This movie comes out on Friday, so I decide to buy this book on Amazon and finish it before the movie came out. I know that for the most part the book is always better than the movie, so now I will be setting myself up for disappointment when the movie comes out huh? Well, guess I’ll find out in about a few days time. Too bad I have to get by another week’s worth of work before doing so.
Anyway, I finished reading the book. There are no spoilers here, so no worries. I won’t reveal any more than what the movie trailer has revealed as well. Anyway, the book is about masked heroes, as most comic books are. However, there is a law that was passed and it is now illegal to be a masked vigilante. One of these former heroes is killed at the beginning of the story, and its suspected that there is someone out there hunting these now former masked heroes. Is it true, and if so, what’s the agenda? The story takes place in the 80′s, and the theme of war during the Cold War era plays a large part in the storyline of this graphic novel.
I actually had no expectations going into this reading. I had no clue what it was about. After reading it, I did not find this my favorite novel, but I did like the story and thought the ending was very interesting. I think this was originally a 12 issue comic book series that was put together as a graphic novel. I felt the story was actually quite complex and intricate for a comic book, but didn’t think the artwork was all that. I’m not sure this book is actually for everyone. Its definitely not your traditional comic book masked hero story, which may or may not turn off comic fans. And the fact that it is a graphic novel may turn off those who will refuse to read it because its just a comic book. I think, though, that its worth reading. Its not a long read, since there are pictures and such.
I now have some questions going into the movie that I’m curious about. Is the movie going to take place during the same time period, with the Cold War still ongoing, or is it going to move it forward in time and make it more modern? Are they going to keep the sexuality and violence? There is a lot of blood drawn within these pages. And how much of the original story are they going to change? Guess I’ll find all this out this coming weekend.
So anyone who is on Facebook knows that there is this thing going around among your friends where they say 25 random things about themselves. I get like a new one every week from one of my friends. I’ve decided to attempt to do that here. Who knows. I might just copy and paste this post directly to Facebook later when I’m done. Some of the things I include here I guarantee I’ve posted about before. But too bad. Its my blog and let’s see you come up with 25 random things about yourself that you’ve never written about in the past! So here goes.
1. I lived in about 3 house before the age of 3 that I have absolutely no memory of. Then grew up in Irvine, where I went to school for grades K-12 and UC Irvine.
2. Every TV show I watch I literally have seen every single episode of. I’m an all or nothing person when it comes to TV. Do not try to sell me on a new TV show unless you get me all the past DVD’s for them so that I can watch them. The shows currently on the air that fit this bill include 24, Lost, Heroes, Desperate Housewives, Smallville, Fringe, Dollhouse. Fringe is on the cusp and if it gets canceled I won’t miss it. Shows that used to fit this bill? The ones I remember are Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Friends, Seinfeld, Lois & Clark.
3. I am very stingy spending money on myself. Yup, call me cheap. I get bored of things so easily that I always think its a waste of money for me to buy stuff. But, I will definitely spend money on going out, gifts, dates, family and friends.
4. I have an Xbox 360, and my game list currently includes Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, and Guitar Hero III. I know, not a lot of games. Did you read #3 above? I used to have a lot more, but got bored of them and sold them.
5. I like to read books too. I think on my Facebook I’ve put up something like 190 books that I remember reading. I try to read maybe a book/month. Only paperbacks though and often times used at that (once again see #3 above). However, I do buy new books when they are a part of a series I’m interested in and I can’t wait. Although, I can always wait for the new paperback to come out cuz hard covers are a rip off to me. My favorite fantasy series is George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, which is not complete yet. I only like Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane.
6. I love watching movies in the theaters. I’d say I average maybe 20-25 movies per year? The vast majority of those are summer blockbusters. I just like the action and escapism that you can find in those types of movies. I’m not opposed to other types of movies though. In fact, the last movie I saw was He’s Just Not That Into You.
7. I have 4 dogs. Sugar is a black Lab. Angel is a German Shepherd. Pebbles is a Lhasa Apso. Bambi is a Maltese. The two little ones are the most spoiled dogs in history, sleeping on whoever’s bed they wish. They are also the two cutest dogs in the world and anyone who says otherwise is blind. 
8. I drive a 2002 gray Nissan Maxima. It has about 110k miles on it not. I really want a new car, but I’m trying to save for a house and so I choose the house over the car right now. My car still drives great, and I’ve never had a problem with it. Its a stick shift, and anyone who tells me that driving a stick in traffic is a pain doesn’t know what they are talking about. After 110k miles, driving a stick is just second nature now and so when shifting up and down in traffic, its just part of driving and you don’t even notice it. I think that these people are just sick of driving in traffic and they are placing the blame on the stick. I’m thinking my next car will be a stick too. The main thing with my car is the radio signal sucks. I’ve been meaning to get a new antennae…its been what 7 years now? LOL.
9. If you ever want to buy me a gift, do not get me anything that I’m never going to use and will just put away so that it gathers dust. I’m not a sentimental person at all. All about practicality. Buy me dinner? Great, I love to eat. A shirt? Sure I’ll wear it. The hair gel I use? Hey, I guarantee I’ll use it, which is more than I can say for that piece of crap I got that’s sitting in my closet.
10. International cities I’ve been to include Tokyo, Kamakura, and Hakone in Japan. Hong Kong. Seoul, Korea. Saigon, Nha Trang, and Buon Ma Thout in Vietnam. Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia. Bangkok and Pattaya in Thailand. Paris, France. Barcelona, Spain. Naples, Pompeii, Florence, Vatican City, Rome, and Venice in Italy. Tijuana in Mexico. My favorite place? Tokyo. I’m hoping China is the next destination.
11. US cities I’ve been to? Not as many. The Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Houston, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Oahu, Chicago, Lake Tahoe, and Reno. Next destination? New York.
12. I am not religious. I hate when people try to convert me. Asking me to join your religion just cuz you believe it is just as insulting and bothersome to me as it would be if I asked you to quit your religion.
13. I’m actually like 4th generation American. My dad and grandfather were both born in California. I forgot if it was my great grandfather or great great grandfather who came over to the States. I do know that whoever it was helped to build the railroads in this country. My mom moved here from Hong Kong when she was a teenager. I have 2 brothers and one sister, all younger. My sister is the only one that is married among us.
14. I’ve seen Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked. I liked the story in Wicked the best and the music in Les Miserables. I thought Phantom was okay, but didn’t think it was as great as everyone thought it was. I saw the Vegas version of Phantom as well. This is like a shortened version. Its 1.5 hours with no intermission. There are more special effects in it, as you’d expect in Vegas. Basically, its Phantom with only the “popular” songs kept in. I want to see still Avenue Q and the Lion King. There are probably more I want to see, but I can’t think of them now. I was going to make this a separate one, but since I’ve only been to one, I’ll combine it here. I’ve only been to one concert in my life, and that was Coldplay’s Vive la Vida one in LA.
15. I’ve been a Lakers fan since the mid 80′s. I don’t watch them as closely as I used to since there are so many other things I want to do and there are only a certain number of hours in a day. I will watch more closely as the playoffs come.
16. I have a 40 inch Samsung LCD TV that I got on Black Friday 2007. I use it for my computer monitor too, as I stay in bed to watch TV and surf and play Xbox. How did I get my TV? I did not wake up early on Black Friday that’s for sure. I just went in to Best Buy at around 10 cuz they had a great deal on the TV. I asked the guy if they had any left and he said no, those are for people who lined up at like 5 am and got a number. I proceeded to leave, but saw a guy pushing two TV’s to the front, each with a post it and a number on it. I asked him if I could buy one and he said sure. So, to the person who’s TV I stole….ummm…too bad. I’m laying in my bed typing this and am enjoying every freaking second.
17. I was a nerd/good boy in school, to my social detriment. Always got good grades, honor roll, cum laude, scholarships, etc. etc. I did, however, get detention in my entire life. It was in high school. In the period before lunch we had our class in the library. Half the class left early, so I did too. Thus half the class got detention.
18. I’ve never cheated on an exam, but I have helped others cheat. How? One story I will share. I took a math test one time and put all my answers on my eraser. I then gave that eraser to a friend.
19. I will always be anti company/big business. They don’t ever care about people. Ever. So I don’t care about them. All they care about is making more and more money for themselves and their executives, no matter the cost. Money is more important than human lives. Layoffs will always happen before cuts in executive salaries. Perfect example of this, although definitely biased but you get the picture, is Michael Moore’s Sicko. But if you want real world examples of this, just pick up the newspaper and I guarantee you will find one story of a company jacking some people.
20. I own 5 pairs of shoes. A pair of Vans, a black and brown pair of shoes for casual clothes and work, a pair of tennis shoes, and a black pair of nice shoes for whenever I wear my suit. Speaking of that, I own two suits, dark gray and black, one of which I got for free. How? I went to Macy’s for a buy one get one free sale with my brother. We both got a suit. His cost more, so mine was free. No, that’s not what I meant by free. My brother didn’t want his suit anymore so returned it. The clerk gave him back the full price for the suit. My brother then asked, are you sure, is this right? And the guy said yeah. So my brother left and I got my suit for free. Don’t say that my brother didn’t ask. Am I sad about it? Hell no. Did you not see #19 above? I wear each of my shoes at least 2 times/week, except for the ones I wear with my suit.
21. I like sending text messages, sometimes even more than actually talking to the person on the phone. Texts are short, sweet and to the point. With phone calls, if I need to ask for something, sometimes I have to bullshit and talk about crap I don’t want to before I can actually ask for what I really want.
22. I took 2 years of Mandarin a few years back, but still suck and have pretty much since forgotten all of it. I talk to people once in a while, and they sometimes understand me, but its always simple stuff and they always make fun of me. While I was watching them, I watched tons of those Taiwanese soap operas as well as Korean ones dubbed in Chinese just so I could hear it more and thus get more used to it. Didn’t really help. Its hard to learn a new language at my age. In case you want to talk to me about it, the soaps I watched included Meteor Garden I and II, Mars, It Started With a Kiss, Love Contract, Full House, My Girl, My Secret Garden I and II, Autumn in my Heart, The Prince Who Turns into a Frog, Devil Beside You, Lavender, Winter Sonata. That’s all I can remember. Some of the Korean ones are like the saddest things I’ve watched. I love Ariel Lin, the Taiwanese actress.
23. I’ve worked in 4 full time jobs in my lifetime. I just passed my 2 year anniversary at my current job, which is not a record, but is approaching it. I once worked at a part time job for 1 day, before quitting. It was for Sav-on. It was boring as hell, and I just wouldn’t take it anymore. Its not like it paid that much and I needed the money.
24. I had braces on for 3 years, which I finally took off about 8 months ago. Before that my teeth were crooked as hell. I still wear my retainer all the time, but will probably still soon just wear them at night.
25. Omigogh this is long. If you got bored and tired reading this, imagine how long it took me to write it! Let’s see. Last one…hmmmmm. I think that it takes effort to keep in touch with friends. I still try to do so with a lot of my old coworkers and friends from school, but they just don’t seem to put the same effort, and so I gave up trying. Why should I trying keeping in touch if they don’t put in the same effort? There are still some people I email once in a while and they write back so that’s cool. There is in fact even one person I know that we both actually hand write letters to one another. She lives outside of this country, but I imagine we will stop writing if she ever moves back to So Cal. But who knows.
I’ve worked at 4 different full time jobs now. Some I’ve been so busy its crazy and I never seem to have enough time, and some I literally just sat there and did nothing all day long because there was nothing to do and my boss was an idiot. Trust me to those who say they wish they did nothing at work, its freaking boring and there is only so much internet you can surf! For the most part, I can usually do what’s asked of me, at any company that I’ve worked for. If I didn’t know how to do it, I could usually figure it out somehow. So, this gets me thinking, what exactly is hard work?
Does hard work mean physical labor? My friend always tells me that I have an easy job because all I ever do is sit in front of a computer all day long, as if his job was so physically demanding. I’ll be honest. I think physical labor is hard work, and I’d not want to do it. If I had to dig holes all day or carry heavy equipment, pick fruit, etc., then I’d not last long and I’d not want to do it unless I had no other choice and I really needed the money. I’ve helped my dad build a fence/wall before and there is a lot of physical labor there and I hated it. So, does hard work equal physically demanding?
I have knowledge of different tools, like Cognos, SAS, Access, Excel, etc. Many people do not know how to use these, so I bet that they think its hard. Me? I can use them rather well so I don’t really agree. Is the use of these programs hard then? I think anyone can use them if they learned. Its not like I picked up these skills overnight. But is the fact that I had to learn them mean its hard?
I think, at least in this country, how hard a job is equivalent to how much you will be paid. If you use that definition, I’d guess that “hard work” has nothing to do with physically demanding jobs, but rather skill ones. If I had to learn to program over many years, I would get paid more than someone who just carries sandbags all day because that does not involve any learning or skill acquiring. I guess you can say that the hard work involved the weeks, months or years learning that skill.
For me, I think that the actual work I do is not hard, solely based on the fact that I can do it. What makes things “hard” for me is when there is a lot to do, its high stress levels and tight deadlines. So, the actual work I’m doing while “stressing” is not overly difficult, but its the fact that its very important and I have to finish it by a certain time even though there may not be enough time is what makes it hard. Make sense? That being said, I’d still take a high stress job over phsycially demanding labor any day.
I downloaded a new plugin to see if my posts show up on my Facebook wall. So, just testing that out.
Whatever happened to our sense of humor in this country? You cannot say anything nowadays before people are allegedly insulted and demanding an apology. Why is everyone so sensitive now? Or are they? Sometimes I get the feeling that people make a big deal out of something not because they really are insulted, but because they want the attention that the media will give them if they cry foul.
I go to the gym after work, and when I go, Bill O’Reilly is on. He is the only conservative person I can stomach watching, and honestly sometimes its good to listen to another point of view or perspective. In any case, he had made fun of Helen Thomas recently, calling her the wicked witch of the east, and doing a witch voice. Now, I personally thought it was funny, but there was a huge uproar among women watch groups. It was a freaking joke people! I’ve heard so many worse jokes out there. But you know what? They got a lot of press for it, and there was even a woman who go to go on his show to talk about it. She said stuff like Thomas should not be made fun of because of the way she looks, but only for her journalistic skills. Please. He turned around and told her they were just being a mouth for the liberals because they never said a word when Tina Fey was making fun of Palin. I thought that actually was a good point. Anyway, 75% of women on TV are on there because they look good in a bikini. There’s no joke there, but I don’t see anyone protesting that. How many women out there were actually insulted by O’Reilly?
And a few years back, I think it was Abercrombie & Fitch, that made shirts that mocked Asians. Omigosh, there was nothing insulting about that, IMO. I thought some were funny, some were just dumb, but none insulted me as an Asian. How many Asians out there were actually insulted by these shirts?
And what the hell is up with the you can only make jokes about your own race because you are that race, so its ok? That’s the lamest thing I ever heard. So, basically I can only make Asian jokes because I’m Asian. But the second I make a non-Asian joke, I cross the line and I’m a racist? Please. Its getting so out of hand now. We’re getting to the point that you can no longer make any joke without it insulting someone. Its becoming a sad, laugh free world.
Watched this Friday night, like I said I would after finishing the book. Not going to explain again what this is about, cuz I already did last week when writing about the graphic novel here. For the most part, the movie did not change a whole lot story wise. Sure there were a few details that were changed, but that is to be expected. There will be no spoilers here if you want to continue reading.
Getting to the point. What did I think about this movie? I thought it was long. I don’t think it was a terrible movie, but it was very slow at times and way too long. I don’t think that this movie translates very well from the novel. I think that if you are going to make a movie out of a novel, you have to make changes because what seems like good prose and story telling in the written word, just sometimes seems long and dull when literally translated to the big screen.
I can understand why they tried to stick as close to the novel as they could though. This graphic novel has a huge fanboy following, and is considered one of the best graphic novels out there. If they change too much, then the fanboys will cry foul. That being said, my friend told me that they caved too much to the fanboys and as a result they sacrifice the wider audience. I don’t know if that’s completely true, but I think its a valid point and at least partially true. If you watch the trailers of this movie, I think that you will be somewhat misled. Yes, there are costumed heroes in this movie. But, it is not a superhero movie. It is a movie with a good story, albeit at times slow one, that happens to have superheroes in it. Does that make sense?
I think that fanboys should wach this because they’ve been waiting decades to do so. The general audience? Its not a bad movie like I said. But, if you are expecting something like Batman or Spider-Man, then this movie is not for you.
My friend just had a new baby boy a couple weeks back now. Congratulations to her. This is her second kid, both of whom are boys. That’ll be a fun household soon enough huh? Anyway, she just had her baby, so in the mean time she is staying at her parents’ house, and will be there just a little bit longer. I went to visit her last Friday, and if you want to see pictures, I took a few here. Very cute, all of them.
Anyway, I’ve known my friend for something like 15 years or so now. And of course, I know her parents too. I have not seen her mom in a long time and she happened to be there when I visited. I’m trying to think of the last time I saw her, but can’t really. I know its been a bit. Well, I go into the house and say hi. She comes out of the room and says hi as well, and then she says, “You got fatter.” Haha. Thanks. Why is this funny? Because she is not the first of my friends’ parents to tell me this. Probably at least the 2nd or 3rd. Asian parents are so funny, and so brutally blunt and honest. This is on top of my sister telling me the same thing, making fun of my now bulging belly. Sigh. Guess going to the gym isn’t good enough if I want to stop these comments from coming! LOL. Maybe next time I go eat dinner with one of you all, I’ll order a side salad. Right.
I almost never, ever remember my dreams. Seriously. Its kind of sad, because I wish I did. I have not remembered a dream in so long that I sometimes even wonder to myself if I even do dream still. Am I just sleeping only? Is that even possible?
The answer to my question came Monday morning. As many of you know, daylight savings time began this past Saturday. Thus, clocks were moved forward one hour, and so since my alarm sounds at 7:00 in the morning, I’m really waking up at 6:00. Now, normally for whatever reason, I am somewhat awake before my alarm sounds. Kinda just laying there, and awake enough to immediately turn off my alarm when it sounds and not bother me. Well, Monday morning, my alarm just sounded out of the middle of no where. I was totally dazed, and like WTF?! But, you know what? I was in the middle of a dream when it happened and so after it sounded I knew exactly what I dreamt.
Thus, me not knowing if I dream or not is answered, but yet is another function of me having the worst memory in the world. I seriously don’t know why my memory is so pathetically bad. I’m kind of sad about it in this case because I think remembering dreams is kind of cool. I need to find some way to improve my memory, if that is even possible. On the dream front, I would like to remember my dreams yes, but its not that important to me that I have to wake up an hour earlier than normal just to do it!
I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about things like how being frugal is the in thing now, especially in today’s economy. Why is this news? Don’t we all already realize that being in any way like me is always the in thing??
I for the most part never buy clothes or any non-essential unless its on sale. And everything I buy, I always make a huge deal about it. Am I really going to use this? Am I going to get bored of it? Is it really worth 20 bucks? Seriously. Even about cheap stuff, like a 10 dollar Xbox Live game. Like I can’t afford to just lose 10 bucks in the street and not cry over it. And I like always keep things and don’t throw them away and replace things unless I have.
But, as I was reading this article, even I was thinking, are you kidding me? This one lady in the article says “she’s salvaging bagel scraps left on their plates for pizza toppings and cutting lotion bottles in half so she can scrape out the last drops.” Ummmmm, there is being cheap, and then there is being insane. I don’t know where exactly that line is, but if it involves scraping bagel scraps, then I think you’ve passed it.
I am cheap because I don’t like to waste money, not because I have to be. Because of that, I will not let it get in the way of my quality of life. I think that same girl in the article said that she refused to buy a new hair dryer when hers broke, and just used a fan to dry her hair until her friends bought her a new one. Dude, if my hair dryer broke and I actually had hair, I’d buy another freaking hair dryer!! Its not freaking thousand dollar computer. Its a hair dryer! I’ve never bought one before in my life, but what do they cost, 10 bucks? If you CAN’T afford it, that’s one thing. Being cheap is an artform, and this lady just doesn’t have it yet!! Doesn’t have the lifelong experience of yours truly.
But, who am I to question their sanity. They are, in actuality, just being like me, only to a much higher extreme. And you can’t have too much Jasers in you!
I just watched Jim Cramer on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I watch the show pretty much every day, and its pretty entertaining. This one was entertaining too, but in a different way. Did anyone else watch that? Stewart pretty much ripped Cramer and his network CNBC, for pretty much being in bed with the financial companies. I’ve never actually seen Mad Money, or CNBC for that matter, so I have no clue if what Stewart was saying was correct or not. I will give you this though. Jon Stewart is a very intelligent person. If not intelligent, then very well prepared. He always seems to know what he is talking about and can go toe to toe with anyone he speaks with. Yes, granted, its mostly on his show and so on his turf. But, I have seen him on other shows, and he is just as articulate and knowledgeable about what he speaks of.
I think that a lot of what he said in this interview was right though. A reporter’s job should be to report the truth and what is really going on in an objective way, not what they think that their viewers want to hear for ratings. Its the reason why I don’t really watch MSNBC or Foxnews for the news. All they really do is just cater to their audience. I think its a travesty in this country that so few huge corporations own the majority of the news outlets, whether it be tv news, newspapers, magazines, etc. You name any network news station and it is owned by a huge conglomerate. Time Warner, GE, etc. Its getting to the poin that the only way to really get objective news about our country is either from international news outlets, or even blogs sometimes.
Now, is it Jim Cramer’s fault that everyone lost their money in stocks? Absolutely not. He didn’t exactly help things, it would seem, but just went along for the ride like everyone else. Here is my two cents to everyone out there when they listen to reporters, or anchors, or pundits on the air. If they don’t get good ratings they will not be on the air much longer. The networks and news outlets, just like every other company in America, only cares about making money. So, when they say things on the air, they are not trying to make you money. They are trying to make their company and stock holders money. And finally. Every single report her you see on the news makes like tons more money than you. When they cry about how the economy is hurting everyone, they are not talking about themselves.
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