It's September Already... Gremlins II: The New Batch
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I can't believe its September 4th already. I've already been in Seattle for one entire week now.

So I was watching "Gremlins II: The New Batch" on DVD. And I noticed a lot of interesting things: one, Leonard Maltin is in the movie! Good ole' Lenny. He was my professor in Cinema 466. And not only that, but his hair was still with color and not all white. How much I would have wished to ask him a question about the movie! Also, something tells me that the movie was done by a Trojan alum, because in one of the scenes towards the end, you see a Gremlin holding a bear on a noose. Go Trojans, I guess...

Pretentious Movies...
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Today I went to see Steven Soderberg's latest movie, "Full Frontal". The movie was one of those experimental types. Supposedly an "unofficial" sequel to his 80's arthouse "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" which I actually enjoyed a lot. I did not, however like Erin Brokovich or Traffic, so I don't know. Ocean's Eleven was great, but it was more the script and the subject matter that was great. Once again, Soderberg used the same weird lighting, and this time he used a lot of camcorder looking shots. The grossest parts of the movie involved David Duchovny. Really gross... think a bad erection during a massage combined with the lead singer of INXS... yes, that's right, autoerotic asphyxiation.

I did enjoy the blending of the story with the movie-making details. And it showed Julia Roberts to be a real bitch, who some say is what she's like in real life. But like the stupid split screen movie, Time something or other a few years ago, it tried to be TOO artsy, and then it just became TO-like pretentiousness. I bet CNTV students will love this one... blah... I guess there has to be something for everyone... he does make some good dialogue... its good writing, just don't know if I'd want to watch it over and over again.

Call me Crazy...
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Despite Sophia Coppola being a weakness, I think I actually like Godfather III more than I liked Godfather II. Actually, correction, I love the story line about Vito's youth and his rising to become Don, but I don't like the whole Hyman Roth storyline. It makes Michael seem way to evil. Vito was a cool ruthless, he did what was necessary. Michael on the otherhand becomes a cold-hearted person, unlike the cool Don that he was in the end of the first. I guess the second part in a trilogy always has to be dark.

Another thing I noticed, in both I and II, there are two Jewish antagonists - Moe Green and Hyman Roth. Was Puzo an anti-semite? Who knows? No use trampling a man's grave, but you gotta wonder.

Also, college football season began this weekend. While sadly, the Bulldogs lost to Wisconsin, the Iowa State-FSU game came down to the very last play. The cyclones were within inches of tying the game, being down by 7. But Seneca Williams' option run was stuffed just short of the goalline. Great way for the season to start! I can't wait for Sept. 2. Go Trojans!

The Greatest Movie of All Time, Some Movie Quotes
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I have decided tonight, that even though I am a HUGE fan of sappy romantic movies, the greatest movie of all time is still the Godfather. From the decline of Vito to the rise of Michael, the movie is simply amazing. Filled with so many quotes, the music is memorable. And the baptism scene. In my books, that is the best sequence in the history of film-making. As Michael is taking the sacred vows to become godfather to his nephew, he (and his henchmen) are carrying out plans of violence, murder, for what? vengeance and greed. And he lies to Kay's face... as the door slowly closes... and the new Don rises up. Amazing... tomorrow I'll watch Part II.

Women and Children can be careless, but not men... Take the cannoli, leave the gun... Go to the mattress...(sadly, I know the last two because of You've Got Mail *sigh*

Another great movie with amazing quotes - Rounders... And the Sports Guy wrote a great article once about Rounders. You don't get a better performance than Mr. Malkovich describing how he'd like to "stick it in you" in a fake Russian accent wearing a red Adidas jacket.

Mosquitoes Part Deux and the Daring Vixen
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So tonight as I was trying to sleep, my mortal enemy bit me on the bottom of my foot AGAIN. ARGH... If only it weren't so damn hot, I'd wear socks to bed. Nothing more unnerving then having a itchy foot...

One of my orientees was talking to me tonight. One of the three that have actually kept in touch. She actually really surprised me with how much she knows about art. Quite cultured actually. At first glance, I just thought she was one of those really attractive, yet vapid blondes on our USC campus. And one of the OA's has taken upon himself to hit on her. Quite funny, actually, to hear both sides of the story. And she wants to be an RA too... anyhoo, its late...

On Damn Mosquitoes
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So what in the hell am I doing up at 5 am? Blasted mosquito kept me up, biting me on the arm, leg, back, and the BOTTOM OF MY FOOT for crying out loud. Brutal savage, have you no decency or mercy. Now it itches just to walk. If I could wipe out one species off the face of this earth, it'd be my mortal enemy, the damn mosquito. From Taiwan to star-gazing, the damn insects just won't leave me alone. And did you know... only female mosquitoes bite. I'm gonna kill you if its the last thing I do, blasted mosquito. "my name is inigo montoya, you have bit me, prepared to die..."

On Autistic Birds
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So over this summer, a good friend of mine told us a story about her pet parakeets... or were they parrots, I don't remember anymore. Anyhow, first she talked about one of them dying while she was away. And so her father kept the bird frozen until she got back so they could bury it. It rates high on both weirdness and funny just to think about my friend's brother opening up the freezer and wondering why a dead parakeet is in there.

Sadly, the absurdity runs amok in the entire family. So my friend, who my brother asked to snuggle with (that's a whole different great story), continues to recount how she learned how to train the remaining surviving parakeet. She tried to teach it to fly around and land on her shoulder or her finger, but the bird wouldn't listen to her at all, so she gave up on it. So her mother brought the bird to her school and gave it to the special ed. class. And so the mom brings back compliments from the special ed. teacher about how great the bird is, how well it behaves and how it lands on peoples shoulders and fingers on cue. So my friend has this theory (and the sad part is she truly believes in it) that the reason the bird got along with the special ed kids was because the bird is as she calls it "autistic" which has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. I almost spit out my water when I first heard her say it. And she kept a straight face and then the rest of us at the dinner table realized she was being SERIOUS. Autistic birds, I think I've heard em all...

On Love
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What is love? To be more specific, what is romantic love? Is it purely physical attraction? Or is it the emotional involvement with someone who you find physically attractive. One view (that I find quite interesting) is the view that we have learned to group all of our physio-biological responses - increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, a heightened state of arousal - and give it a name "love". The concept of romantic love really wasn't developed until 500-1000 years ago. It really wasn't until people had the luxury and time to sit around and do nothing to really dream up romance. The old societies were too focused on survival and being able to live another day. They struggled to farm, gather, or hunt, or wage war. Marriages were arranged and made in the interest of the economy of the family and propagating the family line.
The Greeks had three types of love: phileo, eros, and agape. Phileo is was the brotherly love - or as we know it today, friendship. Eros is basically carnal, sexual, physical love. And agape is the unconditional, primarily familial, fatherly (or parental) love. Now, I think currently the modern definition of love is a mixture of phileo and eros. It really wasn't until the feudal periods, that people of the court had the time (while the serfs slaved away) to dote upon one another. I think the same goes true of Chinese literature. Love stories really didn't begin until civilization, rulers, and the rich had enough left over money to support writers, painters, and such. And until that point, there really wasn't mention of "love", nor were there many poets. Look at the Greek plays... nothing really romantic... the tragedies were about incest... and death, and the other genre would be epic histories, or possibly comedies about the fallacies of man.
So what got me thinking about all of this? Well, this summer, I just can't stop thinking about one particular person. But does this qualify as being "in love" or is it just a crush? And what is a crush exactly? And how did it just get that name? Are you crushed by all the thoughts of that person? Everywhere I turn, I think about this particular person. Its gone way too far, anything and everything triggers thoughts about her. I really miss her smile and just being around her. She is the definition of cuteness. She has the most beautiful eyes and a great smile. And those are just the icing on the cake because she is just a fun person to be around. She has funny and interesting things to say. She also makes these cute sounds randomly. She's very quirky and I'm definitely going to miss her a lot. I talk about her all the time. Her parents are really nice people too. She just lives a very interesting life. So I was just thinking to myself, does this mean that I have too much time on my hands? Should I be slaving away in the fields somewhere as to stop the torment... cuz it really has become quite absurd. I see the car that she drives, I watch a baseball game, listening to a song on the radio... everything is a cue and triggers... and it makes me happy... they're great happy thoughts, but the I remember that I won't see her for a long time. And then I wonder why I had to meet her my last summer in LA and not before... *sigh* life goes on I guess...

On Watches, Clocks, and any Time Keeping Device
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Now every now and then I get into a philosophical funk... I start thinking about things that normal people don't think about. So once again I was reminded of this human invention we call time-keeping. It's everywhere... on the computer, on the cellphone, on our wrists, wall clocks... pretty much anything and everything... from the clock of counting down to a buzzer beater during the NCAA basketball Big Dance to the final countdown to the new year. It's not really natural... its man-made. Sure, the world goes round and there's day and night and it spins at a steady pace, but why are we governed by clocks? why do we allow a small ticking device to determine when and where we're going to do things? The summer after my freshmen year, I decided it was going to be "The Summer with a Watch" I put my watch in my desk drawer and had one of the most relaxing summers of my life. I woke up whenever I wanted(usually at the fine hour of noon), read, napped, swam... did things on my own accord.


Of course, life without this concept of "universal time" could cause many problems... meetings wouldn't happen, flights and trains would be thrown off schedule. But can we apply this to the school setting... life without time? Allow students to learn what they want to learn. And allow natural selection to weed out the lazy stupid ones? None of this forced mandatory school. I guess home-schooling is a more flexible varied schedule, but somehow I think the parents dictate the time quite a bit. Who knows, it might end up turning into a chaotic mess...

On Cell Phones
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Just a little heads-up... this will be my random thoughts blog... and I'll just have a little catharsis of all my current thoughts on a topic... and I'll allude to them from my Seattle journal titled "A Trojan in the Northwest".


As I was ordering a new cell phone for Seattle (this would be cell phone #2) I just think my attitudes toward phones have changed quite a bit. I once was the anti-cell phone person. I used to hate seeing people on their phones with a new face-plate that matched a different outfit. I really loathed the A&F-wearing, cell-phone-toting, USC student image. So when I got my first phone, I made sure I didn't get a Nokia just because everyone else has one. But now I have capitulated... I have joined the Darkside... I even caught myself looking at faceplates today for my new Nokia phone, how sad, is it not? But then I woke up, as though from a bad dream. And realized what and why I got the phone. Definitely NOT to be a phone hog and just fill the airwaves with endless chatter. And I swear, having these frequencies and radiowaves has got to have negative impacts on the atmosphere, the air, and all of creation. Little magnetic, or radio waves just isn't natural. We don't know it now, but someday it'll lead to our demise, I just know it... I still hate seeing people drive and talking on phones... i hate phones going off in classes and in movie theaters... (though it happened to me once as I was watching Road to Perdition. I was surprised a lightning bolt didn't strike me dead as I wish upon those whose phones interrupt my movie-watching. But the main reason I got my phone is so I can call people from seattle and not have to worry about long distance and the such. I can call home, Amy and Tai, Serena, Mark(well, not while he's in Japan), Nima, and Ali... without worry about racking up hundreds of dollars in phone bills. But then again, a cell phone can be like a ball and chain that holds you down, very much like a watch does(that's a whole different story), but the wonders of caller ID, I guess. You don't have to answer the phone from people you don't like. My father was really opposed to having a cellphone, since he didn't want to be reachable by patients and the like, but he gave in earlier this year. And even my good friend Jon Pyle has given in. Pretty much every single person I know now has a phone... but I still don't like it.