Remake Craziness

MGM to Bring Back Red Dawn and RoboCop
Source: The Hollywood Reporter May 18, 2008


MGM said at the Cannes Film Festival that Red Dawn, John Milius' 1984 movie about a group of American rebels fighting Soviet forces, is a candidate for a remake, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The studio's Harry Sloan and Mary Parent also confirmed that 1987's RoboCop could resurface in a new version.


I'm really not certain how they're going to bring back a communist invasion for the 21st century. I think what would be better is keeping it a straight remake that is set in 80's USA.

As for Robocop, they should definitely just bump it into Robocop vs. Terminator. Arnold can only stay in office for so long.

I am Tingling

...with excitement.

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G.I. Joe the movie

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has leaked the only character that matters.

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a real American hero:

Click here for a military history recap.

did I mention that this article made me tingle?

This man will play Shipwreck. - and this page has some other cast.

(RUMOR: Seriously, Brendan Fraser as mutha 'effin GUNG HO?!)

Word Pride

As a young child I had two wonderful prides that I could hold on to:
1: I had the whole Chronicles of Narnia set, and the Redwall series (up to that time); I was the nerdy, constant reader in class.
2: I dominated Beverly Elementary's Spelling Bee two years in a row. These certificates are likely in a box somewhere.

My prowess in English has been faltering into adulthood, but I have an affinity for clever English and a hatred for horrible spelling. I tend to agree for making reading, spelling, and writing (esp. penmanship) tougher in schools. Great language comprehension is corollary to complex idea understanding.

With that in mind I present the following which I found representative of our nation's shortcomings and shortsightedness from englishfail:

In addition I would like to give a special mention to an unsung hero: Jeff Deck. He's a man who has set his life on crusading to stop English errors.

It's all enough to make Jeff Deck's head hurt. He's one of those who feels that the rules of language still matter, regardless of how much phone texting degrades them.

So a few months ago he deputized himself a grammar vigilante and set out to make the U.S. "a safer place for spelling."

Calling it the "Typo Eradication Advancement League," he's now visited 18 states to chronicle, and correct if possible, all types of English errors. It's all on an entertaining blog, www.jeffdeck.com/teal.

~from: A Crusade to Edit America

I recently had an argument with a student of mine of the use of a colon. (:)

She submitted an essay to me that repeatedly had the semicolon (;) for punctuating a list of items. Really, it was a lazy essay because she didn't want to write full paragraphs on the subject matter. Lists in essays are a trick to satisfy page requirements. English fail indeed.

What followed after my review was a colossal tirade about her essay and the horrible raping of the semicolon. Rest assured, red marks were given in abundance all over her double spaced monstrosity.

"I don't understand, this (;) is the right punctuation to use."

"NO! A colon(:) is used for a listing of items. A semicolon (;)is used to connect to two separate sentences that have related ideas!"

To further insult the colon, her lists were too long to be supported by its fragility. The list material was neither bulleted or on separate lines. There was a profuse use of commas, which can sometimes be misconstrued with semicolons as well.

You can find the rules for use of a colon here and the mysterious semicolon rule here.

Also, a NYtimes article on appropriate use of semicolon can be found here.

Yes, I am a tyrant about spelling and grammar. Feel free to ask my wife and/or my good, but English-disabled friend Ryan, about this fanaticism.

There may be errors in my own posts, assuredly I make my own best efforts. I also enjoy speaking colloquially in slang English often. Yet, gross misuse of spelling or grammar that I see will not be tolerated in academic, public, or professional arenas!

How High Were You?

Seriously Ronaldo, how high were you?


I thought I was scared reading about another Austrian Dungeon story, but after reading about your transvestite prostitute interlude I am even more baffled.

'When they all booked into a motel, Ronaldo discovered that the prostitutes were in fact men. '

Did they look that beautiful on whatever you were snorting?

Were you too high to realize, 'I'm one of the greatest footballers in the world - I can get hot girls for free.' ???

You were sooo high, you let a boy-girl hustle your ID?

'Albertino took the footballer's documents, police said Ronaldo alleged...'

Now the BBC might have been very plain in their reporting about the incident, but my brothers in Bangkok know the truth about she-men.

How high Ronaldo? How high?

Maybe the pain meds you're taking for your knee and the coke just really made things crazy for you to try new stuff?

In light of this, you reinforce an elementary education of learning "Just say No" all over again.

Westside Earthday

So my afternoon naptime was ruined today. Unfortunately, we live near a main street. This means that community events, such as today's "Inconvenient Ride" impact me directly.

I lost 15mins of good Zzz time. The caravan of middle school kids, teenagers, parents, and cops just made me more confounded.

"Inconvenient Ride" procession leaves Chief Sealth HS


I questioned while moving, "Where is my yearly Earth Day naptime?"

The disparate grunts and moans of soccer moms on 10-speed bikes did not answer me.

Dynamic Entry

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Originally uploaded by exportryan

I am bonded in love and grace for life.

Why's and What's for Insured

I was teaching a class last night on the differences between medical insurance plan types. The major issue arising from our discussion was cost. This is almost always either oversimplified for people, or extremely complicated. The latter is true.

A few people I know believe that insurance is a rip-off, and the best thing you can do is try and ensure that you are healthy. In my limited life, I value that insurance is a tool in ensuring that we maintain our lives as healthy ones.

One of the more important concepts in recognizing cost structures for insurance is to see that this is completely relational. We limit our choices, and grievances, to the cost of insurance at the insurance company. Its easy to point fingers at big brother.

The details of cost are structured around 3 or 4 points. The employer (or employee group/union), the insurance plan, and the medical providers. In order to have a good plan offered to you ( the patient/customer ) your employer needs to have the resources to support good benefits by either having a lot of employees/resources, and having a well administered insurance company running correctly with the doctors.

Because I have a rather boisterous student group I left our discussion revolving around the above points and the most common plan types: PPO, HMO, FFS, POS. We started bringing up local issues of insurance, national issues on insurance, and I didn't want to get international about it - so I avoided the more obvious big brother issue: most other world nations have universal healthcare plans and don't even deal with private commercial insurance mess we have.

We often consider Canada as the villifying entity of this phenomenon, but interestingly another major developed nation to consider is Japan. Even more interesting is that on an individual basis - the residents of these countries pay less in taxes than Americans. So, the counterpoints of tax burden cost are moot; and the quality of care is likely maintained if you take into account Japan as a good example of efficiency.

Whether or not insurance management and healthcare administration will still exist? Yes, accountability for use is always needed. Yet, the conditions for this can and will be different. This can vary between piss-poor government support and quality of life such as Italy or lux life wit za Deutchse and free healthcare.

Now Michael Moore released his last documentary Sicko. His tactical and ethical mixing in film is questionable. The dialogues and contrasts he shows for our healthcare and other nations is true. Unfortunately, because healthcare deals with people he leans on emotional tangents heavily. I somewhat disagree with the personal instances in the film since they are a bit heavy. I recommend watching it because overall it is correct in recognizing the flaws of domestic healthcare. Weighing the financial mis-managements, social responsibility of government, and degree of personal debt incurred should be reason enough to validate universal healthcare as a feasible option.

My Bundle of Joy

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Originally uploaded by duke it up

yes, i really do think she looks like me. i have pictures to prove it!!!

Throaty

The baby is getting really good at responding to sound. Unfortunately, the sound of my voice has been less than clear due to a hard cold. So what do you do if you're suffering headaches and a raspy voice? Sing some Cutting Crew. ...obviously.



We were at my nephews birthday early on. It was okay. My Aunt Linda fortunately upgraded their microphone system. It was awesome.

I throw out a little Lennon too.

Why I Only Play RTS...

MMORPG's ruin lives. Stick to Street Fighter or Tetris. (click picture for enlargement)

Rockin Baby Clothes : a

In good conscience I could not justify buying a onesie for $29.95

Baby Clothes : Kiss

If you know me pretty well, I'm sure you can recognize why I would want this shirt for my child. We have to develop a special affinity for spirit of the make-up.

Informative Picture

Just in case you didn't know.... ... and she doesn't like black people.

Are you afraid of black people too?

Unicorn Grrlzz

Unicorn Grrlzz
Originally uploaded by duke it up

I don't know these girls, I just wanted to take a picture with them and the baby because they looked really cool.

As J-Rock as they look, I believe they're actually American kids with a Goth/Punk slant. I was asking them for extreme anger or extreme smiles. To no avail; their apathy was tremendous. (Yes, I heard one of them say they do that hair themselves at home.)

Still, don't dress like The Misfits and not expect attention. Hopefully, next time we go downtown we'll see Jem & The Holograms instead.

(Taken at Unicorn Crepes. Good Good Good snack food.)

After we left they must have been raging in their passive aggression, "Silly man-child... don't exploit us or notice us, we're too cool for that."

Green Tea Kit Kat

Green Tea Kit Kat
Originally uploaded by poketo

I really want to find this... it must be huge on eBay.

Let the Beast Out

I've been on baby mode for the last few months. Its time to unleash that pent up fury in a better place... Tacoma: Strikeforce @ The Dome

In case you didn't know Bob "The Beast" Sapp is a cultural phenomenon overseas. What else can you be after playing UW and then getting kicked out of the NFL for steroids? I've seen him whale on people on tv and I can't wait to see him dominate in real life.

Ticketmaster wants my money, and I'm going to give it for the main event. This is a lot cheaper than going to Japan and watching a Pride fight. I think the other half of these guys are from Forks and Kent:

-Bob Sapp vs. Jan "The Giant" Nortje

-Maurice Smith vs. Rick Roufus

-Brad Blackburn vs. Ray Perales-Steve Berger vs. Eddy Ellis

-Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Healy

-Andrew Pedersen vs. Mychal Clark

-Zach Skinner vs. Scott Shaffer

-Nathan Coy vs. Chris Davis-Joe Riggs vs. Cory Devela

I can smell the beer, peanuts, and blood now. ~~mmmmmm

With Dad

With Dad
Originally uploaded by duke it up

There is a new experience and new concept to life and love with a child. The kinds of moments and interactions we have is defined in a new paradigm. In short, the world has become much bigger. Some people may not glean any wisdom with kids, but luckily my family loved me intently.

I had to leave my most wonderful vacation of staying home with baby Vita today and go back to work. Again, this is very surreal in context of having a child. It not like a new quarter of school or coming back home. Work simply feels as though it becomes strictly practical and functional; life is actually relevant because it exists outside of that sphere and is truly in your home, heart, and child. (I leave my real joy in diapers.)

My Director talked to me this evening and I was telling her how I'm always making sure little things about the baby are okay; the inspiration to do things has drastically different flavors as well. We shared a new conversation and respect with each other as parents shortly. The experience with Vita for now is wonderful and great. (She really doesn't cry bad.) While we were talking she mentioned how the perspective for our own parents is now changed. I agreed mentioning, "Yea, I was just thinking about that this afternoon. My parents loved me a lot more than I thought. I feel like calling my Dad and thanking him."

And again, I talk to my friends at work and in life, who do not have this malleable perspective on life as a parent; its jarring to recognize the content of peoples hearts without children. We can find a starting placing in these new ideas by considering how we are God's children also.

Of course, it is cliche because its true: having my baby was the best day of my life.

Being with my child at home is sweeter than I wanted it to be as well.

Simple & Nutty

There's nothing like talking boater and ragging on people with friends.
*boater language - discretion advised*

(At least thats how a lot of people I know talk - my nostalgia is a little strange.)

Style Smackdown

Its that time of year again where I share my joy that combines aggression and art. B-boy battles. Last week marked the end of Battle of the Year 2007. Yet again the national feuds flare for France and Korea. Its a cold war of sorts.Germany yet again sits as the stageplace where the barriers of style seek to clash. Each country stockpiling new crews, bboys, and moves; and every year coming to close calls and the politics of dancing as it seems.

Lets run a recap so you can see the new millenium drama:
2001 - 1st FRA 4th KOR
2002 - 1st KOR 2nd FRA
2003 - 1st KOR 2nd FRA
2004 - 1st KOR 2nd FRA
2005 - 1st KOR 2nd JPN 4th FRA
2006 - 1st FRA 2nd KOR
2007 - 1st KOR 2nd JPN 3rd FRA



MVP: that guy with the white hat & gear
Notables: great use of elbow balancing
Funnies: the crews just yell at each other inanely
Music Props:good use bringing back The Fifth Dimension breaks


Next post: results from the 2007 UK B-boy Championships

It All Works Out

I've been bumping this in my head for a couple weeks now since Across the Universe.

Fear the North

As a younger boy I knew friends who enjoyed exploiting Canada's lenient wacky tobaccky laws, excellent restaurants, and a Low Drinking Age!!! My family could easily for the afternoon with $100 and amazingly have $150 to play with in Vancouver. Now I see it was all a ploy. Weaken our youth with pyschedelic substances and bad booze. Exploit our capitalist tendencies with cheap goods and a high exchange rate.

No more. The loonie has reached parity with the dollar. $1 to $1. Canadians are now flocking to take all the cool cheap clothes from our malls, and buy up land around Bellingham essentially converting them to "Loonievilles". Now with our weakened economy and an army oversees they are free to tromp our lands with their maple leaves.

I say we band together. Unite our towns, from Federal Way to Blaine, from Forks to Monroe, we make a stand and refuse business to these Canadians. We band up, in civil groups, business groups -- a coalition of the willing... organize HOOTING parties, to drive up and down I-5 tracking British Columbia plates. We need a posse to form up where the feds back down.

Who are the Canadians to now have equal footing with us? No one exploits Americans, only we exploit people when situations favor us.

If we don't make a stand now, its only a matter of time before the beaver cap wearing barbarians want a showdown.

AC Slater was like... hehehehe

Words and The Word Part 1

The past week has been one of the most arduous I have led in my known life. What has filled it more than I could push myself was God's strength and the recognition of humility.

What are the aspects of our lives?
Why are we driven to disillusionment?
How do we skew self-serving motivations?
Where do I put my anger and outrage at others?


A family member of mine passed away last weekend. Yet, the things that came to pass among my existing family were the egos of vanity, the falseness of past shame, and pretentions of the future. A family is an ingrained part of most people's lives. Yet, we cannot realize the traps that it sets for truth that God seeks to lead us out to. The grandeur of a family is as easily switched with a collective hubris.


In example, I was compelled early on in the week to demand that my older cousins stop setting up the funeral with intentions to not look bad in front of others. My frustrations led to confrontation about what I saw as the 'lie'. The lie: that this was for my grandfather and involved the family. The lie: that the funeral arrangements were for all of us. A Lie: that the family representation was more important than the recognition of his life and continued life in Heaven.


In my grief and outrage I confronted who I saw as the perpetrator of this paper puppet parade. That is where is the truth of our characters showed itself. The conflict. Its in this argument that the veils of prejudice, labelling, and false family history revealed themselves. More than that, the hypocrisy the we had allowed to exist in our hearts as a family.

My words:

"I want to speak at the funeral! You are doing nothing but being dismissive and doing everything yourself!"



Everthing else spoken was extraneous, all that happenned after was pointless defense and attempts at short validations in exchanges.

Searching for guidance before this I received word from two Believers that helped preface these events with God's wisdom. These words gave me a brace to buckle myself against. The ideas being:
"...Conflict is a blessing for growth..."
"...your family can be an idol before God."

In short, the ideas are short. In the instance they were the only values I felt against anger. With reflections, these ideas echoed fully.

Even in my own words I felt weakened after our spat. In our conflict - no one won; and I had no energy to seek the meaning out anymore. I realized the arrogance we put in our family before seeking Grace.

So I retreated to refuge and study of His Word with a study group and other teachers. This would prove humbling and convicting with my own spirit feeling recently lost and withdrawn...

Fightin' Round Da WeRLd ~!~!

The Concept
The History channel, as awesome as it already is, drops this dope new show called Human Weapon.

Its basically two guys who go challenge people around the world in the native martial arts of the region.

They get their asses kicked a lot. Its also more fighting oriented than history based. I guess people have been getting really really tired of watching "Modern Marvels: The Kitchen Blender".

Its the best reality show that the History Channel can offer unless they find a real-life Indiana Jones.

The Beat-downed
Bill Duff - He's the big tough guy of the show filling in the arechetype of Ray Jackson a la Bloodsport. Hands down, he gets beat down the hardest by clumsiness. He has a strong athletic and fighting background.


Qualifications
- holds a brown belt in Korean street fighting Toa So Dou (is that even real?)

- is a two-time heavyweight state champion wrestler, member of the NJ Hall of fame

- undefeated in bar fights.

-At 6'4, 280lbs, Duff was a professional football player for seven years. He started for the Orlando Rage in the XFL and spent the 2000 and 2002 NFL Europe seasons with the Berlin Thunder, helping them win the 2002 World Bowl Championships

-Continuing his career with the Arena Football league, he played for the Indianapolis Firebirds and Columbus Destroyers. Prior to this, Duff played for the Cleveland Browns in their expansion year 1999-2000.

-He was also co-captain of the 1997 SEC champion Tennessee Volunteers



Jason Chambers - This guy fills in the show as the more skilled and youthful Frank Dux. Unfortunately, because he has a little more finesse and pro fighting experience his opponents tend to rock his dome a little rougher.


Qualifications
- Total Fighting Challenge Welterweight Champion, Jason Chamber’s record as an MMA fighter is 16 wins and 4 losses.

- training in various martial arts since the age of six (uh-oh)

- has fought in “Deep” in Japan and “Rento Maximo” in Mexico and all over the USA.

- trained under Renzo Gracie and currently under Eddie Bravo in Jiu-Jitsu.

- holds the rank of “Phase 1 Instructor” in Jeet Kune Do under Joe Goytia.



The Dim-Mak
Overall, this show is massively interesting and at times hilarious. Also, you get to see really hardcore martial arts masters. Ex: old man punches through wood with his FINGERTIPS & wrestling a massive water buffalo in mud.

During the Philippines training session, a backwoods training master was instructing Duff to go ahead and, ".... yes, give him pain. Give him the pain." To which Duff was reluctantly obliging while the victim was tapping out.



The Muay Thai episode was kick a**! A new show is airing this Friday @ 10pm for the Karate episode.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Kwik E Mart -- Seattle

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Originally uploaded by duke it up

I went to the Bite of Seattle, but that wasn't the cool thing this weekend. Across the street from the Space Needle the local 7-11 was converted into a Kwik-E-Mart in promotion for the Simpsons movie. Its only one of 12 across the country to have been converted into a Kwik E Mart.

I bought some Buzz cola, but where's the Duff??? Also, why did the employees have to be Indian? The Squishee flavors also seemed to be asking for more.

The experience was fun and hopefully my attempt at the Springfield Lotto will bring the local comptroller to my door.

Hiiii!

DSC05689
Originally uploaded by duke it up

I don't think he was very happy with me exploiting him during his break.

Apu

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Originally uploaded by duke it up

Thank you please come again!

Comic Guy

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Originally uploaded by duke it up

... but Aquaman cannot love a woman without gills!

iPhone Test Drive

... everything about it is true...



screw the EDGE network, it runs on WiFi anyways - for FREE..
- also free, real-time traffic status.

The Conchords Heart You

I recently received a pre-screening invitation to HBO's new comedy show Flight of the Conchords. Because we live in an internet world where we control our media bereft of commercials I had never heard of these Conchords -- Google power w/youtube has enlightened me to something brilliantly entertaining. Its sort of like a Mighty Wind for Gen-X'ers. Overall, they're insanely creative.

RSVP here

An improv comedy/music duo swing songs over guitar strums like you do at your best when drunk with buddies, but they do it all the time. Folk Parody Power!!!



ALSO - bringing you the best hits from New Zealand like Albi the Racist Dragon.

*bonus song* RhymeNocerous VS. Hip-HOPopatamus

*bonus bonus song* Ode to David Bowie



Stay tuned for the HBO broadcast of this new gem. I will sit with mouse ready at my torrent site.

(my favorite new phrase is now: "Ohmigod, she's so hot - she's a curry."

Tokyo After Six 004

Tokyo After Six 004
Originally uploaded by ajpscs.

I love this pic's contrast.

Libre Indeed

In Spanish "libre" means free. Last night when I got home I found a small package on my table. Within held the freedom and glory that I have sought for many years. I attempted to find liberation like this with nunchaku training, throwing star practice, and nike air shoes. Yet none of these items could achieve the sense of freedom I desired. Last night I received a Luchador Mask! It strength and power only matched by prowess of the Lord himself. (I give great thanks to my friend for remembering me during his last Mexico trip.)



Precious Father, why have you given me this desire to wrestle and then made me such a stinky warrior?



"Lucha Libre" in the literal means free fight. Its tradition spans back many years. As for why they started using masks is simply because it was cool. In that pulling down of new identity over your own -- the addition of a new archetype can be found. In my excitement last night I could only hold the mask at first, barely even able to find courage to don the new identity that lied in the essence of its vinyl and fabric. So I sought out to know who the forefathers of the sport were and looked to the past at LuchaWiki.org

Last Christmas, the good Lord gave me the foresight in a brief study. I recommend you go out and get this from BN or from Joe: Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling

Lucha Libre also includes photographs of stickers, flyers, postcards, stills from Mexi-lucha-cinema, interviews with the wrestlers, essays, and much, much more! In this comprehensive 20-year study, Grobet has put together THE definitive look at Mexico's masked superstars. ¡Viva la Lucha Libre! For 20 years, photographer Lourdes Grobet has penetrated the world of one of the most popular sports and deep-seated traditions in Mexico: Lucha Libre-wrestling.

And tonight, I go into the alleys of California Ave to find my new crackhead sidekick...

Craziness and Rice Krispie Treats

I'm just finishing watching the Virginia Tech Convocation memorial live via net. Closing remarks were given by African American poet and Virginia Tech Professor Nikki Giovanni. This tragedy was ended and marked by her continual emphasis "We are Virginia Tech, we are better than we think... we are ALIVE... through our blood and tears... we are the hokies. we will prevail. We are Virginia Tech."


A standard google image search of Cho Seung Hui pulls up Korean popstars. But we know today that a messed up English student who got mad at his girlfriend went and destroyed a whole school and marked the worst event in College Campus history. Seung Hui wasn't a popstar. He was a person on edge who needed psychological help and was able to buy a pistol at a local gunshop. Yesterday, Korean news reported a korean student shot and the first assumption being: Commenting on reports that the killer was Asian, Lee said it was unlikely to have been Korean since few Korean students have weapons due to the difficulty of obtaining a gun license. But Seung was American having lived here since 1992 and growing up in the U.S. in an environment and society that creates Columbine and school shootings all the same.


Seung purchased his first handgun for $571 with ammo legally under federal and state law last month. The second handgun was purchased this month Friday the 13th. A limitation of one month is needed between multiple gun purchasing. (per NBC 12:26pm)


33 people are dead. over 60 shot total. the remaining wounded... multiplied by families, friends, and a nation.

The English Students Plays
When I first heard about the multiple shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday, my first thought was about my friends, and my second thought was "I bet it was Seung Cho."

Fellow students in a playwriting class with Cho described his plays as dark and disturbing.“His writing, the plays, were really morbid and grotesque,” Stephanie Derry, a senior English major, told the campus newspaper, The Collegiate Times.

“I remember one of them very well. It was about a son who hated his stepfather. In the play, the boy threw a chainsaw around and hammers at him. But the play ended with the boy violently suffocating the father with a Rice Krispy treat,” Derry said.


Brief Family Profile and Death Note
A note believed to have been written by Cho was found in his dorm room that railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus.


Student Blogs - Madness on Campus (Livejournal)
Right as she picks up the phone she tells me "I got red on me" I laugh, and immediately try to find out if shes hurt or what to expect, and she lets me know that shes fine, stable, good, not hurt...only slightly.

I've been wired on this event. The eeriest accounting was that of a professor hiding out in the Engineering building of Virginia Tech.
"I heard 30-40 shots... I could see people crawling out of windows... there were shots being fired for a good half hour or so..."

Its an terrible reminder of what can happen when men get mad, when people go crazy, when people don't care about other people, when guns go off... The same could have happenned at UW two weeks ago.

Yet we must warn ourselves of a backlash. Warn ourselves to understand right and wrong. Remember what self-control is. And realize that devaluing women, disregarding other human life, and discriminating against race is going to continue.

Lots of questions again, for the incident, how it played out, and what it means for us today.

Virginia Tech Raw Video from shooting scene.

(all pictures and media from yesterday and today. 04/16-04/17.)

Execute Code Red

This is the sequel to 28 Days Later. 28 Weeks Later brings up the rawness and compounds the disillusionment of society in a broken world.



Above was a remix trailer, this is the official UK trailer.

Synopsis: 28 WEEKS LATER, the follow up to 28 Days Later, picks up six months after the rage virus has annihilated the British Isles. The US Army declares that the war against infection has been won, and that the reconstruction of the country can begin...but they could not be more wrong. As the first wave of refugees arrive, and a family is reunited, a terrible secret is revealed: The virus is not yet dead, and this time, it is more dangerous than ever.


I found the original movie really good. This version seeks to stretch out that feeling more and with the soundtrack in a sense combine it with the mood from Children of Men.

Iron Ingredient Mixer

So I've been kind of big on making more esoteric meals the past few months. I don't know how to make meatloaf, I don't often make pasta, I can't roast chicken well, and I rarely bake fish. Simple stuff passes me by in the kitchen.

I do know how to make kalbi marinade beef, katsu pieces, curry beef, ja jang myun noodles, and tempura shrimp stuffed w/meat. Its the complication of cutting and organizing several different ingredients that gets me occupied happily - or maybe I just like using all the Ikea kitchen crap for what its supposed to be used for. Most of my original repertoire stemmed from love of Yoshoku style food.

But no more, time to expand the cooking field a little.

The food I like are really foods I've had in restaurants that I tottally enjoyed. Mostly, I don't like making things that could be plain or easy. I can have a sandwich or scrambled eggs on my lazy days.

Last night was one of the first nights I've been really really excited about meat. I rocked the blender to 3 kinds of onions, 3 peppers, sesame oil, fruits, soy sauce, and some "secret sauce". I hovered over the dish after rubbing the beef in it. I began crying. Mostly the pepper and onions' result. I didn't even cook the meat yet... its still sitting in the fridge with a marinade of glory seeping into it.

One of the sites that I'm using to continue my off and on splurges into food heaven is this Xanga girls site: Cantonese Cooking. Her recipes' and experimentation aren't restricted to just Chinese food as she delves into baked goods and other styles such as Brazilian Coxinhas. I can tell she must have a dope kitchen, and she really loves food in general while not remaining ethnocentric. I'm going to go for the Coxinhas this weekend since it kind of reminds me of dim sum.

Soul Source UK : Amy Winehouse

Sometimes you hear a sound and you don't want to download it. You really want to spend your money and get to the store to buy it the next moment you have. I drove over to Easy Street Records and went searching for Amy Winehouse after hearing the KEXP airplay. Probably the most vibrant voice I've heard since getting spun around by Gnarls Barkley last year. I'm going to say it now: this is definitely one of the my TOP 3 Picks for the 2007.
Easy Street's #2 slot on their sales boxes was empty. Amy Winehouse's new album Back to Black filled that spot. The clerk alarmed me, almost scaring me - that they might be sold out. Luckily, there was one left in the back - the last one.

I was pretty taken back just by the intensity of her tone. You can tell at times she's not even blowing out as hard as she could be. In contrast to Joss Stone she is a powerhouse. Against Alicia Keyes she is an Octagon Fighter, while Keyes remains and keeps her pretty self for the nail salon.

The first track Rehab takes the topic of addiction and spins it on a quirky pop beat, but the remainder of the albums maintains a strong sense of soul and egdy motown feel. The title track Back to Black pulls you into her distraught sense of personality. All at the same time disarming and strong. In contrast to her other album Frank, which seemed a little more jazzy and hopeful; stardom and jade may be taking its toll on her in a more authentic clash than a Britney breakdown. Although she may be falling apart a bit, its in that tear that raw talent breaks convention.

She doesn't beat around the bush with bad lyrics, but takes harsher circumstances and fits them into groovy comfortable horns that lull you into listening more intently to her every breath. Forget Monica and her period songs, lets talk about being a ho and getting drunk and high, sleeping around, then trying to turn yourself around. Yet that voice, that awesome awesome voice still sounds classic.

What makes me happiest to hear in Amy as an artist is the authenticity and soulfulness that comes from instruments, beats, and her outpouring voice. She takes the soul sound to a modern context while at the same time still ringing true to the that 60's sound. Her fall with contempt found laughter when I saw a performance of her DrUnK singing an MJ cover with Charlotte Church. Completely "pissed" for both gals in the U.S. and U.K. sense of the word.

(There is still one copy of Frank at the California Ave Easy Street.)

Dubya versus Lil Zhe

Let the guns continue! The paramilitary police of Brazil are going all out as President Bush goes to Brazil. As always my expectations of gang violence and authoritarian rule in Brazil are not let down as the hotel is surrounded by anti-aircraft guns and a few companies of infantry. George must finally feel the need to hang out next to heavy steel and samba dancers. Doesn't everybody. (pic right: it means BUSH OUT)


Besides that my random perusings of things Brazilian led me to this good movie favorite and new musical gem: City of God - Remixed

"Dadinho my d**k, my name now is Zé Pequeno, F**K!"

Beyond Bebel Gilberto and Zuco 103, the rise of Brazilian culture cannot be stopped by the prison systems. And this album gives a lot of cool sounds.

Soft Jungle beats open up the sounds with Amor De Verao and some of the tracks give you this foot tapping happy bossa nova sound like Pizzacato Five on Convite Pra Vida. A big surprise was one of the later tracks that has a trippy Daft Punk sound on Vita.

Total lounging can be achieved in the basement or on Ipanema beach, well at least Alki.

"Listen man, I smoke, I snort... I've been begging on the street since I was just a baby."

And the rawness just continued since lo and behold there was another release: City of God Remixed - Volume 2.

Hearing this one felt invigorating like mugging my cousin for some skittles. But its much more of a dance album than lounge album. Some of the tech tracks are a little bit dated, but still good. This was especially noticed with the House style remixed tracks of Convite Para Vida & Hard Galinha.

The big surprise jumped out with the funky tracks like Mad Zoo Sessions. Then the big band horns got thrown down on Ze Pequeno to get your soul moving your feet.

They're fun albums. Downloaders begin your searching and/or buying. If you don't want to hear it then definitely see it and rent City of God.

Go See The Host

Striking out from Korea, land of hammers and mayhem comes this year's surprise foreign film joy. The Host debuts this week on Friday, March 9th.


As you may or may not know, Korea has been on the New Wave of film from Asia. Productions are edgy, beautiful, and sometimes surreal. Host director Bong Joon-Ho made his first big mark with a Police Noir film placed in 80's dictatorship Korea. He followed up with the release of The Host in Korea on July 27, 2006 and hit #1 Best Selling Film of 2006 with 13,019,740 nationwide. The next closest U.S. film was The Da Vinci code with a miniscule 3,339,082 .

(The opening formaldehyde scene is based on a real-life political scandal with U.S. dumping of chemicals into the Korean environment. An apology was later issued by the U.S. 8th Army.)

The film was originally titled "Creature" or Gwoemul in Hangul. Its believed that the creature is a "host" for some kind of mutated virus. The synopsis is: Mutated monster rises out of city river and attacks innocent citizens. From what I can tell of this film, it takes a kind of loser family, and drives them to find courage to search for their youngest female family member taken by "the host". I would say its a funny-monster movie. (Or imagine your little brother got kidnapped and the only people with you are your crazy uncle, lazy cousin, frantic sister, not to mention your un-athletic self. At least thats how I imagine it for myself.)



Bong mentions that he found inspiration from a quirky childhood reading about Loch Ness and other monsters. In a way, he's a member of the Nessie Alliance.


Local Showings going on 03.09.07:

Bellevue, WA: Lincoln Square Stadium 16

Lynnwood, WA: Alderwood 16

Seattle, WA: Neptune Theatre

This seems to be one of the biggest releases of a South Korean film in the States. For Asian films overall, its refreshing that American audiences can now be exposed to Asian movies that don't deal with magical kung-fu and ancient empires. Asian-Americans everywhere will rejoice at their new liberation from stereotypes and induction into modernity.

Bong Joon-Ho has shown this film at the Toronto Film Festival and Cannes. Its received a lot of good attention and continues to raise the bar in film medium and drag the audiences out of mainstream movie constructs. Although the Host does have a resemblance of a blockbuster film from Hollywood and less of the edgy extreme plot some of us are used to from Korea; it still remains essentially Korean by driving a family together into the old-school Confucian ethics against the new modern monsters surrounding them.

iLove the iPhone

The coolest device to be released so far this decade was announced by Steve Jobs at Macworld 2007. Below is a transcript of the keynote address as well as interviews and product demo. It's just... heavenly. Apple is going to get everybody using iSomething.

9:42am - "Well today, we're introducing THREE revolutionary new products. The first one is a widescreen ipod with touch controls" The crowd goes wild. "The second is a revolutionary new mobile phone."

9:43am - "And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device." Tepid response on that last one, but he almost got a standing ovation on the phone. '

"An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator. An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator.... these are NOT three separate devices!"

"And we are calling it iPhone!"

9:48am - "So let's not use a stylus, we're going to use the best pointing device in the world -- our fingers. We have invented a new technology called multi-touch. It works like magic, you don't need a stylus, far more accurate than any interface ever shipped, it ignores touches, mutli-finger gestures, and BOY have we patented it!

10:42am - Accessories: stereo headphones with a tiny dongle, mic and a switch. Push it together to answer or hang up on a call.

Bluetooth accessory: headset, black and thin "incredibly small" one button on the top, automatically pairs, "It's really simple."

"It's the coolest one we've ever seen."

Battery life: "A lot of these phones have low battery life. We've managed to get 5 hours of battery of talk time, video, and browsing. 16 hours of audio playback."

10:47am -

So how much more than $499 should we price it? We thought long and hard about it... it does so much stuff..." He's stalling for the drama. Enough Steve!

"What should we price it at? For a 4GB model we're pricing it at $499 -- no premium whatsoever.

"We're going to have an 8GB model for just $599."

This is going to be released through Cingular only at this time. They are right on the ball with Apple on this release. I can see myself holding it soon...

Thanks to the engadget site for the transcript content. More details on functionality can be found there or in the embed videos above.

My Birthday Club Night

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

This was the midway of Festa de Devin 2006. It was not a karaoke massive but was a gathering of different friends for a different kind of fun. We went crunk, got our gig on, rode in a trunk, and had an eating contest. I love my friends.

Jamming @ The War Room

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

My homegirls are uber fun people. Although, I think I'm developing an aura around me like Rick James or something.

The War Room Deck

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

This is where the stuff of drunk legends are made. Where shots are made, and where lop sop doy is created. Its the place where stories become epic, and where acquaintances turn into remarkable nutjobs.

The Trunk

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

I don't know how we got in there, or why, but we ended up at a restaurant in Chinatown.

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

Strike a Pose

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

There's nothing sexier than just chilling and lounging out next to spicy fish fillet.

King of the Round Table

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

So, he's pretty satisfied after throwing away chopsticks and deciding we should have an eating contest. He won by using his bare hands without the needless use of utensils.

Ladies of the Night

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

We walk the cold streets of Chinatown. If only something out of "Beat It" would have happenned, that would have RULED.

The Lights

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Originally uploaded by duke it up.

And so I walk off into the future, a more colorful life, a more brightly lit one. I'm 26 now and ready to jam on it some more. I need my aura to expand.

Duke Performance Karaoke Award

Hands down, Mark took it to another level with Scottie. Much respect and honor to them for handling Karaoke how it should be done.