Coffee With T (that's me).

MySpace

2008-11-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

I do all my blogging at myspace, now, but if I do a really good one, I'll put it over here.
I'm getting ready to do a Philippines one that I'll put up here.

www.myspace.com/jedimasterbooboo

Japan Is Sinking

2008-07-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, there is a movie and book. or vice versa, out now called Japan Is Sinking, and why that's unfortunate is I'm trying to look up information on the net regarding the fact that Japan is actually sinking. I wanted to have a bit more to report to you than second hand hearsay from my old Korean students. All that's coming up in the search is pages upon pages of this book or movie. And "Japan apologizes to Taiwan for sinking ship." Always making friends, the Japanese.

So, Japan is sinking. It sinks more and more every year. As many of you know, my last job was teaching South Korean university level students here in the Philippines (don't message me about my time in Korea, because I was only in the airport, which I actually enjoyed very much), and you know that we talked for hours and hours and hours all day long. One of the elentybillion things that I learned was that Koreans, and I'd say most Asian countries have an adversarial relationship with Japan. Many of my students openly expressed disgust with Japan and everything Japanese. Many weren't as extreme and said that their qualms are with the government only. Some said, who cares? Pass the Kimchi.

Japan didn't make any friends over here during WWII. There are still debates that rage to this day about who should apologize for what. In addition, Japan has claimed a Korean island as its own. Japan also calls the East Sea, the Sea of Japan. My students were always disgusted with the maps made in the Philippines, or those that come from publishers connected with the west because that body of water is labeled as The Sea Of Japan, as if that were a fact.

"NO! Who published this!" were common cries about my atlas. Sorry guys.

So one day one of the students, while ranting about Japan, and their Imperialism, which some claim has not stopped, said they have to move other places "because Japan is sinking!" and I accidentally laughed. I think I chuckled because the student was so serious and then he said that, and I didn't expect him to say that... and I laughed.

"Yes! It's true!" During one class, one of the Engineer students drew something on the board that supposedly demonstrated the phenomenon.

I let them know that the islands of Hawaii have been largely bought up by the Japanese, or so I heard once.

"See!"

Invasion.

I don't know. But I thought that whole thing was interesting.

The Reversal Of Babel: Award a Prize to Mr. Bean

2008-07-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to find a good picture of Mr. Bean, but you know who he is.

Here's what I want to say. I've been to China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. I've taught South Koreans and interacted with them quite a bit... I've been in places where the cultural barriers are wide, deep and run long.

But everybody loves Mr. Bean.

It doesn't matter what their take is on George W. or what conversation you're able to have or not have due to a language barrier. If I was ever anywhere stumped, I just said..."Hey do you know Mr. Bean?"

"Mr. BEAN!" , yes, big smile, laugh, conversation, and connection.

He's big in Asia, so I'm assuming, everyhwhere. Mr Bean is also shown in North Korea, so I learned from a documentary. Sometimes in North Korea they have special movie festivals where imported films are shown. It's not like he's on their tv there, not that I'm aware of, but they love Mr. Bean reports say.

Here in the Philippines, he's very popular and there is lots of Mr. Bean merchandise everywhere, including kids backpacks, and t-shirts. There is a lot of merchandise from the animated series as well. The cartoon version of Bean is strange and Magooish. It's not nearly as interesting as the live acts.

These film shorts of Mr. Bean are sans spoken language. They are the human experience. So, there's no language barrier.

So...here's the other thing I wanted to bring up. My youngest son is Autistic which is classified as a language disorder. He doesn't communicate in the conventional sense. He uses words, but for his own enjoyment only.

He reminds me of Arnie from What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Although Arnie used language every once in awhile in a traditional sense. That movie really reminds me of my guy, especially when he climbs up that tower and Johnny Depp

*sigh*
(Sorry Rowan, I know this is your entry, but I had to...Who's better than this JD? message me if you know...)

-takes a megaphone and has to sing a song to get him to listen and come down.. Leonardo couldn't have done a better job in that movie, I was astonished.

Anyway, my son is obsessed with Mr. Bean. He's quite particular about what he pays attention to, and he focuses very closely on each episode and knows all the routines by heart. His favorite is "Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean" where Bean gets stuck taking care of a baby at a carnival. It is pretty great, that one.

So Mr. Bean communicates where there may be no communication. He reaches the seemingly unreachable and has helped me make meaningful connections in disconnected circumstances. It's babel in reverse and he should get some kind of Bean Award for making my life easier and more fun.

Thanks, Rowan.

Kama

2008-06-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

Kama Anne Mottard

Kama Anne Mottard, 37, of 3201 14th Street, Menominee, Mich., passed away on Tuesday morning, May 27, 2008, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. Kama was born on February 12, 1971, to Donald and the late Elaine (Fiss) Mottard in Marinette, Wis.

Kama graduated from Menominee High School in 1989 and obtained an associate degree from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelors degree from Northern Michigan University graduating with honors. Kama was a past board member of the Menominee Animal Shelter and a member of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Marinette. Kama was employed for many years as manager at Bayshore Veterinary Clinic in Menominee, and could not have loved her job more. A special thank you to Dr. Dennis and Patty Anderson for their generosity and support over the years. Kama always enjoyed the many wonderful people she met at the clinic, many of whom continued to keep in touch after she was no longer able to work. Her co-workers were also very special to her and it was truly a family atmosphere. Kama enjoyed being outdoors camping, hunting, and fishing. Kama also enjoyed taking trips with her friends to Belize, Alaska, Key West, Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and the best trip was to Yellowstone and South Dakota in an RV with Candy and Dick Zaharias. Kama was also an avid Green Bay Packers fan and attended many games. Kama enjoyed spending time with her friends and family above anything else.

Kama is survived by her loving father, Donald Mottard of Menominee; and sister, Michelle (Errikk) Decker of Negaunee, Mich. Their love and support was truly remarkable over the years. She is further survived by two nephews: Nolan Bergstrom and AJ Decker of Negaunee, Mich.; a special aunt, Mary Kay Mottard of Marinette, Wis.; a special aunt and uncle: Linda and Mike Casey of Chicago, Ill.; and many other aunts, uncles and cousins. Kama is survived by close friends: the Zaharias family, Dana and Todd Fernstrum, Becky and Rod Blom, Trudi and Chris Janquart and her best friend of over 20 years, Stacy (Dan) Braun. There were also two very special little girls in Kama's life that she loved dearly: Kerrigan and Kady Braun.

Kama received the best care possible from Dr. David Mertens and his wonderful staff that treated her with love. A very special thank you to Ruth Ann Kluetz who was always there for Kama. Thank you also to the nurses of BAMC 2E for all the wonderful care they provided over the years; especially Terri Barker, Terry Kelly and Patsy. A special thank you also to Northland Lutheran Home Health and especially to Sara and Tammy.

Kama was preceded in death by her mother, Elaine Mottard in 1994; her grandparents: Frank and Minnie Fiss and George and Irene Mottard; her uncle, Fabian Mottard; and many aunts and uncles.

Friends may call at the Anderson-Kell Funeral Home, 533 10th Avenue, Menominee, Mich., Thursday, May 29, 2008, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Visitation will continue Friday, May 30, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Marinette. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. in the church with the Reverend Jon Tesch officiating.

Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Hope Memorial Relay, W5886 #14 Lane, Wallace, MI 49893, who works with the local 1887 VFW Auxiliary that helps local cancer patients.

A favorite quote of Kama's and the way she took on life was:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolates in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Dirty Third World

2008-03-31T20:52:00.001-07:00

Wiping dirt off my face and thinking about the dirt covering another strange place, unreachable, here I am closed in, out in the open for the elements to devour, to grow older with each rotation of the sun, metabolizing at death’s door.

Unscrewing the cap off my juice that the dirty child I walk past can’t afford, I say "walang" to his open hand. ’Where are your parents?’, I’m thinking. There’s nothing I can do. At the end of every story is some kind of love to contemplate, I don’t want to learn anymore.

What good is someone’s story untold? There must be angels; there absolutely must be or most stories are for no benefit whatsoever. Everyone lives a metaphor, some kind of similie, a story for nobody, or a story for the third world of angels.

Wiping the dirt from my eyes and not from some place else out of sight, that’s for later- perhaps much later, I cross another third world "street",- it’s the concrete rubble where the motor vehicles speed along. Making room along my pathway for another wretched dog that likely wishes he was dead, I remember the screeching and thumps of suicidal animals that we hear on our "street" every week, more lucky corpses at rest, calling the more fortunate local vermin from their underground world to another meal. They eat well here.

Staring into the third world the glowing television screen offers, turning the channel away from the dirty, I try to clear the dirty from my mind. Another female body for sale, another murder, another scream, another attack, but don’t worry, the cops are on it. I find my clear channels of escape, and others wonder why I want to stare at a bird resting on a placid crisp body of water. It’s heaven somewhere today, in many places. There must be angels there, or are they busy collecting stories?

Astig!

2008-03-05T01:03:00.000-08:00

(There are references to MySpace in this entry, because this is a copy and pasted blog entry from that page. If you wanna see my totally awesome myspace page, it's www.myspace.com/jedimasterbooboo)
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Astig!

(Every Filipino anywhere near myspace is going to be in my blog pronto with a title like that.)

So what does astig mean? Well, I might not know exactly, but I can provide some context.

My friends know awhile back I was vexed while correcting exams and on myspace here I put up an update with one of those distressed constipated looking faces, remember? Well I was correcting my sixth grade exams and one after another was just a train wreck. Horrifying. I kept looking at the names on top, 'who is this person, is this person even in my class, did they take the wrong test?'

Well, I discovered that all the crappy tests were on top, that's all. So before I started rethinking my entire teaching strategy, I came upon one that was beyond perfect, and I was elated. I wrote on the test in red pen, "You Rock!" and I don't typically say cheesy things like that, it's not really my style. I was just so happy.

Later, I got a card and a flower from my 6th graders and on the card, it said "You Rock!", ha ha. Then once when I was checking assignments, one student failed to do the essay question, but where the answer was supposed to be, in red pen was this fancy lettering that said "You Rock!", she had really worked on that a long time. I said, this doesn't help you, you still need to answer the question. They're just amazed with that saying.

Anyway, the students are always saying Astig! and then laughing. When we play review games in class and they have to pick team names, one side always picks Astig! and everyone laughs. When they say, Astig, they make that sign with their fingers that's like "love" or "the devil", or something, (I always get those two mixed up). So I asked them, what does Astig mean? The sixth graders didn't really answer to my satisfaction, so I asked my 4th year students...

They laughed at me and said, "It means You Rock!" I guess all the students talk about how I wrote that on Alicen's test (or whoever it was). Word spreads. I remember with the Koreans it was the exact same thing, but that school was so small and the students lived in a dorm together. This was a bit more surprising.

In my second year class I was standing by the whiteboard once and lost my balance and fell over into the room divider, so the whole thing almost broke and swayed back and forth, I said, "that's not a wall". That was a Friday, on Monday in my 4th year class one of the guys said, "Hey that's not a wall, ok?" and pointed to the room divider.

Astig!

I found a photo to steal from flickr...this is nobody I know...That photo was called...Astig!

Yeah, the Hell's Angels Are Always Trying To Get Me, Too

2008-03-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Hell's Angels plotted to kill Mick Jagger in 1969, Yahoo story follows:

Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger escaped an assassination plot hatched in 1969 by the Hells Angels, a new British Broadcasting Corp. documentary has claimed.

A program to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Monday says the rock star was the target of the plot following a purported dispute with the motorcycle gang over concert security.

Jagger had vowed not to use Hells Angel members as bouncers following the death in December 1969 of an 18-year-old fan at a notorious free performance at Altamont Speedway in Northern California.

In return, gang members hatched a plan to kill Jagger at his holiday home in Long Island, New York, the BBC claimed.

"The Hells Angels were so angered by Jagger's treatment of them that they decided to kill him," Tom Mangold, the presenter of the program, was quoted as telling Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

He said the plan was disclosed during an interview with Mark Young, a former FBI officer, for the BBC's "The FBI at 100" documentary.

Mangold said the men tried to reach Jagger by sea. "The boat was hit by a storm and all of the men were thrown overboard," he was quoted as saying. They all survived but made no other attempt on his life, Mangold said.

It was not clear whether Jagger was ever informed of the alleged plot against him.

LD Communications, Jagger's publicists in Britain, did not immediately return calls requesting comment.

The Hells Angels have always denied any connection with the Altamont Speedway killing.

They tried to get me once, but I borrowed a pair of platform shoes from the barkeep and did a dance on the bartop to the song Tequilla! And after that we were friends. They even gave me a motorcycle to drive away on, right into the sunset! But instead I hit a sign and wound up being rushed to the hospital. Actually that was good, because while confined, I saw some snot nosed kid on tv with my BIKE! So I went and got it and the rest is history.

No Matter What, Watch This

2008-02-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is sappy. But so worth it, watch the whole thing, and if you're in exactly the right mood, you'll be blown away.

Computers, or at least A computer when my dad worked on them....

2008-02-19T22:08:00.000-08:00

That's one computer filling a whole room. There were cards that fed it the language...or something.

Don't tell me, we don't have the technology to do this, or do that...it's silly. Let's get going on developing our portable renewable energy maker converter gadgets, and a catchy new name for whatever it is, too.

GMA is EVIL- Life in the Philippines

2008-02-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

GMA stands for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
This paper can be purchased at any news stand here in the Phlippines. A student was reading this in my class, and I couldn't help but notice the headline. Only part of this was scannable, the right margin is missing. I grabbed it because this is the general feeling of anyone here I've ever talked to, and this headline is quite blunt. I can't even imagine a major newspaper in the US running a headline that says GWB IS EVIL.

Here's a joke picture of her I found on Flickr.

Just to mention...there's isn't a hint of misogynistic hatred here for her, it stems purely from corruption, the most used word here in the Philippines. The gender of the president is neither here nor there to the people, likely because of the beloved Corazon Aquino.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Part I and II Working Title: The Pedestal

2008-02-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

In The Desert

In the desert there is sunlight and heat and rattlesnakes minding their own business, not even bothering with their rattles. There's brush here and there. Off in the far distance is a huge dark wall of a mountain, but straight ahead is a winding road to an ocean shore.

In this desert I'm hot but happy, comfortable and careless. This location isn't one far from civilization, it's just on the edge, not far from a shore or change of landscape or life. There's a paved road and in this desert that's where I'm walking, almost shuffling, thumbs in my jeans. There's a hot wind blowing, giving my hair a treatment. My hair seems long from the top, but is cut short and thick with layers blowing over my face and off again. I'm quite pleased with it.

I'm thinking about this because it's just me and the desert, me and denim and cotton and canvas-rubber shoes and a cool haircut. It's just me and my hairdo and my freckles and my form, shuffling along.

I could go off road and watch a rattlesnake, but I'm headed toward the beach. I'm not afraid of snakes, even venomous ones, but I'm walking to the ocean. This desert turns into dunes before joining the ocean, but before that, I'm stopped in my tracks.

Off to the right maybe twenty-five long steps away I see a pedestal. I don't know if it's ionic, or Doric, or Corinthian, that hardly seems the point. There's a clear glass box on top with blood red contents. Off in the distance, there are bushes and a young man, or maybe a boy is hiding there. I pretend not to notice. There's no way I'm not going to look at that box. I'll deal with that person if I must.

This is a perfectly cube shaped clear glass box. I step up and can open it from the top, the top frame of glass is a lid. Inside there are rose petals! Rose petals! How delicate, beautiful, vivid, soft. I reach my hand in to feel and find something like a card that I pull up. It's a photograph- of me!

Kind of. It's this beautiful version of me. I mean, more um...polished. Well not really me on any given day, but it's me nonetheless. And all I can think is-

What is this shit?
---------
Children of the Apocalypse

There's at least one person who knows.

The cryptic missive in the bushes knows I saw him, but he's a child of the apocalypse. Children of the apocalypse don't answer questions. These children have a set mind that 1) at any given moment they've done something wrong and 2) others have bad motives toward them; and so to hide their vulnerability and protect themselves from harm, they answer all questions wrongly regardless of topic. They could be asked where they purchased their rations for the day, or simply what time it is, but every question is a potential assault. Even eye contact is out of the question. They dart to and fro continually as scavengers of sorts. If they like you, they don't mind if you figure things out on your own. Hints or clues will be dropped sometimes. I can see that he's still peeking at me from behind the brush, but just the thought of talking to him sends a wave of irritation over me from head to toe. Presently, I don't feel like playing games.

My thoughts return to the mystery of the pedestal and the box. My moves aren't planned in advance, so this wasn't placed here for me. This was not supposed to be seen by me, and it doesn't feel like it has anything to do with me at all. Yet, this is a picture of me, kind of. So anyway, which is the creepier reality? For me, or not for me?

These are the things I'm pondering after turning on my heels to head back to my bike. My steps now are much more purposeful and speedy. I expect there to be a couple more children of the apocalypse near my bike, but I won't ask them anything.

Children of the apocalypse are so named because they are survivors of such. Had there been a planetary apocalypse, I suppose we would all be children of the apocalypse, but theirs was a localized destruction. Only their settlements were obliterated.

All that they had, every resource, every tool, every tradition, all that they knew to be true fact and every shared belief was gone, torn away, ruptured and raptured at the cellular level. What didn't rip apart atomically was damaged and so failed to replicate and so died. Many children live on, as do some of the mothers, but these mothers live in the past, unreachable.

The children that dart to and fro scavenging here and there and avoiding eye contact, these are the boys. Their given names are like Noah, Josiah, Jeremiah, Zeke -short for Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Elijah, Seth, Isreal, Jebediah, Micah, Jonah, and Bo- short for Boaz (my personal favorite and the nickname I have given any and all of them.) Their worlds are gone, they live in no world. Yeah, that's right, come to think of it, they live in no world.

There were girls, but they're all gone. They've easily assimilated into any group of their choosing. Melding together with new loved ones and new identities, they were changelings, or simply became invisible. These are called Mary.

The boys make their way daily by being useful to others which is quite a feat considering they do this with no direct communication. It has to be experienced to be believed. Schematics of archaic apparatus from their tribes survived their apocalypse, so these boys are good with technologies and adapt them to others' apparatus that, they believe, could use a retro-fit for improvement. All are water technologies. Now, in reality, people have the water technologies that they need and these children of the apocalypse came from tribes that used cumbersome and cryptic technologies to get anything done. I've never personally found anything that they've had to offer useful, and most settlements won't either. But there are those with limited time and resources to plan well, and sometimes these boys can fit a niche here or there, "upgrading"- as they like to think of it- a traveling vendor's water apparatus, or some motorcycle here and there. It's a temporary fix, whatever they're doing and the materials are not renewable, but it's cheap so for the time being all parties in the transaction are happy.

That's why they love my bike. It's not really powerful and it's obvious that I've made some adjustments to it, so they figure I'm the type that wouldn't mind a "more efficient" (it's not) water system. I happen to know that, if anything, it's a lateral move at best. Anything they could offer is done better on the new bikes. New bikes are cheap anyway. I just happen to like my bike.

You can't blame them for trying, so sure enough, my bike has a couple of Boes examining it, and they're having an animated conversation with each other for my benefit. I figured as much anyway. I know what to do. As usual they are avoiding direct contact but the message is loud and clear. It's not appropriate for me to address them directly, so I start up my bike and happily mumble something in a friendly tone about getting a new one. I grab two wrapped pieces of candy from my pocket and throw them on the ground behind all three of us, I wink with my left eye to no one in particular and put my helmet on, which in these parts is necessary for a sand screen, and I speed off.

The Boes are young enough to dart for candy and they laugh hysterically at some funny joke that I'm not in on. They like to try to make people feel that they are laughing at them. Frankly speaking, Boes are punk asses. Alot of people don't like them, but they're in a tough position.

It's really hot out here, and I don't know where I'm headed.

Vinnnie Quits OCC- I Finally Saw The Episode

2008-02-15T01:45:00.000-08:00

We're out here in the Philippines and we get OCC on the Discovery Channel Asia where it's called American Choppers. I found out on the internet awhile back that Vinnie and Cody had quit, but I hadn't seen the episode. Well, last night it was on, so here's my take on the whole thing.

One, I'm glad there weren't bad vibes. -On camera. I mean the whole thing is like...wait a minute, no two weeks notice, no goodbye party? So, I mean, I'm not dumb, there's some kind of situation for sure. I was happy that senior said to Vinnie that he appreciates what he did there. It was strange how Vinnie said a warm "thank you" but didn't even turn around.

I had read on the internet that Senior said something like 'anyone can be replaced'. It sounded pretty cold. Watching the episode and his demeanor for that part, I wasn't too upset with him. He said he's been in business thirty years and he's seen good people come and go. That was nice. Then it was edited to the comment, "anyone can be replaced"...it was just Senior being philosophical, and really, I've seen the same thing in work places. Life tends to go on.

I like the show and will continue to watch it. I do wonder this, though:
Do the Teutuls have the right perspective on Vinnie's importance to the show? Now some may think, well, that's not important. The heck it's not. OCC is a tv show whether or not some may pretend otherwise. I wouldn't know these people unless they were on television, and their tv reality is woven into their business. We're not just flies on the the wall there...the choppers they make speak to their unique status as a TV SHOW: Bill Murray, Billy Joel, visiting Russel Crowe's house in Australia, the list goes on. The auctions for the charity bikes work well because OCC is a TV SHOW, it's not just because nubby does a pretty paint job.

So what I'm saying is while they're tooling around in the shop, they may want to believe that they live inside a reality in which Vinnie is just another tool, just another employee, some low man on the totem pole, or whatever. But guess what? That's not reality. The reality is that Vinnie was a cast member on a world wide popular tv show and people love him just as much and maybe even more than the other players. He actually built the bikes, you know, a lot of the time. And he's a nice guy, funny and all that jazz. He was straight man to all the chaos if it broke loose. Some view Vinnie as indispensable to the success of that show.

When this story broke, I found out about it because I got hundreds of hits a week on my blog here, people looking for information about it. Every week I still get people googling this even though the story has died down a bit. People love Vinnie, it's that simple.

Like I said, I'm not quitting OCC as a viewer, but I just felt the need to share my view on that whole thing. My best wishes to Vinnie and Cody as they start their new bike shop.

Did You Ever Have One Of Those Days?

2008-02-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel today. Did you ever have one of those days, where you hear a song and it hits you JUST RIGHT?

This is one of them days for moi and this is the song...play it.

Funny Mitt Romney Video

2008-02-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

I know this makes me look not neutral, but I am...
and it may make me look godless, but...
this is FUNNY. Sometimes swearing is ok. I guess.
No, swearing is never ok...I hate it. It's just there's genuine frustration with this lame thinking, ya know?

Clone This

2008-02-09T23:39:00.000-08:00

I HATE smoking. Hate it. But Brad, you're adorable. I also don't watch your movies because most of them are rated R. But...still I wrote this for you:
If you read my blog on MySpace...you've already seen this, sorry.

I'd like to make the case that Brad Pitt be cloned. Why should women have to suffer with the lack of choices out there? Many of us have already decided that we like him, why should we have to continue to search the world over?

Clone as many as neccessary. One for any woman who wants one.

The problem that I see with this, is that men woud clone a bunch of Angelina Jolies.

And then...

You know what would happen. All the Brads and all the Angelinas would run away together.

But think...

of all the children that would be adopted. Would there be any needy ones left?

So then I come full circle...let's clone Brad!

(Come on Angie, can't I have just one?)

-----------------------------------

You, know I was thinking after I wrote this about how this came up. Actually I was in class with the Koreans and we were talking about cloning and this is the conversation that came about naturally, it's just the way I think. The students were in stitches though. I forgot about it until Dave posted this picture of Brad in my comments section. Hm..

And I've always had this fear that if I got together with Brad Pitt that he would dump me for someone else. Now, that sounds like a joke. It's quite funny, so I say it as a joke, but seriously. I really did think that one day. So I say it now and again and there's usually someone around that will go into convulsions of laughter. Also because of delivery. I say it quite seriously. So because I really do think like that, when I thought about cloning Brad, those old fears raised their head again and I thought, sure then here comes a bunch of Angelinas to steal him. But then I enjoy them as a couple and their work. They're doing great things in New Orleans now.

Imagine a whole new meaning to 'Attack of the Clones'

Dedicated to the Lost Boys of FLDS

2008-02-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Hinkley, the president of the Mormon (LDS) church died, which has got me thinking.
LDS is not a cult...but FLDS is...
The people who get out, or are ex-communicated have a very hard time adjusting outside, and Anderson Cooper reported that the young men that leave are called the "lost boys" and are almost all of them- on drugs. My heart goes out to them and how hard it must be to adjust to the outside world. They don't need conversions, they don't need drugs...they need help with material things and opportunities and emotional support. They don't need another Warren Jeffs running their life and they don't need all the crazies out there in thunderdome, either.

Wow, I forgot how cute Mad Max is.

Out of the ruins
Out from the wreckage
Can't make the same mistake this time
We are the children
the last generation
We are the ones they left behind
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change it
Living under the fear till nothing else remains

We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

Looking for something we can rely on
There's got to be something better out there
Love and compassion, their day is coming
All else are castles built in the air
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change it
Living under the fear till nothing else remains
All the children say

We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

So what do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a light
Or end in the dark
Is it all or nothing (less)

Worst Building In History

2008-01-31T21:43:00.001-08:00

I saw this on yahoo and just in case you missed it, Yahoo news has a link to an article called "The Worst Building In History" it's pretty interesting. And here's a You Tube video. It's in North Korea, and this 3,000 room nightmare has been VACANT for decades.

Esquire Article

A picture doesn't lie -- the one-hundred-and-five-story Ryugyong Hotel is hideous, dominating the Pyongyang skyline like some twisted North Korean version of Cinderella's castle. Not that you would be able to tell from the official government photos of the North Korean capital -- the hotel is such an eyesore, the Communist regime routinely covers it up, airbrushing it to make it look like it's open -- or Photoshopping or cropping it out of pictures completely.

Even by Communist standards, the 3,000-room hotel is hideously ugly, a series of three gray 328-foot long concrete wings shaped into a steep pyramid. With 75 degree sides that rise to an apex of 1,083 feet, the Hotel of Doom (also known as the Phantom Hotel and the Phantom Pyramid) isn't the just the worst designed building in the world -- it's the worst-built building, too. In 1987, Baikdoosan Architects and Engineers put its first shovel into the ground and more than twenty years later, after North Korea poured more than two percent of its gross domestic product to building this monster, the hotel remains unoccupied, unopened, and unfinished.

Construction on the Hotel of Doom stopped in 1992 (rumors maintain that North Korea ran out of money, or that the building was engineered improperly and can never be occupied) and has never started back up, which shouldn't come as a shock. After all, who the hell travels to beautiful downtown Pyongyang? It would make sense if the hotel were in South Korea, where Americans are allowed to travel and where projects like the Busan Lotte Tower and the Lotte Super Tower now rise thousands of feet above the formerly modest skyline.

With Pyongyang's official population said to range between 2.5 million and 3.8 million (official numbers are not made available by the North Korean government), the Ryugyong Hotel -- the 22nd largest skyscraper in the world -- is a failure on an enormous scale. To put it in context, imagine if the John Hancock Center (1,127 feet tall) in Chicago (population 2.9 million) was not only completely vacant, but unfinished with zero hope of ever being completed.

You may not be able to actually live there, but the building now has its own virtual real estate managers, Richard Dank and Andreas Gruber, a pair of German architects and self-described "custodians of the pyramid's diverse manifestations." The duo run Ryugyong.org, which they describe as an "experimental collaborative online architecture site." Sad you can't visit the building in real life? Log on, view the detailed 3-D models, and "claim" a subsection for yourself.

I know, I know, I know

2008-01-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

You've already heard a lot about oil, but this is an interesting video I found on the Foreign Policy website with important people saying different things.

I really take issue with that dude at the end, it's actually the same dude at the beginning, but at the end he makes this BOLD statement. I just completely disagree and I think he talks that way because he's as old as the crusty-acean period.

This Is Why

2008-01-30T21:08:00.001-08:00

You Tube really stuns me sometimes, I love the creative people out there

Teaching Stint

2008-01-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm teaching for a couple of weeks until my deal gets settled and I head back to the USA. My friend is on the board here at a private school...so HIGH SCHOOLERS. A big huge class full of them...and sixth graders. I'll have four classes. Hm, it should be interesting. I live for interesting!

One of the Greatest Movies Ever!

2008-01-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

During this brief blog intermission...here's some entertainment. If you have any way, you've got to see this movie. The cast is amazing and there are so many great lines.

Murder By Death- a Neil Simon deal.

Where I Grew Up

2008-01-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

Theresa...how come you don't really like where you grew up?
Well, here's a story from MSNBC for you to chew on.

Sheriff: Dad Duct-Taped Packers Jersey To Boy
WMAQ-TV
updated 4:53 p.m. PT, Thurs., Jan. 17, 2008

PORTAGE, Wis. - A Wisconsin man faces charges of abuse after a woman on Monday reported that her 7-year-old son was forced to wear a Green Bay Packers jersey. According to a release from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, Matthew Kowald, 36, of Pardeeville, Wis., told his son to wear the jersey and when the boy refused, he restrained the 7-year-old for about an hour.

The boy's mother told sheriff's deputies that Kowald also used the tape to attach the jersey to the boy during that time.

In an interview with Madison radio station Z-104, Rebecca Kowald, the boy's mother, said that the incident, which happened during the Packers game on Saturday, upset her son and scared her to the point where she felt unable to call police until Monday. She also said that the boy was "having a bout with his dad," and that her son is, in fact, "a true Packers fan."

[well, gee that's the important part and of course it had to be written into the article here- ME]

She said the boy became stubborn when he and his father began arguing. She said that her husband refused to let her cut the boy free from the tape, telling her, "He's not hurt. Sit down and shut up."

Rebecca Kowald told Z-104 that her husband was "very inebriated" when the incident happened.

Kowald was arrested and initially charged with two felony counts -- causing mental harm to a child and false imprisonment. He was also charged with domestic disorderly conduct. The felony charges were dropped and Kowald was released later in the week, but the suspect is not being allowed to see his children.

----------
Boy oh boy do I not miss home this football season. Sorry guys (you know who you are).

Crippled And Dazed

2008-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

If you opened an electronic device and studied the inside, you might think about the person who designed it. Wait, even if you use one of Steve Jobs' new releases without opening it to see the inner workings, you may wonder at the designer. We've got some pretty amazing devices out nowadays.

I think of the DNA strand. Actually, when I was in biology class in college I listened to lectures about cells many times with my mouth half gaping open. The inside of our bodies is amazing. We've got these larger parts, heart, lungs circulatory system, bones, intestines, really meaningless apart from the whole. Also further into the cellular make up of these larger organs...it's mind boggling the functions, actions and purposes of this cellular activity. And even smaller...dna.

I mean who are we kidding by ignoring these things? Nothing on the inside of my body resembles anything on the outside. Not in any way. Why are these little devices used to create a whole being that could, on any given day, just sit on the couch and watch the telly and eat junk food? I really want to stress the point here, that we resemble nothing of our insides. When I was in biology class I wrote a little poem on my lab notebook

Tiny spheres of matter
without will
yet surpassing me in measured purpose.

If we're a direct succession to millions of nature's modifications, why on earth are we such radically different beings than our building blocks? I mean if we're nothing but modifications of building blocks -what's with the complete difference from outside of my body to inside?

It is inexcusable to look a the human body and not see that all parts work in concert for the purpose of the whole. The human brain is absolutely beyond our comprehension and without the rest of the body, would die.

This has all formed *spontaneously* *accidentally* and without purpose so that I can live and love and create, or destroy or be lazy...or laugh at Kermit the Frog riding a bicycle? What a radical departure from rna transcription. Why? And why do I ask why? I don't believe that cellular respiration asks why, or longs to laugh. What do cells long to worship, or wonder about? Why would those things come together to form a being that does?

To say that forces in the universe accidentally formed people is illogical. Why? Because I'm a person. How does something personal come about from the non-personal? It's nature?

One must personify nature so much, that we're back at square one. Who is this nature? Why is the nature of nature a personal one?

Look, I understand rejecting theological orthodoxy, but to reject the idea of design is delusional. The question that I like honest hearted people to get to is, "why have we been abandoned?"- that's the valid question and a good place to start on a spiritual journey.

When we look around, if we're not delusional: we're crippled and we're dazed.

The only way I could get this song was this tribute to John Lennon, but here's someone who was creative and questioning and does well representing mankind and his plight.

Amazing Race Asia Video!

2008-01-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

Here you go beloved. This one's a little old, but it shows the Philippines! Marc and Rovilson win like every leg, and like I said in my last entry, I'm mad that they're on the show. Marc actually hosts a sports show out here. This is NOT a celebrity edition. Nothing personal against them, they're nice and funny- I just don't want elite celebrity types on AR.

There's even a part on here where one of the teams show the camera that Marc's face is on one of the maps there on some advertisement. I was so excited to see them in the Philippines, I especially know the bus situation, I've been on those buses! Yes, you pay once you're already on...a contestant asked.

This is the Philippines!

2008-01-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

Well I posted the prisoners dancing in the past, and I said that video really shows a lot about the people in the Philippines. Well...
American Idol is back this season, and ...here's another video that IS the Philippines. It's more insight into the national character if there is such a thing.

Watch the whole thing. I love the whole Napoleon Dynamite thing about American Idol, where people believe in themselves, and they might not get in the competition, but they end up getting some dreams fulfilled. It's interesting. This is the spirit of the people here.

Wish You Were Better

2008-01-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

You know, yesterday was strange, I actually felt like I had been hit in the stomach with a cannonball. It was painful depression. Some of my friends here live in almost abject poverty (we have relatively 'clean' water) and their life is getting worse by the ticking clock. I have GOT to get this deal finished, it's taking forever, when I get that money I can help in a substantial way. I don't talk about my day to day life much on here, or I haven't so far, a lot of it is perplexing so I haven't addressed it yet. I'm so tired of seeing good people suffer. People here can work and work and work and not have enough money to eat let alone pay any bill or rent, or transportation. Heavy sighs. And back home I've got this friend living with someone psychotic and that's hard too. I'm looking forward to that ending for her. On the world front Bush is trying to really quickly get peace going between Palastine and Isreal before he leaves office and then last night the breaking news story was that for some reason Isreal did an air strike against Gaza. The news reports it and banners it as "airstrike against Hamas". The week before Bush was in Saudi rattling his saber against Iran. World events aren't physically depressing to me, but they're not so great either. And then sometimes I think about boys. And then I try not to. But in that department, here's a good role model:

I was thinking this week about one of my favorite movies, Say Anything. So here's something from that. Quite enjoyable.

Gents, take note of the parking lot scene. (Just a tip.)
"No English tips, I won't give you any tips of any kind!"

Umm, yeah...

2008-01-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

I know it's been forever. But I'm closing a deal here. I'll be back soon with all kinds of crazy posts. I HATE to predict 2008 as good for me...because I thought the same thing last year...but...

Now I feel superstitious and that's a yucky feeling.

Light Hearted, Don't Worry.

2008-01-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

I Don't Know What To File This Under

2007-12-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

The Assasination of Benezir Bhutto for Dummies

2007-12-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

Bhutto's entrance in to Pakistan has casued chaos the last couple of times, this time she's been murdered. I believe that the White House has always preferred stability over democracy with Pakistan. In my opinion, a dictatorship in Pakistan is neither here nor there as far as the U.S. is concerned, regardless of what they're forced to say in the media. I think that their private take on the matter is that Bhutto actually caused problems. At least with Musharaff, Bush has got an ally and things were stable. I really believe that "democracy" is a side issue that's front and center because of this administration's constant talk of it regarding Iraq.

I don't know if this incident will cause further instability in Pakistan because Bhutto hasn't even been there for years. Unless her supporters, who are considered moderate, suddenly go hog wild, then I would think that things would return to the status quo.

Who knows, though...

Our Family Life

2007-12-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

Octopus with Lego

2007-12-25T06:09:00.000-08:00

I saw a documentary on this exhibit somewhere...I don't know where, but everyone had cute brit accents. Anyway, this was an octopus exhibit where the poor big octopus was bored.

Then the caretakers put in a big stack of legos he could take apart and other toys. He got busy and happier. Pretty soon he was all over the tank and the glass, whereas before this, he just sat and stared at the kids on the other side of the glass, like "Why am I alive?"

I thought that was interesting.
I want to write a longer entry, but I gotta go.

Vinnie Quits OCC

2007-12-20T00:38:00.000-08:00

This here blog has gotten HUNDREDS of hits, people searching for Vinnie quits OCC, American Choppers. Every day, more hits, more hits, more hits. I feel bad, because I only have this one blog entry about it back in October that gives virtually NO information about the topic.

I searched for the topic on Yahoo and pages upon pages of this came up. When I searched it back in October, there was only one message board that came up.

Anyway HERE is a link that I consider to be one of the best for the info and includes a link to Cody and Vinnie's new shop. Enjoy. More About Vinnie and Cody.

I guess there was a show on it that I haven't seen, and I guess Senior made the comment "Anyone can be replaced." WOW, Sr. You're the jerk that I never knew you were. KAT from LA Ink should fly in and do some V FORCE tatoos. Which is hilarious for me to say, I'm totally against tatoos.

I mean, all that Vin meant to the shop AND THE SHOW *ahem!*, he deserved more than he got. I mean OCC loves their show, and they had to realize that Vin was a huge part of the fan base.

Vinnie always acted like he was going to kill Cody, so I hope that Cody is ok with his new partner. Watch your back Code! Ha ha.

Manny Pacquiao- The Boxer

2007-12-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

Well here he is, the legend. Here in the Philippines this guy is like Michael Jordan was a few years back when you just couldn't get away from him. I really can't stand boxing, it makes me feel like I'm from another planet because I just don't get it. If I was a human being that was from around here, I'm thinking that I would see boxing and be like, "oh yeah, I can totally see how people do that". Alas, this is impossible for me, and I've tried pretty hard to do some mental acrobatics to fool myself into understanding it. The closest I get is: "It's a guy thing." But I want to back off of that because I already think that men are so evil, they just don't need anymore bad press in my brain, so I fall back to- 'I must be from somewhere else.'

Manny endorses ANYTHING and everything, including alcohol. When those commercials would come on, my son said things like, "I drink this, and then I can hit people really hard." It's funny, but you have to be there.

This guy is everywhere. I have been startled more than once by a life-size cardboard cut out of Manny in a shopping aisle. ME: "Ack! Ohmai...sheesh* get out of here!" Punch. No, I never punched one.

So my son said today, whenever pac "the pacman" (clever!) loses...the commercial for the next fight says "Justice will be served!" or something like that.

The best I can hope for is that big thick-boned head of his keeps his brain safe. I hate to see these guys later in life with all the problems they develop. I mean, it's not surprising but it sure is sad.

Amazing Race Asia

2007-12-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

Picture: The Deaf Team
Let's start with the complaining. Season One of this show was great. This season, I've got a beef.

As usual, the season starts off with a show introducing the teams, and this year I was livid. The show picked elite, spoiled model- tv star types that DON'T need to be in the Amazing race, and it seemed like they didn't even choose a variety of people to boot.

They've got models and actresses and people who were able to have apartments in Hong Kong and jet set around. Give me a break. It's maddening and boring. There's a team of housewives with rich foreign husbands who live in resort style luxury.

There is one team that I'm rooting for. AXN found a deaf person and partner to go on the race, very interesting. They are also wealthy, but at least they are interesting. There is also a brother and sister team from Japan. At least there's a different country represented there. Where are the South Koreans? India? Come on!

I want more "real" people...for lack of a better term,I mean, all these people are real people their parents would assure me. The team that angered me the most is Marc and Rovilson. I can actually see Marc on commercials here in the Philippines all the time. I mean conceivably, I could be watching the Amazing Race, and then see Marc again on one of the commercials during the show. And Rovilson is the editor in chief for Maxim in Asia. GIVE ME A BREAK. Yeah, he needs MORE money and experiences.

And the guy that produces the show said, Oh we just had SO MANY entries, it was SO HARD to choose. There's no excuse for this then.

And I told myself, Theresa, get your anger out now before the show starts, because you know you're going to end up liking all these people. And it's true. I like all the teams, they're fun to watch. A couple of the girl teams are regularly making me smile. And Marc... he is just HOT. Really. Last episode he took his shirt off for one of the tasks. Hm.

But the suggestion stands. I want MORE real people, like the husband and wife couple. Black American husband, and Philippina wife. She seems really American to me. I've been here in the Phils for two years, and I've never met anyone like her out here. I've met plenty in the US, though. They're called American women. Ha Ha. She's a Loud-mouthed tantrum throwing you-know-what. I love it. This week they're last, but I'm hoping they move up.

Marc and Rovilson. Sorry, but I hope you get ELIMINATED. Now, how much do you want to bet that Marc even auditioned for the host part when it came up in Asia? He looks like the host.

The AXN site for this show is pretty funny. It says on there that the host this season is going to be injecting his own edgy style into program this time around.

Ha ha. WHAT edgy style? He's exactly the same. My son and I joke about it every time he's on the screen. He did wear an interesting jacket one day. Was that it?

Anyway, I do love this show.

Pirate Master Death

2007-12-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

AXN shows Pirate Master out here, and at the very end of the series a message flashed on a black screen "in memory of..."

Cheryl was one of the first Pirates voted off, but she came back in the end. Ben picked her to run the final expedition and their team ended up winning. This meant thousands of dollars for her. I found the following news blurb on the net.

A local celebrity and Deputy District Attorney has died.
35 year old Cheryl Kosewicz was found dead in her home on Friday just two months after her boyfriend took his own life.
Kosewicz was working as a Deputy District Attorney in Reno focusing on the prosecution of sexual abuse cases.
Kosewicz also starred in a survivor spin-off show called Pirate Master on CBS.
Officials told Kolo-8, the death is believed to be a suicide but is still under investigation.

I wonder if her job was too depressing. Of course, her boyfriend's suicide isn't so great, but she seemed like someone so tough who would despise that ending for herself. I understand all suicidal people, but she didn't fit the type at all, it seems to me...from my limited perspective.

Hope to see you in the new world...Cheryl.

Relations

2007-12-13T03:42:00.000-08:00

Yes, Louis Theroux is Paul's son. Anderson Cooper is Gloria Vanderbilt's son. BUT Gary Tuchman is not related, it appears, to Barbara Tuchman. That's too bad for him, but really I'd be surprised if he was. It seems like he'd be a bit...brighter if he was. Sorry Gary.

Sorry!

2007-12-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys! It's just that things have been so hectic with Daniel and well the Meades in general, and you know all the crazy things that have been happening at Mode...it's all over the news.

Wait, that's not me...that's Ugly Betty. I need to get out more.
But yeah, I have been not able to get on the computer at all and I feel like a gigantic loser. I'm pretty bummed lately, because things just aren't going the way I would like them to.

Interestingly, I'm becoming a better person all the time and I just didn't think that was possible. Ha ha. I just wish I could be a honed individual without all the pointed experiences.

I keep coming back to this: the end of everything is...be good to eachother. I mean that's really what everything boils down to.

Connections

2007-11-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

The connection here in the internet cafe is really slow. It's pretty discouraging. I found this great song on You Tube by a band that our family used to listen to, especially on Sundays. All the LP records came out. It turned out, years later I found out that one of my closest friends KNOWS this band and they used to go to her house and stuff, I guess I was just never around. It's so weird! I love this song and this band.

Autistic look at the world

2007-11-20T00:33:00.000-08:00

I know that this is in part how my son views things, even though I can't really communicate with him. He talks all the time, but...about "nothing". His brain catalogues things and then he wants to repeat his lists. Part of this ritual includes me or his brother. We HAVE to respond with certain words at certain times or he starts all over again, or throws major tantrums. I think that he sees himself as a machine- person. He's been obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, I think he really relates to a machine with rigid clean lines and functions, but then it has a human face. My son is also quite lovey and wants hugs a lot. They are on his terms, though. Kind of the way a cat is.

Donald Trump One Of The Most Awesome Interviews I've Ever Seen

2007-11-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most awesome interviews I've ever seen. Catharsis.

Belly Laughs

2007-11-13T22:35:00.000-08:00

This still makes me laugh SO hard. It's worth watching.

I have more

2007-11-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

to say about teaching and experiences here. However, I'm currently mourning the end of my job. So I think about it and then I'm like...nyah. Not yet.
Here's a song for you...I know I'm in the Philippines and not Thailand, but it reminds me of being over here and it's fun.

See the next post down for where I am lately.

If you miss me...

2007-11-13T01:40:00.000-08:00

Go to My Generation Museum, I'm over at my other blog posting stuff.

My Generation Museum

One More Reason

2007-11-10T02:13:00.000-08:00

That I can't/won't marry Brad Pitt. I guess he's banned from China because of that Seven Monkeys in Tibet movie, or whatever it was. I'm the quintessential China Girl, so...no way Brad. My other reason was that...I had a fear if I got together with him he would dump me for someone else. These are the things that keep me up at night.

Awesome video. Bowie!

Leave Dog Alone

2007-11-10T01:18:00.000-08:00

I'm just checking in really quickly, here. Nothing much new going on. I did just spend a whole day out talking to people and visiting them in a beautiful area here with lots of animals and such. Very nice.

Stuff from the news, one: Leave Dog the Bounty Hunter alone. He's fine. If all rednecks in the US were like him, it'd be a near perfect place.

Two: Dr. Phil, your show is not the center of the universe, get over yourself. Dog has been through a lot. You spring a show on him and he's supposed to show up suddenly to appease you. Whatever.

Three: People who criticize Steve Irwin don't have two brain cells to rub together. Also: people who think Jeff Corwin is gay don't have two brain cells to rub together either.

Four: Jerry Seinfeld...love your show. We're a family that buys all the dvd sets of Seinfeld and watches all the extras and stuff...message for you: You came off like a big jerk on Letterman and Larry King in my opinion. There's no reason for you to call the author of the other children's cook book "a wacko" who's "coming out of the woodwork". I was ashamed for you.

And that's about it of late.

Love Song

2007-11-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

...kind of debating on whether I should tell the story behind this or not...

Yes!

2007-11-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

Answer to questions: I'm staying here in the Philippines until I close a deal. Who knows when...and the blog and MySpace are "forever". This week I've been at home under the weather and we've had a couple of power outages and no running water for a bit. So the blog has sat for a few days, but you know I'm the mad updater...so don't worry.

My Sentiments Exactly

2007-11-03T04:10:00.001-07:00

So I call Sean Hannity an Asshat, but I guess I'm no radical there. Here's a funny clip.

Frasier on Voyager

2007-11-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

My son will love to see this- two of his favorite shows combined!

Pop Quiz!

2007-11-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Who said this?

“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.”

Or this?
“I don’t know where he is. I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”

Or this?

“Deep in my heart I know the man’s on the run, if he’s alive at all…I just don’t spend much time on it, really, to be honest with you.”

And who disbanded the CIA unit dedicated to finding bin Laden?
Just Checking!
--------------------
I copy and pasted this text from Crooks and Liars dot com.

Remember the hostages?

2007-11-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

If you look back in my blog, I have one titled "excuse me?" when some hostages were killed in Afghanistan, and I ranted about the liars in the Bush administration claiming that they are fighting terrorism "over there". When Bush wanted to invade Iraq...Lots of folks said, hey what about Afghanistan? Here's a little news clip to show how Bush supporters feel.

So Afghanistan is going swimmingly folks...by the way this is old...but that was their position. And Ann says there's no need to capture Osama Bin Ladin.

Um...I don't even know what to title this.

2007-11-01T00:14:00.002-07:00

I was on You Tube watching clips of "idiots" and "dumbasses" on Wheel Of Fortune as they are called in the video titles. A couple of the clips feature black women. So of course, the caliber of You Tube commenters shines through: I'm reading comments like "Why are all the idiots black people?" Of course they get yelled at by other commenters.

Then I saw this gem! Tune in rednecks...this one's for you. And for what it's worth...this is by far more idiotic than all the other clips.

My Generation New Blog

2007-10-30T21:58:00.001-07:00

http:/70s80skidz.blogspot.com

New blog. It's already got 20 posts. I post stuff from my generation.

More Funny Moments from The Office.

2007-10-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

Best Show

2007-10-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Jim and Pam moments.
Top 10 Jim and Dwight moments:

I Love Jamie Oliver

2007-10-28T21:41:00.001-07:00

Such an American Hero:

Orange County Choppers American Choppers Scandal

2007-10-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well, there's some video on You Tube about how the local union people feel about the Teutuls. I know that union stuff is controversial, that aside...I hope that all's ok with the family. I enjoy that show. I also heard that Vinnie quit to start his own bike shop...the enemies of the family are trying to make something of it...I don't know that Vin left on bad terms. My guess is...not. I hope all is well with all of them including the union, I hate to see this kind of thing.

HERE

Answer to North Korea- South Korea question.

2007-10-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

One of my readers here asked me what my South Korean students think about their neighbors to the north. Here's You Tube video that captures the mood and sentiment of many, maybe even most. That's their family. Almost all want reunification. The only ones who don't only don't for pragmatic "it wouldn't work" reasons. Some picture the bloodshed and disturbance of the North's way of life that they are entitled to. Some say that they can't merge with them economically. But they tend to feel this way:

And that's their family, so they can critisize, but be careful what you say.
This video is from You Tube, and I was the first one to comment, if you want to go there and check it out, the poster of the video responded and said that she was just over there and the sentiment there was emotional for reunification (paraphrasing), if you want to see the exact comment, just go to You Tube. I think there's more than one of these videos, though. This one is called DMZ and Korea- A Nation Divided. One of the neat things about actually visiting You Tube is that related videos will come up on the screen, so if North Korea interests you, you can watch other things.

This next one is a "tour" of part of the DMZ zone...the Military guy is obviously American.

End

2007-10-26T01:49:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm walking out of here for the last time, this is my last day. I'm trying to not be sad.

More later...

Crooked

2007-10-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Usually I don't talk about sports news...but almost HALF the referees in the NBA are gambling? WOW. That's all I have to say.

Idiot Day

2007-10-24T21:52:00.001-07:00

It seems like today I'm running in to nothing but idiots. It's got to be partially me, right? I mean how could everyone around me be idiotic, but yet I'm fine. ?

No. I have this fear of turning into my grandfather. In his world, everyone was an idiot with very few exceptions.

I Love Ugly Betty

2007-10-24T17:37:00.001-07:00

Here in Asia, they finally started showing this on Star World, and I've been meaning to get an Ugly Betty post up for some time.

I was blown away by the first episode, I didn't realize it was a Devil Wears Prada thing. This show is really well done, because people are caricatures, but they're real- how did they do that? It's good writing. There's a compelling mixture of comedy and drama. I had another blog about the TV show On The Lot, and in that blog, I already wrote about the absurdity that there are virtually no Mexicans on TV. Where are all the Mexicans? I lived in California and the idea of no Mexicans on TV is just so wrong and bizarre. The United states has more blacks on TV proportionally than in reality. (Did that sentence make sense? Percentage wise-)Good for them, I really don't care...I'm just saying where are the Mexicans? And I don't want some over the top comic parody of a Mexican that acts like a Puerto Rican. Make it real!
What about a family show? It's just so dumb and nonsensical that it's taken this long, even if two or three shows were to crop up tomorrow.

Korean Dreams

2007-10-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs I read is http://belovedbabbling.blogspot.com
She's an American ESL teacher married to a Korean, used to live in Korea and has strong Korean ties. She's got scads of interesting links on the side of her page, where I found a link for 'Kimchi Mamas' blog. Recently, there was a short post on Korean dreams and so I've posted the URL here:
.Kimchi Mamas- Dream Entry

My students have talked to me about dreams and the very specifically Korean interpretations of these dreams. Pig= Money. If you dream about a pig it's good, and so on.

I do believe that our brains are hardwired to connect certain images with certain emotions when we are sleeping and our brain is de-fragging. I do not believe that people most of the time can properly interpret these things, or that one size fits all...or that one should attempt to predict the future with these images. But having said that, the brain fascinates me and so do dreams. I dream all night long. I know that this is abnormal, and truthfully, I think I'm a little bit crazy because of it. I'm not completely insane, but I'm like a person with perpetual sleep disturbance

The Pursuit of Happyness

2007-10-23T18:19:00.001-07:00

This is a really good movie, you guys. When I was a kid in the 70's it seems like the movies were good like this...and then the 80's came along and it seemed like suddenly everything was Rambo and I wanted to die. I distinctly remember thinking, "what happened?"

Anyway, this is a must see. I know, I'm late for this...it's been out a long while, but I'll venture a guess that there's quite a few people out there that skipped it. Well, don't.

One thing about me is I hate sappy tear-jerkers. So far I have refused to watch 'I Am Sam' because everyone who's reported to me on that has said, "Oh I cried so much"...that's a sure-fire way to get me to skip a movie. This one's not like that. It's a delight to watch. I'm so happy with Will Smith's kid's performance. So happy. This is like what I remember. I hope there are more to come like this.

Strange Things Students Say

2007-10-23T18:16:00.001-07:00

A student told me yesterday on his test (fill in the blank thing) that I am sexy. Hm.. He doesn't get a grade from me. Must be a translation issue.

Post Apocalypse Lobby

2007-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

My first student of the day is Sun (only one in this class)...she's not here today. The head teacher here is Mr. Moon. I try to avoid him when the students are absent, because if he sees me, he's like "What no students? Where are they? Why?" he gets mad at them like they're skipping class. ME: I think that if a student is absent then they needed some rest or a break, or they're sick...whatever. Currently Mr. Moon isn't around, so I headed out of class and I thought hey...

There's no Sun and there's no Moon...so I'm going to interact with technology in the lobby.

Local News and Odd News

2007-10-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

In Yahoo Odd News...San Luis Obispo women's prison worker (male) is in trouble for having inmates flash him. What an ass. Why do they have men working with female prisoners? Man can hardly work with women in a normal job.

And then in funnier news... Sioux City Iowa SUX. That's their new airport code...SUX...they didn't like it at first, but now I guess their "embracing" it.
So that's some nice news to start my morning with. I won't try to explain the SUX thing to the students...or maybe I will, I don't know. I'm hungry.

Star Wars Korean

2007-10-21T23:27:00.001-07:00

Shin Neung-kyun, Korean name...American name Nelson Shin. He's a professor in South Korea, originally from North Korea. He invented the Light Saber in Star Wars. This was reported in the CNN show Eye On South Korea and it's also in Wikipedia. He's a famous animator who's done shows like The Simpsons and X-men...and more. So there you have it. He's handsome in my opinion- he looks like my grandmother.

Line up change in China

2007-10-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

BEIJING - President Hu Jintao won a second five-year term as China's Communist Party chief Monday, heading a new leadership lineup that features potential successors yet could invite a divisive battle to succeed him.-By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer found on Yahoo news.

I don't really understand why the term "won" is used here. It's not like they're a democracy. I have to look more in to that. So, Hu Jintao...after his "win" made some leader changes in key areas. I'll be looking in to this more.

Penelope Cruz

2007-10-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

It doesn't really bother me that Penelope Cruz is ugly, I mean who am I to judge...but I was disturbed to learn from reliable internet sources that she is possibly the worst person who ever lived. She's a bad person. Baby seal clubber is the only atrocity I'll repeat here, because this is a family blog.

Bomb in Manila-Makati

2007-10-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

A bomb went off in the mall up in Manila in the Makati area. That's the finance area where all the foreign investment is. So I thought, makes sense...but today on the news I saw that some army guy here is being investigated because he said the government did it...um does this guy value his life? Bizarre. You'd be better off blaming Al-Queda, dude. Shut up.

WOW

2007-10-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how many people have hit my page here because of that Cheney-Obama cartoon. Trip out.

And one of my buddies has let me know that they have completely reversed their right-wing political views and are going for Obama 08. I said, hey is that just an 'I hate Hilary' thing? He said, no and he hopes that Hilary picks Obama as a running mate. I'm like... wow ...what planet is this? Am I still on earth?

It's one of those things where I was like...wow this guy is really smart and funny, but he's right wing...I don't get it. Well, now I don't have to 'not get it' anymore. He's changed.

Haim and Feldman No Longer Friends

2007-10-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

SHOCKING COREY NEWS!--<--This is a link

Ok, this just kind of made me chuckle and I was going to write a little blurb about it...but on the OMG web page, the comments at the bottom are so hilarious, I had to post the link- go check it out.

If any younger people wonder why Lisa Simpson (of The Simpsons hee) is in love with a "Corey" it's because of these guys. I love that episode where she gets addicted to calling his recording and Marge has a coronary when she sees the phone bill. I remember my sister's HUGE crush on Corey Haim back in the day...and we called a number just like that and paid HIM to leave him a message. Yeah.

And here's my two cents about this important news...Haim is a spazz, but who's spazzier...him, or Feldman's high-maintenance witchy wife? All these people are borderline retarded and they need to read some books. Have they gone to college? Becuase they might enjoy that. They should go. Another reality show, The Coreys Have Class.

Hilarious Cheney Obama Cartoon

2007-10-18T22:51:00.003-07:00

This cartoon of Cheney and Obama has me rolling. Good stuff from Bill Schorr!
And in case you haven't heard: They're distant relatives. Fox news has been trying a long time to get an Obama- Muslim connection going. This development wasn't what they had in mind, I'm sure. Ironicly, I wonder if *this* will hurt Obama! LOL as they say online. ["It's funny because it's true!" ha ha]

Dear Josh Grossberg,

2007-10-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Open letter to Josh Grossberg:
Dear Josh Grossberg,

I hope you google yourself (ew!) and find this. I just read an article about George Lucas' TV projects that you wrote, and I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your writing! Perhaps you're a fan? [Um, not of yourself...I mean of Star Wars] I realize that I might lose all credibility when you see my screen-name is 'jedimasterbooboo'...but I loved the article- thanks!

I tried to find a picture of you for this entry. I used Yahoo search and clicked "images" Wow! I didn't know you were a changling. I couldn't decide which one to use, you take on so many forms.

More Photos

2007-10-18T17:01:00.003-07:00

Wherever they went, they rode on top of the vehicles. Rain or shine. There's Abel. And there's an interesting sign.

A Couple of Photos From Gyu and Abel's Adventures

2007-10-17T01:58:00.000-07:00

I have a bunch more, but I'm concerned about loading my page with photo after photo and making it hard to load. In the second picture, those are hanging coffins on the side of the cliff.

Sad

2007-10-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

This is a Korean actress who's father is American. I guess people in Korea recently found out about this and now her life is bad. I don't know the details because I can't read Korean, but one of my students told me the news story says that sometimes she wants to die. Nice.

Students read my blog now and again, so I won't be completely candid about how I feel. End Entry.

They Rule

2007-10-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

www.theyrule.net

Go here, it's a flash program from 2004 that can map connections between corporations. It's TRIPPY.

I was on that site, I didn't really understand how it worked...I clicked "find connection" on the side and two boxes appeared allowing me to choose two companies from a list of hundreds. I randomly chose Ford Motor Company and Dow Chemical.

It quickly came up:
Ford Motor Company-Ellen R. Marram- Eli Lilly-Martin S. Feldstein, PH.D. -HCA- Harold T. Shapiro- Dow Chemical.

This is ...what? 5 degrees of separation?
Go play with it. Of course, know that it's from 2004 and all these board members and associates change constantly. In fact, the path that they move along is fascinating in itself. Some of them will wind up on government boards and committees, into fox/henhouse situations.

Then I found this- my old job is connected to Exxon

Exxon Mobile- Wells Fargo- Target -UPS
There's a person in between each company.

Then we have
Exxon Mobile- Pfizer- Time Warner

That's interesting.
I'm going back to play with it.

I'm back...

2007-10-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

So here's a quick post that reminds me of me circa 1999, 2000. I don't have a whole lotta time to re-visit all this stuff, but I wanted to check on my good ole friend Monsanto and see what they've been up to. I found this information linked to it.

Corporations richer than countries- Here's the link. Here's the info:

Of the world's 100 largest economic entities, 51 are now corporations and 49 are countries.

(It looks like this info comes from 2000 and I'm wondering what it looks like now.)

Rank Country / Corporation GDP / sales ($mil)
1 United States 8,708,870.00
2 Japan 4,395,083.00
3 Germany 2,081,202.00
4 France 1,410,262.00
5 United Kingdom 1,373,612.00
6 Italy 1,149,958.00
7 China 1,149,814.00
8 Brazil 760,345.00
9 Canada 612,049.00
10 Spain 562,245.00
11 Mexico 474,951.00
12 India 459,765.00
13 Korea, Rep. 406,940.00
14 Australia 389,691.00
15 Netherlands 384,766.00
16 Russian Federation 375,345.00
17 Argentina 281,942.00
18 Switzerland 260,299.00
19 Belgium 245,706.00
20 Sweden 226,388.00
21 Austria 208,949.00
22 Turkey 188,374.00
23 General Motors 176,558.00
24 Denmark 174,363.00
25 Wal-Mart 166,809.00
26 Exxon Mobil 163,881.00
27 Ford Motor 162,558.00
28 DaimlerChrysler 159,985.70
29 Poland 154,146.00
30 Norway 145,449.00
31 Indonesia 140,964.00
32 South Africa 131,127.00
33 Saudi Arabia 128,892.00
34 Finland 126,130.00
35 Greece 123,934.00
36 Thailand 123,887.00
37 Mitsui 118,555.20
38 Mitsubishi 117,765.60
39 Toyota Motor 115,670.90
40 General Electric 111,630.00
41 Itochu 109,068.90
42 Portugal 107,716.00
43 Royal Dutch/Shell 105,366.00
44 Venezuela 103,918.00
45 Iran, Islamic rep. 101,073.00
46 Israel 99,068.00
47 Sumitomo 95,701.60
48 Nippon Tel & Tel 93,591.70
49 Egypt, Arab Republic 92,413.00
50 Marubeni 91,807.40
51 Colombia 88,596.00
52 AXA 87,645.70
53 IBM 87,548.00
54 Singapore 84,945.00

55 Ireland 84,861.00

56 BP Amoco 83,556.00
57 Citigroup 82,005.00
58 Volkswagen 80,072.70
59 Nippon Life Insurance 78,515.10
60 Philippines 75,350.00
61 Siemens 75,337.00
62 Malaysia 74,634.00
63 Allianz 74,178.20
64 Hitachi 71,858.50
65 Chile 71,092.00
66 Matsushita Electric Ind. 65,555.60
67 Nissho Iwai 65,393.20
68 ING Group 62,492.40
69 AT&T 62,391.00
70 Philip Morris 61,751.00
71 Sony 60,052.70
72 Pakistan 59,880.00
73 Deutsche Bank 58,585.10
74 Boeing 57,993.00
75 Peru 57,318.00
76 Czech Republic 56,379.00
77 Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Ins. 55,104.70
78 Honda Motor 54,773.50
79 Assicurazioni Generali 53,723.20
80 Nissan Motor 53,679.90
81 New Zealand 53,622.00
82 E.On 52,227.70
83 Toshiba 51,634.90
84 Bank of America 51,392.00
85 Fiat 51,331.70
86 Nestle 49,694.10
87 SBC Communications 49,489.00
88 Credit Suisse 49,362.00
89 Hungary 48,355.00
90 Hewlett-Packard 48,253.00
91 Fujitsu 47,195.90
92 Algeria 47,015.00
93 Metro 46,663.60
94 Sumitomo Life Insur. 46,445.10
95 Bangladesh 45,779.00
96 Tokyo Electric Power 45,727.70
97 Kroger 45,351.60
98 Total Fina Elf 44,990.30
99 NEC 44,828.00
100 State Farm Insurance

This says that these are the 100 largest economic entities in the world. It seems hard to believe that there aren't other countries that would be in the top 100 besides Bangladesh and The Philippines. I guess they're not doing too bad overall (?)
Sources: Sales: Fortune, July 31, 2000. GDP: World Bank, World Development Report 2000
I was surprised at where Ireland sits.
So yeah, I listen to the nuts that scream about corporate responsibility. I think it's interesting.

Balot or Balut

2007-10-15T02:13:00.001-07:00

Many have heard of Balot...a delicacy here in the Philippines. It's a partially formed baby duck. I don't eat this because there's blood in it.

Some students are grossed out by it, some try it. Some like it some don't.
Photo by Abel. This duck is 18 days old and you can see his little head in there.

More Dancing Philippinos!

2007-10-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is video that my student Abel shot at Robinson's Mall.

People ask me if I'm in danger of terrorism here. I say no, but there's a danger of people breaking out into a spontaneous song and dance musical.

Vincent

2007-10-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

This is Vincent, he wasn't one of the students that went spelunking this weekend, but he just gave me this photo so I had to post it.

Interesting! Cave Survivors.

2007-10-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Yahoo news and one of the top stories is: "Student cave explorers are found safe."

That reminds me of my guys here. They saw alot of things this weekend, one of the most exciting was the cave tour. The cave was a real Indiana Jones type experience. (Actually their travel just to get to these spots was pretty Indiana Jones!)

At some points they had to crawl...at some points they were in water up to their chests holding their backpacks over their heads. Gyu said he saw a crab with no eyes. There were a gazillion bats (actual number)and meters of bet guano underneath. At some points the rock was so slippery that they had to crawl, so they got nice juicy bat guano on their hands.

Gyu was a bit concerned because the guide had a gas light that he held with one hand and nothing else. If that gas light hit the ground and broke, that was it they were in a pitch black cave miles from the opening. Hopefully the guide would have bat vision and super bat-guide skills if he dropped the lantern.

There was also a waterfall. The guide cost was 800 pesos, so 400 each, which is almost 10.00 dollars each. Pretty good. Their entire weekend cost each of them 60.00.

Oh, the hospital bill: Gyu just went to the hospital this morning because this weekend a bug flew into his ear and lived overnight at least and may have flown out the next day, we don't know. But the "damned insect" as Gyu calls it...may have laid eggs, so he's getting that checked out. That story was funny because I think Gyu thinks that the name of the bug is "damned insect"...because he says it without inflection and he says it every time, the whole time he's telling the story. "So I go hospital second class check damned insect. Damned insect may have laid eggs." "I sleep then at 4am damned insect started crawl." He was just relaying the facts.
At lunch maybe he'll update me on the damned insect.

UPDATE: It was still there. One of the teachers told me the doctor removed it. Gyu didn't save it, and they didn't film it! Rats!

Gyu is Alive!

2007-10-14T19:17:00.001-07:00

Ok, major blog entry coming! Right after I wrote the previous blog entry and was sad... Gyu and Abel came in to school looking a bit worn but with huge smiles.

They took a very risky trip this weekend, and I wondered if they'd come back alive. He just spent almost two hours telling me about it. Abel has photos and video, I'm going to do whatever I can to tell the story and get the pictures up here.

A LOT of our students are not the adventurous types. Once in awhile we get the back packers in here and I love it. Them: least likely to complain, most likely to experience things here and then talk about it. Also: least likely to stare at you blankly during class. ME: I like them.

Once, Gyu took off to Manila by himself and ended up getting drugged and robbed by a local. That was an interesting story and proved all the other overly cautious Koreans here right. I found it strange because hundreds of students come and go, they do lots of things here and ride jeepneys freely, but this particular group is like; "Jeepneys not safe for Koreans.", I'm like: "What?" This particular group thinks they're going to get killed as soon as they walk outside. I roll my eyes.

So what happens? Ugh! Gyu, why?!? He ends proving them right (kind of). Anyway, that didn't deter him from planning other adventures.

Gyu and Abel went to the north of the Philppines to see the rice terraces and some caves, and it's something that the local teacher here said he wouldn't do. It's quite a story.

I love this picture...he's so tired, but it was all worth it.

Here's Abel.

People Die

2007-10-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

I was reading some biographies of former high school classmates and I saw one that really made me sad. There's a girl from our graduating class that got married and had children and step children, then her husband got cancer and died last year. Now I have to go to class and I feel down. Death is a sad thing. Jesus cried when people died, he didn't say, "hey it's all my plan!" The bible says that death is the enemy. It's a horrible thing to go through and I feel for that person.

Evan Almighty- Ramadan

2007-10-11T01:37:00.001-07:00

One of my students brought this movie in and we watched it in class. I thought it would irritate me because the ark was a huge box the size of a football field- not a boat- and yes there were pairs of animals, but 7 pairs of each...also God promised no more flood, he'd never do it again and he actually felt regret... that's what he promised with the rainbow covenant.

That's why when people said hurricane Katrina was a punishment from God, I was like...yeah you're full of KKKrap! and like all phony baloney religious types, the people saying that don't have a clue what the Bible says...

...and blah blah blah. But it was a pretty cute movie anyway. It was fun to watch with the students.

It's Thursday now, but tomorrow we have no school because here in the Philippines, Ramadan is a national holiday.

Ireland Abstains From Potato Vote

2007-10-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

GMO HOT POTATO ISSUE
The European Union can't agree on allowing the new genetically modified potato to be used as animal feed. As usual, these stories don't provide enough information for the average person to get a feel for the whys behind GMO controversies. Around 1999 I did a bunch of research on this, and it's actually pretty interesting.

Several EU countries voted on the issue...
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Portugal abstained in the vote.

Also, if you love potatoes...go to www.potatonews.com

In related news
New potato chips from Golden Flake coated with caffeine
BIRMINGHAM (AP) — For a generation already buzzing on energy drinks, here's a new snack — potato chips coated with caffeine.
Potato Buzz

That doesn't sound good to me at all.

JC and Autism

2007-10-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

So I walked in the door from work the other day and my oldest son said he saw Jenny McCarthy on Larry King Live and she said that Jim Carrey was her boyfriend and that he's got a knack for communicating with her autistic son. Doesn't surprise me.

I chose this picture because this is my family's favorite Jim Carrey movie.
I don't really like reading things about Austism. It's the same stuff over and over again. Irony?

What?

2007-10-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Matt Damon went to Harvard? What?
I don't know anything about celebrities, and I think that Oceans is the only Matt Damon movie I've seen. But I saw him on Larry King once with Angelina Jolie. (I have never seen an Angelina movie by the way.)

They both act like uppity types. I thought wow, this room is big enough for both of them? I was surprised to hear Matt Damon talk, he used a LOT of words, and I love words and uppity-type things, and even I was like whoah, dude...

Trash

2007-10-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about trash which is what the show 'Desperate Housewives' is.
Recently, they had a line in their show disparaging medical schools here.

Newsflash for everyone! Human beings in other countries have medical care, doctors, hospitals, etc. It's not a joke that someone went to med school in the Philippines, but what can you expect from a show like that anyway? Nothing but stupidity.

"MANILA (AFP) - Makers of hit US television series "Desperate Housewives" have apologised for a slur against Filipino medical workers that caused an uproar in the Southeast Asian country.
The apology was sent to Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN's bureau in the United States and aired in the Philippines on Thursday following protests by the Manila government.

"The producers of 'Desperate Housewives' and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere," cable news channnel ANC quoted the statement as saying.

"There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines," it said.

The episode showed actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asking during a medical consultation to check "those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."

The apology was made a day after chief aide to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said the line of dialogue appeared to be a "racial slur."

Philippine Senators said the apology was not enough, and urged their Foreign Affairs Department to lodge a formal protest with the US government.

"I am mortally offended by the statement because it betrayed the racial prejudice and denigrates the excellent performance of world-class Filipino doctors in the US," said Senator Miriam Santiago, whose sister is a doctor working in Los Angeles.

--------
It's not racial prejudice, it's prejudice against a country the US feels superior to.

Question From Students

2007-10-09T01:59:00.001-07:00

A student asked me today, "Is tweety a boy or a girl?"
Um... Anyone...?

Finally!

2007-10-09T01:47:00.000-07:00

Years ago I read about conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds and found the whole thing fascinating so I really wanted to see the movie when it came out. I knew what it was immediately when I heard the title. It's taken me a long time, but today I finally got to see it. Not the whole thing, we'll finish it tomorrow.

WOW, I love it. I like true stories. A lot. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the very best actors in hollywood, off the top of my head, I can't think of someone better really. His first movie was What's Eating Gilbert Grape and he played an autistic kid! My son is autistic and his portrayal is dead on. I remember telling my older son, the guy who plays "arnie" is an actor, he's just acting. Seems hard to believe. I don't swoon over Leo's looks, I just think that the range he has as an actor is amazing, he does a great job. So far I'm glued to the movie. I can't wait to finish it.

I own one diamond and I found it on the ground one day and tried to find the owner. I left my phone number with the building that I found it in front of...they just laughed at me. It fit me perfectly and my ring finger is really small. I wear it on my right hand, but it turns out that lots of guys are dyslexic or something and thought I was married on several different occasions. Yay ring! I hope nobody died for you.

They call this one...

2007-10-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

"Cheney's Got A Gun". A while back in the news, it was reported that Dick Cheney shot this guy while hunting, and then the guy apologized to him. Kinda bizarre, but then...

It wouldn't be on my blog had I not found this super-cool lego replica of the incident.

It's Tuesday Now

2007-10-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Just keeping you updated.

There was another Wisconsin shooting among young people, very tragic. I don't have much to say about it. Peace out.
------
From the story:
CRANDON, Wis. - A young sheriff's deputy who opened fire on a pizza party and killed six people reportedly flew into a rage when he was rebuffed by his old girlfriend, and others at the gathering called him a "worthless pig." - Yahoo News Link to shooting article.

Ok, I have a little something to say. The news keeps talking about how he was a "police officer", which...I don't think he really was. He was a little deputy trainee. His choice of occupation has very little to do with this tragedy, in my opinion. And I'm not one for giving cops a break.

More Evidence That It's Monday

2007-10-07T21:55:00.001-07:00

I typed in "unicycle accident" on Yahoo, and this guy's picture came up. Whatever.

Monday

2007-10-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

It's Monday here. I know for a lot of you out there, it's still Sunday. Well, I'm here on Monday, just looking around a bit...and...you can stay in bed if you want, there's nothing good going on here. Some grumpy people acting weird, some bad food, a sappy movie...

Tell your boss and loved ones I said you can sit this one out.

Friday

2007-10-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know what this means, but that makes it cool.
My students on Fridays will do anything to watch a movie in class. So far today I've watched two movies halfway through. Our classes are long, but the students are coming REALLY LATE. They brought me Oceans 12 for the first period. I couldn't hear it because of the notebook computer volume...but if there's a movie that I can't hear...it's good that Brad Pitt is in it...something to look at.

Second period they brought me "The Holiday". It has Cameron Diaz and Jude Law, and I don't care for either of them. It's also got Kate Winslet and Jack Black. The first half of the movie is cute, but also reminded me how much I hate men, and how serious a problem it's becoming. Maybe Monday I can see the rest.

Next class will be a famous Korean movie called "Tatja" which is about gambling. Its English title is called "The Hoodwink".

My last class can't have a movie because it's got a certain format to it...they don't need one anyway.

YESTERDAY: So I'm laughing at my post from yesterday, as if NO NEWS can come from Marinette or Peshtigo...like it's just not possible! But beyond that I think it's pretty interesting that Hmong Chinese live there. I can't imagine how they do it. I know that they came from Laos, but I'm wondering what Chinese they speak, if it's Mandarin or Cantonese.

The only way I would ever ever ever ever even consider moving back there ....the only way I would allow that thought in my head for longer than 30 seconds is to think about the possibility of teaching ESL to the Hmong. That sounds interesting. I'd love it.

Marinette Wisconsin??!?!

2007-10-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Yahoo news and I see a headline for Marinette? This is where I grew up! People are murdering eachother while hunting. This is a Hmong Chinese issue. The story is bizarre.
People killing each other near Peshtigo...Squirrel hunting!

James Nichols, 29, is accused of shooting and stabbing Cha Vang, 30, after the two got into a dispute while hunting separately for squirrels Jan. 5 in the Peshtigo Wildlife Area.

Vang's death rekindled racial tensions in northern Wisconsin, where a Hmong deer hunter fatally shot six white hunters three years ago.

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"fatally shot"...SIX hunters? How does one accomplish that?
I know some people from around that area read my blog. What's up? Do you know anything about this? Probably just what's in the news? I'm not reading local news, this came up in national Yahoo news.