Bo Ling

October 10th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink

Even the Doctor said Trump was inevitable (in contrast to the optimism that Superman is), but I worry about living to see a day when we as a people can look back and heaven forbid, learn why. It’ll also be interesting to try and trace—forensically, of course—where some of his nonsense originated, whether it was Q-scripted and fumbled, anyway, or the product of a media-muddled “mind.”

Occult Personality

May 1st, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink

I had finished up a tour with the new company—new-ish because I seemed already to be familiar with the place and know many of the people there, maybe they were a local customer—and got to join former colleague Steven Xie as he was preparing for his entry exam. The administer was a gruff American who wasn’t capable of accommodating his applicant’s language and personality nor cared to, and told him he’d dock his score if he wouldn’t “shut the fuck up” and said a single thing while taking it. After hearing Steven repeat that abrasive instruction without the least bit of sarcasm, I stayed to help him refrain from outburst while he retrieved five small fish out of a tank with his choice of available tools, a shovel with a flexible scoop. His future department teammates gathered afterward to congratulate him, going so far as to wear T-shirts with Chinese characters on them, which I am sure made him feel as welcome as one might surrounded by smiling people adorned with halves of words. (One had five on his and claimed it spelled his name.) All employees were rounded up for a slideshow presentation and I took the opportunity to bring it up with the mostly-Asian Accounting girls, who nodded in embarrassment. The projector looked 8mm and the initial picture was tiny, then spread across a messy wall; my test was to save the movie to digital and insert some captions. After the screening, I was handed what appeared to be a VHS cassette and was confident in my ability to accomplish the task, even if I was no professional like in that recent Netflix casualty; would my old rig with a USB dongle and Microsoft Photos be enough?

Bubble Tea Bubble

February 16th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink

For an extra-Asian sugar high, Yi Fang didn’t have anything on Tea Station, but at least it was consistent between the two Bay Area locations. The camaraderie during a miserable project must’ve sweetened the memory, that’s my lesson from our 50-mile round-trip to Rowland Heights this past weekend. No stamp cards, discounts for buying a refill cup, loyalty programs—they’re just not worth it without them. And the eggs and corn from 辛巴樂 were packed in too much water. Remember how I used to stop by the one in Arcadia for sausages? Worst of all, some dbag Chinese (from the dashcam footage of him unloading his shaved kid and the “GZ FMLY” plate, what other language uses those awful j-sounding z’s in their names) parked their thrashed Model X obscenely close to our car with two empty spaces on the other side, asshole.

"Brown Sugar Pearl Latte" from the Millbrae shop ($6.56 incl. tax; $6.90 in Chinatown), circa. August 2019

I was on a plane, though the velvet decor and roomy aisles were more like a theater’s, and wandering around there were spacious corner sections with luxurious sofas reserved for VIP’s like basketball players. Upon returning to my seat for the second leg of the flight, there was a rush when more of them became available from no-shows, and the woman I had been sitting next to, a Brit named Sandy with long brown hair, got up and made for another across the way, which I took personally as I thought we had developed an amicable relationship; in fact, I had only made that trip to track down someone who had insulted her honor, big Black athlete or no. My loss was consoled by the arrival of another attractive girl.

도대체

November 30th, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink

One of my favorite Korean words, with the more nuanced “what the fuck” meaning than is often translated. It’s what I look for, at least when really warranted in the dialogue, from creators whose ideas may not come from the same old places (like the Doom Patrol going outside the box instead of relying on Morrison—whose own early influence I miss), and for most K-content nowadays that’s the webtoon. Not that 지리산 was ever going to be Twin Peaks, and while Hellbound and Dr. Brain aren’t high art, either, they’ve got Netflix and Apple money to go crazy with. One of them just might veer off into The Wailing.

Meanwhile the WTF that Kara Wai‘s family went through in Tracey does seem to have had some effect, or I’m grasping for the kind of correlation that’ll lead me to nightcapping with hardcore gay porn, spurring a dream I was taking a sex ed class led by an Emma Stone-looking goddess who put me on the spot by getting in my face, revealing a bikini under her regalia and asking where I’d make my mounting deposit. Her left eye opened beyond its lid as if to invite the option. Below, I still told her. Fellow student Charlie Hunnam from Queer as Folk passed by afterward, removed his shirt and revealed that his went into a condom, tactic of choice by strip club goers of old. I wondered if our instructor had office hours.

Golgo 13

October 2nd, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink

Creator’s passing Sunday brought out the seeders for two live-action adaptations from the 70’s starring titular hitman model 高倉 健 in the first (notable, I think, mainly because it was filmed entirely in Iran), then streetfighter Sonny Chiba, who had the better eyebrows but couldn’t drop the smirk. And speaking of which, who should appear in the latter’s Hong Kong scenes but The Eyebrow himself!

Clan of the White Lotus

August 28th, 2020 § 0 comments § permalink

No wonder I don’t remember this one from Saturday mornings, it’s just a rehash of the epic Executioners from Shaolin (with Lo Lieh quasi-reprising a similar villain he played 3 years prior after amazingly another 73 films), though Kara Hui demonstrates excellent form in her mentor role. She still looks great, while poor Gordon Liu might provide a glimpse of my future beside my own young auntie.

The Empty Hearse

January 2nd, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

Right on schedule, three more episodes of the slick new Sherlock series from the UK. It’s more of the same, really, but then again, that can be the most welcome of comforts, the older you get. (I know there’s something wrong with that statement, but I’m just too lazy to fix it. Did I mean, the better your opinion of the original? Or the worse your memory?) Again, the clever smartphone/human GPS overlays remind me of the BBC’s own pioneering efforts with the Hitchhiker’s Guide so many years ago, but I especially liked Mary Morstan’s sympathetic analysis, that her face would launch a thousand words:

And in similar fashion, 老婆’s translators had their ニコニコ-like stream up in only a few hours after the torrent was seeded. I wonder if you can typo in Chinese?

Learn Chinese: To Fly, Fei 飛

May 15th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Of the pocketful of stale fortune cookies from the buffet this weekend, surely this was the most intriguing message: “An upward movement initiated in time can counteract fate.” Street Fighter player, perhaps?

Dig ‘Em

September 21st, 2011 § 0 comments § permalink

Woke up with a longing-from-long ago for Sugar Smacks, which have apparently since been updated to drop the unhealthy but apt moniker and imbue the once-innocent mascot with Poochie-like ‘tude.

from to
(Speaking of temporal displacement and eating, remind me one day to elaborate on my new approach to Chinese food: chow down by moving your stomach two hours into the future.) My usual grocers didn’t stock it at all, leading me to suspect more food-related intrigue before finding it on the shelves at former strike-buster Stater Bros. The retro bug was again short-lived, as a single bowl left even my Mountain Dew-hardened frame jittery for the rest of the day, but it did prompt research into the ever-elusive discontinued C.W. Post cereal of my youth. The rock-like granola will probably be too hard for my teeth now.

치뽈레

November 4th, 2010 § 0 comments § permalink

So Chipotle’s turning Japanese. Or Chinese. (Anyone remember Olive Garden’s China Coast? I only have confirmation there was indeed a “Great Wall” sampler on the menu.) Well, it doesn’t specify the Asian concept, so who knows, could it even be the 비빔밥 idea I had a while back? Then again, the best place for this ever, in Koreatown Galleria, I recently discovered had abandoned theirs for some bland BBQ or tofu staple, so maybe the time wasn’t right for B-B-BOP.

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