My Life, My Rants

Never too early for kung-fu

2009-08-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

Now what?

2009-06-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

So it's been a year and a half since my last blog entry. Since then, N has proven to be quite the challenge and left me often tired and behind in my work. Today I have a few extra minutes to do an entry and reevaluate what I'm ranting about these days.

Some of my future topics may or may not include:

1) People at airports
2) Young geeks who think they invented the concept of geek
3) Genius Bar: More Genius or more bar?
4) Chinese or Japanese?

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T02:29:00.000-08:00

A short Merry Christmas to all of you this fine day. Hope you all get what you asked Santa for and a little more. On behalf of myself and my family, Merry Christmas.

Thank you everyone!!

2007-12-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

On behalf of the wife and I thank you to everyone for your congratulations and warm wishes for our new addition to the family. It has been an interesting 5 days to say the least. How do I know this is my kid? He smiles mischieviously right before he farts and tries to look shocked like Don Knotts in Three's Company right after he lays the big one.

Speaking of smiles, here's an early Christmas present for all of you who supported us during our pregnancy.

http://atasteforthetheatrical.com/deathtrap/default.htm

A quick teaser trailer

2007-12-06T23:57:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post today. Saw this on a Japan blog. Did anyone else watch this as a kid?

Apprehension of a New Father

2007-12-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

So we had a close call today. My wife woke up at 6:30 this morning to tell me "Honey I wet myself last night and it might have been my water breaking!". After going through the normal steps that we were taught at birthing class we proceeded to the hospital to get checked out in case she really was about to go into labor.

After a frustrating car ride to the hospital where I couldn't get into the fastest lane if I was the only car on the road, we checked in and everyone was very helpful and encouraging. To our bittersweet relief, my wife was just having early contractions but not enough to warrant being admitted for labor. The rest of the day consisted of both of us going back to work and getting back to our regular routine.

This led me to thinking about my preparedness to become a father. I know that everyone says that it an on the job training kind of thing but I still want to do my best like any other new father. Here are some of my concerns:

1) My kid will turn out to be a grouchy, mysoginistic, misanthrope who finds pleasure in watching tazer videos on YouTube.

2) I sleep through the entire night and wake to find my kid up to his neck in his own poop.

3) He'll have my head and my wife's hands

4) That one of the first words I teach him will be one of the seven words you can't say on television

5) That I won't live long enough to see him have his own kid as I wish my father was for mine.

6) That the "sex talk" will be as uncomfortable as I imagine it to be.

7) That he becomes the typical "only child" and create an enlarged sense of entitlement.

With that being said, I look forward to this new chapter in my life. I hate that everyone I meet tells me that my life will change when he comes around, because this seems to be rather obvious to me. It's like saying "Hey if you put your hand in that vat of hydrochloric acid, it might sting a little!" It would be nice if people understand that it'll be a personal experience for me and to let me discover the joys and tribulations myself. Do I spoil their fun and tell them that snorting wasabi hurts like no one's business? I most certainly do not!

Well enough of my rant for now. I'll try to be more diligent on this blog as my friend "T" is showing me up on his. As a parting shot, I leave you this one pager of a certain movie coming out in 2008. Later bitches!

A site to challenge crunchyroll.com

2007-11-16T00:53:00.001-08:00

If you are a fan of Japanese dramas, you have to check this site out. If you are familiar with crunchyroll.com, it's like that only with a higher quality video and no fee to subscribe. The website is www.tokyoworld.net. Click the link and check it out! Have fun.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1184614673/bclid1203031002/bctid1283850049

George Romero's new subject matter

2007-10-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

So there's this slang word in Japanese, "obattarion" (oh-bah-tah-lee-on). This essentially means a large group of old women congregating to one area, usually a sale, or a great early bird special at the local Royal Host.

In my line of work I have to battle the obattarion every workday between 10am and 12pm. This is the key time after morning rush hour when all the financially wealthy or retired women come out in their respective Volvos, Mercedes, and Lexus SUVs to head to the mall or whereever they are going. What I've noticed is that the level of driving drops significantly to a level where I have to put my defensive driving skill to the ultimate test.

These are women who will drive 40mph on the left lane of the freeway but 80mph in the parking lot at Ala Moana to beat you to the last covered parking spot in the mall. And of course, they all have to reverse into their spot using their panted 15 point turn using only their rear end mirror the size of a mini-compact mirror.

So for those of you who dare to brave the wild outdoors Monday to Friday, be aware of the deadly obattarions during their feeding hours of the late mornings.

You have been warned!

Can this bird dance better than you?

2007-10-19T16:29:00.001-07:00

Yes, I have nothing better to do than search on Youtube. Still, this bird is pretty funny. God, I'm so sad!

Demonstrators protest alleged slur at H&M - City

2007-10-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

Demonstrators protest alleged slur at H&M - City

Krispy Kreme opened in Tokyo

2007-09-24T03:37:00.001-07:00

This is for my friend Knai-X who doesn't see the interest in Krispy Kreme. Those damn Nihonjin! I think this is right outside Shinjuku station neighboring Takashimaya Dept Store

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: After Hours #2

2007-09-21T01:41:00.001-07:00

Here is part 2. There are 6 parts in all so far. Go to his website on youtube.com to see the rest

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: After Hours

2007-09-21T01:40:00.001-07:00

Don't know if everyone knows about this online series. It is so simple, it's genius.

Title IX has got nothing on this...

2007-09-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

Check this shit out! This one falls pretty close to my sensitive area. Double word score for the person in the picture being the archetype of my friend Knai-X.

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=87297&paper=62&cat=104

My First Foray into Making Tamagoyaki

2007-09-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

So I have this tamagoyaki pan that I bought in San Francisco a few months ago but haven't had to chance to use it. I realized that I had a dozen eggs that I recently bought to make cookies but as I haven't had the insipration to make the cookies (since they are for my wife's working place) I decided to make some tamagoyaki.

For those of you who don't know, tamagoyaki is literally translated to mean "egg fry" or fried eggs for our Midwest friends. Now this may sound easy but if you've ever eaten eggs at a sushi restaurant, you'll notice that it is eggs rolled into many layers to create a rolled crepe effect that is slightly sweet and savory.

My first attempt the other night sucked. It pretty much looked liked scrambled eggs. Today, however, I came one step closer to the real thing. I think I got the technique down but I don't have the taste right. I definitely need to add some dashi (fish broth) and some sugar (sucrose) to the mix.

When I have the technique down, I'll post a picture of my results. In the meantime, just know that while the eggs are good, they make my wife sick because of the smell. Ah, everyone's a critic.

Til later, be safe but be yourself.

Hilliard Davidson vs. Hilliard Darby Prank

2007-09-01T02:40:00.001-07:00

Check this out, this is really fun. I wish I had thought of this back in high school. Unfortunately, the student who coordinated this got suspended for the rest of the year.

When your wife has a bad day

2007-09-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

So my wife had a really bad day today. When I say bad I mean semi-Greek tragedy bad.

So bad that the usual pick me ups won't work on this one. Chocolate? Nope. Ice Cream? What, you want to me to get fat? Flowers? What's the right flowers for a shitty day again? Shopping? Uh, hello, I'm pregnant and everything I want to wear is for my old body which seems like it never existed before this.

This is one of those days when you defer to the heavens and let her make her decision and just support whatever it is will make her feel better no matter how bizarre it may be. So what did she come up with? We're are currently 20minutes into watching "Prince and Me 2". You heard me, not even benefit of Julia Stiles in this one which was the only saving grace of the first movie. But hey, it makes her feel better.

As a guy, our first instinct is to solve her problems or do some sort of physical aggression towards the root of her problem. Fortunately for me, I usually have a decent guess at what my wife needs and besides, I'm way to lazy to do something physical, aggressive or not.

Not too much of a rant today but it's not about me today. It's about trying to make my home a happy one again and enjoy the well deserved 3 day weekend.

Be happy but be yourself

The grossest thing I've ever seen!

2007-08-31T03:18:00.001-07:00

Something to keep you entertained til the next post.

My first rant

2007-08-31T02:51:00.000-07:00

So I first intended this blog to be about the food culture that I experience throughout my life wanderings. I mean, I have this job where I'm allowed to expense food a few times a week which allows me the opportunity to sample some really interesting cuisine.

However, as I've taken way too long to start this blog offically my thoughts have become much more broad and the theme much more vague in my head. I've come to realize that other than my love for food, I have a couple of other passions that run my life.

Number one is my beautiful wife who is carrying my soon to be first son! My wife provides me with hours of great comedic material which helps me get through the hard times. Keep in mind that my wife is no comedian, but she somehow finds herself involved in situations that can only be described as comedic. Watching her is like watching a 21st century Dick Van Dyke Show, pratfalls and all.

Number two is travelling. I love to travel at least once a year to a foreign country if not to somewhere I've never been on the continental US. Although, now that I'm married I find myself travelling to where there is family or really good food. If I'm lucky, I get to have both. My first choice every year is Japan (namely Tokyo). I love the culture, the food, the efficiency, and the fanboy culture. A good friend of mine doesn't get this part of me as he is a xenophobe by definition and doesn't get anyone who is himself or....well, just himself.

Lastly, I love to rant and complain about the world around me. My coworkers say that I tend to pick up on trivial behaviors and make it bigger than it is. I often feel like I work in a real life version of Office Space and I am only successful when I purposely try to not try. It's when I really try to put forth my best effort that I often get criticized for being too "out of the box".

So what can you expect from this blog? Well, I really don't know myself. As I get the hang of this new method of communicating to the undefined cyberspace, I'll come to a sort of rhythm and the theme will develop itself like a living organism.

Until then, I hope you enjoy my entries and feel free to join me on my roller coaster of rants, riffs, and reviews of my life, my rants.

Til then, be safe but always be yourself.