year old girl from Guangdong, China and she tells my cousin that her father had told her that the legal age for dating was 24. My cousin finds this mandate preposterous

Honestly, people should start dating as soon as they can. I only started at 23, so I don't have that much experience at it, and therefore I am not very skilled either. And it's not like I didn't want to start dating earlier, and this may come as a surprise, but I was just never successful at it.

So I say abolish the legal age for dating in Guangdong, or at least lower it to 18.

Heck, I didn't get to socialize with members of the opposite sex until I was 15 (kindergarten not withstanding, you sickos!) thanks to an all-boys education. You'd think 3 years to get acclimated with the rulers of men's Universe is enough. It ain't... but you gotta start somewhere, so I believe 18 is a good, legal number. At least (in China) you can participate in drinking and other more exciting activities by then.

1-bit At a Time

I'm such a nerd... I've been experimenting with pixel art recently for no apparent reason other than because I'm a nerd. Pixel art is basically built by teeny tiny Lego blocks that are 1-bit big... which isn't very big.

Will Smith once said that his father made him and his brother build a wall when they were like 7 years old. He thought the task was impossible, but his father told him never to admit defeat to impossibility. He told a young Will Smith not to think of it as building a wall, but to lay each and every brick perfectly, one by one. Soon, you will have a wall.

That "soon" lasted 2 years.

That's like pixel art, but sooner. Here's my first attempt, check it out:

There're over 20,000 1-bit bricks in this!

Iceberg Shatterers

I was at Happy Hour with some old friends and having a blast until some friends of my old friends showed up, meaning I have to meet these new people and put on a charade of making new friends that I don't really need or want.

For one thing, why do we always have to talk about what we do for a living with people we hardly know?

I'm at Happy Hour to get away from work, not talk about it! Besides, there is nothing interesting about being in IT, working with computers, slaving away at ad agencies or the worse of all, being a God damned banker.

Unless your friend is a professional pole dancer, drug dealer or wrestler, I am not interested about his or profession.

But it's hard to meet these people.

So I have devised 10 questions you can try asking when you are at a social gathering that requires you mingle with new acquaintances. These are not mere icebreakers, but iceberg-shatterers:

Q1. Are you a member of any cults or extremist religious sects?

Q2. Do you do Yoga? Can you teach me the downward dog?

Q3. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Do you think it'll work for condoms?

Q4. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

Q5. What's your favorite color, and do you have underwear in that hue?

Q6. What's your take on Inception? Are we all just dreaming?

Q7. Have you ever been in a threesome? Are you open to trying?

Q8. If you had to win at a competition of your choice, what would it be?

Q9. Which is worse? Giving a eulogy or being in the coffin?

Q10. If you had to sleep with somebody in this room, who would it be and why?

Aren't these way more interesting than "what do you do for a living"? Try it sometime and post your results!

Leeb Our E-Noo Ar-Long!

I'm not a huge fan of pets, but I like animals. Mostly... Some of my favorites include the pig, panda, giraffe, turtle (especially the little ones you can get for cheap), cheetah, dolphin, penguin and killer whale. Among others...

So anyways, I was at the supermarket with a friend and I saw a plethora of flavors of food and snacks for dogs. There was pepperoni, chicken liver, pork chops, original... Incidentally, what does original flavored dog food taste like? Unsalted carcass?

The most blasphemous of all is they came out with a new flavor:

Green tea flavor for dogs.

Really? Help me out here dog-owners. Are your dogs on a strict diet of sushi? Do they have chopsticks in their paws slurping up udon, ramen or sukiyaki? Picking at spider and california rolls? Is this why dogs are leaving behind green logs of wasabi on the streets?

Come on people! We've already got green tea in our chewing gum, toothpaste, ice cream, shampoo and Starbucks. How much further are we going to allow this Japanese tomfoolery to infiltrate our lives? Now they're getting at your pets too?

I mean I got'em. Don't know how my friend's dogs liked them.

But I digress. Soon, we'll have 0.03mm condoms in green tea flavor and the Japanese will have completed their domination of our sex lives. Granted, they already have a good head-start with their quality pornography; both real and animated.

So I say we unite against the proliferation of green tea and send them a message loud and strong:

LEEB OUR E-NOO AR-LONG!*

*Leave our "dogs" alone!

Daddyland Extreme

I just read an article by Nathan Hegedus professing his adoration for Sweden's paid paternity leave. A very generous one I might add, for the author was able to stretch his leave to 18 of the past 36 months! He coined his paid time away from work a trip to "Daddyland".

I'd like a trip to Daddyland myself. No, I don't have any children I can call my own and neither a son nor daughter, but I do have a child I feel a need to take care of.

And that child is me.

My daddy's in Heaven and I don't really want mommy hanging around all the time "taking care" of me, so I think I'm the one best fitted for the paternal leave.

It's funny how my generation of post-80's seem to have trouble growing up! Some of us still feel like kids way into our 30's! If we were given this "Daddyland Extreme" leave, what would we do...

We'd go spend a year in Australia working on farms... We'd go back to school... We'd travel the world on a backpack... We'd take classes in things we never dreamed of taking in College like Cinematography... We'd start our own online business... We'd perform on the streets and live off a pittance... We'd sleep with as many women (or men, whichever the predilection) as we possibly can without contracting STD's... We'd pursue our dreams of becoming a pilot or a rap artist... We'd go and "discover" ourselves... And we'd blog about it!

If I had a chance to take a trip to "Daddyland Extreme", I'd sell all my unwanted sneakers, video games and DVD's in $1 online auctions, I'd go to the gym everyday and seriously lose weight, I'd write everyday and work towards my book, I'd travel every opportunity I get, I'd talk to everybody I meet, I'd play basketball everyday, I'd work at McDonald's, I'd smoke pot and I'd become a Rastafari if they'd let me.

Come to think of it, nothing's stopping me to do all that now.

What would you do on a trip to "Daddy/Mommyland Extreme"?

Cadillac in Hong Kong

Manila Hostage Tribute Part 8 of 8: Half a Cadillac Escalade

This is a black Cadillac Escalade. A popular Sport Utility Vehicle in the States, made locally and not available in Hong Kong. They're quite common, especially among African Americans. I won't say it is an expensive car, but it's not cheap like a Kia or a Civic either. Probably on the higher rungs of a mid-priced car?

My point is, something that's common and quite popular elsewhere, may appear as a rare and unknown commodity in our city. If an Escalade rolled down Queen's Road or the East Corridor, we'd do a double-take.

I don't want to dismiss what happened in Manila to be something common elsewhere, but it's a symbol of how fortunate we are that hostage situations are NOT common in Hong Kong. We live in such a peaceful and harmonious (relatively) city that we take many things for granted, like a stellar telecommunication network, superb public transportation and no terrorists. Sure, our housing prices are through the roof, but at least we don't have to deal with these gaudy, over-sized gas guzzlers on the narrow streets of Mong Kok. Not to mention, Escalades are prime targets for drive-bys and grand theft auto. Two other issues that are anything but common in Hong Kong.

This brings an end to the tribute to the Manila hostage situation and I hope Hong Kong can move past this ordeal and, though it may be impossible to forget, find it in our hearts to at least forgive.

Peace!

Black Coffee

Manila Hostage Tribute Part 7 of 8: Half a cup of Black Coffee

Anybody who says they like black coffee is a pretentious bastard. It tastes bitter, sour and downright horrible. However, it does have the welcomed effect of waking us up with a rude jolt of nasty aftertaste.

Much like the situation that we as the people of Hong Kong have endured in Manila, we have been violently shaken conscious by the fact that we cannot take anything for granted. We may have the means to education, to wealth, to material things, to travel. But these things can be easily washed away by a large cup of black coffee...

Bad Luck?

Manila Tribute Part 6 of 8: Half a Black Cat

The black cat. An infamous symbol of bad luck. Can we simply blame bad luck for what happened to the victims of the Manila hostage situation? If you believe in superstition and bad luck, then sure, bad luck played a major role.

Can we simply blame the SWAT team's incompetence for the loss of lives? The corruption of the Filipino police? The madness of Mendoza? The lack of adequate equipment? The less than stellar relations between the President and the Police commander?

If you believe in everything the media reports, then sure, all of the above played their parts in the debacle.

Isn't it sad we never hear "good news" anymore?

With great power...

Manila Tribute Part 5 of 8: Half a Symbiotic Spiderman

Spidey in black, much like the symbiotic alien, oozed cool. But don't forget, he did get into a whirl of trouble with an attitude that was detrimental to his dating game, violent tendencies against his usual self and horrible, horrible dance moves.

Lucky for us, Spidey snapped out of it and returned to the friendly neighborhood red and blue.

So too, must our mourning eventually end, as we restore color to Hong Kong, the city of neon lights.

Hate, blame and anger may feel invigorating, but it cannot be allowed to last.

Dancing Darth?

Manila Hostage Tribute Part 4 of 8: Half a Darth

I know this picture looks like he's doing some sort of Step Up 3D dance move, but it's really because he's holding his red lightsaber in his right hand and I had to crop it to keep with the monochromatic theme.

So why is he symbolic tribute?

Easy! Darth Vader is only the most badass villain with a conscience! His son was a little wussy and all, yet he still sacrificed his own life to save Luke's.

That in and of itself should make any list that requires a lot of black.

Black Friday?

Manile Hostage Tribute 3 of 8: Half a pair of Black Friday Air Force 1's

Black Fridays usually meant Friday the 13th, a day believed to be of bad luck. Now, Black Fridays are associated with Thanksgiving sales, Christmas parties and inspiration for fashion and footwear, as depicted by this beautiful pair of Nike shoes. Though the Manila situation was not on a Friday, it still marked a black and sorrowful day for Hong Kong. Remember it we shall, but we must also triumph over this dark scar. I'm not saying we should start selling Giordano T-shirts that sat "SWAT: Philippines" or having appreciation sales at Sogo... At least not right away.

The people of Hong Kong will and shall prevail!

Analyse This

So I finally installed Google Analytics on this Blog, and I just got yesterday's results.

5 visits.

Yeah, 5.

FIVE.

And I visited my blog at least 4 times! I really wish I had this installed earlier so I can see which posts worked and which didn't But my gut feeling tells me that none of them really did... I have to get better at this. So much good content in here left unread...

Or is there?

I spent some time on SLATE and that is one awesome site for the most out-of-this-world articles such as the World's loneliest man and preventing female orgasms. Insightful, entertaining and humorous all at the same time!

I have to get better. I need focus. I was brewing new ideas for blogs and I came up with twice as many visits I got yesterday.

That's right, TEN different blog ideas.

I need more time to think... I shall save more brewing for tomorrow.

***

Manila Hostage Tribute 2 of 8: Half a Black Mamba T-Shirt

Carpe Diem. Or "Seize the Day". Kobe Bryant aka The Black Mamba's mantra. We too should take this opportunity to Carpe Diem and treasure each and every day because tomorrow is not a guarantee but a privilege.

Manila Hostage Tribute Part 1 of 8

The flags in Hong Kong will be flown at half-mast today in remembrance to those who perished in the Manila hostage situation. Websites across the region have donned black and white motifs as a sign of respect.

As a fitting tribute, Post-80's blog will adopt and combine both these symbolic gestures by changing to a black and white template and posting half a monochromatic symbol each day for the next 8 days: one for each death (including Mendoza).

Symbol #1: Half of Jay-Z's The Black Album

I'm just glad we got to see each other

Talk and re-meet each other, save a place in Heaven

Till the next time we meet forever

- Moment of Clarity

Rest easy for those with family left behind. Closure will be hard to come by, but I wish you all find it in your hearts to forgive and live your lives as the departed so dearly wish for you to live.

Hang in there, for you shall re-meet in Heaven.

Reaction to Hostage Situation in Manila

This is definitely a very sad day for the people of Hong Kong. We have only seen death and terrorism in other countries from afar but when it strikes so close to home, the reaction is one of confusion, surprise, anger and disbelief. Below are some comments I have seen on Facebook which illustrate the emotions going on in our over-populated city right now:

***

It's raining..... Must be sad for those victims. R.I.P.

‎:-( sadden... How can philippine police be this bad!

Still feeling extreme sad and mad.... speechless ...

Wish it is fake news

We should probably having army training in HK, esp for guys

For once, I am thankful for HK police

***

I still remember the morning of September 11. Seeing the twin towers go down on TV felt almost surreal. At the time I did not care to think about the victims or the motive... it just felt so far away on the East coast while I was just waking up on the West. I didn't really feel the impact until I visited the actual site a few years later. I felt a profound sense of sadness and futility.

There was absolutely no way of stopping it. No way of reversing what has already happened. No one we can put the blame on.

At least that is my belief.

Thus, I have a theory. Every now and then, some people will just have to die. It's like an unwritten quota like those traffic police who have to issue however many parking tickets each month. If you subscribe to this theory, then all we can do is be thankful that it weren't us, pay our respects for the victims sacrifice and live our lives to the fullest.

Each and every single day.

As for the victims, there is nothing anybody can do to bring them back. All we can do is wish that their family members will find the closure that they need to live their lives to the fullest.

Each and every single day.

I hope for the people of Hong Kong to keep your hate and anger in check; for the religious to send your prayers to the victims and their family; for the Filipino SWAT team (who're going to get/already getting a ton of heat) to accept my gratitude for saving the people that you have, cos' I know squat about SWAT other than Rainbow Six video games; for the Filipino's in Hong Kong to continue working for us and not leave because we're all mad from being really emotional right now. Y'all are good people and great helpers even if it means we lose access to Central on Sundays.

Peace to all and please like this if you're on Facebook.

Yet More Drabbles!

Drabbles are stories with exactly 100 words. The challenge is to fit all the necessary parts of a story into such a limited number of words! Check this one out:

***

Arthur Bench was a hardworking carpenter. From dusk till dawn, he saw to put supper on the table. Every Sunday he would come to pray at that very spot. As a bored lad he sat there, carving pictures into the wood. As a nervous groom he stood there, waiting for his bride. As a proud father he wept there, witnessing his child's baptism. Thus, it is almost of divine satire that a cupboard would fall through the roof of this church and land on that very spot. To commemorate his unfortunate demise, the replacement pew will be named "A Bench".

***

Dance Battle: 2 The Streets vs 3D

I just watched Step Up 3D and here're a battle between it and the previous installment.

THE TITLE

2 The Streets vs 3D

Both titles are corny plays on the sequel number. The second installment disguised "to" as "2" to convey the transition from the walled establishments of MSA "2" the Streets. This is alot morel, simply appending the letter "D" to the end of "3". Yes, the movie is in 3D, but that's too obvious. Step Up 2 wins for 3's sheer lack of creative effort.

Advantage: Step Up 2

LEAD CHARACTERS

Chase (Robert Hoffman) vs Luke (Rick Malambri)

More commonly known as the "dudes" in the movie, I didn't really pay much attention to this battle. I felt they were interchangeable in terms of actors, but I'm going to give the nod to Luke because his stakes were way higher and looked less like a member of the Backstreet Boys.

Advantage: Luke @ Step Up 3D

Moose vs Moose 3D (Adam Sevani)

The only returning character is Moose played by Sevani, who is adorable as ever and even a better dancer. He was able to showcase more of his repertoire and his rendition of "Singing in the Rain" was both refreshing and classical.

Advantage: Moose 3D

Andie (Briana Evignon) vs. Natalie (Sharni Vinson)

Despite both dancers showing quite a bit of boobage by way of push-up sport bras, Andie runs away with this one. She's prettier, younger (by 3 years) and sassier than her counterpart. Dance-wise, Natalie takes it, but she's just too far behind in the other aspects to catch up.

Advantage: Andie @ Step Up 2 by at least 20 miles

CAMEO APPEARANCE

Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) vs The Asian Girl (Mari Koda)

The Asian girl provided one moment of comic relief with her trademark "I don't have accent", but she was from Step Up 2 to begin with. Channing Tatum appearing in Step Up 2 and actually battling Andie still rocks as the overgrown vanilla gorilla who can dance.

Advantage: Channing Tatum @ Step Up 2

OTHER

Final Dance Scene vs Final Dance Scene 3D

Light-up clothing is cool, but that just reminds me of LA Gear and children wear. Not exactly the most bad-ass gimmick for a dance battle. In Step Up 2, the soundtrack to the final battle scene was a lot more powerful and the fact that it was done outdoors in the rain really amped up its epic-ness. I don't even remember the beat to 3D's final scene.

Advantage: Step Up 2

Jon Chu vs Jon Chu 3D

Chu really packed in a lot more dance scenes in 3D. I guess he had no choice considering the lackluster storyline and less than capable actors he was working with. There were some new talents in 3D, but they weren't as jaw-dropping or awe-inspiring as 2 the Streets (except for Robot Man... that dude is off the hook!). Also, it seemed like the 3D technology forced some questionable shot-selection in the film. It didn't look as natural or explosive.

Advantage: Step Up 2

FINAL VERDICT

Although it looks like Step Up 2 is the runaway winner (and it is), that's not to say that 3D was bad. It wasn't as good, but it was still enjoyable. Just don't go see it for the story; see it to feel a rhythm in your heart and feast upon the beauty and seemingly impossible movements of the human body.

A word to film-makers not named Cameron, just drop the 3D glasses thing. It's cramping some of y'all's styles!

WINNER: Step Up 2 The Streets

What is Euro Tart?

Euro tart [yoo r-oh tahrt]

-noun

1. a topless pie containing fruit from Europe

2. a covered pie containing fruit from Europe

3. Slang . a prostitute or promiscuous woman from Europe

4. Slang . a sexually ambiguous man from Europe

5. Slang . a plain frozen yogurt

After the infiltration and success of bubble-tea, Gong-cha and other non-alcoholic liquid concoctions from Taiwan, fries from New York and Ireland, gelato from Italy, doughnuts and cupcakes from America (both of which have already or are bound to fail), Euro Tart is like the next big thing right now in Hong Kong.

As if we don't have enough prostitutes and gays already!

Seriously though, I believe we do need more food in the famished streets of Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. People are absolutely starving from the siu mais, curry fishballs, beef innards, sausages, fried chicken thighs and stinky tofu. Not to mention the limited selection of desserts like peanut butter waffles, mango sagos, shaved ice (also from Taiwan) and germ-infested ice cream cones are really starting to annoy the people of Hong Kong.

And it's not the watery, non-fat, has-it-gone-bad-tasting yogurt we're used to either! Trust me, Euro Tart is here to stay. I've tried it, and it's freaking amazing!

The filth that came out of that woman's mouth and ditto the man put in his...

Yum!

Picture taken by the one who introduced me to it, PimpMamaT.

More Drabbles...

I wrote two versions of this drabble. Which do you like more?

***

Version 1:

I am green like the eyes of my painter. I can be a leaf or grasshopper, but never a stop sign.

I am red like the hair on my painter. I have been spilled on battlefields and forged in fire. Never will you find me blue, for I am passion personified.

I am blue like the mood of my painter. I am the sky, the sea and a berry. Humor me not for I am sad by nature.

I am your painter. Mix thyself into white to cover these errors I have made in black ballpoint on this loan application.

***

Version 2:

I am green and I serve thee. I can be a leaf or grasshopper, but never a stop sign. Master, what do you bid of me?

I am red and I serve thee. I have been bled on battlefields and forged in fire but never will I feel blue. Master, what do you bid of me?

I am blue and I serve thee. I am the sky, the sea and a mood. Humor me not master, what do you bid of me?

I am your master and I bid thee mix with flit. For without light, I can't see shit.

***

Again, drabbles must be exactly 100 words. Here's an extra credit question: One of the above versions is actually WRONG. Can you tell which one and why?

Hardons for Cartoons

I realized very early on in life that I will become a sucker for the ladies. Growing up, I loved cartoons. Particularly ones that gave me hard-ons that hurt from pre-circumcision. Guys, don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about here. See if remember these childhood hotties:

Janine Melnitz, Ghostbusters

Receptionist of the Ghostbusters and love interest for Egon planted the early seeds of deception that even geeks can get the girl. The tight office wear and horny glasses (pun very much intended) were a real turn-on even at age 5.

Arcee from Transformers:

Arguably the hardest nipples you would ever find since Arcee is made of metal. Notice the pink near beneath the Autobot sign? It is purposely curved upwards to suggest the presence of robotic bosoms.

She-Ra, She-Ra: Princess of Power

The first blonde on the list, but more importantly, the first to show cleavage. See that line that runs for about 4mm from her chest-plate? Boom, boobage! Look at how she's stroking that sword. Reeeaaooorrrr...

Barbie

Ok, Barbie is technically not a cartoon, but if your 5 year old boy ever came across one of these dolls and did not peel those bathing suits down to discover (to his horror) a pair of nipple-less plastic boobs, you be worried! Also, if your boy drew down enough of the bathing suit to inspect Barbie's smooth crotch, you need to sit him down and tell him the truth!

Jessica Rabbit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

I remember a classmate from kindergarten whose name was Jessica. She was mixed race and I thought she was really cute. Then my parents took me to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit. From then on, I associated the name Jessica with gorgeousness. So far, I have yet to be disappointed because since then, the only other Jessica I have come across with was of the Simpson family.

April O'Neil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Somebody must have been high on coke and meth to have come up with this cartoon. Luckily for us, the designated driver was sane enough to blackmail those crackheads with pictures of them in a male 4-way to create this sassy reporter. Tight-fitting banana yellow jumpsuit with the first 18 buttons undone. I'd like to see Katie Couric don this on 60 minutes. Wait, did I say Katie Couric? Sorry, I meant Barbara Walters. On The View.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon

Do not believe the man who tells you they think guys who watch Sailor Moon are gay. Look, we are not proud of it and we don't like admitting it, but we are anything but gay. Did you notice that Sailor Moon is practically butt naked during her transformation sequence? Straight guys know what I'm talking about.

Betty and Veronica

When I first discovered Betty and Veronica, for me it was like pornography! They always had on bikinis, low-cut bare-back prom dresses and the skankiest clothing. I remember one issue where Betty had on clear heals and fishnets while Veronica gave Archie a... Oh wait, no. That was... that was something else. Where's my totem?

Wonder Woman/Lynda Carter

Ah there it is! I just felt my totem! I mean FOUND! Found my totem... The thing that tells you you're not dreaming in Inception. Anyways, Wonder Woman is hot. Lynda Carter is a legend. And I would love to be bounded by her lasso.