Doubting Jeremy Lin

I wrote about Jeremy Lin in mid-November and since then he has caught the attention of the national media after standout performances against the University of Connecticut and Boston College. One of the best articles was written by ESPN writer Dana O'Neil:

ESPN: Immigrant Dream Plays Out Through Son

Being Asian-American and a huge basketball fan, I am thrilled to see Jeremy Lin succeed and garner positive national attention for his skills and accomplishments. I am sure many people in the Asian-American basketball circles all over the United States are quietly cheering for Jeremy Lin. Despite the national attention, I know there are some people who still don't know about Jeremy Lin. I've taken it upon myself (as have many others) to tell their friends about this "Asian kid" who is doing well on the basketball court. Thanks to the power of the Internet, this is very easy to do these days.

Despite Jeremy Lin's success on the court, I have talked to people within the Asian-American community who doubt his skills or look down at his success. There are others who doubt Jeremy Lin can make the NBA. I am a little surprised at this. I would expect that Asian-Americans would back a guy from their own community rather than looking down at his success.

I had to step back and think about why Asian-Americans would doubt Jeremy Lin and I came up with two interconnected reasons:

1. Some Asian-Americans have a self-defeating notion than they cannot compete with other ethnic groups in basketball.
2. They have never seen a guy like Jeremy Lin before and cannot believe an Asian player can compete against other high level players.
   

In regards to item #1, I've heard and read about this from many sources over the years I've been involved in basketball. Many Asian-Americans simply believe they are at a physical disadvantage (height, speed and/or strength) when it comes to playing basketball against other ethnic groups.

When I was younger, I didn't question this notion. After all, it was fairly well known that Asian-Americans were generally smaller in stature than most other ethnic groups. As I've gotten older, I began to realize that Asian-Americans need to reanalyze this notion.

1. Asian-Americans are generally smaller but as Yao Ming (and others) have proven, not ALL Asians are short.
2. Just because someone has height does not make them a basketball player. Just because someone is short, it does not mean they cannot play basketball.
   

I believe Asian-Americans need to get over the notion that they cannot compete because they are short or not as strong. They need to embrace the notion that skill CAN triumph over height if the skill level is great enough. After all, the NBA does have players like Nate Robinson (5'9") and Earl Boykins (5'5") still playing. If these guys can make it, Jeremy Lin (standing 6'3") has a chance as well.

Item #2 is a direct connection to Item #1. Because many Asian-Americans believe that CANNOT compete in basketball, they are surprised that Jeremy Lin can play and play well against other ethnic groups.

Up until recently, video highlights of Jeremy Lin were sparse. In years past, it was easy to see Jeremy Lin's stats and just say "He's doing it against weak competition". However, as Jeremy Lin has garnered national attention, there is no more excuses. Jeremy Lin put up great games against VERY good competition and there are Youtube highlights to prove it:

Jeremy Lin: 30 Points against UCONN

My point in writing all of this? Regardless of whether you think of Jeremy Lin, I think all of us Asian-Americans should SUPPORT him. Any success that Jeremy Lin has on the college (and hopefully professional) level will indirectly help the Asian-American community.

Asian-American role models in the college and professional sports arena are sorely lacking. Jeremy Lin, who by all accounts, is a quiet and humble guy, would make a great role model for future generations of Asian-Americans who want to pursue opportunities in college and professional sports.

Volunteering

Volunteering my time has never been a problem. In the past, I have volunteered to coach basketball teams, officiate basketball games and other assorted activities. However, most of my activities centered around working with my immediate group of friends, immediate communities or activities that I am usually involved in. For many years, I am wanted to volunteer in a different capacity but never explored the opportunity myself.

A few weeks ago, an old friend of mine sent me a message asking if I wanted to volunteer at a homeless shelter. A mutual friend of ours had taken a position working at the homeless shelter and was looking for helpers to serve a Christmas dinner for the residents of the homeless shelter. It was a great opportunity that I couldn't turn down. It was a chance to catch up with old friends but also a chance to volunteer in both a different capacity (food server) in a different community (homeless folks in the Tenderloin) that I don't usually associate with.

That volunteer opportunity was tonight and it went great. I caught up with old friends and met a lot of the other volunteers who helped out. The work itself was a little easier than expected. We were only serving people who lived in the homeless shelter rather than just anyone who could walk in from the streets so that limited the number of people. Also, we had a great number of volunteers which helped minimize the workload even more.

While I didn't interact with the residents of the homeless shelter too much, one older lady was quite friendly. I talked to her briefly and got to know her background. She was a loner with no immediate family who had an artistic bent. It was different talking to her. Most of us are used to asking "How's work", "How's your family" or other things like that. For this particular lady (and probably a lot of the homeless people), some of these things don't apply. I had to take a different tactic to talk to her.

I had told myself that if certain people seemed like they wanted to talk, I should be open to it. My reasoning was that many of these people have gone through tough lives. While I can't change all the circumstances for any of these people, I figured a smile or a chat might make them feel better about themselves. I don't know if that was the case with the lady. She seemed fairly relaxed about her circumstances. However, if I was able to make her feel better in any way, then the time I spent today was worth it.

All in all, it was a great experience that I would gladly repeat again. Sometimes those of us who are "well off" forget that lots of others are in need, especially recently with the tough economic times. If you've never volunteered before, give it a shot. It may give you a different perspective on things you've never thought about before.

Cardio Boxing: Nintendo Wii Style

I've had my Nintendo Wii for a little over six months now. I've probably played the system for about three of those months. If you've read some of my previous posts, the main reason for playing the Wii was to get some additional exercise (and have some fun) for myself and my mom.

In the time I've had the system, I've primarily played Wii Sports (the game that comes with the system). I love Wii Sports and got the hang of the baseball, bowling, tennis and golf games. Yet, for some reason I stayed away from boxing. Perhaps it was due to some tough early experiences playing the game because I just didn't know how to play.

In the past month or so, I finally gave in and started playing the boxing game. It took a little while (and some reading) to get the hang of the game. Now that I have gotten the hang of the game, I LOVE it. Unlike the other four sports, boxing requires some effort and forces you to expend a lot of energy while playing. I find that using the three boxing training games and the main boxing game itself gives me a decent workout.

Recently, I got a copy of EA Sports Active for the Wii. I've loving EA Sports Active due to the great number of activities in the game. Among my favorites? If you guessed boxing you would be correct!

While I won't be participating in real boxing anytime soon, I actually thought about getting a punching bag or something similar. It would be nice to do some real boxing work rather than just using the Wii.

I'll be back.........

I'm still here. I just haven't posted in recent weeks. Lots of things to talk about but I just haven't focused on it due to other stuff going on. Thanks for reading and look for new posts soon enough!

15 years of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors

I have been a fan of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors for a long time. The Warriors are a Asian American comedy troupe that was formed back in San Francisco around 1994. Over the past 15 years, they have performed all over the world and won several awards for their efforts. The first time I saw the troupe perform was at San Francisco State university around 1995 or 1996. Since then, I have followed the troupe heavily and attended many performances.

Several years ago, the troupe decided to perform in Southern California exclusively. I don't remember the exact reason for this. However, it's not hard to imagine that the troupe wanted to be closer to Hollywood and perhaps get bigger gigs than what was available in the San Francisco Bay Area.

However, as the troupe was celebrating it's 15th Anniversary, they made a return appearance to their home in the Bay Area after a three year absence. There were three shows scheduled for this weekend (Friday 7 PM, Saturday 7 PM & 10 PM) in San Jose.

As soon as I found out the troupe was performing this weekend, I asked a friend to go. We attended the Saturday show at 7 PM. Overall, the show was entertaining though it felt short to me (running around 1 hour and 20 minutes or so). There were a few skits that were great and a couple of that felt flat to me.

However, I'm not here to review the show. I want to commend the group for staying together for fifteen years. I don't know how much money the various members of the group make for each show they perform. My friend and I agreed that the performers probably don't make much. Most of them probably have regular jobs and do these performances as a labor of love.

From what I saw tonight, even though the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors have been around for 15 years, they still have the creativity to create new skits and retain a great passion for their work. As someone who watches many Asian-American independent films and listens to underground Asian-American musicians, I appreciate the work that the Warriors do. I fully support the many people who work to present more positive representations of Asian-Americans in the media.

Congrats on 15 years and here's to many more!

What Jeremy Lin means to Asian-Americans

Palo Alto, CA native and current Harvard basketball star Jeremy Lin had a great weekend. He hit a running 3 pointer at the buzzer to allow his Harvard team to stun William & Mary 87-85. Interestingly enough, he was also just featured in an article on Slam magazine's website.

Links here:

Jeremy Lin - Buzzer Beater highlights

Slam Magazine Feature on Jeremy Lin

As an Asian-American AND a basketball fan, I am thrilled that Jeremy Lin is having success on the basketball court at Harvard. I am definitely curious if Jeremy can play in the NBA in the future. While it's unfair to put a lot of burden on Lin's shoulders, I think his success at Harvard (and hopefully in the NBA in the future) will indirectly help Asian-Americans in many ways. Here are some of the ways:

- Changing media representation and stereotypes about Asian males

For whatever reason, Asian males have been stereotyped in the media as geeky and unathletic. Why this is the case is unknown. The fact that Asian representation in major college and professional sports (baseball, basketball, football) is not all that high does not help. When it comes to athletics, Asians are usually not the first people that come to mind.

Jeremy Lin breaks a lot of these stereotypes. First he's playing basketball, a sport that is sometimes looked at as a primarily African-American sport. Secondly, he isn't your typical "short" Asian standing at 6'3" tall. Third, he isn't just a bench warmer. He is a starter for the Harvard team and earned All-League and MVP honors.

- Changing Asian's perceptions about sports

Asian families are really practical. Parents are usually found encouraging (pushing might be the better word sometime) their kids to study hard, get an education, find a job and earn a lot of money. The downside to this is that when the academic demands become too great, parents force their kids to drop some activities. The first activities that usually get dropped are sports. For some reason, certain Asian parents feel that sports is for fun but is not a priority when compared to education. As many Asian kids can attest to, Asian parents always encourage kids to study practical subjects like Accounting, Finance or something in the medical field.

Thus many kids who may have a talent for sports get pushed to study instead. They never get a chance to develop their talents. Jeremy Lin's success in basketball at Harvard may help change that. Harvard is an elite university that DOES NOT offer athletic scholarships. While Lin is a gifted basketball player, the fact that Harvard accepted him into the school means he was a smart kid as well. While I don't know how Lin is doing at Harvard, I think he has proven that sports and academics CAN co-exist, even in college. Asian kids should not longer aspire to simply be an accountant or doctor. They could also dream about being a college basketball (or other sport) player like Jeremy Lin. I would also hope that Asian parents allow their kids to pursue professional sports as a career as well.

I'm going to talk more about this point in a separate post later this week.

- Asian-Americans DO EXIST!

It has been great that Asian-born players like Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian (among others) have made their way to the NBA. As great as it is to have Asians represented in the NBA, these players do not have share or understand the Asian-American experience. Those of us who were born in the United States have vastly different experiences than someone who has lived in China their whole lives. When Yao or Yi speak, they represent "China" but not "Asian-Americans". Yao or Yi cannot understand how it is to be a minority in a country. They don't understand how racism and stereotypes about Asian-Americans exist. The Asian-American experience is one thing that is nearly invisible in the United States. Fortunately many schools have Asian-American Studies courses and many books have been written.

Jeremy Lin could be the bridge to shed light on these experiences. Jeremy may look Asian like Yao or Yi but he is a full-blooded American. If Jeremy can make it to the NBA, he may have a platform that allows him to discuss how it is to be an Asian-American that no other person has ever gotten (short of Bruce Lee).

2012 the movie: Typical Hollywood Fare

If you were not familiar with the theory that the world might end sometime in December of 2012, you probably got a little education with the release of the film (aptly titled) 2012 this weekend.

I'm not going to summarize the theories that have been thrown out there on why the world might end in December of 2012. If you're curious, watch the History Channel as they have had many shows covering this topic recently. If you happen to miss any of the shows, it's ok. Given the interest in this topic, the shows will likely be repeated many times from now until 2012! Also, Wikipedia has a summary of information on 2012 as well:

2012 Phenomenon

I'm also not going to summarize the plot of the 2012 film. It's really a typical Hollywood film. Take a subject matter, write some story around the events, throw in some drama and then have a happy ending. I will say that the film is entertaining and will make lots of money. However, as with many Hollywood blockbusters, you'll probably have to suspend belief in certain situations.

While the film's happy ending was predictable, the fact that the remnants of the people on Earth were saved by getting gigantic arks was an interesting nod to Christian mythology. In fact, animals were shown being moved to the Ark as well.

Overall, while I liked the film, there are a couple of points I hope people take away from the film besides being entertained:

1. I hope that people take some time to learn more about the 2012 theories. None of us know what will happen in 2012. However, it doesn't hurt to be educated and prepare if needed.
   
2. I hope that people enjoy life every day like it's their last. Regardless if the world ends in 2012 or tomorrow, we should enjoy our time with friends and family.
   

Preserving Memories - Facebook style

(Originally posted to my Facebook account)

While Facebook has it's share of positives and negatives, I think one of best things Facebook has done is to preserve old memories for years and future generations to come.

How so? Firstly, Facebook capitalized on what Friendster and MySpace started. Facebook made connecting with people extremely easy. Not only did Facebook allow users to connect with their current friends, it allowed people to connect with people they may not have thought of in years including old classmates and co-workers.

Secondly, with the move toward digital photos, this has made it easier for people to share their photos online. However, people are not just sharing their current photos. There has been a trend for people to share their OLD photos which included their old friends, classmates and co-workers.

Conversely, with old friends connecting and old photos being uploaded, it was inevitable that old times and memories would be shared and discussed. What was once reserved for reunions and other get togethers were happening online at Facebook. But just because stuff was happening on Facebook didn't mean reunions stopped. In fact, many get togethers and reunions were spurred by people reconnecting again online at Facebook.

It is unfortunate that as we get older, our memories start to fade and all that we have left are the momentos that we keep with us (photos, yearbooks, etc) of years past. Thanks to Facebook, not only can these momentos be shared but so can our memories. The more the memories are shared with others, the more it will be remembered in the future.

SFGate Turns 15!

According to a blog posting on SFGate.com, the site celebrated it's 15th birthday today! See the link below:

SFGate turns 15: A timeline

I knew SFGate had been around for years but didn't realize just HOW long. This birthday brings up some interesting memories. On the date SFGate was started (November 3rd, 1994), I was likely still sitting in a classroom at City College of San Francisco (CCSF). The Internet was a pipe dream to me. I had heard about email from a friend of mine in the East Coast but at the time I did not know where I could get access at CCSF.

It wouldn't be until early 1995 when I got my first taste of the Internet while at San Francisco State University (SFSU). I recall spending hours at the lab sending email, reading Usenet, and surfing with Mosaic and Netscape 1.0.

I don't remember when I got my first exposure to SFGate and have only vague recollections of the early days. While my memories of SFGate are lacking, it brings up the grand OLD days of the Internet before broadband, Amazon, and Internet Explorer took off. Back in those days, it was:

• Dial up access via SFSU account
• Unix shell account
• Pine email reader
• Tin Usenet Reader
• 56K Modem
• Apple IIe
  

The Internet has certainly advanced in the years since SFGate debuted. Like fine wine, SFGate has improved with age. Happy Birthday SFGate! I look forward to many more!

Chinatown Movie Theaters

Walking around Chinatown today, I felt some nostalgia. I had lunch with my parents and was just browsing around the various shops. Among the locations I shopped at was formerly a movie theater called "Sun Sing". This was located on Grant Ave,. between Pacific and Jackson Streets.

My cousin's grandmother had managed the concessions at Sun Sing for years. I had spent a good amount of time at Sun Sing (and other theaters) in Chinatown during my youth. Keep in mind this was in the 1980's before imported DVD's of Hong Kong and other Asian films had started appearing.

As imports of DVD's appeared in the 1990's, the Chinatown movie theaters began to lose business. The theaters turned to showcasing X-rated films but it wasn't long before all the theaters in Chinatown closed down.

Here's a list of theaters that once were in and around the Chinatown area and what each location is doing now:

• Sun Sing (Grant Ave., between Pacific and Jackson Streets) - As noted below, the space was converted into multiple stands of shops. There are stuff for tourists, jewelery, DVD's and other things.
  
• Jackson Street Theater (can't remember actual name. On Jackson Street between Stockton and Grant) - Converted into a bargin shopping store.
  
• World Theater (On Broadway between Stockton and Grant) - Probably one of newer and more modern theaters and had a nice run before closing down. The space still remains empty to this day.
  
• Pagoda Theater (In North Beach, across from Washington Square) - Technically not in Chinatown, but played many Chinese movies in it's day. After the theater closed down, the space was to be redeveloped into a business. However, to this day, the space still remains closed to this day.
  
• Great Star Theater - (On Jackson between Grant and Kearney) - This remains the only theater that is still operating thought it doesn't screen movies. The theaters primarily plays hosts to various Chinese opera troupes that stop by in San Francisco.
  

To me, it is a shame that there are no theaters in Chinatown that showcase new Asian films like they were back in the 1980's. While it is great to have imported DVD's and the Internet to see films, the experience of seeing a film in a theater sometimes cannot be beat.

Geocities: The End of an Era

Yesterday, Yahoo ended an era when it closed the door on Geocities, a free website hosting service that has been around since 1994. Geocities had been an independent company in it's early years before being acquired by Yahoo in 1999.

There have been many news sites waxing nostalgia in the passing of Geocities. One of my favorites is linked here:

Goodbye GeoCities: 7 Retro Things We'll Miss Forever

When Yahoo announced that they were closing Geocities back in April, I had begun work to transition a personal site I had been running to another location. The website, which was basic compared to today's web pages, was something I had whipped up during my college days back in 1995.

Through the years, my website has been located at the following URL's:

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~leed

http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/bay/6073 (Geocities before Yahoo)

http://www.geocities.com/smcoach41 (Geocities after Yahoo)

With the passing of Geocities, my website will be moving yet again. I easily could have just simply moved my existing webpages over to my new location. However, I decided to try some new things. However, in an effort to preserve some history, I noted on my new homepage that my website has existed since 1995 including my previous locations.

Alas, one regret I have was I did not download my Geocities files before Yahoo closed the service. I didn't think the stuff was all that historic but in retrospect, it would have been good to preserve some history.

In any case, the closing of Geocities does close the door on an era of 1990's computing that took us to where we are today. RIP Geocities. You will be missed.

Switching Gears (In More Ways Than One)

When I got laid off from my job back in April of this year, I did what most people who are unemployed do. I went online and started looking for jobs. I was confident that I could find a job quickly. However, as reality set in due to the tough economic times, I started to look for alternative things to do while I was looking for a full time job.

I was already a basketball official so I knew that could earn myself some money if I were to remain unemployed for a extended length of time. However, there was an opportunity that was available that I previously did not pursue. The opportunity was to be a freelance writer covering San Francisco high school sports for Examiner.com

After some thought, I decided to apply for the opportunity and was accepted. From about late May until mid-August, I wrote nearly twenty articles covering various aspects of high school sports in San Francisco. I didn't make a lot of money but had some fun writing for a public audience.

However, when I was suddenly offered my old job back a month ago, I had no time to write about the high school sports scene in San Francisco. I considered giving up the writing gig but an idea suddenly came to me. As I am heavily involved in the San Francisco high school basketball scene (fan, official), I switched gears and now solely focus on San Francisco high school girls basketball instead. Why so specific? Another writer in the area solely focuses on the high boys basketball scene so it was decided that we shouldn't overlap.

I just wrote an article last night so check it out here:

San Francisco High School Girls Basketball Examiner

Speaking of switching gears, you will notice that this blog has slightly changed. I originally planned to just talk about pop culture and technology bits here. However, I found that I lacked an avenue to talk about personal stuff (nothing too deep), so I decided to use this blog for the occasional personal thoughts.

Jeremy Lin: Best basketball player you've never heard of?

Rich Twu, the founder and commissioner of Dream League (Bay Area adult basketball league) recently posted a two part blog posting on Bay Area native and current Harvard basketball player Jeremy Lin:

The Legend of Jeremy Lin

Twu does a nice job of summarizing the challenges Lin has gone through as a Asian American playing a sport that is primarily thought of as a black or white sport (Yao Ming or other Asian players not withstanding).

I've only been able to watch Jeremy Lin play once when his Palo Alto High School team played Mater Dei in the California State Basketball Championship games. Since Lin has gone to Harvard, I haven't been able to watch his games. Even though I haven't been able to watch his games, I follow everything he does via the Internet.

Twu proclaims that Lin will be the first full blooded American born Asian player in the NBA. I certainly hope this is the case. In all the years since I've been in high school, I've been waiting for Asian players to make it to the NBA. I didn't expect Yao or other Asian born players to make it first. However, the time is now right for a American born Asian player to make it to the NBA.

I'll talk more about Jeremy Lin in future posts as the college basketball season kicks off in a month or so. In the meantime, read Twu's blog posting. It's certainly worth a read!

Destination Truth: Aliens in Chile?

If you're read my previous posts, you know that I am a fan of various paranormal reality shows in recent years. From Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters, I've watched just about all of them on TV.

Recently, I started watching a show on their Wednesday night block called Destination Truth. Unlike the other shows, Destination Truth is not just about researching paranormal (aka Ghost) activity. The crew of Destination Truth is out to look to verify sightings of weird and unusual creatures and in addition to occasionally doing some paranormal research. In the episodes I've watched, they've traveled all over the world including Egypt.

Tonight's episode had them visiting two locations. The first location was in Chile. They were investigating a mine where an alien mummy was discovered. The highlight of the show occurred early in the investigation. The crew was doing some initial scouting of the mine when someone stepped into a hole. Upon further investigation, the crew pulled out a weird looking and decomposing corpse. It wasn't as big as a human but didn't look like any animal I've ever seen.

Unfortunately, as the crew was in a foreign country, they couldn't carry the corpse out so they dropped it off with the local law enforcement. They did take pictures to show to a pair of experts. Unfortunately, The two experts were unable to determine what exactly the team found. In addition, toward the end of the Chile investigation, the team saw a white light which turned out to be possibly a Unidentified Flying Object (UFO).

All in all, this was the most interesting episode of Destination Truth that I have seen. I'm really curious to find out what exactly the team discovered in the mine. Even if it's not an alien, it certainly added some drama to the show. I also hope the team investigates that white light / UFO they saw as well. It certainly looked like a flying object of some sort.

"Girls On The Dance Floor" on America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 finale!!

America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) is airing their Season 4 finale tonight. I've been a fan of the show for the past three seasons for many reasons. While it helped that the previous three winners of the show prominently featured Asian-Americans, I found the majority of the dance crews very entertaining.

Alas, I haven't found Season 4 of ABDC as compelling as the previous seasons. Unlike the previous seasons where there were clear crowd favorites, there was not one crew that stood out to me. It's clear that America felt the same way as various crews bounced in and out of the bottom two throughout the season.

However, I still watched the show, and especially looked forward to the season finale. Besides naming the winner, I especially like how the judges select various groups to dance with each other. One of the best performances came last season when Quest Crew (Season 3 winners), Strikers All-Stars and Dynamic Edition were selected by Shane Sparks to perform in the Season 3 finale. A link to the performance is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPzsKi7N6YU

As I type this, I am watching the ABDC Season 4 finale. Imagine to my SURPRISE when the first three crews selected by judge Lil' Mama to perform (We Are Heroes, Vogue Evolution & Artistry In Motion) danced to the song GIRLS ON THE DANCE FLOOR by Asian-American hip-hop group FAR EAST MOVEMENT.

Here's a link to the original song on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limGtd-DmZM

Far East Movement (http://www.fareastmovement.com) has been around for years and the group definitely has it's share of fans. However, the group was still relatively unknown to mainstream audiences until recently. When Far East Movement released Girls On the Dance Floor last year, many DJ's took to the song and began spinning it on radios and clubs all over the United States and beyond. Among the biggest supporters of Far East Movement and the Girls On the Dance Floor song was LA's Power 106 radio station (http://www.power106.com). Far East Movement's reputation was slowly rising.

Thanks to Girls On The Dance Floor being played on the ABDC Season 4 finale tonight, the boys of Far East Movement may find their reputation growing even further. The national exposure the group has been craving for years may finally be there for the taking.

Girls On The Dance Floor , as well as other songs from Far East Movement's most recent album ANIMAL are available on ITunes and other online retailers. I highly recommend it!

(SIDENOTE: Congrats to We Are Heroes for winning Season 4 of ABDC)

Shinjuku Incident

Blood. Violence. Gangsters. Chopped Hands. Gun shots. Sex scenes with a prostitute. Just another American gangster movie like the Godfather or similar? How about a Jackie Chan film? Yes, you read that last sentence correctly, a JACKIE CHAN film.

The film in question is called Shinjuku Incident, released in April of 2009 in Asia. I had read about the movie online and had been interested in seeing it for some time. The main reason for wanting to see the film was to see Jackie Chan doing a more dramatic role versus his trademark action and comedic roles like most of his old Hong Kong and recent American films.

I happened to come across a DVD release of the film in a local shop recently and picked it up immediately. The movie stars Chan playing the lead character Steelhead along with American born Daniel Wu co-starring as his brother Jie.

The plot of the movie takes several different turns during the course of the film. As there are plenty of locations on the Internet where you can find a detailed plot summary, let me give you the major points. Chan's character Steelhead has come to Japan illegally in search of his finance Xiu Xiu (played by lovely Chinese actress, director AND blogger Xu Jinglei). Chan locates and enlists the help of his brother Jie. Together, Steelhead and Jie work dead end jobs for money while looking for Xiu Xiu.

Steelhead later discovers that Xiu Xiu has taken a Japanese name (Yuko) and is married to a Japanese Yakuza leader named Eguchi (played by actor Masaya Kato). Seeing that his fiance has left him, Steelhead, Jie and other Chinese illegal immigrants in Japan begin to engage in some illegal activities to earn a living. Unfortunately, Steelhead, Jie and their friends end up crossing paths with a Taiwanese triad gang led by Gao (Taiwanese actor Jack Kao). The Taiwanese gang gets their revenge later on by beating up and later torturing Jie.

With Jie badly hurt, Steelhead plots to get revenge by attacking Gao. Instead, Steelhead walks into a Yakuza ambush and ends up saving the life of Eguchi instead. Steelhead and Eguchi both escape to Eguchi's home where Steelhead is reunited with his fiance. Eguchi is thankful for Steelhead saving his life.

Seeing that Steelhead is illegally in Japan, Eguchi offers Steelhead a job as part of his Yakuza clan. Steelhead politely refuses and leaves. Later on, Eguchi tracks down Steelhead to request that he perform hits on two leaders of rival clans. Steelhead agrees but makes two demands which Eguchi agrees to. Steelhead accomplishes his missions and Eguchi keeps his promise. The rest of the film deals with the consequences of Steelhead's involvement with the Yakuza.

With the brief summary of the film done, let me mention some of the more interesting aspects of the film:

1. The first thing you will probably notice is that the film is LONG. The total run time was almost TWO HOURS.
   
2. As I noted in the opening paragraph, there is a lot of blood and violence in the film. There are people shot and stabbed throughout. However, that is the tame parts of the movie. There are several graphic scenes which I describe below.
   
3. Jie gets the worst of it. Initially Jie is just beat up by the Taiwanese gang. However, the gang later tortures him by cutting his face AND chopping his right hand off. Jie's is shown without his hand in several scenes after. In addition, the Taiwanese gang later pulls out the severed hand and is shown stepping on it.
   
4. When Steelhead saves Eguchi's life, he wields a sword and chops Gao's hand off during a sequence.
   
5. After Steelhead initially sees Xiu Xiu with Eguchi, he gets down and depressed. Along with Jie, they both go out for a night on the town and sleep with prostitutes.
6. Jackie Chan hardly smiles throughout the movie. If you were looking for his trademark action, martial arts or stunts, there were none. While there were fights, it seems like there was a conscious effort not to show Jackie's skills in martial arts.
   
7. Jackie Chan speaks Mandarin and Japanese in the film but not Cantonese. For the duration of the movie, I wondered why Jackie did not speak Cantonese. After thinking about it, I remembered that Jackie's character of Steelhead was from China. Since Mandarin is China's official language and Cantonese is more of a regional dialect, it made sense for Steelhead to only speak Mandarin.
8. Jackie Chan as a bad guy? While he wasn't necessarily the bad guy in the film, Jackie did engage in illegal activities that you haven't seen in many of previous films.
   

I'm sure I missed other major details but these were the ones that really stood out. As a whole, I was surprised by the style and tone of the movie. I was expecting Shinjuku Incident to be more like Chan's 1993 release Crime Story. Like Shinjuku, Crime Story was a dramatic movie with Jackie minimizing his action and comedy. However, I don't recall that Crime Story had as much graphic violence that was shown in Shinjuku.

The other interesting aspect of the film involved Jackie engaging in illegal activities. I remember reading in Jackie's autobiography many years back that he could never see himself being a bad guy in film. Maybe Jackie got tired of playing good guys and decided to take a step in the dark side. Though, Jackie does somewhat redeem himself at the end of the film.

The biggest shock of the film was Jackie having a sex scene in the film (with a prostitute no less). It wasn't much of a scene and it probably lasted for (maybe) a couple of minutes. I understand WHY the scene was done. Jackie's character was down and out and he needed to get some release.

Knowing Jackie doesn't traditionally do love or sex scenes in his movies, I thought the scene was out of place. I know Jackie has expressed his wish to be a more dramatic actor or perhaps a romantic lead in the future. Given that he had not one but TWO lovely actresses playing along side him in the movie, a love or sex scene with either one would not have been a bad idea.

As a whole, I thought the film was alright but I probably won't be watching it again. It seems like to me that Jackie Chan decided to make Shinjuku Incident an ANTI JACKIE CHAN film. Most Jackie Chan films are kid and family friendly with action, comedy and martial arts. Shinjuku Incident is definitely a film you DON'T want to be watching with your kids. They may not sleep for many days after watching some of the graphic violence. I personally was a little bothered by the violence as well.

I'm perfectly fine with Jackie Chan wanting to change his style and image. He's done action comedies for so long that it's very difficult to surprise audiences anymore. However, I'm not sure Shinjuku Incident was the best example of Jackie as a dramatic actor. His acting was ok but may be overshadowed by the other things I mentioned above.

My Speculation on Annie Le case

When Annie Le was reported missing several days ago, there was speculation that maybe she was a runaway bride. Now that the police have confirmed that Le's body was discovered, the focus now shifts to who could have possibly killed Le.

Thus far, police and Yale University officials have kept very quiet on specific details to the Le case. There have been no information released in regards to Le's cause of death as well as the evidence that has been collected.

However, there has been speculation that there is a suspect. The supposed suspect apparently had failed a lie detector test and had defensive wounds indicating some sort of struggled had occurred. Another site speculated the suspect might be a lab technician that worked in the lab that Annie Le was last seen entering. However, there has been no confirmation of this from the police.

I agree that a lab technician (or someone else that uses or works in the labs) would be a likely suspect. A lab technician has good reason to be in the building that Le was working in and possibly work in close quarters (possibly alone) with Le. Given that Le wrote an article on safety for a magazine, I imagine that Le was one to take precautions. Le wouldn't put her safety at risk by being alone with someone she didn't know well or trust. Unfortunately, this also means that the person who ultimately killed Le was probably someone she knew and (unfortunately) trusted to some extent.

The last question many people are asking is WHY Le was killed. I'm hopeful that once a suspect (who I assume to be male) has been identified and arrested, we will get some answers. While we await for that moment, I speculate that Le was killed by someone who had an infatuation or attraction to her. It's entirely possible that the suspect mistook Le's friendly personality as romantic or sexual interest. Obviously with Le engaged and ready to be married, the feelings were not going to be mutual.

While the killing could be a crime of passion or planned weeks in advance, ultimately I think that jealousy played a role. I would not be surprised if the suspect indicates something along the lines of "If I couldn't have Annie, then no one could".

I am hopeful that a suspect will be identified and arrested soon. From there, I hope that some answers will be given so that all of Le's loved ones can start the long healing process. It's a shame that a young woman with so much potential was taken away from her fiance, friends and family. To have it happen days before her wedding just adds to the pain. Rest in peace Annie and best wishes to all your loved ones in the days to come.

Blackberry Curve 8310 Camera and Video Recording

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how much I loved my Blackberry Curve:

http://www.throughabceyes.com/2009/09/why-i-love-my-blackberryor-is-it.html

However, after Apple announced the 5th generation IPod Nano, I realized that I neglected to mention two other features of the Blackberry Curve that I use. The two features are the camera and the video recording.

Mostly everyone knows the Curve has a built-in 2 megapixel camera with a flash and zoom capabilities. While the Curve won't be replacing your digital camera anytime soon, it's a good alternative if you're in a pinch. While I haven't taken a lot of shots with the Curve, the camera works best when there is a lot of lighting. While the flash is nice, it doesn't seem to be strong enough to make up for areas that are dark.

One of the few features that people are going gaga for in the 5th generation Ipod Nano is the video recording function. What most people (Curve owners and non-Curve owners both) don't know is that the Research in Motion (RIM) implemented this feature in the Curve via a firmware upgrade several months ago. While this wasn't the reason why I upgraded the firmware, it was a nice bonus to have.

The video quality isn't great but like the camera, having good lighting helps immensely. You can record videos for as long as you want, depending on how much storage space you have on your Curve. Again, for your precious memories, you probably won't be using the Curve for your video recording. However, I have found the Curve for those spur of the moments that come up a lot in life.

One additional tidbit about video recording. One time, I was using my Curve to shoot a video of a co-worker doing an odd stunt. I wanted to share the video but had to use Bluetooth to transfer the video file from my Curve to my computer. I then uploaded the video to YouTube manually.

Another co-worker who was around while the stunt occurred introduced me to a site called QIK (http://www.qik.com)

QIK allows the Curve (and other mobile phones) to share their videos immediately without having to manually upload them. All you have to do is sign up for an account and download QIK software to your phone. Any videos you shoot will be automatically upload to the QIK website. The software also gives you the option to upload the videos to other sites such as YouTube.

I have used the QIK software and uploading capabilities a great deal. It allows me to capture and upload stuff easily (if not quickly since my Curve uses the old Edge network for Internet). It's a nice piece of software that seems to fill a niche that the phones themselves don't have. Plus the software seems to support all the major phones out there.

While the 5th generation Ipod Nano is a nice piece of hardware, I probably won't be going for one anytime soon. When I had the 2nd generation Ipod Nano, I found it cumbersome to carry around with my cell phone. When I accidentally lost the Nano, I chose not to get a new dedicated music player. I actually had an older one that I used for a short time.

However, my Blackberry Curve has filled all my needs. I can web browse, check email, instant message and listen to music. Throw in a camera and video recording functions and I have the all in one device I need.

September 11th, 2001

Today is the 8th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York. As many media outlets reflect on the attacks, I'm sure many people are also doing so as well. Among the things people are discussing is "How did you find out about the attacks" or "What were you doing when the attacks occurred?"

Back in September of 2001, my work schedule was Monday through Friday 7 AM to 3:30 PM (Pacific Standard Time). My offices were 40+ miles away from home (one way). I had the option to drive or take public transit to work. Regardless of which option I took, it was a brutal commute either way. I decided to take the public transit option. I figured I could get some sleep while commuting.

September 11th, 2001 began like any other work day. As I had to use public transit, I got up around 4:15 AM to 4:30 AM so I could catch a train around 5 AM. The train ride to my destination took about 50+ minutes and I exited the train station right around 6 AM. Once I got off the train, I had to wait about 15 minutes for a shuttle to take me to the office. Because of traffic, the shuttle usually took about 30 to 40 minutes. I got off the bus around 6:50 AM and entered my building a few minutes before 7 AM.

Obviously, as I was commuting, the attacks in New York had occurred. However, I was unaware that anything had occurred. Other passengers on the train and bus did not gave indication that anything major had occurred either. Unlike 2009, mobile web browsing via Blackberries and IPhones were not available in 2001. The only way anyone would have known about the attacks would be to talk to someone via cell phone or perhaps listen to radio reports. Given that is early in the morning on the West Coast, most people (including me) on the train and bus were content to just sleep.

My first indication that something major had occurred was when I walked into my office. One of my co-workers immediate asked me: "Hey, did you know a plane hit the World Trade Center?" I told him "No, I didn't hear anything". My co-worker indicated that he knew something happened, but details were lacking.

After this brief discussion, I started to wonder what had happened. My first thought was that it must have been an accident. My second thought was that the plane probably was pretty small. I just couldn't imagine an airliner "accidentally" hitting a building unless it was some major problem.

The second indication that something major had occurred was when I went to read news sites on the Internet to see what had happened in New York. First, I went to local news sites on the West Coast. The local sites were accessible but had minimal information on the situation. I then went to a CNN's website. IT WAS INACCESSIBLE. I tried a few other national news sites and ran into the same problem.

From there, I knew there was something major happening. The rest of the day went by like a blur. The news slowly started filtering out from the East Coast to other parts of the country. As my other co-workers started to filter into the office, our focus shifted from our jobs to the situation in New York.

Despite the grim situation in New York and the fact that business was slow, my co-workers and I were told we couldn't leave work early. In a way, that might have been a good thing. On such a terrible day, it was good to have people to talk to. The day at the office went by quickly and ended quietly. I was going to take public transit back home. However, a co-worker who lived relatively close to me offered to drive me instead. He figured that might be a safe thing to do given that security all around the country would be tight.

After getting home, I remember watching the news coverage on the attacks for hours. I was just mesmerized and stunned by what happened. This was definitely something that was discussed among my friends and co-workers for weeks after. One concern I did have was that my cousin and her husband lived in New York. Fortunately, I was able to email them and confirm they were ok.

Being in the West Coast, the anniversary of the attacks don't invoke much emotion for me. I didn't know anyone that was killed and I was too far away to feel any direct effects. Despite this, September 11th, 2001 is a date I won't forget easily. The sheer audacity of the attacks are not something that anyone will forget anytime soon.

The Concept of Best Friends

This is not really pop culture or technology related. However, the situation I went through was a tough but great learning lesson. I decided to write about the situation and shared with my friends via email. There were quite a few who told me that liked it and appreciated what I had to say. I decided to share this even though it's necessarily related to the topic of my blog. I hope you enjoy and learn something from it!

---

What is a best friend? Usually a best friend is the ONE person someone trusts enough to talk about secrets and life issues that they wouldn't share with other friends.

Who is the best friend? It could be anyone. It could be a grammar school, high school, or high school classmates. It could be someone from your church group or even a co-worker. The best friend doesn't even have to be the same sex as guys and girls can be best friends as well. In fact, some believe that a husband and a wife should be best friends. The one factor that usually ties best friends together is usually that they have known each other for a
long time.

Do best friends last "forever"? I think that everyone wishes that their friends today will remain their friends tomorrow and for the rest of their lives. Many friendships do stand the test of time but there may be some that don't. But even if a friendship does last for years, there will be ups and downs. You may lose touch for a while but reconnect later at an unexpected time.

For myself, I've experienced ups and downs in recent years with one particular friend. She was someone I had met in high school and we had a great relationship for many years. She was instrumental in me learning and growing to be the person I am today. Though I never called her my best friend, in many ways I treated her like one. I revealed to her many things that I wouldn't always reveal to other friends.

A few problems would come up though. First, she lived in the East Coast and constant communication proved to be difficult (even with email, instant messenging and cell phones). Second, she had her own group of friends and among them was a guy she always called her best friend. Third and last, she was constantly busy with her job. She was so focused on work that people like me (especially living far away) were lost in the shuffle.

I was pretty patient and gave my friend the benfit of the doubt. However, my frustration slowly built because my friend just was not calling back or replying to my emails. About four years ago, I finally lost my patience. I called my friend and left her a voice mail expressing my frustration with her lack of communication. To this day, with the exception of running into her in San Francisco (by accident), I have not spoken to her since (some emails written, but that's another story).

Not having someone that had been one of my oldest and closest friends was difficult. However, it made me realize how much I had neglected some of my other friends that were in the Bay Area.

I was very fortunate though. I had some old guy friends around that I had hung out with for years. It wasn't much of a problem to talk to them more. Another college friend also resurfaced. We had been good buddies through college but lost touch for a few years after we graduated. Fortunately, we were able to reconnect and the years away were good. It may me appreciate this person even more and our friendship is better than ever. Along the way, other friends have surfaced and I appreciate their company as well.

What have I learned through this experience?

First, no matter how much we want people to stay the same, people change. For my friend in the East Coast, perhaps work and other life issues dictated that those things take precedence in her life. Even if she wanted to communicate with me, sometimes friendships have to take a backseat to other priorties.

Secondly, I learned that I like to have a diverse group of friends and having a best friend isn't appropriate for me at this point in my life. I have many great friends and calling any of them a "best" friend is a disservice to everyone else. There is one big change. Instead of relying on one person as I did in the past, I have a few select friends that I like to talk to about certain things. Perhaps one day, I will have a best friend and ideally that would be my wife. :)

Thirdly, I think having a best friend can be limiting. Talking to muliple people with different jobs, backgrounds and lifestyles provide perspective. I can talk to married friends with kids, married friends without kids, single friends, old bosses and others. No matter much life experience a best friend may have, they are still only one person.

Lastly, be open to change yourself. I've learned (and read) that certain friendships are only meant to last for a certain time. Maybe the friends are there to help you for a specific reason. Once they have done what they needed to do, they will move on. While this may be sad or frustrating, be aware that other friends will eventually come and take their place.

So these are my thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree with what I had to say, I'd love to hear people's thoughts.

Nintendo Wii Update / Mental Health Benefits

I usually don't blog twice in a day, but I thought this would be interesting. I wrote in a previous blog post about my Nintendo Wii as an exercise alternative. See the article linked below (or on the left nav bar in August):

http://www.throughabceyes.com/2009/08/nintendo-wii-as-exercise-alternative.html

Since I wrote the post, I've personally played the Wii quite a bit. I use it as an exercise alternative on those days I don't get much physical activity. I've even used the Wii recently to supplement any other exercise I've done during the day. I currently only have Wii Sports to play with but it's been good enough thus far.

I also mentioned that my mom's doctor recommended she get more exercise. While walking should be my mom's primary form of exercise, I introduced my mom to the Wii to get her some additional exercise as well. I initially planned to just have my mom do the Wii Fitness portion of the Wii Sports package. Alas, that plan didn't work out. My mom struggled with the speed of the baseball and tennis games as her reaction time wasn't good. Given time and practice, she probably would have gotten the hang of it.

However, I wanted something she could learn more quickly. After exploring, I found that the bowling and golf target practice games worked well. Both games required only simple button pushing and arm movements to play. I should note that I taught my mom to simulate the action bowling a real ball and swing a golf club instead of flicking the write like some people do. I figured that would get her more exercise (I do this myself as well). It took my mom a relatively short amount of time to learn how to play both games. In fact, my mom torched me in one round of the golf target game 495 points (!!?!?!) to 255 points.

Admittedly, the physical benefits of playing these games aren't huge unless we play it for hours. However, burning off even a few calories is beneficial for someone her age. One unexpected benefit may be for my mom's mental health. My mom got a great deal of joy scoring 495 points on the golf target game (I don't think she cared about beating me). I underestimated how the sense of accomplishment could make someone feel better.

There are many studies on how the Nintendo Wii has helped various segments of society. While I don't have any scientific proof to back what I see, I definitely see the Wii has had a positive impact on my mom. I didn't expect how much she would like playing with the system but I am not complaining!

Welcome to the major leagues Doug Greenwald!

If you're a San Francisco Giants fan and were listening in on the radio for today's game against the Milwaukee Brewers, then you got a treat today. Doug Greenwald, son of former Giants broadcaster Hank Greenwald, got the opportunity to broadcast his first major league baseball game. One of the Giants regular broadcasters Dave Flemming had returned home to be with his wife who was expecting a baby. Doug has been broadcasting in the minor leagues for many years now including the past seven years for the Giants AAA team, the Fresno Grizzlies. According to many news reports, if not for the fact that the San Francisco Giants having one of best broadcasting teams in the business (including Flemming, Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow), Doug might have already been in the major leagues.

On a personal note, I am happy that Doug finally got his shot in the big leagues. I was actually a classmate with him at Wallenberg High School in San Francisco for three years. If you've seen any recent photos of Doug, you will see a physical resemblance to his dad Hank. However, back in high school, Doug was a slim kid who looked nothing like his dad. Because I was a big local sports fan and Doug was also, we hit it off extremely well. We weathered the ups and the downs of the Giants, A's, Warriors and the 49ers (sorry Raiders fans, I wasn't paying much attention back then!).

The one great thing about Doug was that he was a regular kid. Sure, everyone (classmates, teachers, coaches) knew of Doug's background and he was well liked by everyone around school. However, I don't think Doug ever expected to be treated differently and he never looked down on others because of his background.

Though I never asked for them, there was a great benefit to knowing and hanging out with Doug during our high school and early college years. I got to meet Doug's family (dad, mom and sister). I got a chance to visit the broadcast booth at Candlestick before and after a few games. I got some great seats to a few of the Warriors playoff games during the 1990's including losses to the Lakers and Sonics. It was during the Sonics series that I got an autograph from Mitch Richmond, who had been traded to the Sacramento Kings during the off season. Richmond was back in Oakland watching the playoffs which Shawn Kemp had his coming out party. I also got a chance to meet and shake hands with then Warriors (and now Chronicle Live) broadcaster Greg Papa.

As the years progressed, we lost track of each other. Doug spent his college years in the East Coast and I stayed in the West Coast. Recently, as Doug as slowly moved up the ladder in the broadcasting business, I've seen his name pop up in local newspapers. I was happy to see him doing well. Recently, we did reconnect (as many people do these days) through Facebook.

I hope that today's broadcast will be the first of many for Doug in budding his major league broadcasting career. I'm hardly an expert, but from the couple of innings that I was able to listen to, I thought Doug a fine job. If Doug's career goes as well as I think it will, then he may become the most famous person (that I know of) to attend and graduate from Wallenberg High School. Currently, the most famous person to attend Wallenberg High is Asian singer and pop star Coco Lee (Ferren Lee-Kelly in high school).

Wiki Entry on Coco Lee:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Lee

However, from my friends who knew Coco Lee back in high school, she left Wallenberg before her senior year and graduated elsewhere.

Movie/DVD Recommendation: Viva Cuba

I was reading through several blogs today about Hollywood and the independent film industry and I was reminded about a movie I saw during the 2006 SF International Film Festival called Viva Cuba.

In March of 2006, I went with a female friend (Latin-American) to watch several films in the SF Asian-American Film Festival. A few months later, we went to watch more films the SF International Film Festival and Viva Cuba was one of the films we watched. I read a blurb about the movie in the festival program but otherwise did not know what to expect.

I was intrigued by the story of the two young kids who strove to preserve their friendship despite the many challenges that they faced. However, the one that that stood out was the ending of the movie. Without giving anytime away, the ending was ambiguous yet appropriate. The two young kids were determined to remain friends forever.

If you're looking for a good film that doesn't follow the traditional Hollywood formula, this film is definitely worth a look. The movie is available on DVD at Amazon and other retailers.

(SIDENOTE: I wrote a review on Amazon for the film and recycled some of the words here for the review.)

Whatever happened to Kevin Collins?

The recent discovery of 29 year old Jaycee Lee Dugard after being missing for eighteen years made me wonder what ever happened to another high profile kidnapping dating back a quarter of a century ago.

See an article on the discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/27/BA4N19EJ35.DTL

It's been over twenty-five years (February 10th, 1984) since Kevin Collins disappeared in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco and was presumed to be kidnapped. As a San Francisco native, I was well aware of Kevin's disappearance because his face was on the TV, newspapers and flyers all over the San Francisco Bay Area and later nationally on milk cartons and national magazines. Being around the same age as Kevin, I think Kevin's disappearance set off also waves of worry with my parents and others with kids back in 1984.

Unfortunately, to this day, the case of Kevin Collins has never been solved. I tried to do some quick research on Google to see what kind of clues were found by the police or any other law enforcement agency but did not come with anything. Kevin's disappearance in 1984 did not generate as much publicity as it could have today. The Internet, cell phones, and other forms of messaging and communication that we take for granted today was not available.

The discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard made me wonder if Kevin Collins could possibly be still alive after all these years. Maybe I'm being a dreamer but it definitely would be a huge feel good story to find Kevin Collins alive out there. Setting my sights a little lower, even if Kevin Collins couldn't be found, I would love to hear that information had been discovered as to what his fate was. I'm sure the discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard brought up some unpleasant memories for the family of Kevin Collins. In my mind, it certainly would be great if Kevin Collins or any information related to Kevin could be found.

Why I love my Blackberry....or is it a IBerry....or is it a BlackPhone?

Back around June of 2008, I had been thinking of getting a new cell phone. I'd had my old flip top cell phone for about three years. Though it was working fine, I was looking for some more advanced features like calendars and web browsing. I went around to various stores and browsed at the newer phones. One that caught my eye was the Palm Centro. The Centro had a lot of what I wanted and the phone was inexpensive. Since my old flip top phone was still working, I put off the decision in getting a new phone indefinitely. In my mind, I would get a new phone when the old one broke.

Alas, that time came about a month later. My old flip top phone suddenly died and d-day was here. I had to get a new phone. I immediately went to look at a Centro. However, after playing with the Centro a little more, it didn't quite feel right. The keyboard was a little small and the web browsing was a little limited than I expected.

The next choices on the list were the Apple IPhone (non 3G or 3GS) or the Blackberry Curve 8310. I had played with the IPhone at the stores since it came out but never really looked at the Blackberry. My dad thought I should get the IPhone since I had also lost my IPod Nano a few months back as well.

Despite wanting the IPhone for the novelty factor, I just didn't like the touch screen. Ultimately, after getting a friend's recommendation on the Blackberry Curve 8310 (she had bought it a few months earlier) and playing with it myself, I decided to get the Curve.

Unfortunately, I got a defective phone which rebooted every few minutes so I had to replace it after a few months. However, since I got the replacement phone, everything has been smooth sailing.

While the IPhone has the cool factor and definitely has it's advantages over the Curve, it still does what I need to do including:

1. Email (Hotmail, Yahoo)
2. Web Browsing - This is one area the IPhone had a major advantage over the Blackberry. The Blackberry browser is not robust and Safari does have it beat. However, for basic news reading, most big websites have optimized for the Blackberry. Also, for sites that haven't been optimized, I used Opera-Mini for browsing. Opera is not perfect but it's a decent substitute.
   
3. Games - While the IPhone has a ton of applications for business and fun, the Blackberry also has a few. The Blackberry comes with Brickbreaker (a variation of the old Breakout video games in the 80's). Also, I've downloaded free versions of Pac-Man and Tetris.
   
4. Music Player - My friend reminded me that if I didn't need a separate MP3 player from my phone that the Blackberry could serve as a decent substitute. Guess what? She was RIGHT! Now that ITunes has decided to allow their songs to be playable on other MP3 players besides IPhones or IPods, I can play the same songs everyone else can. I know that Blackberries are generally considered business phones and I personally haven't seen many people listening to music on their Blackberries. But it's much better than one would expect. Plus I love it when people look at me weirdly for I know they're thinking "Is he listening to music on a Blackberry?"
   
5. Blackberry or IBerry - Most IPhone users probably don't care about simulating the look and feel of a Blackberry. However, many creative folks have created IPhone themes for the Blackberry. So while I can't use a touch screen, I have icons that look like the IPhone on the Blackberry. My friends laugh at me for doing this but I'm open minded. I may not like the touch screen of an IPhone, but it doesn't mean I don't like the look of the icons or the interface! :)
   

It's been a year since I got my original Blackberry (7 months for replacement) but it's been fun. I know my phone is quite outdated with Research in Motion announcing a bevy of new phones (Curve, Tour) recently and a rumored new phone (Essex) coming.

However, I plan to enjoy my Curve for as long as it works. When that time comes again, then I will hopefully find another one that can be as fun as the Curve has been!

DC Comics: The Great Ten

DC Comics Blog recently announced that a ten issue mini series featuring a group called the Great Ten would be published in November of this year. Why is this significant? It is significant because The Great Ten is a group of Chinese superheroes based out of the People's Republic of China. The group first made an appearance in DC's weekly series 52. They reappeared in last year's Final Crisis as well.

See the announcement here:
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/08/11/some-tuesday-news-the-great-ten

For more information on the Great Ten, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ten

While Japanese manga has become a big part of mainstream American culture, there have not been many Asian characters that had their own comic book series in the American comic industry. One of the few (in recent memory) was a character by the name of Ryan Choi who assumed the identity of an existing hero, The Atom. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after 25 issues.

With China being a growing economic power and wielding influence in an increasingly global culture, it makes sense that a group like the Great Ten would be developed. However, to many Americans of Asian descent, this has been a long time in coming. Asian-Americans are always fighting for fair representation in media. While the Great Ten will be considered a foreign group because they are based in China, just having any type of representation in the comic industry is a big plus.

As for me personally, I like this group because they will (hopefully) be different than other comics I've read growing up. The fact that they are Asian is a bonus. Ultimately, if the mini series had a good story and good characters, that's all I care about. I'm all for diversity in the media but the product has to be good as well.

Speaking of Asian Americans in comics, I should promote an anthology of comics featuring Asian-American heroes called Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. The anthology is available at online retailers like Amazon and bookstores like Borders.

For more information, go to the website here: http://www.secretidentities.org

Nintendo Wii as an exercise alternative

Around the early part of June, I was surprised AND fortunate to win a Nintendo Wii in a raffle run by a basketball league I play in. I'm sure I disappointed the many kids who also play in our league who wanted the grand prize of the raffle.

While I like video games, I wasn't overly excited about winning the Wii. After all, I'd had a Playstation 2 for years but hadn't played any games on it in a long time. I was actually playing more online games (poker, Mafia Wars, etc) and eighties video games (Pac-Man, Galaga, etc) than more recent games.

However, after thinking about it, winning the Wii was a blessing in disguise:

Reason #1
My mom used to play video games on our old Atari 5200. As she's gotten older and video games have gotten more complicated, she stopped playing. However, from playing Wii Sports with my friends, I knew the games were something she could learn to play. An added benefit was the games could get her a little exercise since the Wii Sports games require the player to move around a little bit. For multiple reasons, the doctor has told my mom to get more exercise so I always encourage my mom to walk more. Unfortunately, she doesn't walk as much as she should. However, I think the Wii can serve as an alternative on days my mom doesn't walk. I don't think the Wii can replace any exercise program completely. However, my opinion is that any exercise is better than nothing.

Reason #2
This reason probably applies to me and my mom. As we all know, weather affects people's moods and thus their motivation to exercise. Generally, San Francisco had mild weather but the temperatures have been in the 90's most of today. Because of the hot weather, I've decided to stay at home today (a benefit of being unemployed). I may go out to the East Bay to play basketball later tonight. However, with the warm weather, it could be a challenge to play.

For those days where the weather (hot or cold) is keeping you from getting exercise, the Wii can fill in. I've already played about 30 minutes worth of Wii Sports today. For someone who's in reasonably good shape, I know I'm not going to work up a huge sweat, build big muscles or get in aerobic shape just by playing the Wii. However, I think just getting up and burning a few calories is always beneficial.

People ripping their clothes off....for JACK IN THE BOX?

I wasn't planning to blog today, but I can't help myself. I was just watching Ghost Hunters on the SyFy channel and the show went to a commercial break. On come this commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzHXOkY8N8I

I don't know if I would be more embarrassed for Jack in the Box or the actors in the commercial who were ripping their clothes off? While I can understand the purpose of the commercial and certainly don't mind seeing some skin, I'm not sure this was the best way to promote something. I'll have to see if this commercial plays during the daytime. I can't imagine this commercial would play well when the younger people are still up.

Perhaps Jack in the Box was responding to the Carl's Jr commercial (from several months back) featuring the lovely Padma Lakshmi (host of Top Chef) gets up close and personal to a burger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8nJKa13sBo

District 9 = Blair Witch redux?

A couple of weeks ago, we were celebrating some friend's birthdays at a Japanese restaurant. We were discussing what we wanted to do afterward. After some discussion, it was decided we would go see the movie District 9.

Despite being a science fiction fan, I had no idea what District 9 was about. I had not read or watched any previews of the movie. In retrospect, that is the best way to judge how good a movie was.

I won't rehash the plot of the movie as you can get that from many other sites. I will say that the movie was certainly different than any other film that I've seen before. Whether that made the movie better or worst is certainly up for debate.

The first thought that came to mind after watching the movie was that it was partially styled like the 1999 horror film The Blair Witch Project. For those who don't recall the movie, The Blair Witch Project involved three student filmmakers that were filming a documentary about a local legend called the Blair Witch. The movie was recorded in a first person / documentary style and viewed through the eyes of the students as event occurred.

District 9 doesn't copy Blair Witch's style exactly though. The film is presented in a documentary style initially as people are interviewed about the aliens and the events revolving around the lead character Wikus. The movie then transitions to a news reporting style as it follows Wikus while he tries to evict the aliens (or Prawns as they call them in the film) from District 9. After all of this, the movie transitions into your typical summer flick as Wikus comes to terms with his situation (he's been infected and turning in an alien) and what he is going to do about it. The movie reverts back to being a documentary at the end as people are interviewed about the final fate of Wikus. In a sense, District 9 was a documentary, dramatization, news and action film all in one.

From a personal perspective, while the film was interesting, it wasn't a huge favorite of mine. I thought the initial documentary pieces dragged on for far too long and the section following Wikus trying to evict the aliens was a little boring. For someone who had no idea what the film was about, the foreshadowing of Wikus getting infected was given away (in my opinion) way too easily. However, I did guess wrong about Wikus involvement with the aliens. I thought Wikus would somehow side with the aliens in their evil or sinister plans. Alas, if you watched the film, Wikus himself was subjected to experiments and exploitation by various groups of people.

That brought up some other issues with the movie. There was very little discussion about the aliens and their background. The movie played for almost two hours but there was nothing about why the aliens came to earth and why they allowed themselves to be herded into District 9 (and later District 10). The aliens are presented in a menacing fashion initially, but Wikus befriends an alien (named Christopher Johnson) who promises to help Wikus become human again. So obviously, the aliens aren't completely evil.

The other unexplained plot point (it was somewhat convenient in my perspective) is what infected Wikus. It was explained by Christopher that the liquid Wikus discovered prior to being infected was gasoline to get the alien ship moving so they could go home. However, it is unknown if the liquid that sprayed Wikus was just a defense mechanism or the gasoline itself.

All in all, District 9 was a nice change of pace from your typical summer blockbuster as there was a little bit of everything in the film. I think this was the reason why the film generally received positive ratings from various reviews I read.

However, I think District 9 wasn't as good as many of the reviews stated. There were things that I thought were missing or unexplained which detracted from the film. All in all, District 9 was an ok film in my book. It wasn't horrible but wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. Check it out for yourself and see it you like it!

America's Best Dance Crew - Martial Arts Challenge

I just finished watching this week's episode of the 4th season America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) on MTV. This week was the Martial Arts Challenge week. The dance crews had to incorporate moves from various martial arts styles (Kung Fu, Karate, among others) into their dance choreography.

Alas, it appeared the challenge made things difficult for the dance crews. The first several dance crews struggled to incorporate the martial arts moves into their dances and were called out for it by the judges. Ironically, it was the final two crews that performed did the best in incorporating martial arts in their dances. Unfortunately, these last two crews were also up for elimination!

While the challenge may have hurt the dance crews competing tonight, I think it was a good idea. The show had Steve from Quest Crew (winner of the 3rd season of ABDC) present the various martial arts styles to the dance groups. Judging from the reactions of some members of the dance crews, it was clear they had no idea of what some of these martial arts style were.

It was great that MTV had Steve explain the various martial arts styles that exist. Most people are aware of martial arts in a general sense. They may have seen a Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Bruce Lee movie or watched a mixed martial arts fight. However, most people don't know the difference between Kung Fu, Karate or Muay Thai (three of the styles presented today, among others). Martial Arts is an important part of Asian culture and it was great to see this presented on TV to a large audience.

It may have been a conscience choice by MTV because the past three seasons of ABDC have been won by Asian-American dance crews. They may have been playing to the large Asian audience that may be tuning in. Alas, the irony is that the only all Asian/Asian-American dance crew part of this season's ABDC was eliminated during the first week. However, there are some Asian-American members that are part of the other crews.

While I don't claim to be a big hip-hop dance fan, I have tuned into the show because it was great to see Asian-Americans represented in something they are not known for. Asian-Americans don't get a lot of exposure in prime-time TV but ABDC is one of those exceptions.

Lastly, I think ABDC is the best reality show out there due to it's diversity. It shows people of all cultures doing what they love (dance) but also interacting and working together. I think ABDC has proven that people do not care who is performing as long as they are entertained. I hope that network TV and movie executives pay attention to this in the future. We have a big melting pot in the United States but it sometimes is not accurately represented in the mass media.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard - Controversy

The Angry Asian Man blog posted this today:
http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/08/paramount-doing-damage-control.html

According to the blog posting, Paramount Pictures has requested media outlets remove all trailers for the movie The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard which depict lead actor Jeremy Piven spouting some Pearl Harbor and Anti-Japanese rhetoric to motivate his sales force and then actor Ken Jeong gets beat up. This may be in response to protests which were held at Paramount Studios on Friday by various Asian-American groups.

Here's another Angry Asian Man blog posting on the trailer in question:
http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/08/hate-crimes-for-fun-and-laughs-in-goods.html

While I have seen the various advertisements for the movie, I wasn't really interested in the movie and never watched the trailer. Because of the controversy, I decided to watch the trailer that included the scenes described.

If you want to watch, the trailer is still on Youtube here but no guarantees it will remain there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeZMNxB0BOQ

My take on the scene? While I am not personally offended like many people are, I think the scene itself was unnecessary. The anti-Japanese rhetoric brings up bad memories for many people. One group of people would include the many Japanese Americans who were subject to internment during World War II. The other people who may be upset would be the folks who lived through the 1980's. Many American auto workers (non-Asian I have to add) did not like the "Japanese taking their jobs away" because Japanese cars grew in popularity at that time.

This brings up the biggest problem with the scene. Actor Ken Jeong (the only Asian in the scene among the many people) gets beat up after Piven spouts his rhetoric. Many older Asian-Americans remember the case of Vincent Chin. Chin was beat up and later died when a couple of American auto workers mistook him for a Japanese person.

Wiki will do a better job of explaining the Vincent Chin case than I can: Vincent Chin Case

I think many people (Asian and non-Asian) may also think the scene is non-offensive, they say so without knowing the history of Vincent Chin and the memories that is brought up by this scene. Plus, there is a question to be asked:

What if anti African-American rhetoric (the "N" word) was said and a African-American salesman was beat up?

Hunting Mostly Haunted Ghost Adventures

When I was a young, I had a fascination with ghosts and the paranormal. When I was in elementary school, the teachers would always give us these forms where you could order various books. I remembering asking my parents to order a lot of books. Among them were various books on talking about real ghosts and other paranormal activities. As I grew up, this fascination faded.

However, in recent years, I have discovered various reality TV shows involving ghosts and the paranormal. The general theme of the shows is a group of people go into a supposedly haunted location at night and investigate the activity over the evening using various pieces of equipment. Here's my take on the shows that I have watched.

MOST HAUNTED (Travel Channel)
This was the original show I discovered while watching the Travel Channel one day. The show is actually a British production but was picked up for play on the Travel Channel. As the first show I watched, I was fascinated by what the people were doing. The Most Haunted team brought minimal equipment (video cameras) but brought people who were supposedly "spirit mediums" that could sense or possibly talk to the spirits in the various locations. If you read the various information available on Most Haunted, you will see there is some notion that the show is fake. Obviously, I can't prove or disprove this notion.

However, as I have now watched other shows and compare them back to Most Haunted, I feel like Most Haunted is a little boring. The show has pretty much stuck to it's formula over the years. The show doesn't do a lot of scientific investigation. It feels like the team just wanders around aimlessly trying to contact spirits. All in all, while the show is one of first, it may have been surpassed by other shows.

GHOST ADVENTURES (Travel Channel)
If watching Most Haunted wasn't enough, Ghost Adventures debuted on the Travel Channel in 2008. The two shows usually play back to back on Friday nights so you get a double douse of paranormal reality TV.

When I first watched, the most fascinating part of Ghost Adventures was they used a lot of equipment. They used digital audio recorders and a lot of cameras to try to record any activity that might occur.

The interesting part of this show is the approach the team takes in communicating with spirits. The team takes a very confrontational approach which they feel is best. In the show, this approach has sometime not worked in the team's favor as some spirits have scratched team members or done other things.

While the Ghost Adventures team does bring in a lot of equipment, I feel like they overplay the drama a little too much. Of course, the drama is a part of the charm of the show. If what they present on the show is real, you're always curious what will happen to the crew when the continually use their confrontational approach.

GHOST HUNTERS / GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (Syfy)
Ghost Hunters originally appeared on Syfy in 2004 with the spinoff Ghost Hunters International premiering on Syfy in 2008. Both shows take the premise of Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures to it's logical conclusion.

Whereas Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures focus an entire hour on one location, the Ghost Hunters team usually does two locations (occasionally three) in one hour. The reason for this is the Ghost Hunters shows minimize the drama and focus on the facts. If there is activity that is recorded, the team tries to find ways to prove or disprove what they have seen. Unlike the other shows, the team is shown analyzing evidence and the viewers get to see the most compelling pieces. With this approach, that is why the Ghost Hunters show usually do two locations in an hour. Sometimes though, you wish that they would have spent more time on a particular location.

All in all, while all the shows have their pluses and minuses, I enjoyed all of them. Is what we see on TV real? That is something you'll have to decide for yourself.

Introduction and Welcome

I am certainly busy! A good friend of mine had looked at my other blog Behind The Whistle and suggested I create a more general blog. After all, Behind The Whistle is a focused on basketball (and occasionally other sports) officiating and only certain people would have an appreciation for what I was writing.

My friend suggested I write a more general blog on my interests in pop culture and technology. After all, I do have other interests besides sports, basketball and officiating. After much thought, I finally came with with a title for the blog: THROUGH ABC EYES.

What should you expect from this blog? I'd expect my thoughts on the latest movie or TV shows I've seen, music I've listened to or gadgets I have played with. This will be fun as I have written reviews of various items on Amazon in the past and this will be no different. As always, please post comments on anything you're interested in or you want me to take a look at!