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Office conversation with the Gen "Y"

Her: He’s a Japanese linguistics programmer – he creates programs that speak in Japanese.

Me: he turns them Japanese?

Her: Yeah, he turns them Japanese.

Me: You think he thinks so?

Her: ....well, he's Japanese and -

Me:  - he turns them Japanese. So? I think you think so?

Her: what?.....why are you laughing?

A Revelation

I love the Frames.

and you should too.

They played last night to a packed out crowd of fanboys and fangirls, old and young. They played to a crowd that ended up dancing in the isles, singing at the top of their lungs. They shared nearly 3 hours of endless joy that didn't end until the house shut them down.

and unless you are going to be in Philly, DC, or at Coachella in the next 3 days, you'll just have to wait for the next time.

The Bronx Zoo

With today being such a fantastic day, I pulled myself out of bed before my customary 1pm wakeup time to visit the Bronx Zoo with friends Tara and Michelle.

A telephoto lens is a must have for wildlife photography, captive or not. It was so much fun taking photos and trying to cajole these animals to pose for us. Not that they listened, but I found the monkeys to be the most responsive to "hey, look here!".

The Bronx Zoo is one of the oldest zoo's in the country and sits on almost 300 acres of land. Its an easy trip on the 2 train, getting off at Tremont. There were tons of people there, but the park is laid out so as to minimize the effect. The only place we couldn't get into was the Gorilla exhibit and the monorail (which hasn't opened yet).

I've broken up the photos to two galleries, with birds getting their own billing (get it...birds...billing...bills...nevermind).

The Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo - Birds
Tara's photos

NY Cares

This past Saturday I was fortunate to take part in New York Cares day, a volunteering day held throughout the city of New York. I had volunteered to be one of twelve Marquette alums to take part in the cleanup of Bowne Park in Queens.

NY Cares sponsored the event; someone there has a sense of humor as we were paired with exclusively midwest catholic alumni groups - Notre Dame and St. Olaf's.

It also happened to be a fantastic day to get outside; yours truly was finally able to get some color on him. Not a bad way to spend a day!

Photos

The Alec Baldwin Game!

Figure out if the following is a movie quote or him yelling at his daughter:

“you are shit! Hit the bricks pal, and beat it, 'cause you are going out!”

“I really don't see myself in you at all.”

“she's nothing but a cheap, fat whore hiding behind too much fucking make-up. I look at her and see all her fucking stretch marks. It makes me want to cry because I remember the way she used to be.”

“I'm sorry you hate me... but i do love you”

“I'm gonna take out your lungs with a fuckin' ice cream scoop. Do you understand me?”

“You are a rude, thoughtless little pig…you don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being!”

Answers: Glengary glenn ross, Running with Scissors, The Cooler, The Juror, Malice, reality

What backlash?

Interesting thread on the 360 blog this morning.

There had already been plenty said about the VT shootings this week, with enough poignant thoughts and discussions that I didn't feel the need to add anything in this space. However, one of the questions pertained to the fear of a backlash to Koreans here in the states. I've read a lot of people who find this possibility an absurdity, but I think it helps to understand where this fear comes from. 

America's cultural influence in Korea is substantial. Koreans showered Hines Ward, a Korean-American athlete for a sport they knew nothing about with parades, interviews, and fanfare after recieving the MVP. They went into a national uproar over Apollo Ohno's victory over the Korean competitor in a short track competition years ago, even coining a new insult Ohno Gahtinseki. There is a tremendous amount of pride that goes into any Korean who "makes it" here in the states. My mother is only one of 4 children who moved here; to the rest of her family in Korea, she's known as the successful one, even though by our means she lives a modest life. Koreans as an immigrant population started migrating here en masse only recently and among my friends, the korean ones are really the only kids that had first-generation immigrants as parents. Considering the difficulty for cultures to integrate successfully into America, the fact that Koreans have done so in such a quick time frame is astonishing.

So astonishing in fact, that there have been at times when a level of resentment appears amongst other minority communities for this success (demonstrated at its worst during the Rodney King riots). Cho put Koreans into the spotlight and with that, the fear that this resentment would blister. There's a sense of national guilt, because as a korean citizen (not a Korean-american as i've read him described as), he represented his country. Should they feel guilty? Gut reaction is of course not, but one example I've used in discussing this is if an American citizen did this in say, Okinawa, where cultural tensions are already high, there would most definately be a backlash. Also we, as Americans, would probably feel guilty of the actions of our citizen.

That being said, the lack of negativity over his heritage perhaps is a measure of how far Koreans have come. If this guy's heritage was from a different heritage, perhaps one currently being marginalized by the media and politicians, would there be outrage? Likely, I think.

Media as a Lens

I was fortunate enough to attend the Museum of Television and Radio's 'Media as a Lens' series on the "war" of information in the middle east tonight, which was billed as an opportunity to examine how the wealth of information available via satellite tv has changed the lives of people living in the middle east.

I thought the whole thing was a nice change of pace to the usual and look forward to attending a few more events. If you hear of anything - drop me a line.

Moderator: Garrick Utley
Panelists:
Raghida Dergham
Jon Alterman
Jamal Dajani
Naomi Sakr

Brooklyn Bridge

With the news saying a Nor-Easter was brewing off the coast, I decided to take advantage of today's nice weather to go out and visit the Brooklyn Bridge.
Taking the E to Borough Hall, I walked across back into Manhattan. It was just like walking across an old bridge. Oh...the majesty!

Album




One quick note though...now, I'm not saying that I'm a fashion maven (mavenner?), but I would like to think I know enough to ask the following question to the gentleman I crossing the bridge ahead of me, Mr. purple corduroy track pants.

WHERE CAN I PICK UP A PAIR OF THOSE?!?!?!

The Landlord

Some Will Ferrell love from Lindsayism

(note: I've removed the video. You can view it here. Not that my voice means anything, but I think one of the top 10 web annoyances are videos that stream automatically. Its annoying, it sucks, and contributes to global warming. Just say no.)

REVISION: Pet People are f*cking strange.

Last month I ranked crazy pet people like so:

Reptile Pet People (anyone who owns an alligator or a boa)
Dog Pet People (Where's the busy bee?!?!?)
Horse Pet People (uhmm...yeah)
Cat Pet People

However after seeing more and more of these things pop up in Central Park, I'm forced to wonder if bat-shit crazy dog pet people truly as crazy or even crazier than bat-shit crazy Cat Pet People? Or are they just pathetically lazy?

Gothamist article