Friday, May 26, 2006

siffty siffs

oh, yes. film festival season is upon us once more. last year, i saw a crazy 20 movies, mostly good, some not so much. but that's nothing! despite finding well over 40 movies i wanted to see this year, i've cut the number down to approximately 22, due to budgetary (and time) constraints. we'll see if that holds. i have yet to finalize it all, but i hope to see all of the following:






yes, that does seem like a lot, but i have so much fun year after year that i can't help myself. this is also the last year that i get to take advantage of the student discount, tho the woman at the box office didn't check my id or anything, so perhaps i can pull it off next year. i actually didn't think i'd see as many this year because there seemed to be a lot less east asian movies in this year's selection, but after going thru the entire list, i found that didn't really hinder me. notice the slight increase in pictures of naked boys and/or boys about to kiss? there were more queer movies this year, i think, or at least more gay movies that looked interesting (i.e. had screencaps of naked boys and/or boys about to kiss), so those easily filled the holes left open by a lack of asian cinema representation. i'd like to give short reviews on the movies after i see them, but i never had time to do that last year, so who knos. no promises. anyhow, i'll see y'all at the movies!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

on the davinci code

my roommate and i were at the grocery store in the jam section and...

roommate: my dad likes apple butter. i don't get it.

me: well, to each his own. for instance, i hate the davinci code.

random girl who had been browsing the aisle next to us: oh god, isn't it horrible?

me: yeah! what a shitty book.

girl: fuck that book, AND that movie.

having made her point, the girl walks away. the end.

postscript: she was wearing the same golden girls t-shirt that i had, and i had resolved to dispatch of her, but then she redeemed herself in the jam aisle.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

amazing race, season 9

this was actually attached to the end of the previous post, but it was getting long, so i sliced it off and am posting it today.

the amazing race is wrapping up! with this show, i think i wouldn't mind if any of the current teams won (i hated mojo, and they're gone). okay, mebbe i would mind a little bit. the dumb guys shouldn't win. one of them is pretty cute, but he's such a jackass, i can only imagine he'll use the money to get chicks, and that's not okay. i'd be okay with ray and yolanda getting the money cuz i like them, except that i don't expect their relationship to last. obviously, long distance it was okay cuz they didn't have to be with each other 24/7, but i think it's clear from the trip that they'll only get on each other's nerves if they lived in the same city. so i guess that leaves the hippies, two of the most resilient contestants on the amazing race in a while. the power of t'tow clearly favors them, and i can imagine the money going to some good causes were they to win it. like more funny hats.

Monday, May 15, 2006

fun-filled weekend

this past weekend was a lot of fun.

on friday, i had a midterm in the morning (not fun), and a full day of classes (930-300), but after all that, i went to the concert at hec ed pavilion, which included rock: local band united states of electronica, the academy is..., and my boys phantom planet; and hip-hop: locals blue scholars and mos def. mix master mike spun as well, and carlos mencia showed up too.

united states of electronica were pretty good. they sounded like a fun band. i'd heard of them before, but never seen them perform. there were like 6 members or something, two of which were sharing the singing and dancing girl duties usually performed by one. the academy is... is one of those bands like fall out boy where their music isn't really anything new and all their songs sound the same, but is very easy to listen to. in fact, they are touring with fall out boy this month, i think. their lead singer is tall and really skinny, and looks like a girl with his long hair and super-tight shirt and pants, but i still thot he was kinda hot. he strut around the stage a lot, which kinda reminded me of mick jagger, but when he was younger. a lot younger. naturally, i went to this thing for the sole purpose of seeing phantom planet. as you may or may not kno, not only do i love their music (where's that new album, guys?), i have an 8-year-long-and-counting crush on the lead singer alex greenwald. it was great seeing all of them live again. i think the last time i saw them was with hoobastank, and god knos how long ago that was. they played a mix of old and older (since they haven't released much new material in a while), as well as one new song (i can't wait!), and one cover: phantom of the opera ("in sleep he sang to me/in dreams he came..."). i had a lot of fun watching them, and i found out that i still have the hots for alex. oh, alex... (thanks dan, for the pic)

carlos mencia really sucked. that isn't to say he bombed, unfortunately. it was sad to see so much of the audience laughing at his jokes, cuz they weren't inspired, clever or funny. his kind of comedy is the very ignorant kind that stupid people think, "oh that's so true," tho he wraps it up in "i'm trying to make you guys think," and tries to justify his homophobia and racism with his "i make fun of everyone" line. i understand that he needs to make money, but the whole act was painful for me. i couldn't change the channel like i usually can when he comes on after south park. i didn't hate him before, but i do now.

blue scholars was great. i'd heard about them, and seen pictures here and there, but this is the first time i'd actually heard them. plus, seeing them live made me come to the realization that i'd lived in the dorms with one of them and used to see him around all the time. actually, i think one of my friends had a thing for him. but that's beside the point. it's always fun listening to locals, cuz they reference things that only other locals would really get. mix master mike spun a great set, and mos def was awesome, but i think by that time i was way too tired and hungry to really appreciate them. my legs and feet hurt from standing for 5 hours, and i hadn't eaten for 9.

i was ready to pass out by the end, but i definitely think i got my $18 worth out of the event. especially since there were so many cute boys there! god damn, were there a lot. it was like everywhere i turned, a new one would pop out for me to peruse. had i been drunk, i'm sure i would have accosted some of them, but luckily for them, i was not.

and that was just friday. saturday morning, i woke up early to the blazing sun. okay, it wasn't blazing, but it was very bright and the sky was mostly clear. there are a few washington state activities my roommate wants to engage in before he moves down to socal for culinary school, and this day seemed like a good day to do one of them, so we decided in the blink of an eye to go over to woodinville and visit columbia winery, since he'd wanted to go wine tasting. when we got there, we were treated to various wines by one of the best wine stewards ever. her name was nan (i don't kno if i'm spelling that rite), and she kept on pouring. in addition, we got to see parts of the winery that she told us people usually didn't get to see on the tour. and then we got some vouchers for free reserve tasting. of course, it all worked great on me and i picked up a couple bottles of syrah for my parents. after that, we went across the street to chateau ste. michelle and after a tour and tasting there, i picked up a bottle of moscato for my sister (she loves her moscato). we realized that the red hook brewery was out here, so we decided to do a brewery day at some point in the future and hit mac and jacks in redmond, pyramid in seattle, and perhaps maritime pacific in ballard too.

and while that was all a lot of fun, the best part of visiting woodinville was dining at the purple cafe and wine bar. it was suggested by our friendly steward at columbia winery, and i enjoyed it quite a bit. i ordered the lobster baked mac and cheese ("campanelle noodles & lobster baked with gruyere, mozzarella, leeks & carrots") and it was delicious. the lobster was perfect with the cheeses and everything (gruyere is one of my favorite cheeses). if anyone stops by, i fully recommend this dish. okay, that couldn't possibly be the reason that this was the best part of the visit, rite? rite. our friendly waiter, bryan, was really fucking hot. at medium height, he had longer dark brown hair, a five o'clock shadow, a milky complexion and really well-formed features. whenever he came by, i couldn't help but get a good look. of course, looking at a waiter is usually body language for "excuse me, i need something," which is why he kept stopping mid-stride, unsure of whether or not i needed him for something. oh yes, i needed him for something, but i'm not sure it was part of his job to give it to me. i especially liked that he actually talked to us about our food beyond what i usually get from waiters (tho were he ugly, i probably would have been annoyed), and so that worked on me and i left a nice tip. there appears to be a location in kirkland, a little closer than woodinville, which is nice for when i want just the food, but i would definitely miss the service.

and that was just earlier in the day. i feel like this post is going on forever. oh well! for dinner, i met up with a friend from high school i hadn't seen in probably half a decade (that makes it sound like a long time, doesn't it?). it was a lot of fun catching up, and after sushi, we hit the theatre for stick it. while it wasn't quite bring it on (the dialogue was not as good, and dear god, it was lacking a lot of focus), it was still quite enjoyable and kept the "winning isn't everything" theme of the other movie. the main girl, missy peregrym, was so hot! i remember her vaguely from that failed abc show with kelly osbourne and sean faris, but i didn't remember her being really so hot. hopefully, she'll be in more stuff now, cuz i like her a lot.

and that was just saturday. just kidding, sunday wasn't full of fun like the other days were. i really should have been working on homework all weekend, but sometimes things just don't work out like that. so after i woke up, i did as much homework as i could, before i went home for mother's day and spent some time with my mom.

then i got back and watched the survivor finale. i'd been pulling for aras since the first episode, cuz i thot he was the hottest guy there, and i was pleasantly surprised when he won. honestly, i would have loved for cirie to have won, since she was my favorite, but after she was out of the running, i was behind aras 100%. and then after danielle won the last challenge, i was sure the million dollars was aras's. why was i so sure? because danielle likes to replace the vowels in people's names with the letter i. she spelled aras, "aris," and terry, "terri." that is the sole reason she didn't win. speaking of terry, i kno a lot of people liked him, but i didn't. i thot he was increasingly such a tool as the days went on. his ability to win a lot of the physical challenges didn't impress me, because everything that came out of his mouth was asshole talk. or mebbe i only feel that way cuz it was him vs. aras, and i liked aras. either way, i didn't like him, and am happy with the result of this survivor.

and that was pretty much my weekend. it was fun.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

i should be studying now

okay, so i was at a coffee shop today, studying with some friends, and in walks this reasonably cute guy, with his track jacket, jeans, and pumas. i catch some eye contact with him, but i dunno if it was just incidental (did we just happen to glance at each other at the same time?), cuz you kno, sometimes that happens. he sits down and he goes about his business. the person in the next table over that i'm facing has left, and so there's a free space there. in a little bit, the cute guy moves to this table and we are sitting basically face to face with two tables between us. at first, i think it's cuz there's more light at this table. for the next couple hours, i would get frequent, if intermittent eye contact with him, and i didn't kno what to think. of course, it finally occurs to me that we are being very loud sometimes (they were girls, forgive them), and that he's probably just trying to glare us into being quiet. but then, even when we weren't being loud, he kept looking over. so really, i didn't kno what to think. well, this is what i think. i think if he wanted us to be quiet, he should have come and asked us if we could do that. and i think that if that wasn't the case, he should have come and talked to me anyways, cuz he was cute. either way, i suppose i enjoyed exchanging brief stares. isn't this so totally missed connections tho? "coffee shop in the u district. you, cute. me, studying with friends (loudly). i noticed you looking over a lot. did you just want us to shut up or was there something more? wish i'd asked you in person. chai, sometime?"

Monday, May 08, 2006

it's rain

look! rain made time magazine's time 100, their annual (is it annual?) list of people who influence our world. yes, rain is huge in asia, but... there are a lot of stars bigger than him, aren't there? well, whatever, i don't mind. _i_ love him, and that's all that matters. the article says he's getting ready for an english-language debut coming this fall. i'll support it, but i wouldn't get his hopes up. crossing over from asia to the us isn't something that happens easily, and even when it does happen, their american work usually isn't great compared to what they'd done in asia (yes, jet li, i'm talking about you). even when they don't successfully cross over, their attempt isn't that great. sorry, rain, but if utada (a real american!) can't make it, then what hope is there for you? well, gosh, why am i being such a fucking bugger? of course he'll make it. and then... and then, he'll have millions of screaming asian-american fans, and... when will he have time for me? oh, dear. (previously, rain)

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

relief

yesterday, my history prof ended class early because she wasn't feeling well. i wonder if she had as bad a hangover as i did.