A small peek into the madness of Myong's mind. Only a small peek cuz I don't want to reveal how truly insane and disturbing my mind is.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
To Haka or Not To Haka?
Shame, shame, shame...Davonne Bess!
The University of Hawaii football team will be making a change to their haka that they peform every week both pre-game and post-game. Apparently, a professor at the University was concerned that it would be violating a copyright because the dance is performed by New Zealand's rugby team, the All Blacks.Personally, I really wouldn't care if they got rid of it totally. I know a lot of people are fans of the dance and enter the stadium early and/or stay after the game's over just to watch the haka. I've seen it lots of times and I really don't find it all that inspiring. To be honest, it's boring and I can see how other teams would be bothered by it with its borderline offensive gestures such as the "up yours" move and the throat slashes. These kinds of gestures would be flagged for penalties if they occurred during the game. Especially the one WR Davonne Bess is showing in the above picture (yes, I know it's not part of the haka, but still classless nonetheless and inexcusable). I don't know why we do it in the first place. The dance has no connection to Hawaii!
Anyways, I know I'm in the minority on this. So for the UH football team, change it, keep it, lose it, it doesn't really matter to me. What do y'all think?
Did y'all feel that earthquake this morning? I was at my comp at around 9:20am this morning when I felt the ground beneath me shaking a bit for like 3 seconds. My first thought was "Another earthquake!" but then I was all like "Nah, no can be again!" Next thing I see on the TV, there really was a quake on the Big Island, but only a 5.0 magnitude this time.
So far, I haven't heard of any power outages so we're really lucky. Imagine if we had an outage like we did last month today! On Thanksgiving! That would've been disaster.
One of the first bands I ever was a fan of was the rock band Heart. This band out of Seattle featured two sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson and they were backed up by a great band.
Anyways, I was watching TV late at night the other day and I happened to come across a Heart concert in Seattle being shown on one of the HD channels. But I was too tired to watch so I DVR'ed it and finally got around to watching it today. Man, these girls still rock! This band has been around from the 60s and 70s but I didn't know about them till they went mainstream in the 80s with hits like Alone and What About Love. In the 45 minutes of the concert I was able to record I didn't hear any of these songs but was lucky enough to catch their older classics Magic Man and Barracuda. I thought this was a new concert but found out that it was a concert for DVD filmed in 2003.
And I gotta add, Nancy Wilson still looks great! I had a crush on her when I was a kid and she's still sexy, even in her 50s. Something about a woman jamming on a guitar is really hot. She rocks! Movie director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire), her husband, is one lucky guy!
- The Cho Brothers are out of The Amazing Race and I'm not upset at all. Their behavior on the race while admirable, was just not suited to being in a race for $1 million. I mean, there's a difference between doing the right thing and doing the smart thing. I can't believe they waited for Alabama and Kentucky at every moment. These guys really disappointed me especially because they had the potential to be a strong team had they been independent. Yeah, they had to overcome the fear of heights thing, but they did it pretty easily and they were pretty smart throughout the race despite carrying the excess baggage of two weaker teams.
So when they finished last this leg, I felt no pity for them whatsoever and even was a little disgusted when Godwin (or was it Erwin?) broke down and bawled in front of Phil. Come on man! Suck it up! Don't cry on national TV! Ugh. At least there's still Yul and Becky on Survivor to give me hope.
- Why are the Chicago Bulls on TV so often? I think they've been on either ESPN or TNT at least 3 times this season? They are a team with no notable players (although I do like Kirk Hinrich) and they are all jump shooters which does not provide much entertainment. Come on, TV! Michael Jordan's not there anymore! How about showing some lesser known teams with up and coming stars like New Orleans and Toronto? Of course, I have Chris Paul and Chris Bosh on my fantasy teams so I'm biased.
But no more Chicago Bulls!
- Kim Yu Na is a figure skating champion! The 16 year old from Korea beat out Japan's Miki Ando and USA's Kimmie Meissner to capture her first senior title. Congratulations!
- Another bad football weekend. My fanstasy football team failed to score 100 points in my main league giving me a loss (and a $5 penalty) and leaving me on the cusp of the playoffs while I left WR Lee Evans (11 catches, 260 yards, 2 TDs) on my bench in my other league. Even worse (way worse), I went a combined 1-12 on college football and NFL on Saturday and Sunday. That is just ridiculously bad. It's a good thing it was for amusement only! Now excuse me while I go cry in a corner....
- I just found out that I have been voted to be on the Board of Directors for the Hawaii Korean Chamber of Commerce. Funny...I didn't even know I was a member, let alone up for a nomination! Oh well, I guess that's good news and I now plan to be active on that front. I guess I better start attending their meetings!
I know, I know. Election Day was last week and I'm late on this but I just got around to watching this youtube link sent by a friend. I think it nicely sums up the W Presidency.
What do you think of this photo? Sexy? Hot? Well, cool your jets men cuz to quote Austin Powers..."That's a man, baby!" Yep, that photo is of Korean singer Harisu who was born a male but is now a transgender. According to this Chosun Ilbo article, she will be marrying her boyfriend early next year. Hmm...reminds me of some hypothetical "Would you...?" discussions I had after visiting Asia SF when I went to San Francisco in September.
I actually have no problem whatsoever with the whole transgender thing but Harisu in general really bugs me. Seeing her on variety and talk shows, she's quite annoying. She's a camera hog and does whatever she can to get the spotlight including overshadowing others by breaking into dance or song at random moments. Bleah.
After Louisville's loss at Rutgers on Thursday, a whole bunch of 1 loss teams were brought back into the national championship BCS game picture, including the Cal Golden Bears. But they let that opportunity go to waste when they lost to Arizona 24-20. I only watched the first half of the game but I was already getting nervous as the Arizona defense seemed to be confusing QB Nate Longshore.
Were the Bears looking ahead to USC this week? Perhaps. Still, that's no excuse. If the Bears had run the table and beat USC, they would've had a decent shot at the title BCS game, especially since Auburn and Texas also lost too.
Oh well...we can still salvage the season by beating USC this week and taking the Pac-10 championship (beating Stanfurd in the Big Game is a given). So we can still make a BCS Bowl, just not the main one.
On a side note....I went to the UH Football game this past weekend and noticed that a high school girl sitting with her parents in the row in front of me had a Stanfurd brochure in her hands. I was tempted to tap her on the shoulder and tell her about the glory of Berkeley but held back. Hope she makes the right choice!
EDIT: Here's another trailer with incomplete effects...but you get to see Venom at the end of it! Cool!
Hmm...why do I get this awful feeling that the shot of Venom showed in that YouTube video is gonna be the last shot of Spidey-3 and a cliffhanger for Spidey-4? I really hope not...
EDIT #2: Well, it looks like Sony Pictures is telling everyone not to show this footage so the video's been taken down. Sorry!
Man, I knew that mechanics had a bad rep for trying to rip people off, but this is just going overboard. I'm shocked, but then again, not really. Amazing....
I had the pleasure of attending the Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre's Fundraiser Dinner Party this past weekend (Thanks, Evil Bunny!). It was the first time for me and I didn't really know what to expect but I had a great time!
The theme for the party was Where the Wild Things Are. In addition, each table had its own theme within a theme and our table's theme was Barbarella's Boudoir of Basic Animal Instinct. Basically, the dancers in the dance company dress up in costume and interact and mingle with the guests. Guests are also welcome to dress up to either the theme of the party or their individual tables. Always one to enjoy each opportunity to its fullest, I decided to dress up. I'd say that about 1 third of the guests dressed up in costume for the party. Some people on our table dressed accordingly to the "boudoir" theme and came wearing bedroom attire. I decided to dress to the Where the Wild Things Are party theme, but took a "thinking outside of the box" approach. Honestly, my idea for my costume was thought of in about 15 minutes, 2 days before the party. Not a whole lotta thinking went into it!
So anyways, I decided to dress up as Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn from the movie Major League. I know, I'm kind of weird. As you can see, I got the Indians jersey, the cap, and even wore a glove! I didn't go so far as to buzz my hair to Charlie Sheen's style, but I did wear the black framed glasses. I guess I was the cleaned up Ricky Vaughn version from Major League II! I'm pretty sure that most people at the party didn't "get" my concept and were probably wondering "Why is that big guy dressed like a baseball player?" I even got asked "Are you an Indians fan?" more than once and one dude even asked me how I felt about so-and-so being traded away from the team. I was like..."I don't even like baseball. Sorry, dude. I have no idea who you're talking about." But I did get one acknowleding look from this one guy I made eye contact with across the room. He saw me, and gave me that nod like he was silently saying "I get ya buddy! Good job!" That made my night!
Anyways, enough about me. Let's talk about the party...
The party was held on the lawn of the Hawaii State Art Museum on Richards and Hotel Street.You know...I never even knew this place existed! But it was a very nice looking building and I even got to check out some of the displays upstairs when I went to the bathroom.
The silent auction started at 6:30pm in the building's lobby. There were some cool stuff on sale like pieces of art (ceramic pigs, elephants, King Tut headpiece, etc.), HIFF memberships, restaurant gift certificates, sunglasses, handbags, and other interesting items. I bid on a "Comprehensive Golf Performance Enhancement Evaluation" from Body Balance for Performance Hawaii, Inc. It includes a full orthopedic physical evaluation and a video golf swing analysis. With my swing, I need all the help I can get! The bid item also came with 2 bottles of premium sake. So I put in my bid ($150 for a $300 value) and went to dinner.
When all of the guests were were seated, the dancers began their show. They came out one by one, dressed up in various animal type costumes. Here's a video clip of their intro:
There was one dancer assigned to each table and this was our dancer (a sheep). She was actually pregnant and had the words "New Ewe" written on her belly:But the dancers went from table to table, doing various weird things with the guests. The dancers were not allowed to talk so all of their interaction was through physical actions. There was a squirrel lady who went around handing out walnuts and was carrying a hammer. The cat lady would go around with a bowl of milk and make people drink from it. Random dancers would come up behind you and massage your neck. Another one went around shooting a water gun at people. It was all pretty random and that's what made it interesting cuz you never knew what to expect.
A few more random pics of the ongoings...This dancer was my favorite. I think she was supposed to be a lion.Jungle Boys were around to fan the guests (it was really hot!) There was also a cage where you could pay $20 to have the animal dancers drag someone into the cage to get "attacked" by the animals. I paid to have Evil Bunny taken to the cage but somehow I got dragged in there first! But I'm proud to say I broke the cage's cherry cuz I was the first one in there for the night.
There was also a Petting Zoo area but when I went to check it out, it was a guy in a thong sitting in a wading pool, giving ladies foot massages. I didn't stick around to watch...I always provide food pics, so here's a pic of our dinner. I think it was kampachi provided by Indigo restaurant. There was also unlimited red and white wine available.After dinner, people got up to dance. Then I found out that I had won the golf swing analysis package I had bid on. I guess no one out bid me! Sweet!
Overall, it was a very fun and interesting night. Thanks again to Evil Bunny for the invite!
Nice article in the Contra Costa Times about how 3 players for the Cal football team from Hawaii are adjusting to living in California. They're trying to adapt to the driving styles and they miss cake noodles, meat jun, and Mitsuken's garlic chicken.
Check out this presentation on a touch-driven computer screen by research scientist Jeff Han. Some really cool stuff! You can use your fingertips to manage your work interface and it even responds to your body heat! I can't wait till this goes mainstream. You'll be able to say goodbye to the mouse and keyboard I think. Wayne's World probably already knew about this and has one at home in his secret lair.
Man, these are the kind of guys that turn out to be gazillionaires. I'm in the wrong field!
Who else is gonna get Gymkata? This is pure 80s cheesy action fun! I can't say I loved this movie, but I also can't say that I wasn't entertained by it either.
"The skill of gymnastics, the kill of karate" - You gotta love that tag line! For those who don't know, the movie stars US Olympic gymnastics champion Kurt Thomas and he has to compete in a "game" in a made up European country in order for the US to do some political maneuvering. The "game" consists of a race where contestants must fight various opponents as well as their fellow competitors in order to advance. Kurt Thomas, being a gymnastics guy, of course incorporates his gymnastic skills to invent....gymkata! How can you not love that?
That also reminds me of another US Olympic gymnast movie called American Anthem starring Mitch Gaylord and Mrs. Wayne Gretzky Janet Jones. This movie is pure 80s cheese as well, with the underdog "rebel" hero with the loser dad and the "woe is me" life story who pulls it all together at the end to succeed, also while bagging the babe. I remember my sister and I watching this movie all the time on HBO.
So my HDMI cable finally arrived from Amazon yesterday and I promptly hooked it up from my cable box to my TV. I wasn't expecting a world of difference like I did when I first laid my eyes on the beauty that is HD, but from what I had read, I was at least anticipating a noticable difference.
So I disconnect my current connection (component cables) and hooked up the HDMI. I turn on the HD channels....nothing. I can't tell a damn difference. Can any of the experts out there what difference I'm supposed to be noticing? Everything I read says that HDMI is the optimal connection and is better than component cables, yet I can't tell.
I didn't go for the "name" HDMI cuz those cost around $100 but went for a cheaper $36 alternative. But then again, I read that it doesn't really matter unless you're using it for a long run. My run is only a matter of a few feet.
Well, since it's hooked up with HDMI, I'll just leave it like how it is with the new connection but I really wish I would've seen at least a little better picture. Don't get me wrong, the picture is fabulous, but I just thought that the upgrade would produce visible results.
Shame, shame, shame...Davonne Bess!
Personally, I really wouldn't care if they got rid of it totally. I know a lot of people are fans of the dance and enter the stadium early and/or stay after the game's over just to watch the haka. I've seen it lots of times and I really don't find it all that inspiring. To be honest, it's boring and I can see how other teams would be bothered by it with its borderline offensive gestures such as the "up yours" move and the throat slashes. These kinds of gestures would be flagged for penalties if they occurred during the game. Especially the one WR Davonne Bess is showing in the above picture (yes, I know it's not part of the haka, but still classless nonetheless and inexcusable). I don't know why we do it in the first place. The dance has no connection to Hawaii!
