Racial?

I’ve had to re-think this one a few times due to recent events. I recently had the pleasure of eating a home-cooked meal by Maggie’s neighbour, Anna. Needless to say, it was an Italian feast: salumi, cheeses, ouso bucco, pesto chicken, risotto and other dishes. Then we had a conversation of societal pressure of students, specifically those of (Asian/Chinese) immigrant families. Then came the topic of “parachute babies”, which is a topic I am iffy on. Those who come over and make something of themselves, I’m all for it. Those who are here to dick around while mommy and daddy are paying for school, living, and BMW cars: well… it’s probably best I don’t try to formulate any sentiments.

Then I recently walked by a newspaper box for the Asian Pacific Post and saw the headline. I don’t recall the exact wording, but I’ll summarize it as such: Asian students are all study and no play. The first words out of my mouth, aloud, were: bull, fucking shit! I grabbed a copy of the newspaper and was then reminded that the newspaper was probably diseased (Swine flu? I don’t recall what Russ said) and threw it back into the box.

I have no problem with smaller newspapers at all. I read the 24 and that other, “green” politically backed, free newspaper that gets shoved into your face at every Skytrain station while attending SFU and I always appreciated a bit of reading while ignoring the mundane conversations of other people on the bus. The APP (I’m lazy now) is an odd one as I never knew what to think about them. I skimmed one once and summarized it as a 24 with a focus on news that included anything Asian. Nowadays, I see the APP as showcasing young, female, Asian post-sec students on the Vancouver Province website. They call it Campus Scene; I call it advertising.

I managed to find the article on the website and read it. And as I guessed, the article was nothing special. The students who are “all study and no play” are the young kids in China who are essentially forced to study, study, and study some more. This form of pressure has been in the limelight in the last few years as students (and workers) are committing suicide due to the inability of living up to expectations or fulfilling the goals asked of them. Unfortunately, we see this with the CBC’s here in Canada (minus the seppuku). Aside from school, parents are now enrolling their kids in cram schools (Kumon, etc), arts-related lessons (music, dance, etc), and occasionally sports (ping pong, soccer, etc). These poor little bastards have their lives planned out for them and it’s quite unfortunate. (By the way, I’m acknowledging that it’s not just Asian kids who have their daily lives planned out.) I’m skipping over the negative racial article that Maclean put out that APP and others are protesting against, but I then can’t help but think of (and return to) the parachute babies. This is a slippery slope for me as I agree that the Maclean article is probably chalk full of bullshit and was written by a white-supremist who’s angry his/her hillbilly relative can’t get pass the 8th grade. Then again, I have to play devil’s advocate because it’s some of the parachute babies that seriously piss me off. Seriously, they’re only here because their parents send them here to study, get the a bachelors of any sort, and go back home to get a job. Most go on to stay in Canada and become awesome citizens. These folk study their asses off and I admire them. Then there are those who are here killing time. You’ve probably seen them around: loitering in Richmond, bubble tea spots, malls, driving overly nice cars that they didn’t pay for, wasting precious seats in a class that others could use to fulfill their pre-reqs. Really, they’re the least contributing people both in classes and society (unless you consider cheap labour a benefit). I know I’m being stereotypical of the parachute babies, and excluding other useless banter from this similarly described group, but honestly, I can’t help it. I always like to give the benefit of the doubt, but seeing a dumb shit dick around in class so he/she can get a BA with the bare minimums and doing nothing but waste their parents money really angers me. To those who are trying to do well and finish school, taking full course loads and working part or full time jobs, I take my hat off you and admire your courage. Hell, I was there a few years ago and can appreciate that. If you fall under the latter, my heart goes to you. For those of the former, give or take a few inclusions/exclusions in factors, sod off and give the hard workers their deserved chance.

Fake Food?

Today is a topic that I have realized in the last few years is of great interest to me: gastronomy. I like to cook, but am by no means a good one. I like to try different types of foods but will openly admit to be cowardly or squeamish to the idea of certain eats. The one idea about food that I’ve known subconsciously since a child: it brings people together. Be it in a restaurant or in someone’s home, a meal with family and/or friends is always welcomed.

And tonight, I had the privilege of dining with Maggie’s family at Koon Bo on Fraser and 41st. This is a group of people who I enjoy spending time with, will be “officially” calling family soon, and who have accepted me over time (and by default, lol). With the Mid-Autumn festival just recently behind us, came the token topic: moon cake. I personally have no love or hate for moon cake. It’s just some odd pastry that I was given a little wedge to nibble on as a kid every autumn, but I never really thought much about it. What I know did NOT float my boat about moon cake was the yolk. I don’t know why. (It was thanks to John, Maggie’s older cousin Sara’s husband, who started the topic.) Now, in recent years, the whole scandal of fake egg yolks being used for moon cakes and other mass produced items has been rampant. And as always, the key player in all of this: China. So as the topic about where and what came into play regarding moon cake, I grabbed my iPhone and did a search on “how to make fake egg yolks china”. After waiting for my EDGE phone to finally do something, I managed to find a link that gave the play-by-play on the process. This disturbed me (and John) greatly. Honestly: “WTF is the sh!t going into it?”

Then another troubling thought popped into my head: how different is this to what Ferran Adria does with his caviar? It’s almost similar because the ingredient (from what I found via inter-webbing) that Ferran uses to form his individual caviar is also what the Chinese use to form the yolks: sodium chloride. Are the Chinese knocking off yet another brilliant idea? What else is new? Honestly though, this is one knock-off I’d rather live without. The concept is almost identical (assuming you ignore the whole fake egg shell thing). When you break down what is the apple, mango, whatever bits and juice that Ferran is using for his caviar: isn’t that stuff just a bunch of chemicals too? I have no clue what most of the chemicals going into the fake yolks are, but I know a tiny part of me would feel better knowing it was bone marrow or some food related by-product. It’s almost like eating crappy hot dog wieners: that sh!t isn’t good for you but as long as you don’t think about it, it won’t hurt you? I don’t know, is ignorance really bliss when it comes to food?

Random Rant :D

I’ll admit: I’m actually a pretty crappy writer. My grammar isn’t spectacular nor will it ever be. I guess that’s why I’m thankful I was at SFU, where the only English degree was essentially Literature and I had some forgiving profs (who evidently enjoyed my ideas). (UBC distinguishes Literature and Grammar. Not sure if they still do, but they did during my days.) I am one of the many who enjoy chatting and messaging, so any chance I get to throw grammar our the door and jump into the interweb vernacular: w00t. I am of the: lol, brb, wtf, ftw, and so on. I mean seriously, when you need to get to the point fast, nothing beats abbreviations and acronyms. Hey, try sending a huge txt from a cell phone, that only has T9 (no QWERTY keyboard) and message size of ~150 characters max. Now that, my friend, is a pain in the ass.

So why do we use them? They sound cool? They’re convenient? Whatever floats your boat. Doesn’t hurt my feelings. Well… That’s a lie. There is one in particular that is exceptionally irritating (although situational): fml. How many times have you seen someone post something somewhere that either starts or ends with fml? I don’t know about you, but I tend to have an “oh for fuck’s sake” moment when I see those. I’m almost inclined NOT to finish reading posts that include fml. Why? What am I supposed to do, pat you on the back or head and tell you: “it’s okay?” “Baby want a cookie?” or “need a diaper change?” I will usually roll my eyes, laugh at your expense, and read something else. I know it’s the Internet and freedom of ideas/speech, blah blah blah. Hell, that’s what I’m doing here, but I really don’t care if your little sibling ate your last twinkie and you’re now depressed. All I know is that you spillled your milk and need your mommy to wipe your bum.

Now, there are genuine fml moments out there. For example, you were in a car accident, idiot behind you wasn't paying attention and rear-ended you, and you’re hurt? You have my sympathy, I wish you well. However, if the reason was: you were speeding, you were talking on your cell phone while driving, or just dicking around: stfu. I could possibly care enough to give an omg, maybe. Ultimately, you fml’d yourself, so therefore I will lmao in your general direction :)

Accomplishment vs. Acknowledgement

Which one has more value? Which one is more appreciated? Which one gives us the most bang for buck? Or are they the same thing? An old fortune cookie once preached, "modesty is the best policy"... or was that "honesty"? The hell if I remember, lol. It’s a "dog-eat-dog world and it's all about "me, myself, and I." I’d like to think that no one (I know) is that naive, although I have been wrong in the past. ... Wait, never mind, I’m pretty sure I am wrong. Anyways, the whole thing about "nice guys finish last"? I believe it.

Does that mean we should all bragging our asses off? Sure, if you wanna move up in life or whatever. Should we instead be humble and meager? Doesn’t hurt either. A bit depressed this hardly gave you any insight? Meh. But a wise man once said: "when I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead!"

Kick Ass

I don't go to the movie theaters much anymore. Sad, but doesn't overly bother me. I'm always interested in adding movies to my blu-ray collection if the price fits. My latest purchase was Kick Ass from a recent trip to Costco. At $22.50 (before tax), and checking with friends on the worth, I decided to get it.

It took me a almost a week before I even opened and watch it. All I knew about this movie was: it was some superhero movie, had a 13yr old girl that a few guys drooled over, violent, and made it to blu-ray rather quickly. Then I looked closely at it and noticed Nicolas Cage was in it (post-purchase). I sighed but turned on my PS3 anyways.

The movie itself: lame, cheesy, stupid, but kind of neat. As usual, the lead-up was atypical and stupid: dork/person with good intentions wants to be something, stuff happens, he gets stuff (powers, ability, chance, girl, etc) and voila. The action was neat, reminded me of Kill Bill (either volume). At around when Red Mist popped up, I got bored, so my brain went into auto-pilot. Then I (somehow) drew the analogy of Aaron Johnson's character to the poor slob that the Joker kills and hangs in Dark Knight. You know, the guy who tried to bust Scarecrow early on, only to fail and have Batman save him. The moment when Kick-Ass got captured, it reminded me a LOT of the Dark Knight scene when Joker filmed himself toying with the wanna-be Batman. It simply showed that: good intentions CAN get your ass kicked (... I think I just paraphrased Cage... f@ck...). So I guess compare Kick-Ass with Batman: normal-ish guys, with good intentions. Both get their ass kicked as well as kick some ass, but who really has the righteous intentions? Both are on some kind of high from a self belief of righteousness, although Batman's a bit of an emotional wreck and Kick-Ass is a hormonal teen. Wait, that's almost the same thing! To me, it seems that neither is of their right mind or inspirational. It's a sad attempt at trying to take a stand and change something, but isn't that what activists and (potential) politicians are for? Ultimately, these super hero movies that attempt to be humorous are lame. No you don't deserve to take down a crime lord and get an innocent-turned-slutty girlfriend who's always wanted a gay BFF. You deserve to get the crap beaten out of you, plain and simple.

Anyways, did I like the movie? So-so, I'd give it 3.75/5. It got me thinking on a tangent, and the fight scenes were cool. It was humanizing to see Hitgirl run out of ammo, Big Daddy burn, and Kick-Ass get his ass kicked. However, next time I watch it on my own, I'll probably skip a chunk of the beginning.

Over-Thinking Again...

... Or is it "over thinking... again..."? Who cares, I don't feel like starting on that one, lol. Anyways, we all over-thinking things in our daily, mundane lives. All the "should haves", "could haves", "would haves", "what ifs", "maybes". As soon as you say, think, or ponder any of those words: you've already over-thunk. (That's right, "thunk".)

So why? Maybe we're too smart, dumb, bored, paranoid, hung-over, drunk, high, whatever. We just do it. Although I'm sure most of you would agree that we seem to do it just before we sleep. Right? It's almost human nature to over-analyze. We're inquiring minds, we needs to know. We need to make sense of things.

Anyways, I'm bored, so let's start with that :)